My Goalkeeping System

The goalkeeper was the first to get up as usual and after sitting up on his bed and stretching himself, he turned to Mateo to see that he was still fast asleep on his bed.

'Pre-season tour match day two.' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before getting up from his bed.

Today was the day, the day they were going to face Benfica at the Reale Arena but unlike the match against Manchester United, this one was going to be taking place in the evening by 4:30 PM, so they had a lot of time to train, get ready and get there on time.

The training session kicked off at 8:30 AM after they all had their breakfast.

The training lasted for about two hours before they returned to start getting ready for their trip to the Reale Arena.

Norman had not told anything about the match tactics and the players who were going to be starting yet but he told them he was going to do that as soon as they finished having their lunch.

Right now, the players were gathered in the large room that had the PlayStation in it, they were all sitting on the benches in the room with Norman standing in front of them.

"Before I tell you about the tactics, I would like to reveal the players that will be starting." The coach said. "In between the sticks will be Alexander."

'Huh.' A shocked expression suddenly appeared on the goalkeeper's face.

"Our right-back will be Luis Roberto, the two center-backs will be Pirlo and Aima and Roland will be in the left-back position. Frankie will be replacing Minino in the right midfield position but Ferran and Edward will start. Carlos and Mateo will be our two wingers but Gregory will be starting in the striking position."

"But coach." Dave tried to object.

"I know what you want to say, Dave, but this is just a friendly match, the perfect match to test those that don't get much playing time and see what they can do," Norman explained. "There are going to be days when you won't be available to play and during those days, Alexander will have to fill in for you so he should get enough of the exposure he needs."

Norman's words were enough to keep Dave quiet as he found them to be very meaningful but he was still uneasy, he was worried about his pre-season quest.

'What will happen to my quest now, Catherine?'

<Well, you'll have to wait for the match to start to find out>

After listing the players that were going to be starting, Norman went on to explain his tactics and after that, it was now time for the players to start heading to the Reale Arena.

They got to the Reale Arena by 2:40 PM to find out that their opponents were already there and were currently warming up on the pitch.

They quickly made their way into the locker room and got changed into their training outfits and after that, they made their way straight to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.

The Benfica players were already there warming up, they were putting on their black home shorts but some of them were putting on blue shirts while others were putting on red jackets.

The warm-up lasted until 4:00 PM when the players were told to head into the pitch and get ready for the match.

Just before they could start heading out of the locker room, Dave decided to say a few words to someone.

Alexander was about to start heading toward the door when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and on turning, he could see that it was Dave.

"Hey." He said. "I just wanted to say that you should try and be calmer out there, don't get distracted that way you won't make too many mistakes."

"I know, this isn't the first time I'm starting in the senior squad," Alexander said. "Remember that time you were out with a concussion and I had to start against Litno FC?"

"Yeah."

"We didn't win the match but we didn't lose it either, I can handle myself." He said before making his way out of the room.

Dave watched him until he was out of the room before he began to make his way to the exit.

Benfica were putting on their red and black home kit while Unique FC were putting on their second away kit which was a black kit with just three orange stripes that was just the shirt though as the short was just plain black just like the goalkeeper's whole kit.

"Welcome everyone from around the world, it's your regular commentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as always to offer his expert opinion and analysis is Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the players made their way to the pitch.

"Thank you, Jim, I'm elated to be back here once again to share my opinions alongside you," Steve said.

"Unique FC surprisingly held Manchester United down to a one-one draw on Sunday all thanks to Dave's heroics because the match would have ended in a whole different way if it wasn't for him," Jim said. "While Benfica ran away with a win against Supreme United on that same day, beating them two goals to nothing, Unique FC is the second Bilbeth Premier League side they'll be facing and they're doing it right now."

"They beat Supreme United?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.

"That's really nothing to be surprised about," Minino said. "They are a stronger team than Supreme United on paper but beating Supreme United doesn't mean they can beat us, you know."

'I want to believe that but it's really hard, especially with just a few of the players from the main squad being on the pitch.'

"Looks like things are going to be tougher for Unique FC, Dave Richards is on the bench and seventeen-year-old Alexander is the one replacing him between the sticks," Jim said.

"He lacks experience and that's something Benfica could use to their advantage but that's the main point of the match, to give players with less experience more exposure to gather experience, I think this is the right call from Norman although it may cost him the match but what does it matter, it's just a friendly match?" Steve expressed.

Benfica were going to be the ones to kick off the game and as soon as the player standing over the ball heard the referee's whistle, he passed the ball to his teammate.

'So, what did you say I was going to see after the match kicks off, Catherine?'

<You'll have to wait for something to happen>

The goalkeeper wanted to ask her more questions but the sudden shout from the crowd caused him to turn his gaze to the pitch to see that his team was in danger.

"Lakoviç, still Lakoviç!" Jim exclaimed.

The winger dribbled past Roland and Aima and once he found space from the edge of the box, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.

"Lakoviç!"

He seemed to have struck the ball a little too hard as the ball was sent flying over the bar with Alexander jumping up in an attempt to catch it.

"Oh, that was so close," Steve said.

"That was close." Dave breathed a sigh of relief.

****

New year mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

Mass release for goals met last month will still be rewarded on the due dates.