After the conflict, there was little time left in the game, and Sheffield United began to reorganize their defense, guarding their goal.
They were the leading side, so there was no need to rush. As long as they held onto their lead, they could use the most arrogant celebration to humiliate Middlesbrough at the moment of victory.
"Push up! Push up!"
Middlesbrough's coach had just been punched a couple of times in the chaos, and the pain in his ribs was excruciating. He was furious and urged his players to push all the way into the opponent's half.
As long as it was on the field, the scope of the conflict wouldn't escalate to other places. The team's win or loss was the key.
At this time, even if they couldn't overtake the score, as long as they scored a last-minute equalizer, they could celebrate wildly at Bramall Lane, 'shitting' everywhere.
The Middlesbrough players who re-entered the game also knew this well. They concentrated and launched long-pass attacks continuously.
"Middlesbrough is playing it simple! The smell of gunpowder on the field doesn't seem to have dissipated, but both sides have returned to the game. Hopefully, there won't be any larger-scale conflicts! A cross into the penalty area! Maguire clears with a header! It's cleared far, but Middlesbrough still gets the second ball and crosses it in again! This time, Janu Hans has possession. He turns around, and Matthew Bates tries to kick his leg again. He already received a yellow card in the previous conflict. He needs to calm down and be careful with his actions!
"Janu Hans, passes to the left, Bertrand gets the ball, Maël is asking for the ball, the front is open!
"Bertrand passes the ball! This is an excellent counter-attack opportunity. Sheffield United has a golden opportunity to kill the game!"
On the field, Maël dribbled the ball with his right foot, approaching the opponent's half along the sideline. He constantly observed the movements of the opponent's defense and the players tracking back.
Seeing that the defensive players in the center were positioned somewhat loosely, he didn't hesitate and cut inside at a large angle, taking the ball towards the center.
The opponent's fullback saw that he couldn't keep up and tried to pull him, but Maël noticed his intention.
"Bang!" He slammed his shoulder hard against the fullback, knocking him over.
"Oh!" A cheer erupted inside Bramall Lane Stadium. This kind of successful challenge would boost the morale of one side.
Enveloped in the encouragement of the fans, Maël's adrenaline soared, and he sprinted wildly towards the edge of the opponent's penalty arc. He raised his left arm, making a shooting motion.
"Hey!" The opponent's center-back shouted angrily, leaping up to expand his defensive range, trying to block the shot.
But in everyone's eyes, he looked more like an actor cooperating with Maël, surrendering his defensive position as soon as Maël gave a slight hint.
Because Maël didn't shoot at all.
"Boom!!"
After shaking off the defender, his body finally stretched out, and he wrapped his right foot around the ball, curling a beautiful arc.
From the camera's perspective, the ball seemed to be at risk of sliding past the goal at any moment, but somehow, as if it had been fitted with precise navigation, the ball bypassed the goalkeeper's fingertips and swerved into the net! Goal! Three to one!! "Yeah!!" The truly exhilarating moment had arrived. Maël scored a goal that killed the game, and Middlesbrough would no longer have any chance to fight back.
"A perfect cut inside curved shot! Maël single-handedly disrupted the opponent's defense and ultimately scored this wonderful goal after beating two players in a row!!
"A record is born. In such a tense game, Maël scored his 31st league goal! Now, he has become the goal-scoring record holder in the EFL Championship!!
"An incredible achievement. The boy from Aix has conquered English football in just one year! All the fans who watched this game will remember this day. They witnessed the birth of a great genius!"
On the field, Maël tore off his jersey, roared, and rushed to the sideline. First, he made a double gun gesture with his hands, then threw himself on the ground, sliding towards the fan zone with the momentum.
He remembered this celebration, the celebration that looked like executing an opponent.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!" He fired three shots in a row, each one hoarse and venting his emotions.
After getting up, he threw a punch fiercely towards the sky, and then was pounced on by his teammates who followed up, forming a dogpile.
"31 goals! Mygold! I can't score that many goals in my lifetime!"
"We won!"
"Let the Middlesbrough people go back crying, hahaha!"
"Whoosh!" Janu Hans, who contributed to the goal, wasn't idle either. He turned to face the opponent's goal and made a highly insulting dart-throwing motion with an arrogant expression! They celebrated wildly, shamelessly humiliating the Middlesbrough people, making the opposing fans and players feel ashamed.
"Come on!"
On the sidelines, the coaching staff got even more intense. Gareth Speed clenched his fists, facing the opposing coaching staff directly, and swung a punch angrily every two steps, "Come on! Come on!!"
Middlesbrough gnashed his teeth, his face turning red instantly. He was a Scottish Highlander, and he would turn red all over when he got excited and angry.
He was overheating.
Finally, a Middlesbrough player couldn't bear it any longer and rushed towards the Sheffield United fan circle who were celebrating to demand an explanation.
"What are you doing?"
"Damn it, this is our home ground, do they really think they can bully our players?!"
The South Stand, closest to the incident, had fans who, seeing this scene, were enraged and broke through the security line formed by the guards, climbing over the advertising boards as if to rush onto the field.
"Bip bip bip!" The referee hurriedly blew his whistle, reminding the Middlesbrough players to leave the field quickly and enter the player tunnel.
The player who had demanded an explanation's face changed, and he turned and ran without hesitation, sprinting all the way to the player tunnel in his cleats, even slipping and falling hard because it was too slippery.
When he came back to his senses, their coaching staff and players had already run back, with no one left outside.
They leaned against the wall, listening to the commotion outside, no longer daring to go out.
"What did I say?!"
On the sidelines, in section A, the old man next to Kevin Systrom waved his hands in celebration, "What did I say, he can always do it!"
"A beautiful play indeed!"
As an American, it was difficult for Kevin Systrom to experience the joy that football brings from childhood to adulthood; they were more involved in sports like baseball, American football, and basketball.
This was the first time he had felt such excitement in a football stadium, and it was naturally an unforgettable experience.
The spectacle of football is self-evident, with bicycle kicks, overhead kicks, and curved shots all giving people a sense of the violent beauty of art.
Even people who don't usually watch football can feel this passion at this moment.
"It's about to turn into a fight!"
Mike suddenly pointed to a spot on the field, where fans had already rushed out, which made him very excited: "Oh! Should we rush down too?"
Kevin Systrom gave him a helpless glance; were they here to watch the game or to watch a conflict?
"Don't look at me like that."
Mike's expression remained unchanged as he said, "I know what the main thing is. Having watched a game here along the way, I'm very clear about his influence in this area. He's got this."
Kevin Systrom didn't reply, he was already completely immersed in this exciting game, turning to ask the old man next to him, "What happens now?"
"Wait for the referee's announcement."
The old man pointed to the referee and the fourth official who were about to enter the tunnel, saying, "There are many ways to handle it. I hope they rule in our favor, after all, we are leading three to one, and they started the trouble."
Kevin Systrom nodded, crossing his hands and placing them near his face, anxiously waiting.
After a long time, the referee walked out of the player tunnel, holding the whistle, and blew three long whistles, pointing his hand to the sky: "Bip! Bip! Bip——!!"
The game ended early, so that means it ends with the current score! Sheffield United, after experiencing some twists and turns at home, finally defeated their opponent with a score of three to one!
"Ohh!!" Another burst of cheers engulfed Bramall Lane Stadium. The city police quickly arrived and controlled some of the fans who had just crossed the security line and climbed over the advertising boards; they would receive some punishment.
"We won!"
Kevin Systrom didn't know at first, but when he saw the old man next to him raising his hands and clapping, he smiled, "Not easy, the game was fragmented, but still very good."
"Maël! Maël! Maël!" The old man didn't have time to answer them, but followed the increasingly loud wave of sound, calling out Maël's name, he had become today's hero again.
Moreover, today was also an important day for him, he had achieved an important accomplishment! This honor belongs not only to him, but also to Sheffield United, because the record will show that he achieved this honor in Sheffield!
This will make Sheffield United fans feel very honored, after all... in the future, if anyone boasts about their team's players, they can directly bring up Maël.
——"Well, the player you mentioned is indeed good, but he should go and break the EFL Championship single-season goal record."
——"Ah, I forgot to tell you, that was achieved by our team's player Maël in the 10-11 season."
Some people would imagine this, because they used to be often ridiculed by fans of other teams on this point, and were distressed that they didn't have a player of their own to bring up.
Kevin Systrom and Mike exchanged glances, seeing shock and amazement in each other's eyes.
The two left the stadium not long after, contacting Maël, hoping to meet the Sheffield Little King today.
The familiar old place, still the restaurant where Mendes first brought Maël, the three sat together.
"1.5% of the shares."
Kevin Systrom put forward his conditions, he explained: "This is the upper limit we can transfer, and it's not necessarily all given. We need to draw up an equity incentive table, how much publicity effect you achieve, how many shares you get."
"I hope you don't get angry when I say this, in the latest round of valuation, we already have an estimated market value of 30 million US dollars."
"Yes."
Mike nodded from the side, adding, "Converted, you can consider it a contract worth $450,000. For young players like you, I think it's quite attractive."
Kevin Systrom, afraid Maël wouldn't believe him, opened his phone and displayed a news page: "Look, our valuation is really $30 million. Recently, we're planning a round of financing."
"Offering 25% of the shares to get $7.5 million, that's a sky-high price. Maybe you don't quite understand it yet."
Maël listened to them finish, nodding slightly. It really was like being separated by different industries; the information wasn't flowing, and there were mutual misjudgments.
He chuckled and asked, "Is your financing going smoothly? Do you still need new funds to enter?"
"It's alright."
Kevin Systrom didn't understand, thinking Maël had misunderstood. "Your contribution is also a kind of investment, but it's purely resource-based. We also need partners like you."
"So, I'm worth 1.5%?"
Maël didn't expect them to rate him so highly, but only getting 1.5% certainly didn't meet his expectations. He continued, "How about giving me 10%? Just consider 1% as personal resource shares, and I'll buy the rest at your price."
In a transaction, if you want to move forward, it's best to take a step back first, to increase the success rate and persuasiveness. Paying an extra 0.5% wasn't a problem for him.
"Haha."
Kevin Systrom laughed, but his opinion of Maël dropped a few notches. He thought this person was greedy. "You might still have some misunderstandings. The 25% is all we're using for financing, not for negotiating with you."
"We need money. Without money, we can't run the servers, recruit employees, or support the company."
Mike suddenly slapped him on the back, making him a little angry. Just as he was about to explode, he heard the other party say, "He wants to invest money, didn't you understand?"
"Invest?"
Kevin Systrom was even more surprised. This time, he held back his annoyance for a long time before explaining, "Maël, a simple calculation will tell you that if 25% is $7.5 million, then 1% is a full $300,000."
"The 10% you want, excluding the 1% for your personal influence, totals 9%, which requires $2.7 million."
"I have it," Maël replied before he could finish.
This year, the dollar's momentum wasn't strong. The exchange rate with the pound should be around 1.64, meaning he could come up with about £1.65 million to get $2.7 million.
He had calculated it before coming. The upper limit he could handle was about this much, depending on whether the other party would agree.
"$2.7 million, that requires... let me check today's exchange rate."
After saying this, Kevin Systrom took out his phone to search for the exchange rate. Only then did his brain react to what Maël had just said. He suddenly looked up: "What did you say?!"
Mike had heard clearly. He opened his mouth slightly, wondering if Maël was deceiving them or if they had really underestimated this kid.
After dinner, the three came to an ATM. Maël inserted his card, and a clear number appeared in front of everyone.
[1784651.49]
Two weeks had passed, and another £60,000 or so in after-tax salary had arrived. Maël's savings had reached nearly £1.8 million, which, converted to dollars, was close to $3 million.
"Oh!"
Mike was a straightforward person. He directly grabbed his head and turned around, but then he was a little afraid of attracting robbers, so he pursed his lips and forcibly lowered his voice, "Too scary, too scary."
Kevin Systrom was stunned in place. Although he didn't say anything, he was absent-minded the whole way, as if someone had taken his soul away, and he couldn't even speak.
ps: The EFL Championship will end within this week.
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