Chapter 429 A Bet
Looks like Norman knew what he was doing when he chose Mateo to go first because now that the winger just sent the ball right through the stuffy hole, his teammates were now pressured to do the same.
<That sure was some hit>
'Yeah, I'm not even sure I'll be able to get that ball in there.'
<Well, your accuracy is slightly better than his, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to your technique and the amount of shot you apply, he has you beat in those departments>
'Of course, he has me beat in those areas, he's a winger, and I'm a goalkeeper.'
<A very strange goalkeeper>
So far, Mateo had been the only one to get the ball through the ball-shaped hole and that was because he has been the only person to attempt it.
Right after him was now Merino who was standing over the ball twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.
"If Mateo did it, then I'm sure I can do it." The winger said as he slowly took three steps backward.
"Yeah, right we'll see about that." Minino mocked from where he was standing.
Merino ignored him as he slowly closed up on the ball accelerating his pace the moment he got close enough to strike it with his foot.
He struck the ball with his right foot and sent it flying toward the target, but the ball ended up hitting the post just right beside the hole, it was really close to going in.
"Oh, that was so close." The winger cried before crashing down to the floor.
"Hah, what happened to being able to do it if Mateo could do it?" Minino laughed.
"Alright, Minino, it's your turn," Norman said before giving him a little poke on the back of his head.
"Oh." The midfielder muttered before making his way to the spot.
There was a heap of balls lying there so he just picked one and dropped it on the spot.
"Alright, wish me luck, boys." He said as he slowly stepped backward.
"I wish you bad luck." Merino scoffed from where he was sitting on the floor.
"Thanks, Merino, your bad luck is just all I need."
After saying that, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target.
He got really close to getting it through the hole, but it wasn't meant to be as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying up.
"At least I came closer than him." The midfielder said before turning his gaze to Merino who was still sitting on the floor.
"Yeah, you came close but I don't recall coming close to scoring in a match counting for anything," Norman said.
"If the goalpost was made to be that small, then I'm sure it would," Minino muttered before returning to where he was standing beside Mateo.
"You're up, Fredinho." The coach said after shaking his head.
The striker made his way to the spot as soon as he heard his name, and after dropping the ball on the spot, he slowly took three steps backward.
"Here goes nothing." He let out a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target fixed on the top left corner of the goalpost.
He got really close, but the ball ended up missing by a few inches as it hit the lower part of the target before falling into the goalpost.
"Hmm, pretty impressive, if you had gone a bit higher you would have gotten it for sure." Norman expressed.
"Thanks, coach, I'll try to do better next time." The striker said before returning to where he was standing.
"You're up, Fred."
"Sure thing." The striker said as he quickly picked up one of the balls and made his way to the area.
After getting to the spot, he dropped the ball right there and slowly took three steps backward.
He paused for a while and took in a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball.
He struck it with his right foot with his aim being the target, but his accuracy seemed to have gone off a bit as the ball ended up moving away from the target a little too much and hitting the crossbar right at the middle.
After watching his accuracy fail him like that, the striker slowly bent his head.
"Ouch."
Norman didn't really have anything to say to that as he proceeded to call the next person.
"You're up next, Ferran."
The midfielder didn't say a word as he slowly made his way to the spot and dropped the ball there.
After that, he slowly took three steps backward before quickly closing up on the ball.
He struck it with his right foot and sent it flying toward the target, but just like Minino, he ended up missing it by a few inches as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar.
"That was close." He mumbled before slowly returning to his position.
"Roland."
"Coming." The youngster said as he quickly made his way to the area.
He dropped the ball on the spot before taking just a step away from it.
He wasn't in much of a haste to kick it as he observed the target from where he was standing for a while before turning his gaze back to the ball.
'This is really tough, how did Mateo even get the ball through there, you have to make sure the whole ball is in the track to enter the hole to make the short, if just a side of it is outside then it won't go in. He obviously had a little bit of luck on his side.'
After going through all those thoughts in his mind, the left-back pulled his leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.
Unlike the others before him, he didn't go for a normal strike, instead, he went for a lobbed shot.
The ball flew toward the target from the top, it was heading right toward the target, and ultimately, it ended up going through the hole.
"Yes!" The wing-back shouted before raising both his hands with a bright smile on his face.
"Wow, you did it, buddy," Minino said with a nod of approval.
"Good job," Mateo commented.
"Nice kick, Roland."
"Thanks, coach."
Everyone else who came after the left-back failed to put the ball in the hole, until it was finally time to take the shot and see if he could put it in.
He had been expecting a quest since he had been watching his teammates take their own, but that didn't come, and now that he was standing over the ball, he knew it wasn't going to come.
"I'm just a goalkeeper so nobody should blame me if I fail to put it in." The goalkeeper said as he slowly took three steps backward.
"A goalkeeper who can score from the goalpost, yeah right, your goal expectation is just as high as some of us here, so you're in the same boat here." Minino expressed.
<He is sort of right>
Dave didn't reply to her as he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target.
Straight up the ball was sent flying toward it, but because some parts of the ball weren't in the right path, the ball ended up hitting the right part of the target before falling into the goalpost.
"Well, I tried my best." He said with a shrug.
"You did better than most people, that's for sure," Minino commented.
"Hmm, almost all of you did pretty well, but let's move it up a notch," Norman said.
"And how do we do that?" Dave asked.
"Whoever puts the ball in there from the center of the pitch gets two hundred pounds from me."
That was all he needed to get them hyped up because everyone had their gaze on him now because they believe they didn't hear him right.
The money was obviously nothing to them, but whenever there was a bet involved in a training session, things got a bit serious.
THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM