God Of football

Chapter 109: ”You’re A genius”

After the restart, Valencia held onto the ball for a while. They had been stunned by Athletic Bilbao in the first few minutes.

So much so that they weren’t even attacking. This caused the match to dull a bit.

The home crowd were as vibrant as ever. They kept urging their team to press after seeing their opponents on the back foot.

The Morale of the Athletic players got to an all-time high as they pressed at the backing of their riled-up fans.

Izan, who stood in the middle of the pitch, watched the scene unfolding. ”Too much excitement always leads to disappointment,” Izan said with a subtle smirk.

He looked around once more, noticing the backline of Athletic Bilbao that had advanced once again.

Izan smiled slightly and headed deep into his half.

After arriving, Izan called for the ball. Javi Guerra, who found himself in a tough situation, saw Izan calling.

Guerra looked around and saw no opponent player currently near Izan, so he laid the ball off to him. Immediately after passing the ball, Javu Guerra moved into space.

The ball streaked towards Izan as he scanned behind again, but this time, he found Berenguer behind him.

With a deft touch, Izan sent the ball to Javier Guerra who quickly passed to Izan after he got away from Berenguer.

”Miu!” Fran Perez called after Izan began dribbling with the ball. Izan looked up and saw Fran Pérez evading his man.

Seeing this, Izan ran with the ball towards the Athletic Bilbao players while he kept his eye on Fran Pérez.

The Athletic Bilbao players rushed towards Izan trying to challenge for the ball. ”You fell for it,”, Izan thought as he had successfully created space Fran Perez.

With a quick change of pace and footing, Izan unleashed the ball behind the Athletic defence, catching them off guard as Fran Perez strode down the right flank.

Izan didn’t slow done but rather sped up to Fran Pérez’s side. Fran Pérez, who was running with the ball, saw a few opposition players coming his way.

With his legs raised, Pérez wanted to cross the ball, but he heard his name being called from behind and halted his actions, unconsciously faking the cross.

He looked and saw Izan arriving just behind the Bilbao player, who had jumped, trying to put his body in the way of a supposed cross.

The Valencia fans cheered seeing the interaction between Izan and Fran Pérez. After coming to his senses, Fran Pérez flared the ball towards the onrushing Izan.

With his right foot, Izan curled the ball into the box after meeting it in his path. The stadium watched as the ball flew wide or so they thought.

Gaya, who had been watching the whole give-and-take between Fran Perez, arrived at the far post and met the ball first time to put it in the net.

’GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!

They screamed with otherworldly strength as they celebrated their team’s goal. Gaya rushed towards Izan and Perez, locking the heads of both players between his arms.

”You’re a genius” Gaya said to Izan as trio slid simultaneously at the corner area. The shouts of the visiting fans rose a bit after seeing their players in front of them.

”¡Vamos! Entra ahí.(Come on. Get in there)”

”Un gol más( One more goal)”

The fans shouted when the trio got to where they were. While the visitors celebrated, it was the turn of the faces of the home fans to turn gloomy.

Baraja and Moreno high-fived on the touchline and celebrated with the rest of the staff. After overdoing their celebrations, Valencia was called back by the referee with a strong warning.

After settling into their respective positions, the referee blew his whistle again. The stadium was lively once more after the goal with both sides going at it.

Following the goal, Bilbao maintained their intensity, looking to capitalize on the distractions a goal brings. After seeing his contribution to the goal, the Athletic Bilbao players began paying special attention to Izan.

The midfield trio of Dani García, Oihan Sancet, and Mikel Vesga worked tirelessly to win the second ball while keeping an eye on the former and distribute play wide, where Nico Williams and Álex Berenguer sought to exploit the flanks.

Valencia, however, gradually found their rhythm. Pepelu began dictating play from deep, linking with Javi Guerra and Fran Pérez to mount counterattacks.

Izan just strode on the pitch, watching and turning as he tried to find gaps in the opponent’s set-up. The match became a game of piggy in the middle for a bit as the Athletic Bilbao players chased after the ball.

As the match progressed, another chance came for Valencia in the 25th minute when Thierry Correia surged down the right flank.

His overlapping run was met with a perfectly timed pass from Izan. Trapping the ball successfully, Correia continued down the flank before releasing the ball back.

Correia’s low cross found Izan outside the box. As Izan the ball approached, Izan saw a shadow in his peripheral vision so he allowed the ball to slip through his legs.

The ball also bypassed the opponent players following Izan and found Hugo Duro outside the box.

Seeing as Izan didn’t stop, Hugo lobbed the ball into the box which was met with the inside of Izan’s right boot.

Izan connected with the ball and sent the ball to the left. ”Huh,”, some of the fans thought until they saw Diego López on the left.

The Valencia fans stood up while a few nervous Athletic fans bit their nails. Diego López got into a comfortable position but the young forward’s first-time effort was blocked by a sliding Dani Vivian, drawing applause from the home fans.

The referee blew his whistle signalling a corner for the away team. Izan quickly approached the ball before passing to Gaya.

Athletic’s De Marcos rushed towards Gaya but the left back flicked the ball to Izan. De Marcos quickly changed directions and started heading towards Izan but the latter had already sent the ball into the box.

The ball went up a bit before dipping at the last moment. Mosquera who was towering over everyone, got his head to the ball.

His first-time effort was caught confidently by Unai Simon. After Unai Simon caught the ball, Izan looked back and started running.

Unai Simons, who had also spotted Izan’s run, threw the ball towards the left. The culprit of the reaction of these two people was none other than Inaki Williams.

Inaki Williams, known for his lightning pace, burst down the field with electrifying speed, his strides eating up the turf like a sprinter in full flight.

The Athletic crowd rose in anticipation as he picked up the ball near midfield, his sharp touch setting it ahead just enough to maintain momentum.

Pepelu, who stayed behind for the corner stepped forward to challenge him, but Williams deftly shifted his weight, executing a quick step-over before cutting inside with precision, leaving the Midfielder off-balance and chasing shadows.

The second defender charged in, attempting to block his path but with a smooth drop of the shoulder and a sudden burst of acceleration, Williams glided past him, effortlessly switching the ball to his other foot.

Now in open space, his eyes were locked on the goal as his powerful strides carried him, a whirlwind of pace and skill that left the defence scrambling to recover.

Inaki Williams, who began fantasising about his goal even before he scored, felt a presence chasing after him. He snuck a glance back and saw Izan chasing after him. ”Well shit,” he thought as he kicked the ball ahead.

Izan was not faster than Inaki but because the latter was carrying the ball, his speed had lessened.

The Stadium watched excitedly as both players competed with their speeds. Inaki nudged the ball a bit further but he made sure it was still in reach.

Seeing Marmadashvili coming out, both players reacted differently. Izan left Inaki’s side while the Athletic Bilbao man stuck his foot under the ball.

With an upward motion, the latter sent the ball over the keeper. The ball destined for the goal was cleared by Izan who smacked the ball away with a bicycle kick.

”Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh” the Athletic Bilbao Fans exclaimed while the Valencia fans sighed in relief. The ball was about to go out of bounds, but Correia, Valencia’s right back, arrived.

”Defense into attack,”, Izan thought as he still had some gas left in him. Standing up, Izan called for the ball which was still with Correia.

Correia saw Izan’s call for the ball and sent it his way. Izan carefully trapped the ball before slipping his right foot under the ball, sending it flying towards Diego López, who was just returning from the opponent’s half.

The Winger controlled the ball with his chest before setting it down. He looked at the linesman but the flag was down.

”Nice” he thought as he turned towards Bilbao’s side of the pitch.

Another counter was on.

A/n: Hello guys sorry for not updating the chapter for the day yesterday. Here it is. I’ll update the one for today but not now so don’t wait for me.

All right I have a match tonight. Probably wished I had a system but you don’t always get what you want.

Anyways have fun.