My Goalkeeping System

Minino was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game and there was no disputing that.

The midfielder scored a hat trick and assisted the last game of the match which meant that he was involved in four goals out of six, he went full beast mode today while someone else wasn't himself throughout the match.

"A forgetful performance from Mateo today but I guess it's all good since they managed to win six goals to nothing," Jim commented.

"Yeah, he looked tired and disoriented throughout the match, I wonder why Norman didn't substitute him."

The players were making their way to the tunnel now and just like always, Mateo could be found beside Dave, but the winger seemed to be dragging his feet with his breathing still a bit louder.

<Yeah, it's getting worse>

'Huh?'

<Mateo, he's about to fall>

"What?"

The goalkeeper quickly turned around to see that she wasn't kidding, Mateo was really about to fall, but he was there to catch him before that could happen.

"Hey, buddy, are you okay?"

The winger didn't say anything but he could tell by how hot his body felt that he wasn't okay and his breathing was slowing down while getting louder.

<He's not okay>

"Don't worry, I'm okay." The winger drawled before suddenly passing out.

_________ ________

'Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?'

The players were all in the locker room now and just like most of his teammates, Dave was just sitting quietly with a lot of thoughts running through his mind.

Minino would have gone all out in the locker room especially today that he was the man of the match, but because of the current situation, he decided to stay quiet.

"How did we not notice that he was suffering on the pitch?" Merino muttered with his gaze on the floor.

"How were we supposed to know when he was all smiles even after making those silly mistakes?" Minino retorted. "He even looked okay to me before the match."

"My guess is that this started someone near the end of the first half and got worse toward the end of the second half." Ferran speculated with his hand on his chin. "But why didn't he ask to get substituted or why didn't coach just change him since he wasn't playing like himself."

"Don't blame coach, if you really wanted him to be taken off, you would have just turned to him and told him that," Adolf remarked.

<He kept telling himself that he was okay>

'And why didn't you tell me about this?'

<Well, I thought he was okay and was just trying to clear something about the match against Lyon in his mind>

'But you should have at least told me.'

<I know, I'm sorry but don't worry, I did a thorough check-up when you touched him, it's just a fever>

'I can't believe he's been playing with a fever.'

<I think Norman was thinking of substituting him somewhere down the second half but he told him he was okay and didn't have any trouble staying on the pitch till the end>

'Seriously, Mateo.' The goalkeeper sighed inwardly. 'What were you thinking doing something like this when we were comfortably winning?'

<I think he wanted to score a goal or provide an assist before potentially leaving the pitch to save his poor performance but since that never happened, he ended up with a five-point eight average match rating>

Dave's response to that was a sigh which most of his teammates heard.

"Hey, cheer up guys, we just won a match so there's no need for the long face, Mateo's going to be okay, he's one of the strongest players in this team so there's no need to worry. From what I can tell, he's just down with a fever." Martinez expressed just a few seconds after walking into the room.

"And how can you be so sure of that?" Roland asked with his gaze now on the midfielder.

"Umm…. Because I'm just coming from the room where he's receiving treatment." Martinez replied before he made his way to his seat and sat down there. "The nurse there told me it was just a fever so there was nothing to worry about."

His teammates were quite relieved to hear that, but nothing really changed in how quiet the room was.

'Yeah, it's just a fever but there might be a problem.'

<Yeah>

'We have an important match on Thursday and he might not be fit for that.'

_________ ________

Dave got home a bit later than usual because of everything that happened that night.

He opened the door expecting to find Emma fast asleep on the couch but she was wide awake with her gaze on her phone's screen.

"Oh, hey." She smiled before she quickly got up from the couch and began to make her way to him. "Welcome back."

"I didn't expect to find you awake."

"Well, I'm not feeling sleepy tonight." She replied before slowly taking his backpack off his shoulder.

"Oh, and why's that?" The goalkeeper asked with his gaze fixated on her and that was when he could see the worry she was trying to mask with that smile.

She didn't say anything for a while before she turned and made her way to the couch with the bag.

"Well….." She drawled as she slowly unzipped the bag. "I heard what happened to Mateo."

"Of course, Amber was at the stadium." He sighed before slowly making his way to her.

"He's okay, right?"

"Yeah, there's nothing to worry about." He assured her before placing his hand on her shoulder. "It was just a fever and I made sure he got home safely."

"That idiot, what was he thinking doing something like that?" She grumbled.

"I haven't gotten the answer to that question from him so I'll try again tomorrow." He replied before turning away from her.

<But you know>

'I never said otherwise, I just said I haven't gotten it from him which is the truth.'

"I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

"Okay, don't take too long, I'll have dinner ready in a moment."

Dave made his way upstairs and straight to the room, the bed was just in front of him now so he just crashed down on it.

"Maybe I should take a look at this stuff now." He sighed.

[ Quest completed ]

[ Kept a clean sheet ]

[ Made five crucial saves ]

[ Completed three long passes ]

[ Quest rewards ]

[ +150 exp ]

[ +3 stat points ]

[ +5 skill upgrade points ]

[Post-match rewards ]

[ Seven crucial saves: +70 exp ]

[ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]

[ Match rating: 7.8 ]

'Honestly, Catherine, I feel like everything is hanging on a thread at this moment.'

<Huh?>

'I'm not trying to be pessimistic or anything but we've just entered the tougher part of our goals this season and I feel like it's only a matter of time before everything starts snapping, I mean our Europa Conference League dreams is really close to snapping.'

<Yeah, you're right, but that's what makes football fun, it wouldn't be fun with tough moments like this but there's still life left in that thread everything is hanging on>