Greatest Of All Legends

419  Glory Addict II

#25th minute

The Nacional team that had taken their intensity a notch further had kept pushing immediately they went behind and it seemed that the universe was about to reward them for their efforts as they had pushed the Oporto team back and were now passing the ball around in their half.

Soon one Nacional player lost his patience as the Oporto players were only trying to block their path instead of committing to tackles which would create space for them to break through.

The player sent a hopeful pass forward and the ball somehow managed to evade the Oporto players before reaching the Nacional striker.

Having gotten this far, the Nacional striker took control of the ball and took on his marker in a contest of strength, holding him off as he adjusted his direction into the best shape for a shot.

As soon as he was in position, he did not hesitate to unleash a powerful shot at the Oporto goal.

{A shot!?} the commentator shouted as the ball flew powerfully at the Oporto goal but Marchesin wasn't a decorative ornament and immediately lunged for the ball, getting in the way of the shot and punching it towards the right.

Before the Oporto team could relax that they were out of danger, the Nacional right winger who had been lurking and waiting for a chance pounced on the loose ball and chipped it over Marchesin who had yet to recover from the save.

{Another try!} the commentator shouted as the ball flew towards the back of the net.

The Oporto defenders chased after the ball, but couldn't reach it in time and the ball crossed the goal line, giving the Nacional team the equalizer just three minutes after going behind.

{It's taken them no time at all! You score, we score!}

{With that they've equalized!}

{It's the fans' first time at the stadiums after a while and the two teams are putting on a show that was worth the wait!} The commentator went on and on in his spiel while the Nacional players and their fans celebrated joyously.

Soon enough, the Nacional players had to stop celebrating so that the match could continue.

As soon as the match resumed, the Oporto players also tried to take the reins and force another goal out of their opponents, but the Nacional team knew to transition to a more defensive game play and they defended like their life depended on it.

Of course, this wasn't able to completely keep out the Oporto team and was only able to keep their attempts at goal to a bare minimum, but the Nacional team's luck showed its hand and the Oporto team was unable to register a goal despite having managed to create a few clear cut chances after a lot of work.

Mylo was particularly wasteful as he managed to get two one-on-one chances with the Nacional goalkeeper, but was unable to get the ball into the back of the net despite getting it past the goalkeeper.

The first chance was hit wide when he tried to curl the ball around the goalkeeper and the second chance flew just over the bar when he tried to chip the ball over the goalkeeper.

With the Oporto team wasting all their chances and the Nacional team's few and far in-between chances, the first half soon came to an end and the players headed into the tunnel for a fifteen minute consultation with their coaches while they rested their exhausted bodies.

"Good work out there in the first half…"Conceicao started.

"... but you haven't done well enough out there, we should be leading by more despite them playing defensively," he said, glaring at his players. It was clear that he was not happy with what he was seeing.

"We already worked on this in training and I've emphasized time and time again on effectiveness,"

"Not beauty! If you see a chance, you take it, I don't care if you have to push in the ball with your balls!" he ranted in rage.

"You can't keep being wasteful like you were, otherwise, this might just come back to bite us if they score another one and park the bus,"

"Mylo, that chance where you chipped the ball, next time, just hit it past the goalkeeper,"

"This isn't freestyle football, we're professionals here, you try that again and you will be taken off, is that clear?" Conceicao turned to Mylo and said sternly.

"Yes coach," Mylo muttered, but inwardly he scoffed at the manager's words.

"If all that is clear, then let's look at how we are going to play in the second half," Conceicao turned away after receiving the answer he wanted from Mylo.

For the remaining time, Conceicao gave instructions on how to crack the opposition's defense. He didn't need to say too much as the players were already able to get through, but he needed them to be able to do it with more ease.

Soon, the break was over and the players headed back to the field with neither manager making any changes to the line-up yet.

They seemed to have their own plans for when to start making substitutions, but now was not the time and the match soon resumed.

*Fweeeeeee*

With the referee's whistle, the second half kicked off and the two teams once again went at each other, trying to take the lead and win the game.

Time quickly ran down, yet neither team managed to score and the clock had already gone past the seventieth minute.

The managers had long started making changes to try and shake up the game, but so far, there was no effect.

The Oporto defense were still standing strong and barely allowing the Nacional team in while the Oporto team was still wasting the few chances they had.

#76th minute… n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Oporto team once again found a way past the Nacional defense and Diaz soon found enough space to send a cross into the penalty box.

The ball flew into the penalty box and Oliveira and his marker rose to the ball, but due to constantly pushing against themselves, they both missed the ball and the ball flew past them and found Mylo who was all alone.

Putting his leg out to catch the ball, he sent the ball high into the air and it soon started coming down towards him.

Despite doing this, no one was near him and he had enough time to catch the ball and smoothly slot the ball past the goalkeeper, but Mylo's next move shocked everyone as he turned his back to face the post and jumped into the air in a kicking motion.

It was clear to everyone what he was trying to do, and it was an understatement to say everyone was surprised, but they were even more shocked when he mishit the ball and sent it high and wide.

{What a chance! And What a letdown!}

{What was he thinking!? He was all alone for that shot!}

{He might have to start looking at the sidelines now to see if he will stay on after that miss} The commentator did his job not pulling his oral punches, and just as he had said, Conceicao who had his head in his hands immediately called out to Jason to start warming up.

Jason did not waste any time and got to his feet to begin warming up, happy that he might get some play time after a while, and happier that Mylo was playing like shit.

However, Mylo's terrible wasn't the end of Oporto's problems as the Nacional goalkeeper quickly collected a ball from the ball boy and sent the ball flying back into the field.

The ball flew powerfully at Oporto's half of the field and somehow managed to reach the Nacional's right winger.

The Oporto team had been playing a high line to break past the Nacional's defence and that had come back to bite them as the Nacional player ran up to Marchesin and dribbled past him before slotting the ball into the back of the net.

{Shocking! Absolutely shocking!}

{They're looking to run away with it! What a comeback against a stronger opponent!}

{The Oporto fans might not be happy, but this is exciting football!} the commentator shouted exuberantly as the Nacional team celebrated their goal.

The goal also marked Mylo's last moments on the pitch as the assistant referee held up his board and on it was Mylo's number in red.

"I want you taking Mylo's place in the striking position and trying to catch them off guard with your pace. They're exhausted so you should wait on the last line and try to time your runs so you can get in behind,"

"This is no time for anything fancy, we need goals and I trust you should be able to help the team get that," Conceicao told Jason as Mylo walked toward the sidelines, an angry look on his face.

He didn't even stretch out his hand for an handshake when he reached the sidelines which worked out for Jason because he would have slapped the hand away.

Ignoring Mylo, Jason did a cross sign and touched the field before running onto the pitch.