Soccer System: All the Skills, One Player!

And so it was finally the turn of the final four. Anton, Lucas, Daniel and Loki stood at the finish line. Some of them bowed like athletic runners do, while others didn't.

Lucas was nervous. In that final round, he was the only striker, and, for that reason, he felt there was extra pressure on his shoulders. It certainly wasn't an obligation to be fast, but it was a very good thing to have as a characteristic.

If Lucas used the Champion System, perhaps he could copy Aidan's explosive speed ability, or Miguel's breath, but it didn't make sense for him, as a footballer, to just collect skills without his own merit of effort, for example.

So he decided he would just run with his own speed, with no items or skills to use.

He was one of those who bent over like a track and field athlete, and this helped him a little when the pistol shot resounded through the air and everyone started running. The fact that he was slightly bent forward meant that the wind resistance didn't affect his initial burst as much. When they were over fifty meters, Lucas still wasn't the first.

Surprisingly, Loki, the right-back, was quick indeed. In a way, he resembled Aidan, only with a little less breath.

In the end, Lucas was just a few centimeters away and felt he could overtake him, but he couldn't. And there were no excuses to be made. Loki was faster. Perhaps, if he'd had better breath and hadn't slowed down at the end, he could have done the same time as Aidan or even better.

Eddie stopped the stopwatch as the runners passed him, took out a pencil that he kept resting on his ear, and wrote the times. Then he put the stopwatch in the pocket of his polo shirt, tucked the clipboard under his arms, and clapped his hands to attract attention.

"Well done guys, you did really well! Aidan still made the best time, with 12 seconds, but many of you weren't far behind. Loki was second, Miguel third, Hillebrand fourth, Lucas fifth with 12.8 seconds, and Raphael and Denis sixth."

"What? Two in sixth?" Raphael asked.

"You did exactly the same time. 13 seconds. The next round should break the tie. Anyway, drink some water and get ready for the next round."

That's how they spent an hour running under the sun that Wednesday afternoon.

In fact, everyone improved their times with Eddie and Alex's instructions.

"Daniel, your torso is bent too far back!"

"Hillebrand, breathe easy!"

"Arthur, use the strength you have in those legs."

Some improved more than others, but the order from fastest to slowest changed little compared to the first round.

While everyone was sitting on the floor and drinking water, Alex suddenly dropped a bag on the floor, which made everyone look at him and then at the bag.

"Anton, Arthur, Daniel, Felix, Luiz, and Denis, get your vests on. We're going to play that promised match." Alex said.

His words cheered everyone up, and they got up to run onto the pitch. However, when they split up on the small pitch, they realized how unbalanced the two teams were.

One side of the pitch held the slower players. They had a goalkeeper, defenders, a midfielder, a striker, and a midfielder. Undoubtedly, although they were the slowest, they had the best line-up, tactically speaking.

On the other side, the fastest. Aidan, Loki, Miguel, Hillebrand, Lucas, and Raphael. This team comprised the fastest players in the B team, and most of them were strikers. The only ones who weren't strikers still had attacking roles, such as Loki and Aidan, the right, and left-backs, respectively.

Lucas straightened his shoelaces and took a quick look at his teammates. Their formation was a little odd compared to their opponents.

Aidan and Loki were on the wings, as expected. However, Miguel was in midfield, Raphael was in attack as a center forward, Lucas as a defender, and Hillebrand volunteered to go on goal.

Raphael shook his head as he looked towards the other team. "You know they have the advantage, right?" he muttered to Lucas with one hand in front of his mouth so as not to be read. "On a reduced field, we can't use our speed."

"Nah. Let's just do what we know how to do." Lucas replied, standing up.

Soon after, Eddie approached the ball in the center of the field and raised his head to look at the players.

"Right. You already know the rule: fifteen minutes. Whoever scores the most wins. No unnecessary fouls, and I don't want anyone hurt. Is that clear?" asked Eddie. Everyone nodded immediately. "Let's go then. Positioned!"

Eddie stepped away from the ball and blew his whistle. Miguel took the first touch of the ball, sending it to Loki on the right wing. The burst of speed was immediate, with Loki shooting like a rocket down the field.

The team's closest player in the vest, Arthur, moved quickly to mark him, but Loki, agile, deflected it with a short touch and kept running to the end line. "Cross!" shouted Aidan, raising his hand to ask for the ball. Daniel, who saw Aidan behind him, opened his eyes wide. 'When did he get here?!' Loki realized Arthur was coming back to close the space, so he delivered the cross.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The ball traveled in a high arc across the pitch. Aidan jumped to try to reach it, but Daniel appeared and headed for the ball, sending it into midfield. Lucas was there. He controlled the ball with a touch of his chest and controlled it with his left foot, already planning his next move.

Felix ran towards him to press him, but Lucas had already instinctively predicted that this would happen, so he passed the ball to Miguel. "Nice one, Lucas!" thanked Miguel as he drove the ball with the outside of his right foot.

The team of fast players was showing its power. Miguel slipped between Denis and Luiz, who tried to close the space and fell behind. He advanced to the edge of the box, but before he could shoot, Daniel tackled him.

"Not here, man!" shouted Daniel with an excited laugh.

The ball sailed wide, and the play stopped for a moment as Loki ran to take the throw-in. On the other side, Alex was adjusting the height of a tripod with a camera he was using to record the training session so he could review it later.

"The fast team has intensity, but I feel they're impatient," he commented to Eddie as he stepped out from behind the camera. "Yes, they'll wear out like that," replied Eddie. "If the tacticians keep their cool, they'll find chances to score."

Loki laid the ball off to Raphael, who tried to turn to get away from Luiz, but ended up losing possession. Luiz calmly raised his head and analyzed the pitch. The most advanced player on the pitch was also the team's only striker. Luiz then played a pass to Arthur, who found Felix in midfield. The short passes frustrated the fast players, who tried to intercept, but we're not good at marking or stealing the ball. "Press!" shouted Aidan, moving to get the ball from Felix.

However, the midfielder stopped the ball and sent a low pass to Daniel, who passed into the gap on the left flank that Aidan left as he advanced. Daniel advanced a few meters before firing a long ball to Denis, who was free on the edge of the box.

Midfielder Denis squared his body and shot powerfully, but makeshift goalkeeper Hillebrand pulled off an impressive save to send the ball out for a corner.

Five minutes into the game, the chance that the quick were waiting for finally came. Lucas intercepted a poorly executed pass from Luiz and slipped the ball through to Miguel.

This time, Miguel dribbled past Daniel and into the area. With a subtle touch, he found Lucas, who had run at full speed to receive the pass, back in an excellent position. Lucas didn't waste such an easy goal and sent it into the back of the net.

"Well done, boys! Nice move!" Alex clapped his hands. He was the one who always did it, because Eddie hardly ever congratulated the boys on playing in training.

But the celebration was short-lived. Just two minutes later, the tacticians equalized. In a quick move, Denis found Arthur free on the edge of the box. Arthur made a perfect pivot and shot into the corner.

The game remained even until the end, with both teams looking for the win and scoring goals. At the last minute, Lucas had another good chance, but Anton blocked his shot.

When the final whistle blew, the score was level: 3-3. All the players protested when they heard the whistle, because they were enjoying the game. "Don't complain and come closer! I have something to tell you! It's about the next and last friendly match you have before the regular season starts!" Eddie said.