From Arsenal to the Ball God

The time slowly approached the Christmas of December 25th, and the streets of Sheffield City became lively. Most of the passersby wore smiles, harboring anticipation for the New Year.

Many people dressed in Santa Claus outfits had already taken to the streets, carrying candies, beating drums, warming up in advance.

”Quick, put it up! Be careful!”

”Give me a hand!”

One Christmas tree after another was set up by the street, moved onto rooftops, and even erected with canopies between buildings, with colorful light strings everywhere. Many people also built small Christmas cottages.

It can be expected that the night of Christmas Day will be splendid and magnificent.

Apart from these, around Bramall Lane Stadium, huge posters about the Boxing Day battle were also hung on landmark buildings.

December 26

Sheffield United F.C. vs. Hull City!!

Boxing Day!

Beneath the text was a group photo of important players from Sheffield United. It was taken from their pre-season promotional photos, composed later.

Ma’el’s photo, with clenched fists and a wide open mouth roaring, along with the goalkeeper Robert’s photo of him spreading his arms, was placed in the center, occupying the C position, very eye-catching, and usually the first thing passersby would notice.

His current status in the team is naturally higher than ever before.

Most fans who saw this poster had no doubts, only feeling it was rightful.

Moreover, various music stores, apparel stores, supermarkets, and so on near the stadium were temporarily authorized to sell club memorabilia.

The red and white jerseys hung outside the store doors, dyeing the entire neighborhood in Sheffield elements, with numerous stalls selling scarves, hats, and player poster collections.

Everything was hyping up for this match, the 23rd round of the Championship, the midseason finale, achieving unprecedented high heat!

Fans were all anticipating the team to bring them joy on Boxing Day with an exciting match!

On December 23, Christmas was approaching, and with only three days left until the game began, the city center was bustling, with many people gathered around the fan shops and stalls.

”Give me a poster!”

”I want Ma’el’s poster, is there a collection of his celebration moves?”

”We have it here, but it’s not in poster format, it’s a photo collection, just photos.”

”I’ll take it!”

”Do you have scarves printed with Evans’s number or name?”

”...”

Their purchasing power was amazing. In just a couple of hours, exquisite items with Sheffield’s red and white elements became fashionable things in the vicinity.

More and more passersby were holding team scarves, player posters, and wearing Santa hats, perfectly merging the colors of Sheffield and Christmas.

Those with empty hands became the odd ones on the street, and the herd mentality led them to join the consuming crowd as well.

...

A taxi drove into the city area, driven slowly by a visibly impatient driver, clearly not by choice.

The Clément family of five sat in the car, dressed in brand new clothes, looking excited and curious.

Though it was overcrowded, they managed to persuade the driver with a 20-pound tip to allow the petite Eva to sit on her elder sister’s lap, hiding along the way.

With this extra income, the driver, feeling constrained by their generosity, agreed when Clément requested to drive slower.

”There’s another poster.”

Betty looked at the scenes outside the window, her curiosity making her unusually talkative, ”It’s Ma’el again, he’s in the center!”

This was the main reason they asked the driver to slow down... to see their nephew!

They landed at Manchester International Airport at noon, took a bus to Sheffield, and finally took a taxi into the city.

Upon entering, they noticed numerous football-related elements.

And as long as it was related to football, they would surely find traces of Ma’el’s presence.

This was beyond their expectations. Even though they watched their nephew’s matches on TV every week, knowing he had become a minor star, that understanding was limited to the football field.

They had no idea of their nephew’s influence in the secular world until now, when it became clearer.

”Haha.”

Clément stared dumbfounded at the classical buildings adorned with their nephew’s image, rendered speechless by the astonishment.

For ordinary families like them, they had never imagined that a family member’s image could one day be hung on landmark buildings in the city center. This was a tremendous honor.

”There are so many people here.”

The eldest in the family sighed, expressing her longing for the big city, ”Compared to this, our place is like a small tourist town.”

”A long time ago, our place was actually the political, economic, and cultural center.”

Clément was about to introduce it to her when his attention was again diverted to the window, as they passed a clothing street.

Typically lined with artificial models, the shops today were adorned with Sheffield United jerseys and life-sized cutouts of Sheffield players made from cardboards.

Fans holding phones stood happily beside these cutouts, taking photos with their beloved stars.

Ma’el’s cutout attracted the most people, at least twenty or more, prompting people to queue for a photo opportunity with it. Many young people were mimicking Ma’el’s celebratory actions alongside.

They posed with finger guns, extended ten fingers, spread arms with eyes closed, head tilted up—the scene was truly joyous.

”Unbelievable, he’s just a replica. If he were really standing on the street, he’d be quickly surrounded.”