八字万年历

Chapter 301: First Leg Against Olympiacos III

{Puts his head to it!}

{GOAL! Pepe!}

{The captain has led from the front and struck the opponents down even further!}

{The way back for Olympiacos is gradually closing and it’s beginning to look like a game set-in match} the commentator shouted like he had joined the Porto fans in their homes in screaming jubilantly as they swept away their opponents with the third goal of the game.

The Olympiacos players could not help but look defeated as they watched the Porto players celebrate.

They had been playing with hopes that they could somehow still find something in the game, but Porto had gone ahead to dash their hopes with no hesitation in their steps.

#85th minute…

The game was nearing its end and it was all but confirmed that Porto would be winning the game, yet they weren’t slowing down and kept pushing seemingly looking for another goal much to the chagrin of the Olympiacos players.

Soon an opportunity opened up for the Porto team once again as Jason received a pass on the edge of the throwing line on the left flank.

Jason fed the ball past his marker and immediately chased after the ball.

His high acceleration allowed him to burst past the tired Olympiacos defender, allowing him to catch up to the ball before it rolled out of play.

On catching the ball, Jason flicked it forward and ran with the ball down the flanks, but he had miscalculated slightly and kicked the ball farther than he intended to.

However, he didn’t give up on the ball and chased after it and he was soon about to catch up, but by then the ball was almost rolling out of play.

With an Olympiacos defender chasing after him from behind, Jason had run out of time and could no longer cut into the penalty box as he intended, so he did the next best thing which was to hit the ball into the penalty box and hope his teammates could do something with the cross.

{Hopeful cross from Jason}

{Can it find a teammaaate? Oliveira with the header!}

{Goal!!}

{Porto hit four!}

{They say the third time’s the charm, but Porto aren’t satisfied with just three!} The commentator’s voice was like a death knell to the Olympiacos players and fans who were already feeling hurt watching the Porto players celebrate their fourth goal against them.

{The goal scorer goes over to thank the winger who made this goal possible with a splendid cross from the left. All the striker was to get his head to it}

{I’ve been counting and that makes it three assists from this player. He hasn’t been able to make it to the scoreboard, but he has been the illusory nail stuck in his opponent’s sides} The commentator continued speaking even as the Porto players headed back to their half of the field.

His words reminded the viewers of Jason’s contribution to the game which had come in the form of the important but less eye-catching assists.

Jason listened to the commentary as he tucked away a few strands of hair that had come loose and were blurring his view as he walked back to his position.

It was overall a good day at the office for him with three assists to his name, but Jason still wished to score at least one goal as well and he played with that in mind as the match resumed.

Unfortunately for Jason who was hoping to score a goal, the chance didn’t open up as the Olympiacos team locked up after conceding their fourth goal of the game.

It didn’t help that his teammates also sat back and allowed time to run out since they were already leading with four goals.

In the end, the referee’s whistle blew shrilly after the added time had run out and the match came to an end.

*Fweeeeee*

{It’s the final whistle and Porto have won it}

{After an enthralling game that had no lack of excitement and goal, Porto come out on top and rise to the second position in their group after their second game}

{With their showing out there today, their fans will have little doubts about their chances of making it into the knockout stages of the Champions League}

{However, one does not qualify after the second game. We’ll see what the table looks like in the coming weeks and who knows if we might be in for a surprise}

{Olympiacos remain at the bottom of the table and they’ll have a lot to do if they are hoping to gain any points from their opponents in the coming week, Manchester City who are currently occupying the top spot in the group}

{That’s all from us, Good night to you all} the commentator said his last words of commentary before turning off the microphone.

On the field, Jason had been invited over to the sidelines for another interview on the ‘Champions League Today’ show.

Jason was quickly fitted with the microphone and in no time was connected to the studio.

{… We bring to you live, the man of the match from the Porto vs Olympiacos game tonight, Jason Bolu} Kate Abdo said as Jason’s face appeared on the screen.

“Good evening,” Jason said politely into the microphone.

{Good evening to you too, fantastic showing out there tonight} Kate Abdo replied.

{Yeah, you guys had your first win of the Champions League tonight and it’s your first ever win in the Champions League, how do you feel?} Micah Richards asked with a big smile.

“… Uhm, It’s always good to win, and uh, I’m happy to cross another milestone in my career,” Jason said holding up the Man of the Match trophy.

“I wish I had scored a goal though, but there’ll be time for that I guess,” he continued with an honest smile.

{Oh, you’re a greedy one, aren’t you?} Jamie Carragher asked with a little surprise.

{Yes, a hat-trick in assists is good enough, don’t you think?} Roberto Martinez also asked.

“I’m always happy to help the team and it’s clear from my three assists that I was helpful, but it’s not my name that’s up there on the scoreboard and I don’t quite like that,” Jason was very direct, not bothering to hide his ambition under gilded words.

{Ambitious, aren’t you?} Micah Richards with an impressed smile.

{Men… so insatiable} Kate Abdo commented with a meaningful smile, her words not seeming to be related to the current conversation.

{Three assists weren’t enough for you? You sound like Cristiano after scoring a hat-trick, he would still want more!} Jamie Carragher spoke from experience.

“Is that who I sound like?” Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean, Cristiano is my idol so his attitude might have rubbed off on me,”

“You know, that I sound like him is probably the best compliment I’ve received in all my life,” Jason said with a wry smile as he rubbed his hair a bit.

{Oh is that a new hairstyle?} Micah Richards interrupted before Jamie Carragher could reply to Jason.

{It fits you a lot too} Kate Abdo said as she seemingly scrutinized Jason’s image.

{Yeah, really brings out your eyes which speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask… Are those contact lenses?} Micah Richards asked Jason, curiosity ebbing from his tone.

{No, these are my eyes, my mum had blue eyes} Jason replied, a bit confused as to how the conversation quickly changed from him talking about Cristiano being his idol to talking about his eyes.

What he did not know was that apart from the curiosity of Micah Richards about his eyes, three of the four hosts of the show had a collective agreement to not allow any talk about Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to crop up in the show without previous warning.

A debate about those two football giants could throw off the show and wasn’t likely to end quickly as everyone had different opinions, so Micah had quickly interrupted before Jamie Carragher replied and started a debate between him and Jason.

{I don’t think that’s how that works though} Kate Abdo said, confused.

“Well, my mum’s white, she had blue eyes, my dad was black but had a medical condition called heterochromia and one of his eyes was blue, and then they gave birth to me who had a medical condition that gave me my mum’s blue eyes even though it doesn’t usually work that way,”

“My sister didn’t have my blue eyes,”

“Does that clear things up,” Jason asked after explaining everything in one breath, wondering what this had to do with a sport’s TV show.

{…Now there’s a brief and concise explanation if I’ve ever heard one} Kate Abdo said after a pause.

She had noted Jason’s use of past tense when talking about his family and she had immediately decided not to ask any further questions concerning the matter.

She was a reporter, but it was unethical to bring up sensitive situations like this one on a show like the one she was hosting.

The others in the studio were as professionally sensitive as her and they jointly shifted the conversation back to football after that.