Become A Football Legend

Chapter 70: Europe (2)



He cut to his left, the ball moved just to the edge of the box. He planted his right foot, raised his right arm, and swung his left foot.

"Knauff sends the ball back to Brandt. He has company; is he going to send in the cross? Oh! Nice fake! Raul will not want to rewatch the highlights of this match 'cause that's for sure going in there! Will Brandt try a shot from there? Seems he wi— NO! He's floated in a beautiful cross to the back post! Uzun is coming in unmarked... Header!"

Lukas had set up his posture like he was about to hit a left-footed curler from outside the box.

Adam Varga, the Ferencváros substitute goalkeeper who had come on for an injured Dibusz a few minutes ago, was completely expecting a shot, so although the cross lacked power, it was already too late for him to come out of his line to collect the ball from the air by the time he noticed what Lukas had done.

Uzun, in acres of space, got his head to the ball under zero pressure. The ball flew towards goal as the players watched.

Koch, back near the halfway line, already had his hands in the air when Lukas cut past Raul. He knew Lukas was about to create something spectacular.

"GOALL! And the lead is two! A simple header for Uzun after Lukas perfectly sold the shot! The teenager assisting the teenager. Eintracht Frankfurt has been blessed with a young and talented squad!" the commentator screamed.

Can Uzun ran straight towards Lukas as they pointed at each other before he jumped on him. The crowd cheered as Uzun and Lukas crossed arms over each other's shoulders and pumped their fists towards the crowd.

Up in the stands, João's father was giving Lukas a standing ovation after his assist. "This boy is crazy talented," he said as he clapped.

"Of course he is! He's my best friend!" João said as he stood up to join his father.

"Shut up. If you like, don't start training harder. Look at him, you went to the same academy but he's already playing and scoring in Europe."

"My time is coming soon, Dad, don't worry."

"Do I look worried? Of course I know you'll make it," Carlos Gimenez said. "Even if you don't, I can just assume Lukas is one of my sons and brag about him," he added jokingly as he sat down.

"I don't think you'll need to assume," João muttered to himself as he too sat.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. The game is resuming," João said as he pointed down to the pitch to change the topic.

Down at the pitch, the game had resumed but the first-half whistle was promptly blown not more than three minutes later to conclude the half and the players walked out of the pitch as the home crowd cheered.

"And that is it for the first half of this exciting match. Eintracht Frankfurt dominate with a stunner from Lukas and a header from Uzun to make it a two-nil lead for the home team. They have all but clinched their spot in the round of 16."

Inside the home team's huge locker room, Toppmöller was giving a speech to his players.

"We are up by two goals now, but as you all must know, a two-goal lead is one of the most dangerous kinds of lead. Even if they're not from a top European domestic league, they are able to compete in the Europa League for a reason. For the next 45 minutes, never switch off." He then turned to his two center backs, "Koch, Tuta, stay compact in defense. Do not push too high up the pitch even if we have the ball for long. Our intention for the next half is preserving the lead, we will add to it if the chance arises, but under no circumstances should we lose the lead. Do you understand?"

"Yes, coach," the players responded.

Finally, he turned to Lukas and the other attacking players, "Keep doing what you're doing. Keep finding those passes and taking the shots when you feel you have a chance."

After a few more minutes of discussions and hydration, Lukas jogged back onto the pitch with the home team as the crowd went crazy.

FWEEE

"Off we go for the second half of Eintracht Frankfurt vs Ferencváros. Ekitike back to Koch. Koch pushes it forward to Larsson. Larsson has found Knauff by the right-hand side. Knauff has Malinowski and Ben Romdhane bearing down on him. A diagonal switch to Uzun at the left flank. Uzun sends the ball backwards to Skhiri. Oh Skhiri has found Brandt in acres of space down the middle!"

After the whistle, the Eintracht Frankfurt players had gradually passed the ball around, and as the away team tried to chase it down, they unknowingly left a huge gap just around the center of their half.

Lukas was standing in the middle of the away half of the pitch with no opposition player in a five-foot radius around him.

As Skhiri passed the ball to him, Lukas received it on a half turn — his mind already in attack mode. He drove forward immediately as the Ferencváros midfielders who had been stretched out by the initial passing sequence tried to close in on him — it was futile.

Lukas tore down the middle as he headed towards the opposition. Ekitike giving him a passing lane on the right and Uzun on the left. The away team center backs were caught in two minds as they contemplated either coming out for the tackle or holding their ground until reinforcement comes from the midfield. The fullbacks were concerned with Ekitike and Uzun running down the flanks.

As Lukas edged towards the penalty arc, Cisse made his mind up and stepped up to try and win the ball. With one swift motion, Lukas, with the top of his left foot, flicked the ball over Cisse's foot to the left, and unleashed a power shot aiming at the top corner. Varga was unable to move, he could only pray the shot was off target.

BANG!

The woodwork shook as the ball smashed the intersection between the crossbar and the left goalpost and came back into play before it was cleared by Gartenmann.

Lukas, for a brief moment, placed his hand on his waist and calmly shook his head. He was sure the ball was heading into the top corner.

"At least I know what to work on now," he thought as he smiled and shrugged off the feeling of disappointment.

The game went on in a similar vein — Frankfurt launching waves upon waves of attack while Ferencváros tried to stop them. They could not stop them forever, though.

In the 65th minute, Lukas received a pass from Theate down the left flank. He looked up and saw Traore and Maiga closing in on him, while Uzun tried to find an open space to position himself as a passing option.

As the two Ferencváros players closed in, Lukas saw the little space in between them, and decided to exploit it. He moved the ball from his left to his right foot to evade Traore's tackle, and then immediately moved it back to his left foot to evade Maiga's as he slipped through the gap between both of them.

Some fans by the side of the pitch where Lukas had just done that stood in anticipation as he left the two players behind as he cut down the middle.

He glanced up and saw Ekitike making a run while Fani was glued to him trying to body-check him out of possession.

As Fani's shoulder slammed into him, Lukas did not seem to even notice it. "What is this kid made of?" Fani thought as he felt he had just run into a brick wall disguised as a human being.

With his attempt to body Lukas out of possession having failed, Fani resigned to foul him. They had been told by their coach during the halftime break to stop Lukas by any means necessary, and he was ready to bring him down.

Fani grabbed Lukas's shirt and pulled on it tightly, reducing Lukas's pace considerably. Just as the referee moved the whistle to his mouth to blow for a foul, Lukas released a perfectly placed through pass down the middle.

"Fani grabs a handful of Brandt's shirt. The age difference between the two of them is a whopping 10 years. Oh my word! Would you look at that?! Lukas Brandt with an exquisite pass right through the legs of Cisse towards Ekitike. Ekitike against Varga... and Hugo Ekitike makes it three for Eintracht Frankfurt!

Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! Lukas Brandt, under immense pressure from Fani, was able to release Ekitike with a perfectly placed through pass," the commentator screamed as the Frankfurt players, including Lukas, ran to join Ekitike who was celebrating by the corner.

"It will go on the record books as an Ekitike goal, but this was all created by the 16-year-old wonderkid who has now surely introduced himself to Europe. Lukas Brandt!"


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