Chapter 9: That Guy?

SS2 had been dominating the match so much since the start of the second half that when they got that third goal to put themselves ahead of their opponents, they believed that the match was somewhat sealed in their favour.

None of them, not even the SS3 players, anticipated the sudden arrival of a game-changer in the person of Evan.

It took him just a little over a minute after entering the pitch to equalize for his team, and with him still present, things were starting to look a bit better for SS3, reinstating the pressure their opponents had put aside since the start of the second half.

Evan was obviously just one person, so it was strange how his presence alone brought his team up to SS2's level once again. But that wasn't really all there was to it.

Most of his teammates gathered around him after that equalizer from near the halfway line, and he made sure to use that opportunity to say something to them.

"Hey, how about you guys stop carelessly trying to break through their defence?" He said suddenly as some of them were still praising his goal.

Most of them went quiet after that, and as expected, all turned to him, confused expressions on their faces. He had gotten their attention just like he wanted to.

"Their team isn't really as well structured as you guys have made it seem since the start of this half." He disclosed.

At this point, some of them were still confused, but Chima had a subtle smile on his face.

"I suppose you wouldn't mind enlightening us then?" He remarked.

"Sure." Evan turned to him before nodding.

The match resumed soon afterwards, and immediately, SS2 tried to play a quick through-ball forward, a cheeky attempt to restore their lead.

Unfortunately for them, Chima was able to get to the ball ahead of their talisman, Chika, and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he sent it rolling back to Emmanuel.

This was the first part of Evan's enlightenment, actively obstructing their direct link to goal.

He made sure to highlight how Chika had been mostly passive in the first half because he wasn't seeing much of the ball but suddenly sparked into life once almost every pass forward started being directed toward him in the second half.

There was also the fact that all their goals had come from him.

After that, came the second part of his enlightenment.

Receiving the ball from Chima near the edge of his box, Emmanuel proceeded to push it a little to the right before he sent it flying down the right, toward Evan.

SS2 had already identified the younger Onyeka twin as a threat which was why they had someone man-marking him now.

However, there was only so much one player could do against a clearly superior force.

Using the momentum of the ball, Evan neatly flicked the ball past him, leaving him to bite the dust as he quickly took off down the flank.

He was just about to run into another player when he sent the ball rolling to the middle.

He passed it to the same player who almost lost the ball before he had to intervene, but he seemed to have learned his lesson now.

He had an opposing player coming in hot from the right as soon as he got his foot on the ball so he did the right thing and pushed the ball back with a back-heel pass to the teammate right behind him. And as soon as that one got his foot on the ball, he sent it flying down the right, getting over the fullback to Evan who had just gotten past the opposition.

Getting his foot on the ball, the winger quickly cut toward the left before moving further forward to get into the box.

He was immediately surrounded by opposing players just as he got in there, two in front of him and one behind him.

Evan wasn't one to be too careless, so he quickly flicked the ball toward the left to their striker, who had just gotten to the edge of the box.

That was a pretty decent position to shoot from given the space in between the three defenders in front of him.

But seeing Evan quickly moving in closer to the goalpost while raising his hand to yell, "Here!" he felt compelled to pass the ball to him.

Evan was able to get past the defenders to put himself in a good position while not exactly being offside as the striker drilled the low pass toward him.

All he needed was a single touch on the moving ball just as the goalkeeper quickly rushed out to protect his goalpost.

That single touch seemed to be more than enough to get the ball past the goalkeeper. But was it enough to get it into the goalpost?

Apparently, not as the ball ended up grazing the woodwork before rolling off to the side for a goal kick.

A series of gasps swept through the area as Evan crashed to the floor, both of his hands now covering his face.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as he bit his lower lip.

'Did I just miss that?'

That would have been such a good near-post finish, but sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

Watching from the sidelines, Eric could only shake his head as he let out a sigh.

"A simple lob would have been better." He uttered.

"Probably, or you could just say that a better accuracy could have been better." The girl beside him commented.

"Evan's shooting accuracy isn't bad, his finishing just gets worse the closer he is to the goalpost." He disclosed.

Getting that response from him, her mind quickly flashed back to the goal from near the halfway line.

"Hmm, I see."

She returned her gaze to the pitch afterwards, precisely on Evan, who was now on his feet.

"He seems to be another big gun player, it seems SS3 won't be missing him that much now…" She suddenly paused to bring her gaze down. "And perhaps I might have made a mistake." She mumbled.

"Who's this big gun player you keep talking about?" Eric turned to her to ask.

He had actually been looking for the perfect opportunity to ask and that seemed to have presented itself now.

"You mean SS3's big gun? I guess you haven't met him but you've probably seen him around since he tends to stand out without even trying. He's the only person in our class named Jasper, so you'll know when you meet him." She disclosed.

That name acted as some sort of trigger for Eric as his mind suddenly flashed back to the guy he saw after waking up from his nap.

"That guy?"