KICK 7 — DEMIEN**
He walks from the halfway line while the noise builds around him and the referee waits near the spot with both hands in his pockets, and the pitch feels different from this angle because this is the goal he defended rather than attacked for a hundred-and-twenty minutes.
He takes the ball from the referee and crouches to place it on the spot, adjusting it once so the valve faces forward, and when he straightens he takes three steps back and one to the left before stopping.
Maignan is on his line bouncing while his eyes study Demien's body for information, and the goalkeeper's read of the match has been good enough to make everything difficult, and the space in the goal exists in both corners and down the middle while the decision sitting in Demien's chest has been made before he left the halfway line.
The referee raises the whistle.
The stadium holds.
The whistle blows.
