Greatest of All Legends

Chapter 420: Glory Addict III

{Oporto seems to be making a substitution here} The commentator began speaking as he saw Jason waiting beside the Oporto manager and listening to instructions as the assistant referee held up the board.

{What do you think about this, Mark?} the commentator asked his commentary partner.

{Well, the player coming off has not put on a good performance out there. He’s been very wasteful with the chances he’s gotten out there and should have scored at least three} Mark began his own commentary analysis as soon as he was given a chance.

{Maybe it’s the pressure getting to him, but he’s not looked as sharp as he was in the previous games leading up to this one}

{As for the player coming on, well, it seems like the manager intends to play him out of his regular position, opting to sub him on for a striker, but we’ll have to wait until he gets on the pitch to see how the Oporto team would arrange themselves now that he is coming on}

{One thing’s for sure though… if anyone’s going to change the game, there’s a high chance it would be him} Mark finished up his analysis as Jason began running onto the pitch.

{You’re right about that Mark, he’s got an uncanny ability to perform in games like this, let’s hope the transfer talks that have been flying about in the last few days haven’t changed that} The commentator said just as the game kicked off again.

With Oporto having fallen behind, they moved with hesitation and bore down on their opponents, looking for an equalizer now that it was so late in the game.

They had just about fifteen minutes left to get something out of the game, otherwise, they would be crashing out of the Taca de Portugal in just the fifth round, which wasn’t something that happened very often and was a stain that would be hard to wash off.

None of the Oporto players wanted that and played to the best of their abilities, looking for just that one goal, but their opponents who were so close to a much-desired victory were doing everything they could to prevent the Oporto team from getting past them.

However, just like before, the Oporto team soon began finding their way past their opponents.

Despite playing out of position, Jason’s presence on the pitch changed a lot of things for his teammates.

He was seen as a threat and was tightly marked which made it easy for him to draw players out of position by making decoy runs, thus giving his teammates more time on the ball while also opening up space for the ball to get through.

The clock continuously ran down and the end of the match approached, but the Oporto team held on to hope and kept looking for an equalizer and just when all hope seemed lost, they finally found their chance.

In the 89th minute, Viera received a pass in the center of the field and as soon as he stabilized the ball, Jason suddenly began making a run forward but his direction was slightly angled left.

Viera immediately took the hint and as soon as Jason drew away his marker, the ball was sent flying over to Corona on the right flank.

Catching the ball on his chest and pushing forward, Corona easily beat his marker for pace as he ran down the right flank and as soon he reached the side of the penalty box, he immediately sent a cross into the penalty box, however, he miscalculated the distance and didn’t put enough power into the cross.

The ball seemed like it would barely reach the front of the goal, but Jason who had corrected his run after the ball had been sent to the right flank ran into the ball’s path and jumped past the ball’s path before the ball even reached where he was then used his back heel to catch the ball and hit it upward, giving it more elevation and power so that it could reach Evanilson who was coming from into the penalty box from the left.

Not even bothering to trap the ball, Evanilson unleashed a powerful volley that thundered past the Nacional goalkeeper and smashed into the back of the net.

The stadium immediately erupted in cheers.

{They’ve done it!}

{An equalizer at last!}

{We’ve expected it, doubted it, hoped for it, and finally, it’s here!}

{They just will not go down without a fight and they’ve got the support of their fans right behind them every step of the way!}

{With such a turn of events, where do we go from here!?} The commentator was in a frenzy as he spat out word after word which accentuated the Oporto team’s celebration.

For the first time in a long time, Jason felt the joy of the team and fans celebrating a goal sweep across him, making him shiver in excitement.

He wasn’t even the one who had scored, but he was already feeling the quivers and this made him look forward to what it would feel like again when he scored.

It would be preferably if it was a stadium filled with fans rather than this small, half-filled stadium, but at this moment, he didn’t care to choose.

With the glory calling to him, Jason started playing with more enthusiasm than ever, but the time left was too short and the final whistle was blown by the referee.

With both teams having a similar scoreline, they would be going to extra time and if a winner still couldn’t be decided, then it was penalties next.

The Oporto players didn’t have any plans of leaving their chances to the risky penalty shootout though, and their manager agreed whole heartedly and repeatedly emphasized on their attacking gameplay, providing all sorts of tactics that they could use to get a goal before the extra time period ran out.

After the short meeting with their managers, the players went back to arrange themselves on the pitch the same way they started the match with there now being quite a bit of difference in their line-ups.