uring a break on a training day, Oliver habitually pulled out his phone, his fingertips quickly sliding across the screen, skillfully opening Instagram. His gaze immediately locked onto Mohamed Salah's latest update. The Egyptian Pharaoh had just posted a training video, in which he was using his left foot to kick a signature curved shot from the right flank of the penalty area, the ball arcing in a bizarre curve, bypassing defenders and soaring into the far corner of the goal.
Oliver's breathing involuntarily quickened, his finger instinctively hitting the like button, and he typed a line in the comments section: "This curve is insane, man! Could you share the secret to generating power with your left foot?"
After sending the comment, he also forwarded the update, adding three flame emojis. This had become his daily routine. Since his decisive goal against Liverpool in the Champions League qualifiers, Oliver had been very frequently following Mohamed Salah's updates. Every update, every training video, he would watch carefully, repeatedly pondering, and he was always the most active in commenting and replying. His constant enthusiasm made Salah feel a bit embarrassed.
His teammates would occasionally tease him: "Oliver, are you secretly in love with Salah?"
Oliver always smiled and shook his head in response; what he wanted was not Salah's autograph or anything else, but his technique. After the afternoon training session ended, Oliver stayed in the locker room alone, once again opening Salah's video, slowing it down to study it frame by frame. His left-footed curved shot was an art; what seemed like a light kick contained immense spin and precise power control.
Oliver tried to mentally break down the movement. From the position of the supporting foot, the point of contact with the ball, the swing of the leg, to the angle of the body's lean... every detail was crucial. Just as he was engrossed in his analysis, his phone suddenly vibrated; Mohamed Salah had replied to him.
"Weak foot attribute is very important, Oliver. As a right winger, you really can practice your weak foot more. It can decide a match at critical moments."
Right after Mohamed Salah replied with that sentence, the System finally gave Oliver a prompt.
[Host's interaction with Mohamed Salah has reached 100%, successfully copied skill Pharaohs Curve, skill match rate 86%].
Oliver's pupils suddenly constricted, and he froze, as if struck by lightning. He stared intently at the line of text in the System, repeatedly confirming that he hadn't misread it. A few seconds later, a surge of ecstasy erupted from the bottom of his heart, almost making him jump off the bench. He clapped a hand over his mouth, forcefully suppressing the cheer that was about to burst out, but the corners of his mouth had already uncontrollably stretched to his ears.
The skill's name was: [Pharaoh's Curve]
This was Mohamed Salah's signature move, an unsolvable killer shot with his left foot from the right flank. Mohamed Salah's incredible off-ball movement awareness and this shot often placed him at the top of the Premier League's scoring charts. This skill was like a godsend for Oliver; as a right-footed player, his weak foot ability, while not bad, wasn't particularly good either.
Although his mentor's tactical system gave him freedom, the inadequacy of his left foot still limited his threat range when facing top defenses. And now, with "Pharaoh's Curve," he would not only gain another deadly weapon in the right flank area but also significantly improve his weak foot attribute. Mohamed Salah and Oliver played the same position. He forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath, and opened the System details.
A skill match rate of 86% meant he couldn't fully replicate Mohamed Salah's power yet, but it was enough to bring about a qualitative leap in his left-footed technique. The System also provided detailed training advice:
Practice at least 100 left-flank curved shots daily, focusing on supporting foot positioning and ankle lock at the moment of contact.
Oliver immediately turned off his phone, grabbed his backpack, and rushed out of the locker room. He needed to test this skill immediately. In the afternoon, the training ground was already empty, the setting sun painting the grass golden. Oliver dragged a basket of footballs from the equipment room, placed them on the right flank of the penalty area, then stepped back a few paces, closed his eyes, and once again recalled Salah's movement details.
For the first shot, he tried to curl the ball with the inside of his left foot. The ball flew, but the curve was flat, eventually going wide of the far post. Oliver frowned but wasn't discouraged.
He adjusted the position of his supporting foot, moving it slightly closer to the side and behind the ball. For the second attempt, this time, his contact point was lower, and his ankle had a subtle locking motion at the moment of impact. The ball arced in a clear curve!
Although the power and accuracy were still far from Mohamed Salah's, the Prototype of Pharaohs Curve was already visible. Oliver's heart pounded, and he immediately set up the next ball. The third, fourth, fifth shots... his movements gradually became smoother, and with each touch, he could feel his left foot's control over the ball strengthening.
By the twentieth shot, he could consistently make the ball curve. Although the landing point was not yet precise enough, the spin and trajectory were getting closer and closer to Mohamed Salah's style. An hour later, Oliver's left ankle began to throb faintly, and sweat soaked his training clothes. But he showed no signs of stopping. Half the footballs in the basket were gone, and his weak-foot curved shot accuracy had increased from an initial 10% to nearly 40%. What excited him most was that he could clearly feel his left-foot technique evolving. Not just shooting, but even ordinary trapping and short passes, the feel of his left foot had become much more refined.
The sky had completely darkened, and the training ground's automatic lights came on. Oliver finally stopped, bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. His left sock had a small hole worn through it, and his ankle was slightly red, but the smile on his face was incredibly bright.
He pulled out his phone and sent another private message to Salah: "Today I tried your curved shot technique. Although I'm still far from it, I'll keep working hard! Thank you for your inspiration."
After sending it, he felt it wasn't sincere enough, so he added: "You are the player I respect the most."
Mohamed Salah had become Oliver's most respected player. Next time, who knows when Muller would become Oliver's most respected player? If this trend continued, Oliver would have a vast number of respected stars in the future; it's estimated that the star player of every club in the five major Leagues would be his most respected.
[Oliver: My respect is wholesale.]
With "Pharaoh's Curve," opponents could no longer easily predict his attacking choices. When defenders thought he would cross from the byline, he could suddenly cut inside and shoot with a left-footed curved shot; when the goalkeeper blocked the near post, he could use a bizarre curve to bypass the defense and find the far corner.
More importantly, this skill would provide Nagelsmann's tactical board with a new possibility. Previously, although he could create threats with his speed and dribbling, his weak foot deficiency made it difficult for him to become a truly versatile attacker. And now, he could prove to his mentor that he deserved more tactical weight. After tidying up the training equipment, Oliver limped towards the locker room. The soreness in his left foot became increasingly noticeable, but his heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of stability. These few steps today felt more solid than any day before. Back in his dorm, he took out his tactical notebook and wrote "Pharaoh's Curve Training Plan" on the newest page, detailing his extra training schedule and small goals for the next month,
"Before the next Champions League group stage match, the Pharaoh's Curve skill must be fully mastered."
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