Chapter 30: Happy Birthday
"Samuel! Go for it! Samuel! Go for it!"
Even Kristanval, no matter how silly he could be, knew that the fans cheering weren't doing so for him. So, the loud noise must have meant...
As he charged forward, Kristanval glanced back with a small shift of his body—and he nearly had his soul scared out of him. A red-and-black figure (the red being Mallorca's home jersey and the black being Eto'o's skin) was rapidly closing in on him from behind with unbelievable speed!
Although Kristanval wasn't very old, he wasn't lacking in experience. Just that brief glance told him that if this continued, the opponent might get to the ball before him...
But there was no time to think anymore. That one glance had slowed him down, and as he tried to speed up again, it was already too late...
Eto'o, visibly gaining speed with every step, was closing the gap between them. As the cheers from the stands grew louder, the Cameroonian picked up pace, finally overtaking Kristanval!
Seeing that he was about to be left behind by Eto'o, Kristanval immediately tried to shoulder-check him, attempting to foul and block Eto'o's possession, but Eto'o swiftly ducked, nimbly avoiding the collision, before extending his leg to take the ball that had started to slow down.
At that moment, there were less than two meters from the top of the penalty arc!
After catching the ball, Eto'o accelerated again, taking the ball forward and charging into the penalty box!
"Go, Samuel! Score it!" Jose shouted from the sidelines.
Charging into the box, Eto'o caught up to the ball, facing the rapidly advancing Barthez, and swung his right foot!