From Arsenal to the Ball God

Beside the field, Nasri and Evra sat there, their expressions filled with sighs, feeling as if the substitute bench was too hot to sit on.

”Beep beep!”

Quickly, Ma’el was substituted by Deschamps, and Malouda stood on the sideline ready to enter.

”No need to go to the substitute bench.”

After leaving the field, Deschamps leaned in beside Ma’el, affectionately patting his back, ”Quickly go to the locker room, take a shower and change your clothes... It was a perfect performance, you surprised everyone!”

”Thank you.”

Ma’el responded politely and didn’t refuse, directly entering the locker room.

This treatment also made the expressions of Nasri and Evra amongst others look worse, as if they were at significant risk of being excluded by the new head coach.

”Bang!”

In the 89th minute, Belgium’s Witsel’s long shot struck against the France team’s goal, fixing the score finally at five to three.

...

When Ma’el came out of the locker room, the match was already over, and players from both sides were sitting together stretching and chatting.

He went to Koscielny’s position to stretch together, mainly to tease his club teammate Vermaelen over there.

”Shit.”

Seeing him approach, Vermaelen immediately got up and moved away with a face full of resentment, ”I need to stay far from you, I have a psychological shadow, just seeing you makes my calf muscles start twitching.”

”Is it that serious?” Koscielny couldn’t quite understand, looking at him in perplexity, ”You’re too timid.”

Vermaelen helplessly glared at Koscielny, saying, ”You’ll know once you try... I mean not in a practice match but in a regular match.”

”Maybe I won’t have that chance anytime soon.” Koscielny smiled in reply, thinking that he’s quite lucky, being such a player both a club and national team teammate.

”What do you guys think.....” He glanced left and right, asking: ”How did Debuchy perform in our team?”

”Nothing special.”

Ma’el, sitting beside the two, replied: ”You mean Sagna provides more help on the defense from the same position?”

Koscielny nodded, puzzled, ”I don’t know why he didn’t come, doesn’t Deschamps like him?”

”I don’t know, hope he can come next time.” Ma’el wasn’t in a hurry, he didn’t have the idea of factional fighting... just thinking it would be great if Sagna, that lively partner, could fight alongside him.

”Ma’el!”

”Ma’el! Over here!”

At this moment, a shout came from the stands, and many young players with nerve rushed over.

Looking for everyone, even the Belgium players were quickly surrounded by a few people... Ma’el instantly found himself surrounded by more than twenty kids, some with shy smiles looking at him, others reaching out to him.

”Can I get your autograph?”

”Ma’el, I want your jersey!”

”I want your boots!”

”Hehe, pants would do too!”

Ma’el stood up from the ground, shaking his head and refusing with a smile: ”Sorry, autographs are fine, but the jersey and boots I need to keep myself, they hold special meaning to me.”

He looked at those kids and saw two familiar faces, one resembling Mbappe, the other younger one, like Saliba who later became a stalwart at the club... their looks were quite recognizable.

Mbappe saw Ma’el looking at him, smiled and said: ”Ma’el, can I take a photo with you? I like you the most, I always thought you are the strongest on France’s left wing.”

”Sure.”

Ma’el patted his head but quickly withdrew his hand; Mbappe’s hair was stiff and short, too prickly.

After playing with the kids for a while, he walked to the side of the field, chatted and laughed with a few team members, accepted their congratulations, and then went to the interview area to accept interviews.

”Kylian, you said before the match that Ribery is stronger; do you now have a different view?”

He saw Amelia bent over beside Mbappe, smiling and handing the microphone to the teenager who had just finished taking a photo with him.

Mbappe listened to the question, just ready to answer when he happened to see Ma’el coming by, his eyes suddenly became evasive, he was very flustered, forced calm: ”When did I say that? You remembered wrong, didn’t you?

”I always thought Ma’el is better, I just asked him for his photo, I like him very much!”

Ma’el watched his behavior and guessed the reason, smiled slightly but said nothing, pretending not to have heard, heading towards his interview area.

”It’s indeed a great start, I don’t know what Deschamps thinks, but I think so.”

”.....”

”Yes, I guessed it... When scoring the third goal, I thought, could this be the best debut in French National Team history, now receiving your confirmation.”

”.....”

”Ribery? I saw him leave the pitch, I don’t want to talk about other people’s issues.”

”.....”

”I think Mr. Wenger will definitely be watching the French National Team’s matches, he and Deschamps are good friends, as you say, he might praise me, haha... That’s all.”

He was selected as Man of the Match for this match, but unfortunately, the friendly match holds no trophies.

After resting for a while, he headed to the team cafeteria for meals, this was the only match for this national team matchday, with its end, no more schedules followed.

Spend a few more days blending with the team, he would be able to return to the club, and continue the journey of contending for championships in different lines!

Very busy, but also fulfilling!

...

”France team’s traditional skill? Ribery taking a taxi home midway during the match, reportedly a violent conflict broke out between players and Ma’el, the two almost fought together!” — UK ”Sun”

”According to the relevant media, someone photographed Ribery leaving the field early, Deschamps’s first phase of France team broke out in-fighting! More problems could erupt in the future!” — France ”Flash News”

”Flying Shoe Affair? According to rumors, Deschamps threw a shoe at Ribery during halftime, but did not hit.” — Germany ”Football News”

That night, news about this national team matchday was released, the hottest topic was Ribery’s gossip, even Ma’el’s hat trick was ranked behind.

It couldn’t be helped, people are certainly more inclined to discuss gossip first, then matches.

”Hat-trick debut! Ma’el scored 3 goals and assisted once to help France team defeat Belgium 5 to 3! The player starts a new journey with creating 4 goals!” — UK ”BBC”

”Deschamps’s favor! Ma’el was the only front field player to play over 80 minutes... Ribery leaving early might relate to Ma’el taking his left inside forward position!” — ”French Football”

”Overshadowing Ribery? Frontline news suggests Deschamps intends to support the young forward Ma’el, expelling the 28-year-old Ribery from the roster completing the renewal might be his goal.” — ”The Guardian”

These messages, once released, cause massive discussion. When no club matchdays are there, people’s eyes naturally gather here.

”3 goals, 1 assist? Fack, how many goals does Ma’el have this season, is there hope for over 30+?”

”Go check, it’s just league already 15 goals, premier league golden boot truly isn’t a pipe dream!”

”No need, Deschamps... Can’t Ribery coexist with Ma’el? Two good players right, both wings flying is great.”

”Wrong decision, Deschamps will surely pay the price! Without these veterans on the frontline, there will be no combat power in major competitions... using a bunch of kids, you’ll get nothing!”

”Ma’el’s performance was unparalleled, but I still think he can’t compare with Ribery. If he’s to squeeze out Ribery, I’ll hate him!”

”You’re not the France team coach.”

”Mainly it was Ribery himself being excessive right? He took a taxi leaving himself, what’s this, applying eye medicine to whom?”

”Exactly, Deschamps’s character you surely know, he certainly won’t tolerate him.”

”Both players and coach have problems.”

Fans discussed heatedly, even days later the topic remained high in popularity, with topics around ’Ma’el’ and ’Ribery’ consistently occupying headlines.

October 21st, on the day France team training ended, Ribery who had privately left the national team released a message— ”You must first win several championships to prove you can be entrusted with responsibility.

”Too high expectations will crush a yet mature young player, it’s always the case.

”Some have no experience, crowned by media as ’Crazy Man’, thinking themselves exceptional, making choices against the rules.”

Even though he deleted the post within ten minutes of publishing, it quickly stirred waves in European Football.

In the end, Deschamps had to urgently hold a press conference, bringing Ma’el along to counter Ribery’s words.