From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Bang!!”

He fell to the ground for a slide shot, seemingly to increase the angle of his shot, sending the ball to the far corner, but in reality, it was just to deceive Casillas, and he slid the ball towards the near corner.

The whole body is a feint!

Falling to the ground and looking past, he watched the football fly into the dead spot of the goal’s near corner, while Casillas dove towards the far corner, realizing his error in mid-air, and landed on the ground.

”Whoosh!!” At a height of about one to one point two meters, the ball hit the net with an inward spin, slowly beginning to fall.

Ma’el swears he’ll never forget this goal; it’s the most beautiful, most important goal of his career thus far!

More important and beautiful than Giggs’ FA Cup last-minute goal against Arsenal!

At the last moment of the match, he broke through the entire Spanish defense line, after passing countless players, he scored!

11th goal in the European Cup!

The winning goal!!

”Wow...Yeahhhh...Wowww.....!!”

At the Warsaw National Stadium, French team fans who were just moments ago tense and anxious, suddenly fell into ecstasy, as if in a dream, for them, this match is thrilling.

”The ball went in! I can’t believe my eyes! This must be fake, right?!”

”Ma’el, who equalized the score in the last moments of regular time, completed the winning goal in the last minute of extra time by a single-handed breakthrough!!

”Three to two!! France team took the lead!! This will go down in history as a legendary goal! 11 goals in 6 matches, Ma’el is still raising his European Cup scoring record!!”

”.....”

”O mon dieu.....!”

Deschamps immediately covered his face with both hands, as if it were his own team that was killed by the goal, he suddenly feigned asthma, coughing and shouting, ”O my France.....!!”

After the first wave of emotion passed, he began to laugh joyfully, raising clenched fists to his head, ”Yeah.....!!”

He felt like he was dreaming, he couldn’t believe the team scored such a goal at this moment.

The substitute players behind him all stripped off their clothes, even some assistant coaches took off their suits, waving them around as they sprinted towards Ma’el.

Championship, in hand!!

”Oh-oh-oh.....! I don’t know how happy the French team fans are right now, how relieved Deschamps and Wenger must be!

”Even as ordinary fans watching, this moment is unforgettable!

”The most exaggerated debut statistics in history, the 18-year-old captain of the France team, proving with his strength why he can become the youngest captain, he single-handedly brought the France team to the championship throne!”

”.....”

On the VIP stands, Isabella and the members of the France team’s wives sat together, she now raised her hands high, her eyes red and sobbing.

The older Malouda’s wife and Mvira’s wife held her in their arms, patting her arms, hoping she could calm down.

But even before Isabella could be consoled, watching their husbands bounce and punch the air on the field, they also nearly broke down in emotion.

This journey was so difficult, really so difficult, how many ups and downs and tears, finally transformed into such a climactic moment.

”Ah.....!”

Not far from them, Ma’el’s uncle Clément tightly hugged his wife Betty, the glory on their family’s faces was indescribable in words.

The two eventually kissed deeply, Betty’s eyes also welled up with tears, she remembered the first time she saw Ma’el in Sheffield United, and the scene when they parted.

The child who once seemed lonely and pitiful has now truly become a towering man, a national pride!

”Brother! Brother!”

Little Eva could only jump around at the adults’ waist height, appearing very small during this moment of cheering, but the little girl blushed, immersing herself in her own world.

In the box behind them, Mendes stood up solemnly, his cheeks bulging, his right hand gripping the wine glass quivering slightly due to excessive force.

He was speechless, raspy and broken syllables trickled out, ”Ma’el, you...what else can you achieve? Tell me! Tell me!”

”Come on.....!” Wenger stood up with a punch, he then hugged Michel, the two most emotionally charged individuals feeling the tidal waves in one another’s heart.

”Leon Ma’el! He can do anything! He came into this world destined to conquer everything!”

In the commentary booth, He Wei took a deep breath and offered his epitaph for the game-winning shot, ”Maybe no one will care about how much effort you’ve put in, how tired or how hurt you were!

”Everyone will only see where you end up standing! Because in the adult world, the words ’easy’ don’t exist!

”So finally, I want to say, there’s no such thing as an unintended achievement, it’s all hard work paying off!

”His every effort, gradually transforming him into a complete, all-round superstar, allowing him to end his European Cup journey with such a goal!”

”...”

On the pitch near the corner flag, Ma’el also teared up with joy, waves of happiness washing over him, each time allowing a bit of his emotion to overflow, causing spasms throughout his body.

What exactly was that goal like?

Maybe even now he doesn’t fully understand, he’ll have to wait until the match replay afterward.

But no matter what, he remembers the initial distance from when he first took the ball, an extraordinarily distant, seemingly unreachable distance in this lifetime.