My Goalkeeping System

Beating Lyon was something Unique FC needed to do to keep their treble dream alive, and now that they had succeeded in accomplishing that, they were going to move on to the next round.

They could move on to the quarterfinals where things were going to keep getting difficult for them.

They had Real Sociedad to face in the quarterfinals, the team that had been on fire this season in the Conference League. Their chance of getting knocked out against them was quite high but just like someone once said, nothing is impossible in football.

With the match now over, Dave had to deal with a reporter who wanted to ask him some questions.

He was expecting to see Amber since this was a match that happened in the Wondanimo stadium but she was nowhere to be found.

He could tell that the lady in front of him was from the same news company and that led him to ask himself a question.

'Did they get someone else in the department to fill in for Emma?'

<Probably, I mean that's what it looks like>

"So, Dave, you guys were two goals down coming into this match in the Wondanimo stadium but somehow you guys managed to scrape through with a two-goal victory that saw you progress to the next round with the away goal rule. How exactly did you guys turn everything around? A lot of people were quite certain that you guys were out of the competition after that first-leg defeat."

"How did we turn it around? Well, if you watched the match you would know." He remarked, sarcastically. "But on a serious note, that loss had been on the back of our minds since that day. We've been thinking about it since that day, and not wanting to get knocked out, we trained hard, our coach came up with strategies to help us turn it around, and when we came on the pitch we tried to do our best.

"Their defense was quite tough to crack and then that free kick happened and things began to look up for us, Mateo was finally allowed to join the match in the late minutes and he didn't disappoint, we just worked hard for it, and it all worked out in the end."

"Okay, next question. There are a good number of people talking about how you were the main man behind this victory and I think agree with that sentiment, but what do you have to say about that?"

"Well, I think this victory was overall a team effort, everyone worked hard to make sure it happened but if they think I contributed more to the victory, then I don't think I have anything to object that notion with.

"I mean I faced a lot of shots that were quite hard to stop and then there was that free kick." He added.

<Patting yourself on the back now, huh>

"Alright, last question. As you already know, your opponent in the quarterfinals is going to be Real Sociedad who, just like your team, has been quite impressive in this competition so far. How do you feel about that, do you think you guys can get past them?"

"Do I think we can get past them? Well, they're tough, I know that quite well but just like every other team, they are not unbeatable, we are going to do everything we can to make sure we get past them, we have to." The goalkeeper replied with a hint of determination in his voice.

That was the last question which meant that he was free to head down the tunnel now.

Most of his teammates had already gone down, and knowing about that, he could tell what was going on in the locker room now.

'Can I see my post-match rewards now, Catherine?" He inquired as he slowly made his way down the stairs.

<Sure, here you go>

[ Victory rewards ]

[ Goals conceded(0): +150 exp ]

[ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]

[ Match rating: 8.7 ]

'Looks like I played a big part in this clean sheet.'

<Yeah, you sure did, now try to replicate that performance against Real Sociedad>

'I'll try.'

He had gotten close enough to hear the noise coming from the locker room, and just like he expected, it was quite loud.

He stopped beside the entrance and stood there for a while to listen to all the singing, chanting, and banging. He knew he had to go in there soon but just before that, he took a deep breath before bracing himself.

He took a step forward expecting it to be like those times when he would just ignore them and go find a seat for himself, but just before he could take another step forward, someone grabbed him by his arm and dragged him into the center of the fun.

This mischievous act was done by none other than Minino, and now that the goalkeeper was in the area, he made sure to keep a firm grip on him as all sorts of liquid went flying up and getting pushed down by the force of gravity.

By the time the goalkeeper was able to escape, his jersey was somewhat wet and he didn't like the smell of some of the stuff on it.

He found Mateo sitting down beside his seat and let out a sigh before making his way to the area.

"I see you had a brief moment of fun," Mateo remarked just as he sat down.

He could tell the winger was trying hard to hold in his laughter.

"If you want to laugh just go ahead and do it." The goalkeeper sighed before pulling off his shirt.

"Well, I was doing that the whole time you were in there." He uttered with a little chuckle.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"But putting that aside, I just wanted to say, good job out there today, you were the main key to this victory."

"Yeah, I know that but you also did quite well after coming, you know, providing that assist for Frankie to seal the game. I'm also sure things would have been a lot easier if you had started the game."

"You can never be sure of that."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there."

There was a little moment of silence between the two as Mateo slowly went through his phone, but at a moment he stopped and turned his gaze to the exit.

"I guess it's back to League football until next week." He uttered.

"Yeah, and we have that match against Dynamo FC in the cup quarterfinals."