NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 32: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: First minute wonder
Fabio Amaral stood over the ball while he waited for his teammates to arrange themselves inside Familicao's penalty box to receive the cross.
Jason positioned himself close by at the edge of the right side of the penalty area, waiting for the referee's whistle.
*Fweeeeee*
The whistle blew loudly and Fabio began his run-up towards the ball and swung his feet to connect with the ball, but instead of sending it into the box, he passed the ball to Jason who was just outside the right edge of the penalty area.
Jason received the ball and quickly corrected his posture before sending a curved cross at the awaiting players in the penalty area right before he could be held down by his marker.
Many players jumped at the incoming ball that flew into the box, but it was Mariano Regal, Porto's midfielder who got his head to the ball first and sent the ball at the goal.
The ball spun heavily, spurned by Mariano's header at the goal until the Familicao keeper who had dived a little late managed to get his fingertips to the ball and pushed the ball against the crossbar, over the goal, and out of play.
Mariano put his hands on his head as he groaned in annoyance at his goal-scoring chance being stopped by the goalkeeper.
{Ohhh!!! What a chance, and what a save by the keeper. Tomas Perreira's acrobatics have kept Porto Juniors from equalizing!} The commentator's voice accompanied the crowd's cheers that swept across the stadium despite the fans' slight disappointment at their team not scoring.
He sent an apologetic look at Jason as well, but Jason didn't mind the goal-scoring chance that had been missed and responded with a thumbs up and a smile as they arranged themselves in the penalty area for the corner kick.
Fabio was the one who was taking the corner kick while the other players arranged themselves strategically inside the penalty area to be able to connect with the corner.
*Fweeee*
The referee blew the whistle for the corner kick to be taken and with a powerfully swung kick, Fabio sent the ball spinning rapidly into the penalty box and towards the head of his teammates.
Players from both teams jumped for the ball aiming to either send it into the back of the net, or away from the goal with their efforts.
Goncalo Sousa was the first one to get his head on the ball and he tried to direct it towards the goal, but the ball had barely left contact with his head when Hugo Oliveira, a center-back from the other team blocked the path of the ball with his ball.
The ball hit Hugo's body and was sent upwards before coming back towards the ground.
All the players near the ball lunged toward the ball with various intentions, but one person was moving faster than all of them.
Jason had watched the header of Goncalo hit Hugo's body and how the ball had flown into the air.
He had begun running to get the first touch on the ball before the ball even began its descent so it was inevitable that he was the first to reach the ball and with a well-timed volley he sent the ball past the defenders and the goalkeeper.
The net bulged to signify that he had scored but Jason was already running towards the sidelines in jubilation.
GOAL!!!!
2 : 2
{What a goal! He's been on the field for just more than a minute and already he has scored}
{What a perfect start for the young player} The commentator's mouth kept rattling off, but his voice could barely be heard above the screams of the crowd who were cheering the equalizing goal like their life depended on it.
Jason who was the center and cause of this reaction in the stadium was already in a power-slide with his arms stretched out as if to hug the world and enjoying every moment of his first professional goal, despite it still being in the youth league.
It reminded him of what was to come and he had heartfelt joy on his face as he jubilated happily.
'Ahh... I've missed this,' he thought with his eyes closed, the chants of more than a thousand fans filling his ears.
He could even hear his name a few times, but before he could think any further, he was swept to the ground by his teammates who had finally caught up to him.
***
In a less crowded place in the stands, three men sat unmoved by the euphoria that currently shook the stadium.
"He has a good instinct and good decision-making skills for sure," Luis Pinto intoned, slightly adjusting his glasses as he spoke.
"...While I can't deny that, it's not enough for him to make it to the first team with just this much," Sergio Conceicao said after a slight pause.
"But it's still just the 37th minute, so he still has a lot of time to impress me," he added after noticing that Rafael was about to speak.
Rafael and Luis nodded their heads in understanding and returned their attention to the ongoing game, or more specifically to Jason as the match looked set to continue.
After the jubilations, the teams returned to their own half for the kick-off the game was now equalized once again, but this time by the Porto team and the fans who had reduced their cheers after their team had gone behind were now giving their full support through their reinvigorated cheers and chants.
The game kicked off once again with the Familicao team in possession, but not for long as the Porto team charged at them with high spirits, their morale obviously improved by their equalizing goal, and before long they gained possession of the ball.
With them now in possession, they slowly began passing the ball around cleverly and slowly building up an attack with their sights set on scoring another goal and taking the lead once again.
Since Jason had scored the equalizing goal, his teammates were quite intent on giving him the ball and he didn't disappoint.
He easily dribbled past his markers before returning the ball to his teammates with clever passes and setting up various attacking opportunities, but the score remained the same until the 44th minute.
Porto was on the attack once again, but this time there was a hint of hurriedness in their passes as they advanced towards the Famillicao penalty area.
They were desperate to get a lead before halftime as that could help soften the words of their coach during the break and they showed their desire in their attack as they advanced.
Mariano passed the ball to Joao Teixeira who did a one-touch pass in Goncalo's direction.
Goncalo received the ball and quickly sent the ball back to Joao before his marker could react.
Joao was looking for an open player as he received the ball back from the striker and by chance saw Jason making a run for into the outer space on the right wing and quickly sent the ball his way.