From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Are you talking about sex?”

”Yes.”

”Hehe...” Many people showed a mischievous smile, seemingly having the same thought, but they clearly knew they couldn’t and wouldn’t try to steal Isabella from Maël, they could only throw some teasing remarks.

Watching Maël leave, Isabella returned to the hotel, where a round of jeers erupted, everyone throwing teasing words.

”How many times last night?”

”He’s about to play in the European Cup; don’t let England’s defenders end up stopping him.”

”Hahaha!”

”Yeah, Isabella, it’s not just about you, it’s about the whole of France.”

”Is Maël amazing?”

A group of enthusiastic European women surrounded Isabella, many showing envy. In their culture, these things weren’t really taboo.

Usually, women talking about these topics together had fewer limits than men.

Isabella blushed slightly but bit her lip to answer the last question, ”He’s amazing.”

”Oh.....!” Uproarious laughter sounded again, many caught up with her, asking more detailed questions.

Isabella didn’t want to answer anymore and with a raised eyebrow said, ”You’re misunderstanding, I was just saying he’s great at playing football, isn’t that right?”

Saying this, she started laughing herself, and had to quicken her pace towards her room amidst the crowd.

....

On June 6th, the France team faced the last friendly match before the European Cup, their opponent was Estonia.

This was a weak team in European football, and the French Football Federation arranged this match to boost the players’ confidence before the European Cup.

But they didn’t expect that in the first round, the France team defeated Serbia four to zero, gaining a lot of confidence!

”Beep!”

The match started at noon, and it was obvious that the French players weren’t very interested and didn’t take Estonia seriously.

In the 24th minute, right-back Sagna advanced and blasted a shot into the net, scoring the first goal for the team.

After his goal, he briefly slid to his knees and then ran back to his position with a smile.

After a successful season at Arsenal, his playing style was becoming smoother, mainly because he believed he had the strength to be a part of a championship team!

This was important and could even change the trajectory of his career, taking him to greater heights!

In the 31st minute of the match, Maël on the left flank alternated between dribbling and fancy footwork, easily shaking off the Estonian defender.

”Boom!!”

After entering the penalty area, he used the outside of his left foot to dip a shot into the far corner, easily scoring a goal.

Two to zero!

The 6th goal for the national team!

This was an international A-level match, and the goals scored here would count towards his career total and enter the record books of the France team.

The current top scorer for this team was Henry, who scored a total of 51 goals in his career for the team.

He wasn’t performing as well afterward. Platini was second with 41 goals, and Treasure was third with 34 goals.

As long as Maël maintained his form, he was likely to rise into the top three scorers of the French team in two or three years!

”Ta-da-da-da.....!”

After scoring, Maël and Sagna sang his song with smiles and danced in celebration on the spot.

Soon after the restart, an Estonian defender recklessly played around in the backfield, giving Maël another one-on-one opportunity against the opponent’s full-back.

”Boom!!”

He accelerated and simply cut inside to curl a shot, the ball hitting the same spot as the previous goal.

Another one!

7th goal!!

”SaSaSaSagna.....!”

Maël and Sagna danced on the sideline again, but this time sung Sagna’s song, since they were running out of celebration moves.

Four goals in two matches!

He felt he had found his place in this French team and knew how to play... This made him even more excited for the European Cup because he knew he would perform well.

Deschamps acted helpless on the coach’s bench, shaking his head towards the documentary camera, pursing his lips, raising his eyebrows, and looking as if he had a bitter fate.

”I told him to hide his strength, but he seems unable to hold back, making me very troubled.”

”But what can I do... just play like this, hope the United Kingdom team can’t find a way to deal with him.”

After these words, the documentary crews smiled, sensing that Deschamps was being proud in a humble way.

After halftime, Deschamps sent all substitute players to warm up, preparing to make big changes.

Maël and Sagna came off arm in arm, and passing by the camera, they couldn’t help but shout in unison, ”Vamos.....! Haha.....!”

Winning truly felt good, and they hoped this feeling would accompany their careers.

In the second half, the substitute players of the all-out France team scored three more goals, crushing Estonia with a six-nil defeat.

Their players weren’t too discouraged; facing strong teams, this score wasn’t uncommon.

Many still went to the French players, swapping shirts with their favorite stars.

Three approached Maël, causing him a dilemma in choosing, finally having to refuse the exchange by saying he wanted to keep it as a souvenir.

”Wakawaka...EiEi...!!”

After the game in the locker room, players bumped shoulders in song and dance, each eager to step onto the European Cup’s arena.

With three consecutive wins under Deschamps, and the super striker Maël scoring seven goals in three games, they seemed unprecedentedly strong this time!

”France team six-nil Estonia! Deschamps’ team blasted 13 goals in three matches! This team seems to continue Deschamps’ counter-attacking style from Marseille, and their offense is very sharp!” — Germany’s Daily Flash News

”Maël’s national team goals break into 7! He seems to be proving to the world he can thrive under any system!” — UK’s The Guardian

”’lm7’ is trending all over the net, and if Maël performs well in the European Cup, the traffic could continue to rise, potentially changing the sneaker market landscape!” — All Sports

”Three decent matches, but I think the team still needs to keep a steady mindset, not get arrogant, the real tests are coming, every team in the European Cup will fight them to the end.” — Henry on social media

”Don’t be too optimistic, don’t boast too much, steadily win the Anglo-French War, advance from the group stage, then praise them.” — Treasure on social media

”The European Cup is about to start, is Deschamps really not going to call me up (funny smile) (funny smile)?” — Ribery on social media

”(Red X)!” — Deschamps on social media

”I think the team still needs to work hard, they have many unresolved issues, they haven’t faced pressure... they must know the intensity of European Cup matches is not the same as league matches, especially when you face England in the first round.

”One obvious point is, England has more star players, stronger on paper strength, and recent results.” — French football legend Fang Dan on social media

”We have to be careful of this kind of psychological warfare experts.” — Alan Pardew retweeting Fang Dan’s Twitter

”England’s best defender? Maël appeared at the French WAGs’ hotel yesterday, spent the night with Isabella, only leaving at noon the next day, reportedly he’s very impressive.” — The Sun

”To hell with it!” — McCabe on social media

Time continues to move forward, and gradually, June 9th arrived, with the hot European Cup officially kicking off this day.