Ethan's carefully prepared, passionate, "us against the world" speech suddenly felt naive.
He wasn't facing a generic Premier League manager. He was facing a legend from his own secret world, a master of a defensive, suffocating style of football that was the tactical equivalent of being slowly strangled by a pillow made of silk.
He had no time to process it.
The roar of the crowd, the pre-match anthem, the handshakes—it was all a blur.
He took his place in the technical area, his mind racing, trying to recalibrate his entire understanding of the match ahead.
The referee's whistle blew, a sharp, piercing sound that kicked off the biggest match in Apex United's short history.
