"Don’t shit yourself, kid. We’re still winning." A deep yet trustworthy voice rang out from behind him, surprising Archie Gray quite a bit.
"A-Ah sorry, Skip," Archie muttered, suddenly feeling a little better, though his hands were still trembling.
"I’m Rio, the guy who just scored from 80 yards. Nice to et you," Rio smiled warmly, slapping the teenager on the back.
"I know who you are, you idiot," Archie replied, a small grin breaking through his panic.
The small chat and joke seed to have cald any nerves that Archie had leftover from his mistake that led to the goal, allowing him to concentrate. He saw the Hull City players rushing back to the center circle, hungry for an equalizer.
Unfortunately, the crowd was getting nervous. The Elland Road roar had turned into an anxious murmur. Since he was a local lad, Archie was well aware that the mood of the stadium could weigh heavy on young shoulders.
’This Philogene guy is fast,’ Archie thought inwardly. Knowing that he had been beaten for pace once already only served to light a fire within him. Ever since breaking into the first team, he vowed to never be a liability, even if he was playing out of position.
’I’ll snap him next ti.’
Hull City kicked off. Coyle sent a long ball towards the sa wing, wanting to exploit the nervous energy of the young midfielder.
"As if I’ll let you!"
Archie loaded up his legs and sprinted hard, intercepting the ball right in front of the Hull winger.
"Yes!" The fans in the West Stand cheered, seeing how the youngster put his body on the line.
"GET RID OF IT!"
Liam Cooper let out a shout as his veins seed to almost rip through his neck. He stepped up the defensive line, screaming for Archie to clear his lines.
Archie swung his boot and was about to hoof it into Row Z, however, he was surprised to see that Rio was already showing for the ball in a pocket of space. In a fraction of a second, he made the decision to play a risky pass along the ground.
"Lovely."
Rio trapped the ball a few monts later with a calm look on his face.
"Ah, nice pass, kid," He praised.
Farke couldn’t help but smile after seeing the display. The pass was brave. The movent was elite.
Rio turned. He saw Coyle charging at him like a bull seeing red.
"Very good," Farke mumbled and began to write down so comnts on his notepad. "He is inviting the pressure."
Rio didn’t need to peek over his shoulder to know Coyle was coming. Just the fact that the Hull captain had been humiliated for eighty minutes was enough to know that he had bad intentions.
"Archie, go!" Rio said, pointing to the space Coyle had vacated.
A grin ford on his face. There was a certain pride with being the target of the opposition’s hate. It ant they feared him.
However, in the next mont, he shook his head. He shouldn’t let sothing like this distract him. What was the point in humiliating Coyle if they conceded a late equalizer? Absolutely nothing.
Coyle was soone who didn’t know when to quit; therefore, it was no surprise that he slid in with studs showing.
Rio flicked the ball up. It was currently the 88th minute and the score was 2-1, aning he had to either win a foul or kill the ga.
Since he didn’t trust the referee to give a red card in this chaos, this would likely be the only ti he would have the chance to teach Coyle a final lesson.
His eyes shifted to the corner flag.
"You sure like to dive in," Rio said to Coyle, who was currently sliding past him on the wet grass, missing the ball completely.
"Fuck off!" Coyle shouted from the ground, a hint of desperation in his tone.
"I like to stay on my feet, Lewie," Rio replied, a grin forming on his face.
Coyle’s face flashed with rage, yet he scrambled up a mont later.
’Looks like we need to break this guy.’
After saying so, he didn’t wait for a reply and chased after Rio, finally focusing on the ball.
Philogene, who had been staring daggers at Archie from the wing, was starting to feel stifled after being cut out of the ga by Rio’s positioning. It was almost as if he was being completely disregarded.
This, on top of being intercepted earlier, only served to fuel his urgency.
’I’m gonna equalize,’ Philogene ground his teeth, sprinting into the box.
Finally, the object of his focus, Rio, turned and faced the corner flag. Rio let out a deep breath, managing to calm his state of mind a little. It would do no good if he tried to score a worldie and lost possession.
He nodded at Archie, happy with the support run. In the next mont, Rio shielded the ball near the corner flag, planting his feet like tree trunks.
Coyle’s eyes narrowed as he attacked Rio’s back, trying to muscle him off the ball.
He waited a fraction of a second longer than he usually would before throwing all of his weight onto Rio’s spine and shoving with power.
THUD!
The very first impact was absorbed by Rio’s Titan’s Core. Rio didn’t budge. Coyle bounced off him, stumbling backward.
"Ref! He’s holding!" Coyle scread.
"Play on!" The referee waved his hands.
"Huh?" Coyle couldn’t help but stare at the Spaniard who was leisurely holding off two players, not even sweating.
’Is he made of stone?’
Rio smiled.
[Chat Room Active]
Hand_Of_King: Look at them! Like flies hitting a windshield. You are a mountain, Rio!
Total_Football_14: Now, turn. The space is inside. Coyle has overcommitted.
Zizou_5: A nutg here would end his career. Just saying.
Rio listened to the legends. He felt the weight of Coyle on his back disappear as the defender lost his balance.
He spun.
"See ya," Rio whispered.
He drove along the byline. He was in the box.
"Cut it back!" Piroe scread.
Rio looked up. He saw Piroe. But he also saw the Hull defense scrambling. It was chaos.
He chipped the ball to the back post.
Sumrville was there.
He volleyed it.
SMACK.
The ball hit the crossbar.
"NO!" The crowd groaned.
The ball bounced out. Hull cleared it.
"Reset!" Rio shouted, sprinting back.
He didn’t celebrate the chance. He didn’t mourn the miss. He ran back to his defensive position.
Farke on the sideline was clapping furiously.
’He isn’t stopping,’ Farke thought. ’Most wingers would have stayed down to complain.’
The coach praised Rio’s ntality inwardly, counting his lucky stars that a player like Rio would decide to stay at Leeds instead of pushing for a move to Wolves or Brighton.
Rio made his way back to the halfway line, only to be t with the panicked faces of his teammates. The Hull clearance had turned into a counter-attack.
Of course, that would only be true for those who did not know Leeds well. Rio’s eyes were drawn to Ethan Ampadu, who held the midfield line shakily.
Whenever the pressure was high, Ethan’s "Chelsea trauma" would subconsciously flare up.
A small smile ford on Rio’s face as he sprinted past the dugout. It wasn’t long before Farke was screaming instructions.
"Drop deep! Everyone back!" Farke yelled simply, expecting the worst.
Rio too went and grabbed Archie’s shirt, pulling him into position.
"4 minutes added ti," The fourth official signaled, prompting the Hull players to push forward.
It didn’t matter too much to Rio since he never planned on letting them score.
’I’m not giving up this win.’
He needed to put on a stellar defensive performance to cent his Player of the Month award.
Hull threw the ball into the box. It was desperate. A Hail Mary.
Delap, the Hull striker, rose high. He was a unit.
Rodon went up to challenge him.
CRUNCH.
They collided in the air. Rodon missed the ball.
"Huh?"
To his surprise, Delap had managed to win the header cleanly, directing it towards the bottom corner.
A play that Rodon made hundreds of tis caused him to be lax. He underestimated the leap of the young striker.
"S-Sorry slier!" Rodon called out, falling to the ground.
slier dived. He stretched his long fra.
PING.
He tipped it onto the post.
The ball rolled across the line.
Archie Gray froze. He was staring at the ball.
"CLEAR IT!" Rio scread, his voice cracking with urgency.
Archie snapped out of his daze. He swung his leg.
But Philogene was faster. He slid in to tap it ho.
[Skill: Elastic Limbs Active]
Rio appeared from nowhere. He had sprinted 40 yards.
He threw his body in front of Philogene.
THWACK.
Philogene kicked Rio’s shin instead of the ball.
"ARGH!" Philogene scread, clutching his foot.
Rio scrambled up. He hooked the ball away, sending it high into the stands.
PEEEP! PEEEP! PEEEP!
The final whistle blew.
2-1.
"YES!"
Rio fell to his knees. The adrenaline dumped out of his system.
"Rio!" Archie ran over and hugged him, tears in his eyes. "You saved us!"
"Get off , you heavy bastard," Rio laughed, though he hugged him back.
"I thought it was in," Archie sobbed. "I froze."
"It’s okay," Rio said, standing up and pulling Archie with him. "We won. That’s all that matters."
He looked at Rodon, who was still on the ground, looking guilty.
Rio walked over and offered a hand.
"Up," Rio commanded.
Rodon took it. "My bad, Rio. I lost him."
"Doesn’t matter," Rio said, pointing to the scoreboard. "Three points. Clean sheet for the second half. Good job."
Rodon looked at the young winger. He felt a sense of calm wash over him.
’He’s the real captain,’ Rodon thought.
Rio walked towards the tunnel. The fans were singing his na.
RIO! RIO! RIO!
He looked up at the directors’ box.
His dad was there. Carlos was standing, clapping slowly. Next to him, Leo was jumping up and down.
Rio pointed at them. Then he tapped his wrist.
Ti to pay up.
Carlos laughed, shaking his head. He knew what that ant. The Spanish business was getting sold.
Rio walked into the tunnel.
DING.
[System Notification]
[Match Complete]
[Result: Win (2-1)]
[Performance Rating: 9.8]
[Objective: Player of the Month - Probability 99%]
[New Chat mber Unlocked]
Rio froze. A new mber?
He opened the interface.
[Welco to the Chat Room: The King]
The_King: Not bad, kid. But your first touch on the throw-in was sloppy.
Rio’s eyes widened.
"Cantona?" He whispered.
"Rio! Are you coming?" Archie asked, popping his head back out of the dressing room.
Rio smirked, closing the interface.
"Yeah," Rio said. "I’m coming."
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