The Ridge: Part 3

‘…Kid, he really knows how to kick the ball.’

Marisol was indeed a player who knew how to handle the ball. In the first match against Real Madrid, the guy had scored two goals, but since the score difference was already large, our defense had been loose. Even if he scored a hat-trick, it wouldn't have been high praise.

But the two goals now were a different story. Even if we were leading 1:0, the situation was tight, and these goals were purely individual skill, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so no matter how much I was, I couldn't help but be surprised.

Especially, the second goal that beat Lucia, Valentina, and Tiana in sequence. I wanted to clap for the level of play that I hadn't seen in a while.

Of course, I didn't clap because I was running on the field.

Anyway, seeing such a play that opened my eyes in a long time, I thought I should return the favor.

There was about 20 minutes left.

‘Tsk. It's a bit tight.’

We conceded one goal, but the centerback line of Josephin and Gabriela held firm, so if we continued at our usual tempo, 20 minutes would be insufficient.

But if we raised the tempo, it wouldn't be that short.

Well, Clemence, who was marking me, had received a yellow card, so she was completely out of it. So it was okay to raise the tempo a bit.

“Arnal.”

“Huh?”

“Raise the tempo.”

I told Arnal, who was holding the ball in the center and preparing to pass to me, to prepare. If we raised the tempo, Arnal, who had to deliver the finishing blow, would know in advance and reduce the chance of error.

Thud.

Arnal's short pass came to me.

Well, we decided to raise the tempo, but we had to take time to position ourselves, so I passed to Lucia waiting behind and took position.

Normally, after positioning, I would wait a bit, but now was the time to raise the tempo.

As soon as I took position, I signaled Lucia to pass. And Lucia, being one of the geniuses I recognized, immediately understood my intention and connected a pass that went under two players.

“Hup…”

The rough breath of Clemence, who had been toyed with throughout the first half, came from behind. She seemed slightly tense, as if she hadn't prepared her mind yet.

And being tense meant her movements were slower!

Even while receiving the pass and turning back, the pressure I felt earlier was completely gone. Now it was a 1:1 standoff. From her shaking eyes, it was clear she was buying time until her teammates arrived.

‘Who is it this time?’

Based on today's pattern, the player marking me was centerback Josephin and midfielder Iris. I glanced back, and this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time Josephin was running towards me.

‘If this is the case...’

And Josephin, the centerback, running towards me while I was thinking of sending a forward pass instead of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back pass was quite welcome.

Arnal was ready to run to fulfill my instruction to raise the tempo. When Josephin came about 4-5m forward, I swept the floor in front of the ball with my foot to draw Clemence's attention.

The pattern I had imprinted on this guy's head today was to do a fake here. I pretended to do a fake with my left foot as per the pattern so far, and shot a forward pass straight ahead.

“Eh...!”

With Clemence's surprised cry, the out-front pass I shot curved towards Arnal. I ran forward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠believing Arnal would receive my pass.

From behind, Josephin turned direction and grabbed my jersey. As a centerback, the grip was strong. But this was also a situation I had anticipated. All day today, I had been grabbed by Josephin several times, but after deciding to use the secret weapon I never used here, I swung my elbow hard to knock away her hand.

“Kyut!”

Josephin didn't know I would hit her hand with my elbow, so her hand slipped from my jersey for a moment. And with that brief gap, Arnal, who received my pass with her back to Gabriela, the other centerback, returned the pass to me.

If I held the ball and ran here, I'd lose physically to Josephin.

What I was allowed was only a brief moment where I could touch the ball at most once or twice.

And for me, even one touch was enough time.

Thud.

I sent the ball one-touch to the right. The target was Eloya waiting outside the penalty box.

There wasn't a big reason for choosing Eloya. It was just that when I sent the ball into the penalty box, the pressure on Eloya suddenly loosened, which I noticed.

And when Eloya received the ball, Josephin, who was marking me, entered the penalty box. Since Clemence was chasing me, it was a natural choice for a top centerback. But to pressure me, Clemence needed a bit of time,

While sending the pass, I gestured for a 2:1 pass, and Eloya sent a one-touch pass back.

“No...!”

Clemence, still not letting go of her senses, blocked my feet to a position where I could control the ball.

But I didn't intend to drop the pass to the ground.

Thud.

I hit the ball with my left foot, which was farther away, sending it high, then flipped it with my right heel to the opposite side of where the guy was, turned my body half a circle with my back to her. When I looked up, the ball was at chest height as I intended.

And if the ball was in the air like this...!

Bang!

At the moment I kicked the ball at chest height like taekwondo with my left foot, a sound that didn't sound like a shot came out.

Honestly, as someone who enjoys the most probable play, I didn't want to do such a low-probability risky play. Honestly, even as the world's best soccer player, such unstable shots had only a 30-40% success rate.

If I took time, I could score almost 100%, but normally I wouldn't need to do such risky plays.

But now was the time to lift the team's atmosphere, which had slightly sunk due to Marisol's one-man show!

Anyway, with about 20 minutes left, there might be another chance once, so I boldly shot with one foot,

The shot that was curving like going out of the goal started to curve into the goal.

Exactly as I intended.

—Waaaaaaa!!!!!!

“Ryu!!!”

“…Wow. Even in real life...”

The fans' cheers and teammates muttering came to my ears after the shot lost balance. While listening to the pleasant sound, I lay on the ground and punched the air, and the cheers grew even louder despite being at Real Madrid's home stadium.

‘...Ah, I need to score one more goal?’

Fan service ends here.

Of course, personally I wanted to feel this thrill for longer, but since I also wanted to feel the thrill of scoring a hat-trick in El Clasico, I quickly got up from the ground before my teammates gathered.

“Ryu! You crazy woman!”

“…Not a woman, though. Anyway, let's save the celebration for later and go score one more goal. We won't be satisfied with a draw, right?”

After saving the celebration, I ran to the goal where the ball was rolling, and the goalkeeper, annoyed by the sight, picked up the ball inside the goal and kicked it far away.

‘Well, it's only 10-20 seconds difference...’

Well, the goalkeeper's angry face was quite thrilling, so I imprinted the guy's appearance in my mind and moved my steps towards the center line.

But unfortunately, this goal was the last goal of the match.

The players with maximum concentration due to Marisol's three-man breakthrough and my one-man volley shot didn't allow even one mistake, and just like someone said that if all players play perfectly, the score would be 0:0 forever, the players from both teams couldn't break through each other's defenses, and the match ended.

But when it ended in a draw, the ones laughing were naturally us. Because we were still leading by 2 points.

‘Tsk. It would have been better if it was a hat-trick... A bit disappointing.’

Of course, there was a regret that if I scored a hat-trick and won the match, it would have been perfect, but anyway, the points were still 2 points ahead.

The remaining matches were against relatively weak teams Levante and Real Sociedad, so we could say we had crossed the 9th ridge towards the championship.

“Good. Let's run to the championship like this!”

"No, Ryu, there's panties and dancing... "

"...I'm fine. Eh, eh?! T, Tiana!"

"Get out of here."

‘Tsk, was I too obvious?’

...There was a sudden situation where Valentina lifted my body and threw me out of the locker room, but after holding a party celebrating crossing the 9th ridge at the away stadium Bernabeu, we could proudly walk to Barcelona like a conqueror.