Chapter 524: Wonderful Connection

That goal from Frank was quite the blow to Unique FC so close to the fast-approaching break, however, the home team did not falter.

On the contrary, they become more aggressive, desperate to find the equalizer before the halftime break.

However, their efforts yielded no results as Mateo continued to get frustrated by Dynamo FC's goalkeeper, Victor.

After that goal by Frank, the winger who was filling in the role of a midfielder at the moment, got two very good chances to level the game, two chances which he ended up squandering.

The first chance came from a through ball from Dave after Minino sent it back to the goalkeeper from the halfway line.

Dave was able to drop the ball right in front of him just on the edge of the box but before the youngster could do anything with the ball, Victor was already upon him, and with his gloves, the goalkeeper knocked the ball away from him, putting an end to the threat.

Mateo tried to argue that he touched the ball outside his line but after a quick VAR check, it was confirmed that the ball was just in the box when the goalkeeper touched it, the youngster wasn't happy about that but he had to roll with it.

The second chance wasn't as clear as the first one but it was the more impressive one.

A volley from Ferran's corner just outside the box, he got a really good hit on the ball with his right foot aiming for the top right corner.

That would have been a wonderful equalizer but unfortunately for the midfielder, Victor was able to get to the ball with the tip of his glove just in time, and with it, he was able to send the ball over the bar for a corner kick.

That one caused Mateo to almost throw a tantrum on the pitch as he kicked the floor as hard as he could before squatting down, raising his hand to slam it on the ground, and stopping just before he could actually hit it.

Dynamo FC didn't really get any other impressive chance after their goal but they were well satisfied to finish the first half of the game with the lead.

"Well, there you have it folks, the first half of this heated battle has come to an end. Make sure to stick around for the second half because I have a feeling the heat is about to blast through the roof." Jim articulated as the players made their way down the tunnel.

While his teammates were quickly making their way down the tunnel, Mateo seemed to be dragging his feet, and noticing this, Dave decided to pull back.

"Hey." He called to get the attention of the youngster who would have walked past him otherwise.

'His mind seems to be elsewhere.'

<Well, considering the chances he blew, I understand how he must feel>

"Oh, hey, Dave," Mateo responded, his voice sounding half-hearted as he stopped moving.

"Are you okay?" The goalkeeper inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment." He responded quite hastily before he continued moving forward, disappearing down the tunnel before Dave could say anything else to him.

"He sure doesn't sound fine to me."

<Don't worry, he's okay. Victor seems to have left a lasting impression on him, I'm not sure he'll ever forget the goalkeeper after the events of today>

Listening to everything Catherine just said, Dave slowly turned to the opposition goalpost.

'Yeah, he's really good.'

_________ _________

Every Unique FC were present in the locker room at the moment as Norman could be seen standing in front of them repeatedly tapping his right foot on the floor with his arms crossed behind him.

"I'll say, not bad." He said after taking a deep breath. "You've all played well in this half but failing to capitalize on our chances is the reason why we are currently behind and that just won't do." He snapped, stomping his right foot on the ground.

Mateo felt like he was to blame for that and that was the reason why he had his gaze on the floor at the moment.

"We've clearly been the dominant side, we've created more chances and with those chances, we should have gotten at least two goals by now, I don't want things to remain this way in the second half." The coach articulated, his gaze slowly shifting to Mateo. "Mateo."

Hearing his name, the youngster slowly lifted his head to meet Norman's gaze.

He stared at the coach expecting him to say at least one harsh word to him, however,

"You've also done well so far but I know this isn't the best you can give, you have to get your head into the game if we're going to come out of this game on top." He said to the winger, almost yelling at him in the last part.

"You seem to be too eager to score so you're driving forward a bit too much and although that's good since you almost got a couple of goals, we'll have to stick more to the script for the second half.

"We seem to be handling their offenses pretty decently but both fullbacks will have to take note not to stray too far from their positions, it'll be best if we avoid another counterattack like that one."

After that, Norman went ahead to hash out a couple more errors he noticed from his team in the first half while presenting solutions to counter them.

________ ________

A few minutes later…

The break was over now as the players from both sides could be seen on the pitch.

Fred could be seen standing over the ball, waiting for the referee's whistle while trying to decide which of his teammates to pass the ball to.

"Unique FC will have to try and get that equalizer to get their team spirit back to full force and I'm sure Dynamo won't make that any easier for them.

The referee's whistle resounded through the stadium at that moment, and as soon as Fred heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo who quickly pushed it toward Ferran.

Frank quickly rushed toward the midfielder as soon as the ball got to his feet but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Roland.

"Roland."

The fullback wasn't too quick to move with the ball allowing Frank to close in before pushing it to Aima.

Damian quickly rushed the center back as soon as he got his foot on the ball but he was fast enough to push the ball back to Dave with a backheel pass.

The striker pushed further forward in a desperate attempt to get the ball off the goalkeeper and score an easy goal but Dave had already sent the ball rolling to Norman because he could get to him.

Not even giving Connell the chance to get close to him, the fullback sent the ball flying to Minino.

The midfielder brought the ball down with his chest, quickly pushing away from the midfielder behind him.

He had a lot of space to either pass the ball to Martinez or find Ferran on the other side but he didn't have any of that in mind.

Before the midfielder behind him could get to him, he quickly pulled his right foot back and sent the ball flying back to Dave.

"Oh, what are they trying to pull here?"

The goalkeeper brought the ball down with his chest, and trying to take advantage of the current situation of him not being able to pick the ball up, Damian rushed straight toward him.

However, Dave was fast enough to quickly cut toward the right before he could get to him, and without hesitation, he sent the ball flying down the right flank, an attempt to find Merino who had already stretched down there.

"The moment of truth."

The goalkeeper was successful in getting the ball to Merino who had the fullback in the area right behind him but he wasn't much trouble as the forward was able to get past him with a backheel nutmeg just after getting the ball down.

"Oh, that was nasty."

He quickly pushed forward with the ball after that as Mateo along with the other midfielders pushed forward also.

Fred quickly made his way into the box, one of the center-backs sticking close to him and finding him at that moment, Merino sent the ball flying to him with a lob before the other center-back could double-cross him.

"I wasn't expecting this from Unique, surely they can find that equalizer now."

The ball was able to get to Fred successfully but desperate to prevent a goal, the center back forced him out of shooting position with a pull but the striker was able to keep hold of the ball, and just before the center back could drag him down inside the box, he pushed the ball away from the box toward Mateo who had just entered the area free of any markers, a grave mistake by Dynamo.

"Mateo."

The youngster quickly got his foot on the ball pushing past the center back who was occupied by Fred at that moment to get into the box.

"Surely now!"

This time, Victor wasn't able to rush out of his box as Mateo pulled his right foot back and fired the ball forward, aiming for the bottom right corner.

The goalkeeper could only stand and watch as the ball flew past him and into the goalpost, dragging the net back.

"Oh, there you have it! They have their equalizer and who else but Mateo to put it in the box!"

The fans erupted in cheers as the youngster took off to the sidelines screaming and jumping.

"Trying stopping that one!" He screamed as he kicked the corner flag.

Minino got to him at that moment and putting his hand over his shoulder, he dragged him back, rubbing his head with a bright smile on his face.

"I would have kicked you if you had missed that one."

Back on the other side, Dave had a bright smile on his face with both of his hands up as the fans chanted in jubilation.

"That was a wonderful connection between the players but I think Dynamo was a little lax in defense there, letting Mateo run free like that," Steve commented. "I guess his missed chances in the first half gave them the impression that he wasn't much of a threat, they'll have to keep him locked if they want to at least drag this game out."

"Definitely," Jim affirmed.

<See, I told you he was okay>

Dave looked far ahead at that moment to see the youngster enthusiastically urging the fans to keep cheering.

"Yeah, he does look okay now."