From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Look at him!”

”He turned around!”

At that moment, shouts suddenly echoed from another part of the VIP area, with many people pointing towards the celebration area on the field.

Chloe’s eyes lit up, and she quickly stood on tiptoe to look over there, even taking out her glasses from her pocket to see more clearly.

She saw Ma’el point this way, one hand mimicking a gun, with the other placed near his groin.

This time, everyone knew how he wanted to celebrate, and the entire Arsenal crowd voiced out for him, ”Toot, toot, toot....!”

Amidst these waves of sound, Ma’el, like a comical circus figure, jumped side to side with a clown nose, inducing a burst of laughter.

Chloe didn’t laugh. Watching Ma’el’s side-to-side movements, knowing this celebration was for her, her body trembled slightly, unable to control her emotions.

”Take a picture quickly!”

David and his friends took pictures behind her, and an old man maneuvered his wheelchair over with a young boy to join the fun, laughing, ”He didn’t forget, he’s just used to celebrating a goal three times.”

”Haha.....!” Laughter erupted from there, and Chloe also laughed, taking a piece of paper and writing down a new line.

—”I am so happy!”

...

”Ah.....!”

On the field, Ledley King held a hand to his lower back. Every time he tried to move slightly, a sharp pain would strike, leaving him barely able to breathe.

”Beep beep!”

Under the referee’s urging, two Tottenham medics quickly rushed onto the field, coming to his side for an examination.

”Hiss hiss.....!” The sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed there again, as Ledley King waved his hand frantically in pain, speaking with a trembling voice, ”No, no... stretcher, stretcher! I need treatment!”

Nearby, Modric and Michael Dawson watched him, then simultaneously looked up at Ma’el’s retreating figure.

So brutal..... The same thought crossed both of their minds. Ma’el charging in from outside the penalty area was like a speeding truck, invoking fear.

Modric felt more of a condolence, knowing Ledley King might be sidelines for a long time now.

As for Michael Dawson, his eyes were purely filled with fear; he was supposed to be in that position, it would have been him getting hit and injured.

The flame of the derby in his heart was largely extinguished, replaced by fear of Ma’el.

These two stood by the medics, staring blankly as they examined Ledley King’s condition.

”It should be here.”

One medic felt around for a bit, pointing to a spot on the lower back, assessing the injury, ”At least a bone fracture, needs to rest for at least five weeks.”

Another medic quickly circled his index fingers, signaling for a substitution.

By the sidelines, in front of Tottenham’s bench, all the players clenched their fists tightly... Yet seeing Ma’el’s formidable stature and recalling his earlier impact, they all felt a sense of powerlessness.

Redknapp’s expression was as bad as it could get; the worst situations on the pitch are conceding goals and injuries.

And when both occur during a derby, it really is hard to find a suitable adjective to describe the team’s current situation.

An assistant coach came up behind him, anxiously asking, ”Substitute with Danny Rose? Where should he play?”

Redknapp opened his mouth to speak but then looked at the situation on the pitch, saying, ”Let him play on the wing to defend against Ma’el, move Michael Dawson back to center back.”

”Really?” The assistant coach wasn’t quite sure, ”Danny Rose defending Ma’el, isn’t he a bit too young for that? Shouldn’t we switch him to the other side, where he’s more comfortable?”

Redknapp looked at him speechlessly, too drained to even speak.

Is this really the time to bring up the word ’young’?

Danny Rose, while young, is already 21 this year, three years older than Ma’el.

Isn’t this poking the sore spot?

”Just go!”

Redknapp roared at him, having reached the end of his tether, ”I want to see if the youngster can handle him, young players have that drive, just like him, okay?!

”Look at the other three defenders on the pitch now, they’re almost scared out of their wits, can they really defend against Ma’el?

”Tell Danny Rose, today he needs to pin Ma’el down on that wing, Tottenham’s right flank will be his future!”

”Alright... alright.” The assistant coach hurriedly returned, got Danny Rose to warm up while submitting a substitution request.

Two minutes later, as Ledley King was carried off, Danny Rose dashed onto the field, but before he could exert himself, the first half ended.

Tottenham returned to the locker room for halftime with a two-nil scoreline, everyone keeping their heads down, unwilling to speak.

...

”Beep!”

After the start of the second half, both sides slightly slowed their rhythm, playing with more restraint, as if things had cooled down a bit.

But Danny Rose was different; the promise of a starting position from Redknapp was still quite enticing for him, as he’d longed to secure a regular spot in the Premier League.

Besides, he hadn’t yet gone head-to-head with too many Premier League-level wingers, and couldn’t compare data or highlights to gauge Ma’el’s dominance.

To him, Ma’el was just a slightly better winger, nothing more.

A player like this, can they be that hard to defend against..... perhaps, he could counter such a player and make a name for himself.

”Boom boom...!”

In the 51st minute of the match, he and Ma’el faced off directly for the first time.