Soccer System: All the Skills, One Player!

All this was normal, considering that the Japanese school championships were gaining more and more attention because soccer fans liked to keep an eye on the new national promises.

"Breathe, Tanaka..." muttered Lucas to himself as he looked around.

The press had always been present at matches, but never in such numbers. This meant that this match was not like any other. The Ivanov twins, rising stars from Nishikawa College, had a breathtaking reputation. Now, about to face them, the weight of expectation seemed doubled.

Yamamoto blew his whistle, and the team began to line up for the start of the match. Lucas exchanged a glance with Nishida, who returned it with a confident smile. They had trained and worked hard to be in this place, so they felt prepared.

Still, Lucas couldn’t ignore the chill that settled in his stomach, especially when his eyes finally met those of the Ivanov twins, standing on the other side of the pitch, adjusting their boots.

Luke and Klaus Ivanov were almost identical. The white hair, the sharp blue eyes and the smiles as they chatted, it was as if they knew they owned the pitch. The mere fact that they were standing there, relaxed, exchanging a word or two, showed that, for them, this was just another match. Another challenge to be overcome.

Luke, the taller of the two, took a quick glance in Luke’s direction and smiled. That smile bothered him, as if Luke knew something he didn’t. He swallowed. He swallowed, but also allowed himself to smile.

’That kid is going to be shocked when I copy his skill.’

"What’s up, Lucas?" Nishida asked.

"Yes. I’m fine," Lucas replied, standing up and smiling.

"That’s it. Let’s go. Let’s put on a show for the press," said Nishida with a mischievous grin. "Are they here to see the twins? They’ll be talking about our duo."

"Let’s do it!" replied Lucas.

Lucas’s hands were slightly sweaty, his feet a little heavy. But he had a system and he felt he could rely on it to win.

Suddenly, the referee’s whistle blew, calling the teams to begin their performance. After forming two lines and greeting each other, each team went to one side of the pitch.

This time, Wushia College would start on the right. This was the first time they had started on this side, but in the end it didn’t make much difference.

Soon, the referee blew the whistle and the game began.

Unlike the other games, this one surprisingly seemed to be more evenly paced, perhaps because both teams weren’t as frazzled having played long games the day before, perhaps because they were both respecting each other. So the first few minutes were as controlled as ever. The teams tested each other, trying to find their gaps and analyze each other’s movements.

Lucas was positioned in front of the midfield, pressing at times and also a little further back to be able to receive passes from midfield and connect them with Kenji. And then one hour it happened. Kenji, with a subtle touch, sent the ball towards Lucas, who took it with his chest and started running.

Kuwabara suddenly pulled up on the right flank and advanced quickly, becoming a more plausible passing option because Nishida was marked. However, Nishida was hungry for a goal, he had an aura.

"Tanaka!" shouted Nishida.

Lucas could only look at Nishida. He waited for the No. 9 striker to advance a little further and made a pass behind the back of one of the Nishikawa College defenders.

Nishida received the ball and prepared to shoot, but out of nowhere Klaus Ivanov threw his body at Nishida, pivoted and kicked the ball away.

’What is this guy doing here in defense?! He’s their main striker!

Luckily, or unluckily, a player from Nishikawa College managed to stop Klaus’ clearance kick from going wide and started to mount a counter-attack.

Kenji clicked his tongue and started running to help out in defense

Luke Ivanov received the ball from his brother and started to advance. This was the moment everyone had been dreading. The twins’ synchronicity was frightening, because soon Klaus was on the attack to receive. He ran past Kenji as if he were a superhero.

Toshinori, the goalkeeper, was shouting frantic orders to the defense. "Close the gaps! Don’t let them get forward!"

But it was no use. The twins were jockeying for position and seemed to be in a completely different league.

When the ball was again with Luke, who was now face to face with Kuwabara. He made a quick feint, and before anyone could react, Klaus was already in position to receive the pass.

The ball crossed a few meters of the pitch and, in a split second, Klaus shot towards goal. The sound of the ball hitting Toshinori’s gloves echoed through the stadium, followed by a collective gasp from the crowd. He had saved it.

Lucas let out a sigh of relief, but not for long. The Ivanov twins were not the type to give up easily. The game continued to be intense, with Nishikawa College pressing relentlessly.

The clock was ticking, and it wasn’t long before 20 minutes had passed, but for Lucas, every second seemed like an eternity. He wanted to understand what kind of skills the Ivanovs had so that he could choose which one to copy, but the strange thing was that they didn’t have one skill that really stood out from the rest.

They weren’t great at handling the ball, dribbling, shooting or anything like that. In the end, they just seemed to be much better physically and that was enough.

In a moment of distraction for Hidefumi, who was following Luke closely, a seemingly ordinary move would change the course of the match.