God Of football

Chapter 70: Prelude to the game

After Izan left, fitness Coach Carlos Cruz appeared and scolded the players before chasing them to sleep.

Izan, who was already in bed, dreamt of scoring a goal in his sleep. Hopefully the same will happen the next day.

As dawn broke the following day, the camp buzzed with a whirlwind of activity, everyone rushing about with excitement and urgency.

As the staff prepared, the players also did their side of the job. Izan, who woke up early due to his biological clock, went out to train even before his mates could wake up.

The training initiated by assistant coach Pablo Amo was light since Luis de la Fuente had told him to avoid any strenuous exercises.

Luis de la Fuente couldn’t come to the pitch because he had to meet with the higher-ups of the Spain National team.

The players worked hard to the bone as the lineups had not yet been finalised, so the starters couldn’t afford to lose their spots, and the substitutes were also trying to get some game time.

After the session, the players dispersed with Izam going to his room. He was feeling sticky all over so he decided to take a bath.

After bathing, Izan put on some clothes and went to Pablo Amo. He got to his office and knocked. After a moment, a voice came from inside, telling him to enter.

Izan entered the room and, after closing the door behind him, walked towards Pablo Amo’s desk. ”What can I do for you, Izan” Pablo Amo asked without looking up.

”Um, I wanted to ask if I could get some tickets for the game,”, Izan asked with an expectant face. ”Of course, you could, Izan, but I’m not the person to ask,”, Pablo Amo said.

Izan looked confused. He asked around and was told to come and ask Pablo Amo and now he was also saying he wasn’t the one in charge of things like this

Pablo Amo looked at Izan’s confused Face and clarified, ”I used to be, but not anymore. You can go ask the team manager. He is also called Pablo so I guess you thought I was him”.

Izan finally understood what they meant when they said, ”Not the regular Pablo”. ”Ok, sir, thank you,”, Izan said before walking out.

Now he had another challenge to overcome as he had to look for the Team manager’s office. It wasn’t really hard to look for, though, as Izan got to the front of the office after asking around for a bit.

With another knock for the second time that day, Izan entered the room. Pablo Teri, who seemed to be organising some material looked up at the person he had told to enter earlier.

He found the new and youngest kid looking at him so Teri asked what he needed. Izan told him about the issue with the tickets.

Pablo Amo explained how each player had a designated number of tickets that they could give to friends and Family.

Izan asked for just two tickets, one to give to Olivia since his mother and sister couldn’t be present and the other for Miranda, who was in Madrid with him.

Izan was a bit depressed that his Family couldn’t be there but he also knew that he couldn’t be the reason for the stop of their activities.

Pablo Teri gave the tickets to Izan who sent them to Olivi and Miranda. They were e-tickets so Izan just sent them over.

After this, Izan went down for breakfast. The players had gathered and were eating whilst joking around.

When Izan saw the faces of players he had seen on TV just recently, Izan smiled. He had come far and the existence that had made it possible for him was still by his side.

”Thanks, Max”, Izan said with a thought. [I am just an instrument. This is also just the beginning] the system said.

Izan smiled at the system’s words. ”Yeah, this is just the start” he muttered before joining the rest of the players.

The players went to the recovery rooms after breakfast to relax any tense muscles. Izan was given extra attention as ordered by Luis de la Fuente because of his age and his growing bones and muscles.

After this session, the players were left alone for the duration of the afternoon. Not much was done since they were going to play in a while.

The players just relaxed and lazed around. Some decided to hit the gym for some light exercise before the team’s.

Izan was part of that group as he couldn’t sit still.

Some of the players, like Pedri and Rodri, who saw this, tried to get him to calm down, but they soon left him alone when he said he was just excited.

The players were soon done with the afternoon session, this time led by Luis de la Fuente, who told them what he wanted of them in the match that evening.

After the session, the players freshened up again and headed to the Cafeteria for a light meal. A tactical meeting followed as Luis de la Fuente explained each player’s role to them.

After that, Pablo Amo posted the lineups, and there weren’t many changes, but a new name found its way onto the bench, and it was none other than Izan.

Some of the players congratulated him as they knew how hard he worked and thought it was well deserved.

A few of the reserve players also had their thoughts as most of them felt that they had also worked hard and should be given the same shot as Izam was given.

Some even proceeded to show their dissatisfaction by talking in a low tone but made sure Izan and the others heard but Izan didn’t pay them any heed.

After all, he was going to be playing, and they were going to watch him. And even if he didn’t play, just making it onto the substitute players meant that the coach trusted him more.

After the meeting, the players got ready to head to the stadium. The team bus arrived after a while with the players scattered around.

After completing their preparations, the players boarded the bus and awaited the others. The journey to the stadium was only an hour long, but thanks to light traffic and favourable conditions on the road, they arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of schedule.

As they disembarked, they were greeted by enthusiastic cheers and the bright flashes of cameras from both fans and reporters.

Some of the players proceeded to do a bit of Fan service as they signed autographs and took pictures with others.

Izan also signed a few autographs for fans who knew him. The Fans who knew him were supporters of Valencia who knew him and were utterly surprised by his presence on the team.

They had seen the list when it was announced but they had not seen Izan’s name on it. Izan was a clearly late addition.

After the meeting with the Fans, the players headed to the dressing room. The players who had never been there had to admit.

Santiago Bernabeu was a work of art. The Structural intelligence and Architectural brilliance made the outside of the stadium look futuristic.

”Madrid has the money to spend. Their stadium is as good as it gets. But ours will be better after we renovate” Pedri said after getting to where Izan was.

”Wait, you guys are also renovating,” Izan asked, to which Pedri nodded. ”There’s been talks about it. It will be finished by the time we celebrate our anniversary in 2025” Pedri clarified.

”Oh, then I wish you and your club success,” Izan said. ”It could be your club too soon if you continue like how you’re playing,” Pedri said.

”Let’s not talk about that for now; today, we need to crush Georgia,”, Izan said with a grin. ”Do you enjoy inflicting pain on others?” Pedri asked.

”No, but it’s my first match, so nothing short of a masterclass can cut it,”, Izan said before walking away. Pedri smiled and muttered, ” I like your mentality,” before following along.

The Fans who had entered the stadium had smiles on their faces. This was their first international match of the season, and they wanted to make the most out of it.

The home fans started their chants which reverberated around the stadium. The travelling fans, however, didn’t let them shudder.

They also brought out their chants, which were even louder than the shouts of the home fans. They believed in the tale of the ant defeating the elephant.

The Georgian Fans believed that they had a team which could surpass all odds. They had hope that their star, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, would rise to the challenge.

A spectacle on the patch caused the shouts of the fans to rise. Here Izan stood shooting rockets into the back of the net before the match even started.

The Georgian players looked at each other and asked as if asking who that kid was. Marmadashvili, who played on the same team as Izan, approached his teammates and said, ” Beware, he’s no kid” before walking to his goal.

A/n: Feeling good so I decided to release another chapter. In real life at this time, the Bernabeu wasn’t completed but let’s just say it was okay,now have fun