God Of football

Chapter 20: Gradually

The fans at the fc Cartegena U19s stadium were very toxic to say the least. The match hadnʼt even started and they had started with the boos and insults and this was all at the under-19 level.

Izan had already started to practice with the ball on the field. Accompanied by Andranik,Juan and Gaia, who were doing some passing drills.

After a while Coach Moreno called the players back since one of the match officials had told them to get dressed.

”I know weʼve already topped the group, but that doesnʼt mean we should relax. We need to make a statement here. Are you with me!!!”

”Yes coach” the players replied emphatically after Coach Moreno had finished talking. Afterwards the players dressed and went out. ”Miura” Izan heard his name as he was about to head out.

”I wanted it to wait but I guess I should tell you now. The Spain u17 head coach has called you for the upcoming friendlies” Coach Moreno said.

Izan had expected as much but was still a bit surprised. ”When will that be Coach” Izan asked.

”I think it will be after the Copa de campeones de juvenil ” Coach Moreno said.

”Okay so I wonʼt have to leave in the middle of the campaign” Izan said. ”Yes hopefully they donʼt bring it forward” Coach Moreno said. Izan turned to go after coach Moreno finished.

As the players entered the pitch, the shout got higher. There was a lot of fans for a u19 game.

The pleasantries were dealt with before the referee looked at his watch. After a while,he brought the whistle to his mouth before blowing it.

******************************

The match had been going back and forth for a while with neither side conceding. It had been 15 minutes since the match started.

Izan had been marked by 2 players since the start of the match. It seemed the Coach had done his job

Gérard villa, the Cartegena Coach was all smile as his plan seemed to be working. He had assigned 2 players to mark Izan at the start of the match.

He had watched some of Izanʼs matches after he heard of him after the matches with Atletico madrileño u19 and Villareal u19 and he was inclined to say he was a great player.

Coach Villa had decided to go with this tactic and it seemed it had worked. He went to sit down as he had been tense since the start of the match but had relaxed after Izan had become relatively quiet in the match.

Izan who couldnʼt shake of the players decided to swap position with Andranik coming in to the attacking midfield role and the latter going in to the wing position.

This messed up the players marking a bit after the saw that space had been opened up behind their backs.

Izan seeing this rushed to Javier buèso so support him. Javier seeing Izan released the ball to him.

Izan after getting the ball turned in a roulette spin to evade the player who behind him.

Izan dribbled effortlessly into the midfield of the opposing team. Jose,the defensive midfielder for Cartegena saw Izan break through and decided to tackle him before Izan could go any further.

Unfortunately Izan had already sensed it and had already passed the ball. Izan went forward and received the ball forming a triangle with Andranik and buèso in the middle.

The trio passed around the Cartegena u19 team making them seem like amateurs. Andranik was the last to receive the pass and saw that Izan was running behind the defenders.

Andranik with a lob,sent the ball to Izan.

The Cartegena players could only watch as the ball went over their heads.

Izan seeing his opportunity decided to meet the ball before it hit the ground. He raised his right leg to meet it but one of the Cartegena players who had reacted fast nudged him a bit.

Izan went of balance and the ball fell on the grass. Izan forcibly stabilised his posture and went into a position to use his left leg.

Izan smacked the ball and watched as the ball zoomed pass the keeper who had tried everything humanely possible to keep it out but fell short.

The Cartegena fans went silent as they looked at the Valencia u19 players and their minimal away fans celebrate.

Regaining composure,they started to cheer on the cartegena players whiles simultaneously booing the Valencia players.

Izanʼs goal was scored in the 27th minute and that coupled with a lot of close chances were the highlights of the first half.

----------------------

Fweeeeeeeeeee

The referee blew his whistle so start the second half. The Cartegena players had come out roaring. They played like their lives were on the line. The attacked more and also defended well.

The Valencia U19 players on the other hand had dulled after the went for the first half break.

The Cartegena players played around the Valencia players who could do nothing to retrieve the ball.

Izan was the only player whose head was still in the game as the others were probably thinking about the celebrations after this.

Coach Moreno who saw this decided to make some changes. He told Pedro, Juan and Gaia to warm up. The players whonwere happy the had gotten a chance went to the touchline and started doing some stretches and some sprinting.

After a few minutes of the Warm-Up. They pit on their kits and stood on the touchline.

The ball however didnʼt go out until the 65th minute a Valencia U19 player kicked the ball out for the substitutes to come on.

Pablo neri, marc juardo and jan martinez went out for Juan, Gaia and Pedro to come in.

The new players after coming in rejuvenated the team as they tried to win the ball back for the team.

Izan who also had challenge to complete attacked fervently. Their efforts paid of as they pressured the ball for a throw.

Lucas Tèna, the right back of the valencia U19 team picked up the ball and threw it to Izan. Izan who had to make an assist to complete the challenge started looking for options.

Dribbling with the ball,Izan kept looking around trying to find someone who had space. Izan who had gone back to the right wing position cut into the left.

The left back who saw that Izan had taken a bit of a heavy touch rushed to rak the ball. Izan however being faster got to the ball early before kicking it through the Leftbackʼs legs.

Izan raised his head and spotted Hugo de Marc about to make a run. Izan who saw this eyeʼs shone as he saw the space infront of Hugo.

With a smile, Izan sent a defence splitting pass which seemed to dodge every player that tried to obstruct its path.

Izan had activated the Incisive pass trait and that was the effect it had on the ball.

Hugo who saw the ball coming his way ran to meet it .

All alone with the keeper, Hugo curled the ball into the back of the net.

The Valencia players and bench were all ecstatic. However the celebrations were cut short when the linesman raised his flag for offside.

Izan who was running to Hugo stopped as his face turned into a frown. He was pretty sure Hugo was onside. Hugo who turned back to see the flag raised went silent.

He sighed before he ran to the referee to debate. There was no video assistant referee[VAR] to consult so the goal was not given.

Izan smiled wearily as he had gotten tired even though he didnʼt feel it. It seemed that his brain had gotten tired but his body had not.

The match continued as the Cartegena u19 keeper kick the ball into the middle.

As the match went on,Izan created a few chances but the magic touch to score the goal was still not coming.

Izan who saw that the assist was not coming decided to try a shot from Long range.

He intentionally aimed the shot at the keeper hoping it would go for a corner and luckily it did.

Izan running to the corner flag took the ball and placed it ont the designated area. Izan raised his hands before breathing in.

[Focus lv 1] has been activated. Izan who heard this ran and sent a backspin ball into the sea of players. The ball which showed no signs of descent passed the area where most of the players were.

The Cartegena players and Coach who saw this sighed a sigh of relief but were immediately tense as they saw a player appear on the far side of the post.

Hugo who had gotten an Idea of what Izan wanted to do ran to the far side of the post. Thankfully the ball had come his way.

With a heavy leg, Hugo volleyed the ball into the back of the net. The keeper who had no chance was rooted to the spot.

Izan who stood there heard the ʼdingʼ sound and fell to the ground. There had been 4 minutes of injury time and it had almost been exhausted. The referee who saw the faces of the Cartegena players decided to end it early.

He blew his whistle and the Valencia players all fell to the ground. Although the team they had played was weak, they had really stepped up in the second half and the fatigue had all caught up to them.

The players walked to the Small valencia away fans and thanked them.

Afterwards, the players headed to the changing room.

Coach Moreno talked a bit about how they only had one-two weeks before the Copa de campeones de juvenil begins.

After his speech, he gave the players 3 days off to rest . Izan who was dead tired slept when they got into the bus.

He only woke up when they got to the Valencia Cademy grounds. He got out of the bus and walked to the parking lot where he saw Komi together with Hori and Olivia.

”Howʼd it go” Komi asked as Izan got near. ”Well we won and we are going to play in the Copa de campeones de juvenil” Izan responded. He reached them and smiled at Olivia before patting her head.

Olivia who couldnʼt control herself infront of Izan turned away her blush was apparent as her ears had turned plum red.

Hori who saw this rolled her eyes. Izan who also caught her doing it patted her head too. Hori also turned away. She liked things like these but didnʼt know how to convey or show that she liked it.

Izan slept again as they got into the car, this time his head resting on Oliviaʼs lap as Hori had taken the front seat.

Olivia who couldnʼt help it touched his red lips. She rubbed it a bit with her finger before bringing it close to her lips.

”What am I doing ” she thought as she put her finger away and looked at Izan who was sleeping peacefully.

Izan woke up when Komi pulled over. He raised his head from Oliviaʼs lap. Olivia just watched him. As soon as they got out,Hori headed inside as her phone battery was about to die.

Komi followed behind as she wanted to heat up the dinner before Izan came in.

”So what are you doing tomorrow ”Izan asked Olivia. ”Nothing actually”. It was a Saturday the next day so Olivia didnʼt have school. ”Well I got three days to rest so would you like to hang out ” Izan asked to which Olivia replied yes.

They both stood there silently for a while. ”Well see you tomorrow” Olivia said as she turned towards their door. Izan also turned and walked inside.

Izan got out of the bath room after taking a shower. Without wasting time, he opened the Quest status.

-------------------------------------------------

Quest

[1* Host should score 7 goals and make 5 assists in the remaining matches.]

Reward: +5 stat point

+10000 lp

Status: goals[ 7/7] | assists[5/5]

Completed

[2* Valencia U19 should top group 7]

Reward:+10 stat points

+7000 lp

Status: Completed

[3* Win in the quarter finals of the ʼCopa de campeones de juvenilʼ]

Reward: +15 stat point

Status:not played

[4* Win in the semi finals of the ʼCopa de campeones de juvenilʼ]

Reward: +20 stat point

+15000 lp

Status: not yet

[5*Win in the finals of the ʼCopa de campeones de juvenilʼ]

Reward: +25 stat point

1 free trait and 20000 lp

First team call up.

Status :not yet

Izan who saw the completion of the challenge put his phone down to sleep

He remembered about the the Spain u17 callup news that Coach Moreno had told him and smiled as he kept thinking about it.

He fell asleep soon as the fatigue had caught up to him.