From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Two hat-tricks this season.”

”Impressive!”

”See you at the European Cup next year.”

”The new king of France’s wings!”

”A new supercar!”

The players laughed and exclaimed, noticing a change in Ma’el’s expression. If before, Ma’el was only known as the record king of the lower leagues and the superstar of the top league,

now he could add another title: a main player for the French National Team.....and this main player might slowly become the core in the future!

Once the chatter died down, Wenger discussed the tactics and points to note for tomorrow’s home game against Dortmund.

With 4 wins in 4 group matches and 12 points, leading second-placed Dortmund by 7 points, Arsenal had already secured the top spot in the group, so most of the main players were not in the starting lineup.

Ma’el was not even included in the squad list, as Wenger seemed to want him to rest for a game, saving his strength for a Premier League and English League Cup match at the end of the month.

He gladly accepted and went home to rest after the report was over.

...

At night, Ma’el took out the 4 washed photos, applied glue to them, and walked towards the photo wall.

He has always maintained his old habit, never changing... he even specifically ordered a photo washing machine online for convenience.

Now looking at it, this wall, which had only a few photos at the start of the season, has gradually become full and brilliant.

There were many memories on it, and he often came to this room and stood here for a while, appreciating the path he had taken step by step and the commemorations left behind.

”Finally, there’s something in the national team section.”

Jose and three other team members followed him into the room, witnessing this milestone moment; the progress from zero to one is always particularly important.

”Indeed,” Safina counted the photos on the wall and sighed, ”There are already 21 from the Premier League, 9 from the Champions League, quite impressive; just the club has 30 photos.”

”15 goals and 6 assists in the Premier League? How about the Champions League?” Her brother Harry asked.

”5 goals and 4 assists,”

Davis answered for the group, with disbelief on his face, ”On calculation, Ma’el has already reached 30+, incredibly fast.”

”For a young player to score 30+ in a single season on a top level would be considered world-class, and Ma’el reached this in just half a season, that’s a different level of performance,” Jose added, somewhat intoxicated by the photos.

The four of them stopped chatting, appreciating the photo wall, watching Ma’el attach 4 more photos in the blank spots.

”Ma’el,” Safina, with her good memory, remarked, ”This is the third time this season you attach 4 photos from a single game; first against Manchester United, then Marseille.”

”These are your classic matches, do you still remember them vividly?”

”Of course, very vividly,”

Ma’el nodded, attaching the 4 photos, standing back to enjoy them with the others, ”Now, what’s left is the English League Cup and FA Cup, along with the European Super Cup, Community Shield Cup, and the European Championship and World Cup.”

”There will definitely be,” Jose wished aloud, ”Didn’t you once say you would fill up this wall one day? At this pace, you certainly will.”

”Haha...!” Everyone laughed together, aligning their ambitions; sometimes discussing these things was quite delightful.

Ma’el smiled, recalling a promise he made to the group to gift them presents for achieving 30+ stats, and now, back from the national team, it was time to fulfill that promise.

Pick a time to go out and buy some things, rewarding them well!

He walked out of the photo room, looking at the honor room on the other side, and hoped, ”Hopefully not only the photo wall will slowly fill up, but also the honor room.”

The national team matter indeed impacted him somewhat, but in a positive way, spurring him to strive for championships across all fronts.

”By next month, there should be something to add, right?”

Davis glanced at the honor room and smiled, ”The Golden Boy Award trophy is also quite a sight.”

Ma’el smiled, turning to go upstairs to rest, as the journey back by plane followed by a drive was really tiring.

...

The next day, Ma’el and the other four watched the Champions League group stage match, Arsenal versus Dortmund, on TV together.

Dortmund, playing at full strength, exerted tremendous pressure, taking control from the beginning.

However, due to Goalkeeper Szczeny’s excellent state, despite their 9 shots in the first half, they couldn’t score.

In the second half, they started changing their strategy, bringing in two agile and quick players to impact Arsenal’s defense.

In the 49th minute, Shinji Kagawa scored with a push shot to give Dortmund the lead.

Zero to one!

Once Arsenal fell behind, they wanted to push forward but ended up conceding 2 more goals to Dortmund’s Lewandowski and Götze.

Zero to three!

Thanks to Substitute Forward Benayoun, who headed in a goal from a corner just before the match ended, they avoided being shut out by the opponent.

One to three... that was the score at the end; Arsenal’s first loss of the season came just like that.

”How does it feel?” Safina turned to Ma’el and asked.

”Nothing much,”

Ma’el took a swig from his water bottle and smiled, ”It’s a strategic forfeit, and not all teams can avoid defeat; as long as the main players can rest well, it’s fine.

”With first place in the group secured, striving for a win might risk injury, wouldn’t that be a waste.”

He was about to head upstairs to rest but suddenly saw Mendes calling, so he picked up his phone, ”Are you in London?”

”No,” came the excited voice on the other end, offering congratulations, ”Your debut performance with the French National Team was impressive; even the Ribery incident brought some gains, at least your social media followers have increased.”