"How many times now!"
"Lucas's cross has been jumped up and claimed by Leon again!"
"Oh! I have to say, Leon possesses quite extraordinary cross-claiming ability!"
Mike, the commentator for Galicia Sports Channel, was delivering a passionate call of the match.
Sarria was a small district town in the Galicia region.
Even so, the broadcasting infrastructure for football in Spain was remarkably mature.
Even matches at the fourth tier had coverage.
Football here was deeply tied to each town and city, and every club had a substantial supporter base.
Mike had spent years commentating on Segunda División B matches and had long since lost much of his enthusiasm.
But Leon's performance in this match had caught his eye completely.
As a rule, goalkeepers in the lower divisions played very conservatively.
The vast majority stuck to the traditional goalkeeper style.
In truth, even in the top leagues, only a handful of goalkeepers like Neuer operated as sweeper-keepers.
Yet in this match, Leon was in some respects even more aggressive than Neuer.
Out on the pitch, Real Madrid B had taken complete control of possession and dictated the tempo.
Even so, they had still not found a way through the door Leon was guarding.
Lucas surged forward at pace down the flank again.
A stylish stepover left Leoia's left back Diego Simón completely in his wake.
"Damn it."
Xio, the centre-back and club captain, muttered under his breath.
How many times had Diego Simón been beaten in the first half already?
Xio had no choice but to sprint across and cover.
But the moment he did, the centre of Leoia's defensive shape was left completely exposed.
Real Madrid B's formation was pushed very high up the pitch.
Leoia's midfield cover had become virtually non-existent.
In moments like this, four defenders alone could not possibly cover everything.
'It all comes down to Leon.'
Xio glanced across at Leon from the corner of his eye, and Leon still looked completely calm.
"Thud!"
Lucas gave Xio no chance to press close and whipped in a cross.
What would happen this time?
"For crying out loud!"
Lucas was visibly rattled.
What he considered a very high-quality delivery had been leapt up and plucked out of the air by Leon once again.
How did he dare do that?
Did he not consider the possibility of failing to claim the ball?
That would have meant a completely open goal.
Ordinary goalkeepers simply did not rush off their line as extremely as Leon did.
In many matches you would see goalkeepers hesitate badly when deciding whether to come.
Was it because they did not know that coming early could deal with danger before it developed?
Of course they knew.
But who could guarantee that every single rush off the line would be perfectly executed?
The honest answer was nobody.
A failed rush out was a basic error that would more often than not hand the opponent an easy goal.
Choosing not to come, on the other hand, at least offered the chance of gambling on the opponent's finishing being poor, while also allowing blame to be shifted onto the defenders for failing to cover in time.
That approach was an effective way of avoiding being held responsible.
On a football pitch, if a goalkeeper was seen to be at fault too often, the bench was never far away.
Yet Leon had chosen the most extreme approach possible.
Because playing in the conventional way would give him absolutely no chance of keeping a clean sheet given his current overall ability.
Leoia were a thoroughly outmatched side compared to Real Madrid B.
The defensive line simply could not hold on its own.
"Tweet!"
"Tweeeet!"
One short blast of the whistle followed by one long one, and the first half was over.
"Leon!"
"You absolute..."
"Legend!"
Captain Xio laughed and pulled Leon into a hug, then ruffled his hair.
Hachim Mastour came sprinting over next and launched himself straight onto Leon's back.
The rest of the Leoia players rushed in as well and gave Leon a thorough mauling.
It looked exactly like he had just scored a crucial goal.
Keeping a clean sheet through everything Real Madrid B had thrown at them in the first half was worth every bit as much as a goal, if not more.
Well, to be precise, Real Madrid B had not actually managed many shots in the first half.
Every ball played into the penalty area had been cut out by Leon's decisive rushes off the line.
Real Madrid B had never truly been allowed to threaten the goal.
The only three shots they had registered in the first half had come from long range outside the box and sailed harmlessly over.
"Well done."
On the touchline, head coach Burke Abel gave Leon a firm slap of the hand to show his appreciation.
"Leon! You actually did it!"
"I knew it!"
"I knew it!"
Up in the stand above the tunnel, young Devin George was waving frantically down at Leon.
'Yes! I did it!'
'And I'll do it in the second half too!'
Leon jogged over and exchanged a high five with Devin George.
"Hey! Head up!"
Devin George's father, Dave George, called out loudly to Leon from beside him.
"Hey! Head up!"
"Ha!"
The supporters around them joined in shouting at the same time and burst into laughter.
Leon laughed too.
That habit of keeping his head down was well past time to break for good.