22. Chapter XXII

Leo's goal gave Granada, who had been suppressed by the opponent for the whole game, a glimmer of hope, with 12 minutes left in the game, and it seemed that as long as Leo was there, there was still hope. Like his father, he has a legendary aura of his own, and he always brings miraculous turnarounds. Everyone is thinking in their hearts, it's hard to say whether this game can be won, at least the equalizer can be expected.

His teammates stepped forward to celebrate with Leo, high-fived and hugged, patted him on the shoulder, and touched his head...... His team-mates have long regarded him as an indispensable striker for Granada, and he has been able to rekindle hope and morale for the team when they are facing difficulties.

However, Leo himself is not as optimistic as his teammates, and the victory of a game is never created by one person. Maybe there is such a person, he or the soul on the field, who can unite the hearts of all people; It can also be a striker killer who seizes the opportunity to give the opponent a fatal blow at a critical moment; Or maybe it's an indestructible defense, with the courage to be a man and a man who can't open anything, and is the strongest backing for his teammates...... But in any case, football is a 90-minute sport for 11 people, there is never a savior in the world, and it takes everyone's dedication and persistence to achieve victory.

Eighty minutes into the game, Leo's body was at its limit, and he had run far more than every previous race, sweat dripping down his forehead and his eyes, and he could only wipe it with the clothes on his shoulders. Because of the many battles with the opponent and frequent falls, he can hardly find a clean place on his jersey. He did his best on the court and didn't even lose to any opponent, he just didn't bother to use malicious fouls and intentional injuries to stop the opponent from attacking to achieve his goal.

The spirit of competitive sports lies in fairness, friendliness and hard work. Victory is valuable and worth the hard work and effort of all athletes. But winning is not the whole story of the game, and it is not an excuse to hurt your opponent by any means. Injuries are every athlete's nightmare, but in football there are those who use it as a tactic – an aggressive lethal tactic.

Mendoza said worriedly: "It seems that Fernandez is very overdrawn and he is still running on the field. The camera shows Granada's assistant coach on the sidelines, who appears to be gesturing to Fernandes to ask if he needs to make a substitution. Leo shook his head, indicating that he could still hold on. ”

Rayo Vallecano was sent off for accumulating two yellow cards for a foul on Marx by defender Castro and now has only 10 men on the pitch, and the body consumption is even worse than Granada. But they seem to see the light of day, or the desire to win the three points at home is too strong, and everyone in the team looks full of fighting spirit and completely tired.

Leo clearly felt the power in his body draining bit by bit, his legs became as heavy as lead, sweat flowed into his eyes, and his vision began to blur. There was a man in the stands, with a well-groomed hairstyle, a polo shirt that perfectly outlined the contours of the muscles, and a pair of large-framed sunglasses on his face, looking like a Hollywood star. The big star is sitting in the VIP seat at this moment, holding his son and happily playing selfies.

Leo only glanced at it, and the corners of his mouth curled into an imperceptible arc.

Granada had another chance to attack, Pitti dribbled down the left and Córdoba hit the wall in a one-two that managed to get rid of Rayo Vallecano midfielder No.11 Embaba. Leo dragged his heavy body to run forward in time, and his position was always stuck in front of the opposing defender, Pitti distributed the ball to Leo before the opposing defender forced him to steal, and at the same time Córdoba also went to the penalty area and gestured for Leo to pass the ball. But the latter was too close to the defender because he had the ball in the previous position, and the opponent was too close to him, so he couldn't turn around and pass the ball, so he could only protect Qiu all the way to the bottom line under the opponent's pressure.

The ball stopped on the baseline, Leo stepped on the ball with his left foot, and then made a feint of a low cross. The opponent subconsciously raised his foot to destroy, Leo toed a bucket, the ball hit the opponent's foot and bounced off the bottom line, and he was very witty to win a corner for his side.

There was not much time left in the game, and Granada's No. 7 midfielder Robert quickly drove the corner directly into the penalty area, and the players on both sides in front of the goal had small movements in their hands in order to compete for the first landing point. Leo fell to the ground with a defender of the opposing side in the process of grabbing points, and after a scuffle, the 190CM tall Cordoba grabbed a header, but the ball was too straight and was directly pocketed by the goalkeeper.

The Granada player raised his hand to signal to the referee that a foul in the opponent's box should have been a penalty. After a brief exchange between the referee and the linesman, he waved his hand to the Granada players and signaled for the game to continue.

Mendoza commented while watching the replay footage of the director: "The hands of the players on both sides in the penalty area are not very clean, and the moment Fernandez jumps up, he is indeed pulled to the ground by the opposing defender, but the referee believes that the ball has not been driven out and both sides are pulling, so it does not constitute a foul." With only about 3 minutes of stoppage time left, can Leo create another miracle for the Granada fans who came from afar to support him? Now for Granada, the equaliser is a miracle. ”

Leo got up from the ground, his hands on his knees, sweat pooling down his cheeks, to his chin and dripping down the grass. After a short break, he still dragged his heavy feet back into his own half, and the game was not over, and he still needed to keep running, looking for a chance to send the ball into the opposition goal.

Rayo Vallecano launched another quick attack, the goalkeeper kicked the ball into front of Granada, and after just two short passes, the ball was delivered to striker Xaviguera. He was the hero of Rayo Vallecano's two goals in a row, and after winning the ball, he was caught off guard by a long-range shot from outside the box, but unfortunately the ball hit Granada's No.25 defender Miguel López.

Lopes broke the ball and handed it to Corsin, and the midfield four played a series of short passes before the ball reached the Rayo Vallecano half, and with less than a minute to go, Pitti spotted the gap between the two defenders and slotted the ball straight into the box. Although the body lì Yan zhòng dropped, this did not affect Leo's judgment in the slightest, and the start time was just right, turning and running forward at the same time as the ball was passed.

Mendoza's passionate commentary came to an abrupt end, and the shouts and cheers in the stands seemed to have been paused with a finger, leaving the home and away benches waiting with bated breath.

Leo could clearly hear his drum-like heartbeat in his chest, and the oncoming air currents as he ran fast gave his oxygen-deprived brain a brief moment of clarity. The position of the defenders, the subtle changes in the muscles, the goalkeeper standing forward, his eyes on his right leg......

Everything went from clear to blurry, there seemed to be only the goal left in his eyes, and shooting became the only thought in his mind at the moment, even if he couldn't score, even if he lost, the referee's final whistle hadn't been remembered, he couldn't give up, and there was still hope......

The arc of the ball in the air was still perfect, hanging straight into the top left corner of the goal, but due to Leo's body lì falling Yan zhòng, this shot did not hit the power, the ball speed was not fast, and the goalkeeper flew to lift the ball out of the goal frame with one hand.

Mendoza's voice rang out again: "The referee blew the full-time whistle to congratulate Rayo Vallecano on their 2-1 home win over Granada, who are unbeaten in five consecutive rounds. But I think the best player of the game is still Leo Fernandes. He was kind, stoic, and didn't give up until the last minute of the game. With more than 70 minutes to go in the second half, in order to avoid kicking Rattle's leg bone, he forced his weight forward and jumped over the opponent's leg while running rapidly. Granada's overall strength can't support his dream of spreading his wings, and he deserves a bigger and better stage. Even if there are no netizens who ask my boss for advice, I am willing to explain every game with Leo Fernandez. Yes, every game! ”

The shot seemed to drain what little strength Leo had left, and he sat quietly on the grass, silently accepting the comfort offered by his teammates. Intentionally or unintentionally, his eyes swept over the VIP stands, and the big star left the stadium with his baby son in his arms, surrounded by assistants and bodyguards.