章 13: Ciro Is In
The Supreme United fans were in awe of that goal, a few minutes ago they had taken the lead, it didn't take long before Barcelona had gotten an equaliser through Lelemar and now they were leading because of that wonderful goal from Lelemar.
Zinin had spotted him at the left wing and lobbed the ball to him, everyone thought he was going to find it hard getting past Steven who was already upon him but the Brazilian had made it look really easy.
Roland had gone to talk to the coach and as soon as he had returned to the pitch the official raised his board showing the number two in red and the number twenty-three.
"It looks like Steven will be coming off for Derik to make his debut for the senior squad," Jim said.
"He was promoted to the senior squad this season and hasn't played any match since then but today he will be making his debut as a substitute," Steve said.
"Steven doesn't have a happy look on his face as he leaves the pitch now and the fans seem to have ignored him," Jim said.
"At least getting ignored is better than getting booed, apart from that block on Vasquez's shot, his performance tonight has been below average," Steve said.
Derik quickly jogged to his position as Roland got ready to start the game.
The referee blew his whistle as he quickly sent the ball back to Derik who was now playing right back as Michael had switched to Steve's center-back position.
Derik tried to move forward with the ball but as Pierre raced towards him he quickly passed the ball to Foden under pressure.
"That is expected given that this is his first important match and who wouldn't be under pressure playing against a big team like Barcelona?" Jim said.
Foden was the most technical player in Supreme United's midfield and he had set up two attacks in the match tonight which the attack had failed to make good use of.
The time had entered the fiftieth minute now and Supreme United had failed to create any form of attack.
They were starting to keep long possessions now but keeping possession doesn't mean anything when you can't get past the defense to score.
Foden received the ball from Pelcao and quickly rolled it to Roland who made a quick run past Frednado but he couldn't go any further as Fabro had quickly stolen the ball and turning away from Roland he played a long pass to Scholes on the left-back position.
"Barcelona has won the ball after a long spell of possession by Supreme United," Jim said.
Scholes made a straight run before passing the ball to Frednado in the middle of the pitch where he had his path blocked by Foden.
"Oh, what do we have here? It's Frednado versus Foden." Jim said.
"Two midfield wonders of the same age," Steve said.
Foden tried to pressurize Frednado and dispossess him of the ball but the Barcelona midfielder had him where he wanted him as he turned and with his back heel nutmegged Foden before running past him to get the ball.
"Waooooh!!" Jim exclaimed.
"This is Frednado saying that you may be more technical but when it comes to dribbling and skill, I am better," Steve said.
"Waooh, that kid must be taking lessons from Ciro on how to do nutmegs, that's the fifth one tonight," Jim said.
Frednado raced down the middle with the ball before crossing it to Zinin on the right wing.
Zinin made a run past Simeon but he couldn't cross the ball as the left back had blocked his path.
He managed to get past him with some neat body faints but now he was at the edge of the box and had no choice but to roll the ball back to Andrew who quickly passed it to Frednado.
"Frednado is with the ball now, he's found an open space, he's taken the shot!"
Jim always got excited in situations like this but his screaming would have gotten more intense if Frednado had scored the goal.
The midfield had found space just like Jim had said and had taken the shot.
Perez was completely glued to a spot as the ball flew to the top right-hand corner and smashed on the bar before going over the bar.
"Crossbar!" Jim exclaimed.
Frednado shook his head as he watched the ball go over the bar, that goal surely would have been nominated for a Puskas award if it had gone in.
"I have said it before and I will say it again, Supreme United have a little bit of luck on their side in this match and they should be thanking that crossbar," Steve said.
The match had continued as Supreme United were slowly losing the touch to their game as Barcelona pressurized even more.
Barcelona on the other hand had lost the touch to their finishing and were missing a lot of chances from their attacks.
As the time began to enter the sixtieth minute, Ciro began his warm-up on the sideline.
The ball had gone over the line for a throw-in as most of the Supreme United players had turned their gaze to Ciro who was warming up on the sideline.
"Ciro is getting ready to come on as we can see him warming up on the sideline," Jim said.
"Yeah, and you can see the look on the Supreme United players who are watching him now," Steve said. "They are probably wondering how they are supposed to handle the CVL attack now?"
"Yeah, the attack feels more fluid when those three are upfront and Ciro on his own can take on the whole defense," Jim said.
Roland had gotten a cross at the edge of Barcelona's eighteen-yard box but he had fired the shot high and wide.
Now that the ball was out of play, it was time for Ciro to come in as the official responsible for substitutions raised his board to show the number seventeen in red and the number ten in green.
"As we all suspected and expected, Zinin will be the one making way for Ciro," Jim said.
Zinin received a loud round of applause from the fans as he left the pitch and he responded by clapping his hands while waving to the fans.
"He deserves it, he almost scored with a header and had assisted the second goal," Jim said.
Ciro hugged Zinin before making his way into the pitch and the Barcelona fans had gone wild with their claps and cheers.
"Ah, the man every Barcelona fan had been dying to see play and every Supreme United fan had been praying he never gets to play," Steve said.
Ciro got in position as Frank quickly played a short pass to Jeffery who railed the ball to Pedro.
Pedro passed it to Frednado who had come closer to take the ball.
Frednado tried to get past Roland before sending the ball back to Pedro.
Pedro quickly sent it to Ciro who didn't hesitate before passing it to Andrew as he ran deeper into his position.
Andrew knew what he was trying to do as he found space and drilled a low pass to their number ten.
Now it was time for Ciro to do his thing as he quickly got past Simeon with a nutmeg.
Conan tried to bring him down with a tackle but he tipped the ball over him and jumped over him to get his leg to the ball again.
"Waooh, Ciro is taking them all on!" Jim said in excitement.
Michael was quickly deleted with a body faint and before Zlensky and Pelcao could hang up on him he lobbed the ball to Lelemar who had dealt with Derik with some neat body movements.
He met the short lob with a header and sent it to the bottom left corner, Perez got a hand to it but it wasn't enough to take care of it as the ball fell into the net.
"I said it before he came in and he has proven me right!" Jim screamed in excitement as Lelemar rushed to the sideline.
Ciro rushed along with the other players and they had all pulled him down.
The Barcelona fans were jumping up and down in cheers as Ciro had once again put up a good show for them.
"Ciro is in and now things have just gotten tougher for Supreme United," Steve said.
It had been less than five minutes since he had entered the pitch and he had already humiliated Supreme United's defense to set Lelemar up for a hattrick.
****
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