Any moves or terms you don't understand, ask me! Chapter 5: The Match- Part One Adam Rivers towered over Apollo. He was huge, well muscled with broad shoulders and an easy, disarming smile on his face. His hand was outstretched and Apollo took it, shaking it politely. 'Apollo I presume, I've heard all about you,' he smiled. Apollo was taken aback by the easy going and relaxed attitude of the big man, completely at odds with his hulking frame. 'Can't imagine you've heard much. You yourself have an um large reputation,' replied Apollo, hesitantly. To his relief, Adam roared with laughter. 'You guys can start, let's have a good game,' he chortled, slapping Apollo on the back and walking back towards his team. Apollo stood staring at him, surprised at his relaxed demeanor. He turned back towards his own team, his mind going over the selection. Lynn and Chris hadn't been successful in their attempt to recruit Kinara, she had laughed in their faces and ignored all their attempts. Because of that, they'd had to move Lynn back to right back, with IP on the right side of attack. He walked up to the team that awaited him. 'We're kicking off,' he said to the Coach, who nodded in response. 'Right,' said Javier, clapping his hands together. The team immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him. 'This may only be a friendly, but we're up against a really great player. This'll be a very good test for later on in the season when we go up against the very best teams. Good luck out there, I'm not looking for a perfect performance, but go and impress me all the same.' 'YES COACH,' responded the team, enthusiastically. Javier smiled. 'Let's go Bears!' he cried, the team's now traditional yet somewhat basic rallying call. As the players took the field, the Kametsu students roared their support, startling the opposition players. Kametsu got their nickname more from their fans than their players, something that the spooked Balamb High players were clearly finding out. All apart from Adam Rivers, who with a large grin plastered on his face, looked incredibly relaxed. Danny and George stood in the center circle as the referee blew his whistle, signalling the start of the match. ___________________ Danny received the ball from George and immediately tapped it back to Apollo. The captain controlled it and with languid ease lofted it out wide to the left for Axel to gather. The winger's touch was effortless and he looked up to see the opposition right back running tentatively towards him. He waited for his opponent to get close before passing it sharply to his right for Danny. The freshman knew exactly what his teammate wanted and played an inch perfect return pass that got Axel in behind his marker. Axel smiled. Too easy, he thought. Suddenly, Adam appeared, taking the ball off Axel's toe and running clear of the stunned winger. Danny ran to cover him but Adam ran threw him like a bulldozer. 'Shit,' swore Apollo, aware of the dangerous situation his team were now in. 'Jeff, pick him up!' he yelled. Jeff complied, approaching Adam cautiously. The big midfield player stopped. 'Close him down!' shrieked Javier from the sidelines, realising what was about to happen. Unfortunately for him, Jeff didn't have the same awareness, and so he could only stand and watch as Adam drillled an outrageous 45 yard that split the defence open. Fortunately for Kametsu, Adam's teammate just wasn't fast enough to catch it before it drifted out of play. However, it had taken just a couple of minutes for Adam to show just how good he was. Breathless punted the ball down field from the goalkick. 'Get it together Kametsu! barked Coach Martinez from the touchline. ________________ The next 20 minutes passed without incident, with Kametsu dominating possession but being stopped by the efforts of Adam Rivers every time they tried to get into the danger area. One man was keeping them at bay and that one man had nearly scored 5 minues ago. A powerful shot from the edge of the box that had crashed against the crossbar with Breathless watching on hopelessly. ' Lynn to me,' called Apollo. Lynn complied, passing the ball to her captain. Apollo looked up with dismay. Axel and Danny were both tightly marked, as was George. IP only had one man watching him, but every time they passed to him he lost the ball. Cursing, he passed the ball sideways to Chris instead. The left back confidently advanced, dribbling up the pitch as the Balamb High players focused on defending and left him alone. Chris smiled. He found the lack of opposition insulting. Guess I'll have to do something special, he thought. He accelerated, entering the Balamb High half, and a defender came out to meet him. 'Pass it,' called Jeff, away to his right. Chris ignored the shout and continued his advance. As his opponent came closer, Chris knocked it through his legs, before bursting past him. Almost immediately, Adam was there, chasing towards the loose ball. 'Chris pass!' roared Axel. The freshman ignored Axel too. He got to the ball before Adam and out of nowhere, conjured up a magical roulette spin on the ball, spinning past a stunned Adam. The crowd gasped, before screaming his name. Chris now found himself just outside the opposition box, with two opponents charging at him. Now he passed, fizzing the ball into Danny, who controlled it and stood with his back to goal. The defender marking him smiled, thinking that he had Danny trapped. Unfortunately for him, Chris had carried his run on, and Danny had spotted him, so he backheeled the ball through the defenders legs, sending Chris away, one on one with the goalkeeper. With supreme confidence and composure, Chris slotted the ball into the bottom corner, and the fans erupted. Grinning, he turned back to the rest of his team mates and high fived Danny, before casually jogging back to his position as chants of 'Chris' filled the ground. On the sidelines, Javier Martinez shook his head in disbelief. 'These freshmen,' he muttered. On the pitch, Adam looked surprised too, his easy going smile replaced with an inquisitive frown. He asked Apollo, 'Who is he? I've never heard of him. Or the forward who passed it.' 'They're freshmen. I've never seen them in a real game either,' replied Apollo, awe in his voice. Adam whistled. 'Looks like this match will be pretty fun!'