Bari woke Neto up , telling him that the the 2nd stage tryouts would soon begin. Neto knew the city at his fingertips , so it was no issue getting to the stadium. Looking at his teammates, he saw new faces, but his mood was a turnover when his teammates told him to settle as a GK.
Since there were only 5 players, they wanted him to stay back, and when he asked why, they told him that he was not that good, and they couldn't risk goals in a 45 minute game. Neto was pressured and it was Steve that told him this . He told Neto that playing as a goalkeeper would be good for the team, as winning would take them to the top. "But, how do I prove my worth as a goalkeeper" , Neto asked. 'Just try to stay put, besides you never expected you'd make it right ?' Steve chuckled, 'You are here out of luck because captain was in a good mood. You aren't even an academy scout. Why did you bother coming, if you knew that you are no good.' Steve continued growling, "Don't tell me you see a miracle happening because this is the real deal. You are a loser! Beat it". He said as he pushed Neto. Another teammate told him to make himself useful.
They left and Neto went on his knees, mumbling that Steve had always been like that; feeling he was the best and he probably wasn't wrong for what he said. 'I am no good. To be the honest, my chance in this is low. I guess I should cooperate with the team" , he said this as he got up to get ready.
The match was about starting. Steve , Dogo, Mike , Canco and Neto( GROUP O) vs GROUP M.
The match kicked off with Steve taking the led. The match went smoothly because Team O managed to pass their opponents with regular one-two's. From Neto's view, the match was looking easy. Steve, Dogo and Mike, the threesome used one - two's to dominate the first few minutes of the match, making the score:1-0.
He began to understand what Steve meant by him not being good and not risking golds. The match continued, and Canco managed to give team O possession of the ball. Once again, they began dominating the match with one-two's. They got pass the first player, the second , the third but the fourth showed problems and provided a counter attack for the opponents team.
Their CF trapped the ball and found a nutmeg through Dogo, before delivering a cross to his RW , who gave Canco a few stepovers, passed him and outran him. Neto was the last line of defense but he felt so vulnerable, because of how big the post was. He tried anticipating his steps and from his position towards the right of the penalty area , and none of his teammates in , he presumed the shot to go to his right side of the post; he was right. The RW took the shot there, but it was too fast for Neto to reach . Match score: 1-1.
Steve began complaining, but Neto shut him up saying that he couldn't keep up with the ball and Steve responded, saying he was too useless ; even as a goal keeper. Mike continued the match, passing to Steve; he looks forward, examines the players, and begins his play. He uses 3 step overs to get pass their CF. Running with the ball, two players begin tailing him. He uses a roulette to misdirect them and sends a lofted pass to Dogo ; he takes the shot and scores. Match score: 2-1.
The other team's CF began play, running pass all of TEAM O's players while saying that there is still a chance. It was shocking to Neto that the CF was that fast. Neto looked at how many minutes were left in the match; there was only 1 minute left. All that rang in his head was : PLEASE END ALREADY!!!! Ten seconds left , the keeper was already in the penalty area. Neto was trying to guess where the shot was going to while the CF drew nearer. Neto continued freaking out, 'END ALREADY'. After much freaking, he decided to go with his gut, running towards him and giving the CF a nice tackle , sending the ball off the pitch.
Neto's team won and once again, he had secured a chance of being a part of Inland. Mike began teasing Steve saying, " You see; your so-called useless player saved the team." Steve responded, "It was just sheer luck. If their CF were any better , he would have feinted Neto or something."
In another match, the score sets as 6-3 as the winning CF seals the game. Later we see Samba, who just witnessed the last goal and another guy from the big leagues, who comes out and begins mocking Samba saying, "You have good talent . It is a shame that after everything , you don't make the big leagues. You won't make the big leagues, so why keep trying", he approaches Samba's face and continues, " You got talent,. You are the best player here, aren't you. You could have been highly rated if not for this team, bringing down your potential". Samba doesn't respond and walks away. All these sited and viewed by Neto.
Days later, all teams are gathered to show the scores of all the five man matches.
TEAM O 2 - 1 TEAM M
TEAM A 6 - 3 TEAM B
TEAM C 0 - 5 TEAM Z
TEAM E 0 - 0 TEAM Y
PENALTY 2 - 5
In Neto's mind, he thought ,"Things are getting harder as we progress. I remember the 14-6 score of the first stage, but now penalties are deciding the fate of matches." They were slowly nearing the end of the 2nd stage and the winning teams would progress. They would begin the third stage where professionals(pros) would join to make it a 7v7 tournament - 90 minutes games"
The whole aim of this was to fully analyze the players .They would be 2 pro players in each team. All these said by Samba. As Neto was going home, clouded with thoughts of how to show his presence and what the big league player told Samba, he bumped into Samba. Samba immediately recognized him as the non- academy scout, whom he allowed into the tryouts. He said, "So you are still here, I thought you'd be eliminated ". " Why would you think that?" Neto asked and he told him that he wasn't an academy scout and he also didn't look very good. " Nice stuff making it this far. How are things for you anyway? Do you think you have a chance ?" Samba asked. Neto tried to stay confident, but shrouded his shoulders , telling him no. He tells Samba about his plight in the tryouts and Samba advices him to keep on trying . Neto found it hard to believe that the jovial guy in front of him, is the same person he saw before. "Nice talk; see ya tomorrow", Samba assured, winking at Neto.
While leaving, Neto asks him if he is actually the beast player in Inland as said by that big league player. Samba, just outside the sideline, juggles a ball and shoots it from that angle to the opposite post near Neto. Neto runs to stop the ball, but doesn't make it . As he turns , he doesn't see Samba . This inspired him to keep on pushing even if he didn't get picked ; he went back home to await the next stage.