Chapter 838 Days of Joy Arrive! The European World Cup Qualifiers Kick Off! Climb and Conquer!!

"Buzz buzz...."

Shortly after getting off the plane, Ma’el received a group schedule sent by Deschamps on the business car, and he opened it to carefully look through it.

It can be said that since the start of this report, he was about to embark on a dual challenge of club and national team competition.

At the club, he needs to strive for championships in various competitions and work towards delivering outstanding statistics to achieve a full grand slam in an astonishing manner.

In the national team, he needs to steadily send the France team to the World Cup in Brazil two years later, and aim to become the team’s historic top scorer.

"Group B, France team, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia Team, Malta Team."

Quickly, Ma’el saw the grouping for this European Qualifiers, where the France team was placed in Group B with five other teams.

A total of 53 teams are competing in this European Qualifiers, divided into nine groups, with eight groups having six teams, and the last group having five teams.

The teams in each group will play in a double round-robin format, with the group leader directly qualifying for the World Cup.

The remaining best eight group runners-up will be drawn to play home-and-away legged knockout matches, with the aggregate winners taking the remaining four spots.

"The goal can only be to be the group leader."

After reading, Ma’el confirmed one point in his mind: only being the group leader ensures stability.

If they end up as the second team and have to play the double-leg playoffs, the outcome would be hard to predict, and the margin of error would be too small.

In this group, the only teams capable of competing with them for first place are Denmark and the Czech Republic, while the remaining two teams are likely just accompanying the run.

Focus needs to be placed on these two teams, ensuring they don’t score points against his team, and they should aim to safely defeat the other three teams home and away, not dropping points where they shouldn’t.

Having thought this through, Ma’el checked the schedule for this international match day.

They haven’t encountered direct competitors yet; their first match in this round is against the Bulgaria Team on September 8, and the second round is against the Malta Team on September 12.

He put down the phone, maintaining a normal attitude towards these two opponents, neither worried nor underestimating them.

"Phew....."

Getting off the car, Ma’el looked at the gradually familiar Clayfontaine Training Camp in front of him and suddenly felt a sense of fulfillment.

Through the past two-plus years of effort, he can now steadily appear on major top stages, whether at the club level or on the national team.

In front of him are two broad paths filled with flowers and applause.

He can not only step on one path, moving at the same pace, but also seems to see the two paths continuously approaching, intersecting at the end of the road, and becoming one, simultaneously reaching the peak!

That was his ultimate goal—football’s first full grand slam, Ball God!

In the future, he will live a very busy yet fulfilling life, climbing upwards on both paths to reach higher heights and conquer higher places!

"Hey, Captain."

Walking into the hotel inside the training camp, Ma’el saw Sagna standing at the entrance waiting for him, with a playful smile on his face, as if meeting him for the first time.

He wrapped his arm around Sagna’s neck and rode the elevator upstairs together.

"A new guy joined the team, a 21-year-old forward from Real Sociedad."

Sagna, who joined the team earlier, smiled and introduced the new player to him, "Griezmann, you should have an impression, he ranked high in last year’s Golden Boy Award."

"I looked at his stats, 7 goals and 4 assists in La Liga last season, very good, has potential, should be groomed for the future."

Seeing no surprise or additional expressions on Ma’el’s face, Sagna chuckled, "Of course, compared to you, his potential is not so apparent."

"I hope we can work well together."

Ma’el smiled lightly, "Who knows, two years from now at the World Cup, we might be fighting side by side."

"Yes."

Sagna nodded, revealing a tidbit, "Just when I went downstairs to get you, he was hanging out with a few La Liga players, and upon hearing of your arrival, showed some peculiar emotions, wanting to meet you but also being shy."

"Haha....." Ma’el laughed a few times without speaking; has he now made other talents feel this way?

Returning to the room to settle in, as per routine, he had a brief meeting with Deschamps before resting in his room to relieve the travel fatigue.

"Bang... bang bang!"

From the following day, the tense preparatory training was in full swing, and Ma’el began to know Griezmann in this process. They first made initial acquaintance through field interactions and passing.

Ma’el’s first impression of him was lively, with nimble footwork, excellent creativity, and shooting skill—he seemed like a good candidate for an attacking core.

However, having just finished a season as a regular in La Liga, compared to his upcoming peak, he lacked some maturity; currently, his odds of competing against Nasri and other midfielders appear slim.

In another perspective, he felt a hint of restraint from him.

On the field, he only mingled with a few La Liga players and rarely talked to him; when he did, it was with an awkward smile, often looking elsewhere.

This gave him a special feeling, the future number 10 for the France team, one of the key contributors to a World Cup win; in his youth, in front of someone two years younger, he had this demeanor.