Chapter 529: To The Semi-final

When it came to the matter of who was supposed to be the man of the match for the game that had just been concluded, there were two clear contenders on Unique FC's side.

The goalkeeper who did really well to support his team more than any other goalkeeper could do in this modern day, finding the back of the net once and providing an assist.

Then there was the winger who has had way better games compared to this one as he missed a lot of good chances early on but he did manage to find the back of the net twice, scoring that wonderful overhead kick just after they lost Minino to keep their morale up.

It was too close to call between the two but to anyone who clearly observed the match, one had a slight edge over the other.

"The man of the match for the game is Dave Richards."

That was announced just after the end of the game and it would be a huge offense to say that it was undeserved in any way, but there were still some people who thought Mateo deserved it.

"Well, would you look at that folks, looks like this game has finally drawn to a close. Both teams seemed to be equally matched in the first half of the game, and that was why things had to change in the second half of the game." Jim articulated. "Unique FC came with the heat and Dynamo just couldn't keep up even after getting the advantage of playing with one more player."

"I think the problem lies with Frank leaving, their team started to look considerably inferior to Unique FC after the midfielder had to exit the game, he was like the glue that held the team together, creating chances for his teammates and himself but once he was taken off, the creativity on Dynamo's side died and that was exactly what Unique needed.

I guess Minino read that much into it and decided to do what he did." Steve commented.

"Probably. Moving on, with this victory, Unique FC will be moving on to the semi-final where they will be facing second-division side, Norlin FC who managed to scrape through with a two goals to one victory against Junami United today.

"And on the other side of things, Supreme United will be facing Litno FC to determine which of them will be making it to the finals."

"With that setting, there's a good chance we'll be getting a Bilbeth Super Cup final between the top two teams of the league according to the table currently, that sure will be exciting to see." Steve articulated.

After that, they went on to talk about a couple of other things before finally ending the broadcast.

At the moment, the Unique FC squad could be seen standing in front of the fans, waving at them while they waved back and praised them with bright smiles overflowing with joy and ecstasy on their faces.

It had been a while since they'd experienced this kind of season and they just couldn't contain their joy.

It has been a long journey of defeats, humiliation, and regrets but they were on the right track to a treble now.

"You're doing a great job, Norman!" A certain section of the crowd screamed.

"We hope all of you stay forever! Especially Dave and Mateo!"

Hearing that, Dave couldn't help but bring his gaze down with a sigh.

"I certainly can promise you that." He muttered.

After a while of thanking the fans for coming to cheer them on today, it was finally time for the players to start heading down.

The post-match interview had already been concluded so Dave didn't have anything to worry about as he made his way toward the tunnel alongside Mateo.

That said, Amber was still hanging around the area, she seemed to be talking to some of the staff on their team but without her mic, and when she caught sight of the two, she waved at them with a smile.

"Well, she's certainly looking bright these days." The goalkeeper muttered as he waved back at her, his gaze slowly shifting to Mateo who was also waving back at her.

"I guess." The winger responded before slowly bringing his gaze down. "Anyway, this is your third man of the match award in this tournament, and the third one in a row. You have a pretty decent chance of winning the Player of the Tournament award."

"No, I think you have it in the bag." Dave shrugged.

"No, Dave, at this point, you have a better chance of winning the award than anyone currently. Think about it, three consecutive man of the match awards, three goals all of which came from free-kicks and four assists, the most tied with Frank who is now no longer in the tournament."

<He has a very strong argument>

"True, but you are the current top scorer, one goal ahead of Roland with five goals, you also have two assists and one man of the match award." The goalkeeper remarked. "I might have a slight edge now but we still have the semi-final and final to decide things."

"Well, at least you agree that you have the edge," Mateo said, walking ahead of him.

Dave suddenly stopped walking at that moment after letting out a sigh, and just after getting to the entrance to the tunnels, the winger stopped to turn to him.

"I'm rooting for you." He smiled.

The two made their way to the locker room after that to find that there was no wild celebration going on, but Minino was still making a lot of noise talking to his teammates.

At the moment, the midfielder was having a conversation with Adolf and Martinez, and looking at him, Mateo couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows with a deep frown.

"That idiot." He grumbled as he made his way to him.

He got to the midfielder in no time, and with his right hand, he sent down a chop on his head.

"Hey, what was that for?" Minino turned to him with a snap and a deep scowl on his face.

"You said you weren't going to do it and you still went ahead and did it." Mateo snapped back.

"Hey, come on, chill, Mateo. It ended up working in our favor, did it not?"

Getting that response, Mateo couldn't help but shake his head before letting out a sigh.

"It could have also worked against us, what if you didn't deal enough damage to take him out?"

"I'm sure you guys would have figured…."

He wasn't able to finish that statement as he suddenly found Mateo glaring at him, his eyes piercing through him.

"Uhhh, I'm just glad we managed to pull through somehow." He rephrased his words, his voice calmer than usual.

"Yeah, me too." Mateo sighed. "So, Dave…"

He turned toward the goalkeeper's locker at that moment to find out that he wasn't in the room at the moment.

"Oh, he left."

The goalkeeper was in the bathroom at that moment, staring at the image of himself in the mirror but that wasn't really what he was there to do.

[ Quest completed ]

[ You successfully helped your team secure a victory ]

[ Quest rewards ]

[ +150 exp received ]

[ +5 skill upgrade points received ]

[ +1 skill point received ]

'Now, the post-match rewards.'

[ Victory rewards ]

[ Goals conceded(1): 0exp ]

[ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]

[ Goals scored(1): +150 exp ]

[ Assists provided (1): +100 exp ]

[ Match rating: 9.5 ]

[ Congratulations ]

[ Market value has increased by €200,000 ]

[ Current market value: €1.5M~€1.7M ]

'Well, that's something.'