Chapter 13 — Across the Six Meter Line

On the day of the match, Tan Lap opened earlier than usual. Diep showed up at six o'clock, before the water seller. She brought with her a box of tools, a bottle of slipperiness testing solution and a list of people who had to sign. On the ground, the seam that caused Chi to slip was sanded down and covered with a temporary protective layer. It still appears as a blurred line, not pretty, but it's no longer something to guess.

Ha Lam of Hong Ha came with Khoa and the technical manager. They do not stand in two opposing groups. The two captains walk around the field, touching the toes of their shoes to the marked areas. Ha Lam tried running horizontally near the six-meter line, then shook his head in the left corner.

“This is stickier,” she said.

Diep records yellow color. “Not dangerous, but will monitor.”

Khoa asked: "Who's watching?"

“Me and the referee.”

“If the ball is running?”

"If there is a risk of falling, the referee stops. If it's just a different feeling, it's dead ball."

Khoa nodded. “Clear.”

Luan checked the electronic board for the seventh time. He ran the clock from 30:00 to 00:00, pressed stop, restarted it, then tried displaying six seconds. Hanh stood next to him, his hand clock synchronized with the mechanical watch.

“Three sources start together,” Hanh said.

“The three sources stop together,” Luan replied.

“A confirmed person.”

“One person writes.”

Chi heard them repeat the protocol as a warm-up before entering the field. She stood on the sidelines, not touching the table. Hanh chose the main seat. Luan sat next to the board. Ha Lam and Vy both signed the inspection form, then each read it again.

When the match started, Lightning did not have the advantage of having the home crowd chant their name. The organizers asked to keep the sound moderate, and Hong Ha brought a large group of fans. The drum sounds evenly. Tram seemed more tense than the semi-finalist, but she did not back down.

Hong Ha scored the first two goals. Khoa organized a tight defense, not allowing Tram to receive the ball with his back turned. Lightning passes more, sometimes too much. Manh called a time-out in the seventh minute.

“You guys are playing to prove the old game wasn't wrong,” he said. “This is not a trial.”

Vi replied: "But everyone still looks."

“Let them see how we play.”

Tram was given the ball. Khoa touched her shoulder. Tram kept her foot outside the line and passed the ball to Ngan. Ngan scored the first point for Lightning. Vy blocked the next throw. The team equalized 2-2.

Khoa laughed as he ran back. “You didn't shoot this time?”

“I had someone remind me.”

"Who?"

Tram pointed out. Chi raised her hand, but did not wave.

The first half continued to struggle. Vi was locked on the right wing by Hong Ha, so he switched with Ngan. Ngan plays centrally, Vi drops deep to drag the defense. Manh did not force them to return to their old position. He let each person read the space.

Minute twelve, the clock on the board displayed 18:03, Hanh's clock 18:04. Hanh did not press stop. When the ball went out of bounds, she informed the referee, Luan recorded a difference of 0.4 seconds according to the measuring device. Ms. Bich stood outside the yard and asked a technician to check. The two captains were called back.

Khoa asked: "Will the match stop?"

Hanh replied: "The ball is dead. Let's confirm the source before continuing."

Vy asked: "What is the main source?"

Hanh pointed to the stopwatch and the mechanical watch. "Two independent sources overlap. The table just displays slowly."

No one was happy about the incident, but no one yelled. Ha Lam read the minutes and signed the confirmation line. The match resumed after less than a minute.

Chi looked at Hanh. She didn't wait for Chi to nod. She knew what she had to say, she just needed to say it clearly enough.

The halftime score was 11-10 for Hong River. In the room, Manh asked about the background. Tram said the left corner is fine, the right corner is more sticky. Vi said her wrist was a bit tired. Vy said she wanted to continue but asked for a reduced assignment.

“I don't need to win by making my body owe me,” Manh said.

In the second half, Lightning changed rhythm. Vi opened the wing, Tram stood to block, Ngan received the ball in the middle. Lightning equalized 13-13. Hong Ha scored two goals in a row thanks to Khoa launching a counterattack. Tram was pushed down while competing for the ball, but stood up before Chi could step.

“I'm fine,” Tram said.

“Did you say it yourself or did someone else say it?” Chi asked.

“On my own.”

“Then get into position.”

Ha Lam witnessed and looked at Tram a moment longer. After the match, she will say that a strong player is not the one who doesn't fall, but the one who knows he has the right to decide when to get up.

Eighteen minutes, the score was 18-18. Hanh compares the two clocks each time the ball dies. Luan placed a small piece of paper next to the board, recording the display time and the official time. They no longer try to make the deviation disappear. They make it visible.

The Lightning went up 20-19. Hong Ha equalized 20-20. The audience began to hold their breath. Khoa scores from the left corner. Vi responded with a spinning throw. 21-21.

At the last minute, Vy blocked Ha Lam's throw. The ball bounces out. Lightning counterattacked, but Tram stopped in the middle of the field to wait for Ngan. She could have run alone, but didn't. Ngan received the ball and passed it to Vi. Vi records. 22-21.

Hong Ha asked for advice. Khoa said to his teammates, then looked at Chi. No one knew what she asked. Chi only saw Khoa pointing at the electronic board, then at the mechanical clock.

The battle continues. Hong Ha pulled the Lightning defense out of position. Khoa broke through, Vy blocked the first throw, but the ball bounced to Ha Lam. Lam passes to the wing. Left wing throws. The ball comes in. 22-22.

31 seconds left.

Manh did not ask for a consultation. He let the team play on their own. Lightning keeps the ball, passes slowly. Tram stood outside the line, not trying to compete for body. Vi found space but did not throw. She passed back. Hong Ha fouled in the twelfth second of the attack.

Hanh reports 19 seconds left.

Chi looked at Tram. Defender Khoa is in front of her. Tram turned in the other direction, used her shoulder to pull Khoa out, opening the slit for Ngan. Ngan pass. Tram received it six meters close to the road. She jumped, but did not step over the line. Khoa touched her hip. Tram kept her balance and released the ball to Vi.

Vi threw.

Goalkeeper Hong Ha touched it, the ball bounced off the post and fell right in front of the line. Ha Lam rushed back, but Vi took it back. She passed horizontally to Ngan, Ngan threw low. The ball comes in.

23-22.

Hong Ha has six seconds left. Khoa ran quickly, but Vy rose up, making the throwing angle narrow. Faculty of throwing. The ball touched Vy's hand and bounced out. Hanh stopped the clock. Luan stopped the board. The two stops coincide.

The end-of-match whistle sounded.

There is no jumping board. No one has to look at a stationary number to guess. Hanh read the results, Luan read the time, and the referee confirmed. Khoa received the ball that fell near the post, gave it to the referee and then went to the table to sign the record.

“Lightning won 23-22,” Hanh said.

Faculty read again. “The final time was six seconds when I threw it?”

"Correct."

“I sign.”

Hong Ha lost the replay, but Khoa did not bow his head. She shook Vy's hand first, then Tram's hand. When she reached Chi, she said: “This time we know where the battle ends.”

Chi replied: "Yes."

“I still want to get to the final.”

"I know."

Khoa smiled faintly. “Don't think I'm gentle because I signed.”

“I don't think so.”

Lightning does not celebrate too long. Hanh must complete the minutes. Luan backs up data. Diep checks the background. Manh took Vi home to get things from the bakery. Tram sat on the floor, holding her knees with both hands, looking at the six meter line.

“I didn't walk over,” she said.

“No,” Chi replied.

“But you can't win alone.”

“No one wins alone.”

Vy walked by and placed the red scarf on Tram's shoulder. "Let's go. The finals are waiting."

Outside, the weather has stopped. The electronic board displays 00:00 and then turns off the correct command. The mechanical watch stops at the same time. Lightning does not have a perfect result. They have a result that both teams can read, sign and carry.

After the whistle, the two teams did not immediately run back to the locker room. Hanh placed the minutes on the table and asked each person to read their part. Luan checks the log and time stamps the backup. The signboard technician confirmed that the display was delayed by 0.4 seconds at a mid-match point but did not affect the final decision because the main source was used.

Khoa stood next to him, reading each line. She stopped at the last six second mark.

“Here it says ‘six seconds left according to independent clock,'” she said.

“Yes,” Hanh replied.

“I would like to add that the Hong Ha team was informed before the match resumed.”

Hanh handed over the pen. “You write.”

Khoa wrote in small strokes and then signed his name. Vi finished reading and asked if it was necessary to add the fact that the ball touched the goalkeeper's hand in the final phase. The referee confirmed that it was not necessary because it was a situation that was already considered in the development, but she took notes in the personal comments section. No one told her to ignore what she saw.

Tram sat outside in the yard, removing her ankle bandage. She looked at the six meter line. During the scoring phase, she stood in the middle, pulled Khoa out, not touching the area. She wasn't on the final scoreboard, but her moves created space. Manh said that when she asked what she contributed.

“You don't need any goals to prove your position,” he said.

“But people only remember the thrower.”

"The person who makes the team win is not always remembered correctly. So the team must know how to talk back."

Tram held a towel and wiped her sweat. "Miss Chi said I have the right to tell. The teacher said the team must tell. So where should I tell?"

"In the internal minutes. During the training session. And if anyone asks, I say."

Tram nodded. She no longer needed an instant title. She needed language for what she did.

In the hallway, Ha Lam waited for Chi. Ha Lam didn't score many goals, but she read the game well, stretched the defense and forced the Lightning to make changes. She gave Chi a bottle of water.

“I don't like losing,” Lam said.

"I know."

“But I like the way you recorded this match.”

“I thought your team wanted to continue.”

"Want. The two things are not mutually exclusive."

Lam looked at the yard. "I used to think the secretary just sat back and watched players make mistakes. Today I see they have to keep mistakes from becoming secrets."

Chi asked: “What are you going to do about that?”

“I suggest that my team practice one session with the timekeeper before the next tournament.”

Khoa walked over and picked up Lam's jacket. "And please do not use the word 'enough' in the minutes if there are no conditions."

Ha Lam nodded. “That sentence is from Chi.”

“That sentence is from the yard,” Chi said.

Khoa looked at her. "I will send a response. Not a complaint about the results, just a suggestion for the process."

“I will read.”

Tram ran out and called Chi to come in and take a team photo. Chi was about to refuse because she wasn't competing, but Vi pulled her into line. The photo does not have the trophy in the middle. Everyone holds the minutes and a roll of yellow tape removed from the background. Hanh stood in front of the secretary's desk, Luan held the mechanical watch. Khoa and Lam stood outside the frame, then Ha Lam walked in when Vi called.

“Your team gets a photo too,” Vi said.

“I'm not wearing the Lightning shirt.”

"Unrequited."

They took a photo together. Not to erase the loss or win, but to record that both teams were present in the same match without time being assigned to a single screen.

On the bus back, Manh received news that the organizers announced that Lightning had entered the final. The opponent will be Sao Mai Dak Nia. He read aloud, everyone applauded, then Ngan asked if he had a day off tomorrow. Manh told me one day.

“Just one session?” Vi asked.

“Enough to remember you have a life.”

Chi sat near the window, opening the file. Hanh sat opposite, no longer looking at her every time he wrote. Luan labeled the copy. Tram fell asleep, still holding the law book in her hand.

Chi looked at each person. The replay did not give them back the old one. It gives them another way to move forward together. She didn't know what the finals would be like, but knew from now on, she couldn't be the only one keeping the team's story.