Chapter 5: Initial Brilliance
In the following days, Maël's life gradually became regular and stable.
Every day, he basically wandered around a few fixed areas, either training or eating, and after returning to the dormitory at night to wash up, he would fall into a deep sleep.
The overload of training made his body gradually feel a little overwhelmed.
He had multiple strains all over his body, and he had to warm up for a long time before each training session before he dared to make any movements.
"Fortunately, the hard work is accompanied by happiness."
He himself didn't have any negative emotions. Compared to others, his opportunity was already very good.
Wouldn't it be a waste of nature if he didn't devote all his efforts? June 16th, Thursday, the U17 Team's morning training was focused on finishing ability.
It can also be called shooting-specific training.
The opportunity to show his skills had finally arrived, and Maël stood in the queue with a refreshed mind, waiting for the start.
"Goalkeepers warm up separately, the rest of you follow Captain Gilbert."
With a command from head coach Hans, the players followed the team's number 10 captain, Gilbert, to start jogging and warming up, and many people began to whisper.
"I heard someone's been soaking in the training ground and gym all day lately?"
Someone said jokingly, seemingly setting the stage for someone.
As soon as he said this, Ian immediately chimed in with a sarcastic tone: "Yeah, very diligent, you can't see him in the dormitory at all, he's given up all entertainment."
"Hard work..."
Someone made a sarcastic comment, "I hope he can rely on hard work to play in the Premier League."
"What a joke."
Ian said with a laugh while running, "If you could play in the Premier League with hard work, then the world wouldn't need talent. I think he's about to leave the team, he's getting anxious."
"Leaving the team is good."
Someone else glanced at Maël with a smile and shook his head, saying, "I heard that he eats and uses the club's resources every day, and doesn't spend a penny of his own money on living expenses. Isn't that a pure bloodsucker?"
Their voices were not low, and almost everyone who was warming up could hear them.
"Warm up properly!"
Captain Gilbert spoke to stop them, obviously unable to listen anymore.
The few of them shut their mouths in dismay, and then made a suppressing laughter expression, which was very inexplicable.
Maël directly ignored these few 'geniuses'. It would be demeaning and unnecessary to get angry and argue with such people.
Let them forever immerse themselves in their own world, flaunting their worthless sense of superiority.
He always had to move forward, and soon everyone would not be on the same level.
Being able to laugh now doesn't mean anything, being able to laugh all the time is what counts.
The warm-up training ended quickly, and the shooting training began immediately.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The first thing was the high-ball cross header training, with players on both sides of the wing constantly sending in crosses for the players in the middle to compete for headers and shots.
"Good cross! I'm coming!"
"Ah, mine!"
"It's okay, keep going!"
Encouragement and regret sounded together, and everyone was enthusiastic and excited.
Maël's performance in this training was not outstanding, as headers had never been his strength.
If there is a need in the future, he can grind out the header proficiency panel and practice a good header.
For now, he will focus on strength and Long Shot.
After the header training, there was low-ball seizing the point training, dynamic shooting training in the penalty area, and high-speed one-on-one training.
Maël's performance was also mediocre, not outstanding.
"Next up, Long Shots!"
It wasn't until Hans announced the Long Shot training drill that Maël finally raised his head, his gaze turning confident.
Team captain Gilbert was the first to stand by the edge of the penalty arc, waiting for Hans to pass him the ball from the pile, so he could stop it and shoot.
"Bang!"
Hans sent a ground ball, and Gilbert quickly followed up, stopping the ball to face the goal, and then hooking his foot around it to shoot.
This shot was all about finesse, not excessive force, but the angle was tricky.
The team's number one goalkeeper, Hopkins, immediately felt like he was facing a formidable enemy, diving out, but in the end, he was just a little short, letting the ball slip past his fingertips.
"Swish!" The crisp sound of the net rustling rang out, and Gilbert, who had scored, leaped high, performing a rising dragon punch-like celebration.
"Nice one!"
Hans cast an admiring glance, and many players applauded with smiles.
On weekdays, their training atmosphere was pretty good, it was just that there were a few people who spoiled the harmony.
"Bang! Bang! Bang...!"
Next, one player after another ran to the designated position to complete their shots.
The ratio of goals to misses was about one to one.
Hans's reminders rang out from time to time, permeating the entire training ground: "Your supporting foot is too far away, do you usually shoot like that?" "That's defender's footwork! My grandma shoots more accurately than you!" "Not bad, but be more confident! Tighten your insteps, don't relax! You're all 17 years old, I don't want to have to remind you of the details every day."
As he spoke, he pushed another ball towards the edge of the penalty arc.
A figure wearing a number 31 jersey suddenly rushed out, and after observing the general direction of the goal, he steadied his supporting foot, his right leg rapidly folding and then striking!
"Bang!!"
With a muffled sound, the grass clippings under his feet exploded, and the football flew towards the goal, dragging a trail of afterimages, almost impossible to catch with the naked eye.
Team goalkeeper Hopkins had just lowered his center of gravity when he stared blankly, turning his head to look, he didn't even have time to judge which direction the football was flying.
Only his body's instincts made him turn his head to the right.
"Clang!!" He saw the football smash into the inside of the upper crossbar, causing the entire goal frame to tremble violently, and then change direction and scrape into the net.
The scene suddenly fell into dead silence, everyone seemed to be shaken speechless by this shot.
It wasn't that no one had used the instep shot before, nor that no one had used this technique to score.
The main thing was, the ball speed was just too damn fast, exceeding 100 yards? And the angle, close to a ten out of ten?
"Oh!"
Hopkins was the first to open his mouth wide, suddenly turning his head to look at the shooter, "Maël, what was that.?"
Someone helped him exclaim the rest, "That's too exaggerated!"
"Even if first-team goalkeeper Fabianski was standing there just now, he probably wouldn't have been able to save it."
Captain Gilbert frowned, looking slightly puzzled, then shook his head violently: "No, not probably, definitely!"
Ian and a few companions exchanged blank glances, but then they had a new excuse, "A fluke, right?"
"It must be a fluke, I can sometimes hit a ten out of ten angle, and I'm still a defender."
"He doesn't have that level of skill, otherwise he would have renewed his contract long ago."
"One more!" Head coach Hans didn't give everyone a chance to argue, he quickly pushed another ground ball towards Maël's position.
That hard shot didn't seem like a fluke, he wanted to see it again.
Maël looked at the incoming ball, lowered his center of gravity, and used the outside of his foot to stop the ball to the right, then his body followed up again, his left foot planted next to the football.
"Bang!!"
As if practicing countless nights, he folded his right leg and then suddenly popped it out, violently kicking the ball towards the goal.
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