He ran onto the pitch, the Hoffenheim turf feeling soft and familiar under his boots. The score was 2-1. The game was tight, tense, and begging for a moment of genius.
Mateo's first touch was a statement. He received the ball deep in his own half, instantly closed down by two Hoffenheim players who had clearly been instructed to pressure him immediately.
The old Mateo might have engaged the Hyper-Efficiency Protocol, calculating the escape vector with mathematical precision. The Controlled Maestro simply used the Focus Filter.
System Status: Safe Mode.
Focus Filter: Active (Immediate Surroundings: 5m Radius).
He felt the pressure, but he didn't panic. He used a simple, elegant body feint, shielding the ball with his back, and then played a sharp, one-touch pass to Reus, who was making a run down the flank. The move was simple, effective, and crucially, low-cost.
