"Beep! Beep! Beep——!"
Finally, when the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match, the score was fixed at 2-0, with Arsenal easily defeating Boca Juniors.
"Can I swap jerseys with you?"
Back in the players' tunnel, Ma'el suddenly heard a voice speaking in somewhat imperfect English next to him. He turned his head in surprise and saw a young face.
Someone wanted to swap jerseys with him?
Is this... Paredes?
Ma'el wasn't sure until he reached for Paredes' jersey and saw the name on the back, which put his mind at ease.
"I watched the match two days ago."
Paredes, with a youthful face, grinned warmly and said, "You're amazing, man. You're just a year older than me, but it might take me ten years to catch up to your performance."
"Thank you." Ma'el graciously accepted the compliment, took off his own jersey, and handed it to Paredes.
