God Of football

Chapter 17: Atletico Madrileño [Pt 2]

********

Fweeee

The refree blew the whistle to signify the end of the first half. Most of the Atletico madrileño fans stared at the scoreboard which displayed a score many werenʼt happy with.

Valencia U19 [2]-[1] Atletico madrileño

”Hey,say that players is good” one of the spectators said. ”Yeah,he single-handedly turned around the game ” another added. Izanʼs performance had been etched into the minds of the spectators.

”Weʼre doing good and letʼs keep it that way.weʼre just 45 minutes away from widening the gap. Give your all in this final 45 minutes. Do you hear me!!!” Coach Moreno said. ”Yes Coah” they replied.

Izan who was drinking water at the back was approached by Coach Moreno. ”You did well Miura. Now do more in the following half” he said before turning away.

The players returned from their locker rooms. Because it was a youth game,travelling fans were almost non-existent. The Atletico madrileño fans tried to intimidate the young players.

The sounds they were making were deafening. Izan looked around a bit after coming out and smiled before going to retake his position. The referee restarted the match and it continued how it had ended in the first half.

The Valencia players played the ball around the Atletico madrileño players who were getting annoyed at their opponents playstyle. 10 minutes had passed and Atletico Madrileño hadnʼt seen any possession.

The possession was 80-20 for Valencia U19 by Izanʼs estimation. Izan who got the ball decided to initiate a counter as the Atletico madrileño players were subconsciously entering the half of Valencia U19 team.

Izan seeing this sparked a counter. He took off after receiving the ball from Javier buèso who after laying off the ball decided to stay back to help in any case of any counterattack.

Izan after he took off sent a raking ground pass to wissam on the right flank. Wissam didnʼt wait and went ahead a bit for the ball to catch up with him.

The left back of the madrileño team was waiting to tackle wissam. Wissam turning his back to the players used the toe area of his foot to poke the ball making it go around the left back of the opposition team.

Wissam turned around to get to the ball and when he caught up to the ball,he raised his head and looked inside the box to see if they had numbers in the box.

Wissam placing his foot under the ball sent a delicate pass into the box. Hugo who had been quiet all day because of the players marking him rose up to the air to meet the ball.

Changing the trajectory of the ball with his head,he sent a gruelling header to the goalpost. Coach Moreno and most of the valencia players had their hands up in celebration but what happened next made their faces turn sour.

The keeper of the Atletico madrileño team had somehow saved the ball from entering the net and pushed the ball out for a corner. Andranik took the ball to take the corner but recognising Izanʼs setpiece ability, he gave the ball to him.

Izan took the ball and went to the corner before making the ball lay on a comfortable patch of grass. Izan stepping back raised his hand to see if the players were ready.

Mark had come from the defence to try his luck. Izan spotting Mark and how he seemed to be taller than most in the penalty box decided to send the ball to his area.

Izan sent a very good corner to Markʼs side. Mark seeing the ball coming his way didnʼt disappoint and rose to the challenge,heading the ball Into the net. Mark pointed to Izan who had made the delivery before jumping to hug him after he was near.

Izan caught Mark and Mark was surprised by his strength. The other valencia players also came to celebrate and jumped on Izan finally causing him to fall on the floor.

The celebrations got cut off by the referee who looked annoyed by the Valencia players. Izan and a couple of valencia players noticed the refereeʼs reaction to their goal but kept quiet. They already knew it was 12 against eleven from the start of the match. It seemed that the Atletico madrileño heads had bought the referee.q

The valencia players returned to their positions. The referee restarted the match and the Atletico players came out aggressive. One would think they would lose morale after being 2 goals down bqut that only fueled their morale.

The Atletico players played patiently this time around waiting for a chance to strike and they finally got their chance in the seventy-fifth minute.

Because of a momentary lapse in concentration by left back, David nuñez a madrileño player made a run through his side. After the player got the ball, he run to the side of the box of the valencia U19 team before crossing the ball into the box. Mark cleared the ball but the ball still fell to an opposition players.

Izan came back and tried to tackle the opposition players but was pushed down by the player. The valencia players raised their hands to draw the refereeʼs attention but he didnʼt act.

The Atletico madrileño player, taking advantage of the lack of concentration of the valencia U19 team,delivered a low pass into the ball.

One opposition player came out of the sea of players and tapped the ball into the net amidst the confusion.

After they drew one back, the Atletico madrileño players didnʼt celebrate and quickly went and took the ball out of the net.

Cocah Moreno couldnʼt handle it anymore and went to the official standing on the touchline to complain.

The main referee upon seeing this decided to give the Coach a yellow card which didnʼt sit right with him.

Coach Moreno saw that there was no need to continue this as he would complain to the the refereeing committee of the league.

Izan was a bit frustrated by the refereeʼs actions and why he was behaving how he was behaving.

*********

Hugo passed the ball to Izan after the restart. Izan after receiving the ball passed it back. The Valencia players played one or two touch passes playing around the Atletico madrileño players who were trying desperately to score a goal to level the match.

The valencia players looked at the score board and the time.

Val. U19 [3]-[2]Atl. madrileño U19 (85ʼ)

The players on the bench had gripped unto their seat because time was running out. Some of the players were praying for time to run out and others were praying for it to hold out for a while.

Izan came one on one with a madrileño player who tried to dribble past him. Anticipating the players move,Izan made a sliding tackle and cleanly dispossessed the player.

Izan seeing this as an opportunity to attack quickly got up and passed the ball to Andranik before speeding off.

Andranik after he received the ball looked up,deciding on where to pass the ball to. Ultimately he settled on Pablo neri who also decided to lay the ball of to Izan after receiving it.

Izan without even looking at the ball took control of the ball and started dribbling towards the defence. Izan came one on one with a defender of the madrileño team. Izan, skillfully, with a few quick step-overs lay waste to the player who confused by the fast Stepovers Izan had just displayed

Izan who had wasted a few seconds got caught up to by a player who had been playing aggressively against him the whole day, Borja.

Izan came face to face with borja. Borja unaware of his surroundings didnʼt even know they were near the penalty box.

Izan seemingly just dribbled forward and after seeing that they had both entered the box, Izan decided to strike.

Izan did the ʼla croquetaʼ skill infront of an agitated Borja. The other madrileño players who saw what Izan was doing tried to tell borja but he had already made the tackle.

The refree who saw this hesitated before blowing the whistle. The tackle was a clear foul. Izan even decided to a be a bit theatrical to render any debate the referee tried to put up useless

The referee reluctantly showed borja a second yellow card and finally showed him a red card indicating that he had been ejected from the match.

Izan after seeing borja going out stood up and took the ball. Coach Moreno had already laid out a rule about penalties.

ʼWhoever wins it takes itʼ and Izan also took it because he was better at penalties than all of his teammates

Izan put the ball on the small white spot before stepping back. Izan looked at the keeper and breathed in trying to mute the sound of the crowd.

ʼDingʼ[host has unlocked focus lv1 ]

Izan smiled at the sound he heard. Izan who was waiting for the referee to blow the whistle finally stepped up to the ball after he had blown the whistle and struck the ball with raw power.

The ball went in a straight undeterred motion before it struck the roofing of the net. The keeper looked at Izan who had already taken off to celebrate as if he was a murderer and fair enough, the crowd shared his sentiments.

”Damn was he trying to rip the net” one fan commented. ”Honestly I just thought he was straight up going to murder someone” another added.

Izan who ran to the small area where the dedicated valencia fans were,bowed to them as they deserved this performance.

Their love for the team was commendable as going three hours to watch a youth team play was a hustle but hey had done it anyway.

The valencia players surrounded Izan who had just scored his first hatrick in his career and celebrated with him.

ʼDingʼ Izan heard the sound again and smiled. Izan was tempted to open the system and see what the notifications was, Izan stop and decided to go home before he opened the system.

The referee restarted the match and after a few minutes of slow paced football ended the match.

**********

Fwee. Fwee .Fweeeee

Valencia U19 [4]-[2]Atl. madrileño U19

Coach Moreno and the valencia players run onto the pitch to celebrate. The players after a while headed to the locker room.

”You guys did really well and Iʼm proud that you never gave up. Now letʼs go all the way ”Coach Moreno said. Some of the players decided to take a shower whilst some were on their phones after the coach left them

Izan sent a message telling his mum that they won. His eyes searched through his phone before he looked at Oliviaʼs contact which Olivia had svaed onto his phone when she took it from him.

He stood up to go and bath and before the screen could turn off, it displayed that he had sent her a text.

***********

Crrraccck.

The sound of shattered glass sounded.

”How the f**k did we lose even after paying them money. Werenʼt they supposed to manipulate the match so that we could take over the top spot” a very angry burly man with a round shape said with veins on his neck and some on his face that looked like it would burst any second.

The person being addressed kept quiet as he knew something bad would happen if he spoke.

”Haaaa”. ”Just make sure that they canʼt trace it back to us ok” he said to which the man being addressed nodded.

”How is my life so shitty that Iʼm stuck with that frog looking son a of a bi-” the man said as a call interrupted him as soon as he was outside

After listening to what the person on the other side of the call said,the manʼs face seemed to illuminate. After he ended the call he muttered ”finally its my chance to move up the cycle ” as he walked away with a smile