Inside the Devertary United locker room, Hareison stood tall, commanding his players' attention.
"Keep pressing," he urged, his voice steady yet sharp. "With this intensity, with this phase, we'll break through sooner or later. The goal will come—trust me."
His words carried weight. The players, still dripping with sweat from the first half, nodded in unison.
They believed him. The determination in their eyes was clear—they were going all in.
Meanwhile, across the hall, the mood in the Night Phantom locker room was heavier.
Momodu Osas sat on the bench, a towel draped over his neck, his chest rising and falling with frustration.
He had been kept silent in the first half, and it gnawed at him.
Krüger walked over, crouched in front of him.
"Don't worry, Osas," he said calmly. "We'll find the chance. We'll make sure you bloom out there."
Before Osas could reply, Harry joined them, leaning on the wall.
"Listen," Harry added, his voice firmer. "Devertary are throwing everything they have at us.
They're going all in. And when they do that? Flaws show. Just wait—it's coming."
The teammates murmured in agreement, nodding at Harry's assessment.
But Osas's face twisted, his frustration spilling over.
"You don't get it," he muttered, rising slowly to his feet. His eyes were dark with intensity.
"They're playing like this because of their individual training and talent which makes them stand out,I know as a result of their Ames I've watched.
But why me,why now? I've never felt so worthless in a match. Not scoring in a half… it makes my chest swell. It burns."
He paused, fists clenched. "It's all because of Ryan Shark. He blocked my shot. He made me look like nothing." Osas turned to Krüger, his voice a growl. "How can we shutdown Shark."
The room fell silent until the Phantom coach stepped forward, breaking the tension with a smirk.
"I like this," he said, eyes sweeping across his players.
"This energy, this fire—that's exactly what I want from you. Carry this vibe onto the pitch. In the next half…
Although you can't really shut down a player,rather I'll tell you guys to go for the goal to disorganized team".
He jabbed his finger in the air. "…I want to see you all explode."
The speech lit the locker room aflame. Players clapped, voices rose, and soon both teams marched out of the tunnel to the deafening roar of the fans.
The stadium shook with anticipation,the second half was about to ignite.
And immediately, Night Phantom sought to strike.
Krüger picked up the ball deep, sliding it into the path of Adrien Pierre.
Pierre dashed forward, quick feet carrying him past his marker, before playing a sharp pass to Jorge Héctor on the left.
Héctor controlled, slowed, then whipped the ball back across toward the Phantom box.
There, Giovanni Rizzo cushioned it beautifully. He raised his head, shouting loud enough for teammates to hear over the crowd
"Are we going to keep playing like kids, or like wolves?"
Then he burst forward, weaving through, leaving Schneider Brunnar and Marino Rossini scrambling to close him down.
He slipped it to Mohammed Omar, who danced past Nicolas Ronoa with a slick pass back to Pierre.
Pierre laid it off to Hoffman, allowing both Krüger and Pierre himself to sprint into dangerous positions.
Ness rushed toward Krüger, Leon lunged at Pierre, but the ball spun away, out wide to Jorge Héctor again.
Héctor surged down the flank, lifted his head from nearly 60 meters out, and curled a high, charging cross.
The ball whistled through the air, but its trajectory looked off,too wide, too far. The crowd sighed.
Then suddenly, like a shadow rising, Osas leaped into the air.
He twisted, timing it perfectly, ready to smash the ball on the volley.
The stadium roared in anticipation,but Ryan Shark was there. Exploding into the moment, Shark stretched out his left leg,instead of blocking.
Osas trapped the ball mid-motion, stunning everyone.
With the ball now at his feet and a clearer view of the post, Osas unleashed a low, driven strike. Devertary fans held their breath.
Their goalkeeper, Shawn Lucius, dived full stretch in a heroic attempt.
The ball curled, gliding past his outstretched hands,it looked certain to go in.
But at the very last heartbeat, Wolf Deo launched himself, meeting the ball with a desperate header, clearing it off the line! Gasps exploded through the stands. The rebound fell right at Shark's boots.
Shark smirked, looking Osas dead in the eye.
"I was the bait,how come you didn't notice. Now show me more of those crazy plays."
He flicked the ball to Guwen Ramon, who sprayed it forward into open space.
Phantom surged into attack, the tempo relentless, the story of the half still unraveling.
On the other end, Osas grinned, muttering under his breath.
"Crazier plays, huh? Let's see how long you last, Ryan Shark."
The duel was now personal. The stadium could feel it,two predators circling, waiting for their chance to strike.
The tempo of the match surged again. The ball rolled to Nicolas Ronoa, but he was immediately outmatched by the fearsome pairing of Gunnar Krüger and Jorge Héctor.
They pressed him into a corner, and in the scramble, Héctor wrestled the ball free, storming forward with Krüger charging alongside him, seizing the momentum from the previous play.
Héctor slid it sideways to Adrien Pierre, who executed a dazzling 360 spin to glide past Leon with effortless flair.
In one motion, he found Mohammed Omar, and Omar whipped a cross straight back to Pierre at the edge of the box.
Pierre took a heartbeat to scan the pitch, spotted Osas peeling away, and threaded a precise ground pass into his stride.
Osas lined up the shot.
He pulled back his right foot and unleashed a rocket toward the top right corner of the post.
But there was Ryan Shark. Out of nowhere, Shark rose high, delivering a stunning defensive header that diverted the danger but only halfway.
The loose ball spun into the path of West Harry, who pounced with venom, releasing a devastating strike.
The shot tore forward with immense speed, a blur in the air,until its pace dulled, dropping at the perfect height.
Right there was Momodu Osas.He had read the play brilliantly.
Rising on the spot, he tipped the ball just over the outstretched arms of Shawn Lucius.
The keeper was beaten. The ball dropped, kissed the net, and rippled into the back of the goal.
GOAL!!!
At 69 minutes, 56 seconds, the scoreboard lit up:
Devertary United 0 – 1 Night Phantom
The Phantom fans exploded into celebration, Osas throwing his arms wide, his teammates piling onto him in wild delight.
But as the noise settled, Devertary reset. At the center line, Wolf Deo restarted play, rolling the ball back to Ness, who surged forward with determination.
Ness found Ronoa, who advanced and fed Delbrs Axel.
Axel lit up the wing with dazzling footwork, tearing down the left flank, before whipping in a dangerous cross toward the Phantom box.
He aimed it perfectly for Shark,but Osas, tracking back with ferocity, rose to head it clear.
He turned to Shark and shouted over the chaos:
"You'll never outmatch me again!"
The rivalry was alive.
Osas carried the clearance forward but was quickly dispossessed by Leon.
Leon linked up with Deo, but suddenly Héctor, Hoffman, and Brunnar swarmed around them.
Deo was forced to retreat, passing backward to Damian Night, who switched it across the defensive line.
Short, careful exchanges—Poker, Night, Isaac, Ramon—steadied the rhythm.
Then Ramon spotted space and burst forward, only to be cut down by a ruthless sliding tackle from Omar, sending the ball skidding out of play.
Ramon quickly took the throw-in, finding Leon, who darted past Krüger and Hoffman with clever movement.
As Giovanni Rizzo closed in, Leon fired a straight ball through, breaking the lines. He kept running, exploiting the gap left behind, until finally slipping it to Deo, who flicked the ball goalward with a clever tip.
But Phantom's wall, Gruber Mayer, read it all the way. Diving low, he stretched and punched the ball clear, saving his side once more.
The rebound, though, spilled perfectly for Ryan Shark.
Osas was there, blocking him, shoulder to shoulder. But Shark refused to be contained. He shifted sideways, dragging the ball horizontally, dragging Osas with him.
Then suddenly,he changed feet. A brilliant switch, right foot powering through, he launched the ball beyond Mayer's desperate reach.
It smashed into the net.
GOAL!!!
At 78 minutes, Ryan Shark had answered. He had overcome the pressure, silenced the doubts, and dragged Devertary United back into the fight.
The fans erupted, banners waving, chants shaking the stands. His teammates rushed to him, hope blazing in their eyes.
For Shark, this was personal. He had finally broken through.
Devertary United 1 – 1 Night Phantom
The match was alive again.
As the ball thundered into the net and the scoreboard flickered to life, Ryan Shark didn't just celebrate,he performed.
He sprinted toward the sideline, the roar of the Devertary fans rising in waves around him.
His face burned with emotion, but his movements were sharp, deliberate.
Shark stopped near the touchline, lifted his right hand, and curled his fingers into a perfect circle, holding it over his left eye like a sniper's scope.
With his other arm, he pressed his left hand firmly over the right side of his chest, as though swearing loyalty to his own cause, to his own rise.
The cameras zoomed in, capturing the intensity in his eyes, the sweat glistening, the fire in his posture.
The gesture was defiant, symbolic,Shark wasn't just scoring a goal, he was sending a message. To the crowd. To his teammates. To Osas.
The stadium erupted, his name echoing across every corner, and even neutral fans couldn't help but admire the flair.
Ryan Shark had just etched another image into his legend.
The match surged back to life after Shark's equalizer.
Night Phantom looked desperate to restore their lead, linking up again with fluid, intricate passes.
Krüger, Héctor, Omar, and Pierre moved like clockwork, drawing Devertary players out of position with crisp one-touch exchanges.
But just as Adrien Pierre attempted to thread the ball through the middle, Ryan Shark read it.
He pounced with the precision of a hunter, sliding in and stealing it clean.
The stadium roared as Shark surged forward, laying it off quickly to Wolf Deo.
Deo wasted no time, slipping the ball into Leon's path.
Leon carried it with pace, cutting inside dangerously, but he ran headlong into Giovanni Rizzo.
The two clashed one-on-one, and Rizzo came out superior, muscling Leon off balance and claiming the ball.
Rizzo immediately broke out, charging forward with long strides, but before he could settle, Nicolas Ronoa came sliding in from behind with a crunching tackle.
The ball squirted free, rolling neatly back toward Deo again.
Deo drove forward, but Mohammed Omar tailed him relentlessly, matching stride for stride.
Just as Deo pulled back to shoot from range, Omar stretched out a desperate leg, sending the ball rolling harmlessly over the sideline.
Deo wasted no time, snatching up the ball for a quick throw-in.
He hurled it into Leon, who sprinted down the flank and whipped a cross into the box.
The ball found Ness, sprinting in at full tilt. He rose and deftly flicked it over Krüger and Hoffman in one motion, a cheeky tip that wrong-footed the defenders.
The ball dropped perfectly into the path of Ryan Shark.
But Shark had no angle to shoot.
Surrounded,he showed his intelligence, sliding a short ball across to Delbrs Axel.
Axel pounced, hammering a thunderous strike that smashed into the back of the net!
The Devertary fans erupted,but the cheers froze.
The assistant referee's flag was raised. Axel had been in an offside position.
The center referee blew his whistle, cancelling the goal.
The stadium groaned in unison, the celebrations cut short.
From the restart, Gruber Mayer launched the ball deep into the pitch, but before any attack could form, the referee's whistle rang out.
Full time.
Devertary United 1 – 1 Night Phantom
Goals: Osas (69'), Shark (78')
The players sank to the turf, drained, sweat glistening under the fading sun. Ryan Shark collapsed onto the grass, his chest heaving, his arms spread.
The sunlight dimmed slightly, shaded by a drifting cloud.
He lifted his head slowly and there was Momodu Osas. Standing tall, Osas extended a hand.
Shark stared for a moment before gripping it firmly, their palms locking.
Osas pulled him to his feet.
"Well played," Osas said, his voice steady, carrying both respect and defiance.
Shark smiled faintly, his tone low but certain.
"I acknowledge you, Osas."
The two rivals, still breathing heavy, exchanged a moment of quiet understanding.
Both men promised,unspoken at first, then shared aloud,that they would never stop improving, never stop chasing greatness.
After a few more words, Osas turned and walked toward his teammates.
Deo appeared, placing a hand on Shark's back.
Shark wrapped an arm around Deo's shoulder, the two men heading together toward the tunnel, the roar of fans trailing behind them.
The battle had ended level on the scoreboard,but the rivalry between Shark and Osas had only just begun.