God Of football

Chapter 29: Statement Made

” Hello passenger,this is your captain speaking and we will be landing in 5 minutes ”.

The Hostess came and told everyone to buckle up for the landing.

Izan who had gotten out of the plane was now trudging towards the exit with the other players and Coaches.

They exited and found their bus waiting for them. The Valencia players walked through the crowd earning a number of stares and murmurs.

Izan in particular was getting a number of stares from some of the girls who looked at him and started giggling.

”Do you think he has a girl friend.” ”He looks like a kpop Idol”. ”Should I ask for his number”. The girls kept saying as they walked through the crowd.

Izan laughed when he thought of how theyʼd react when they heard his age. Izan after consuming the muscle strengthening elixir had grown a bit muscular and didnʼt look like a 15 year old.

”Famous arenʼt ya” Sosa said whiles smiling sheepishly. Izan looked at him and shook his head before continuing to the bus.

The ride to Paterna was a very short one. Izan kept looking around admiring the scenery.

He felt his phone vibrating and smiled when he saw the name on the screen.

”Hello ma” Izan said ”Hello Miura. How are you” Komi asked. ”Iʼm good ma” Izan spoke once again

”Oh ok. Congratulations by the way Miura. Iʼm very happy for you. And I never knew my baby boy was a bit famous” Komi said as she had seen Izan on the sports channel a while ago.

Izan smiled at her remark. ”Iʼll be home very soon okay and weʼll talk” Izan said before ending the call.

The bus first went to Paterna where the academy where the players who lived around got off before continuing its journey to Alboraya.

The bus got to Alboraya and Izan was the only player on the bus. Izan got off and watched as the bus sped off.

He called for an uber and waited a bit. Although Izan wasnʼt tired and could probablywalk home, his legs felt numb so he didnʼt want to risk an injury.

The car arrived and Izan sat in it as it drove to his house. Komi who was already outside saw a car pull up beside their house.

Komi watched as Izan got out of the car. Komi without wasting time ran and hugged her son.

Izan looked at her mother before reciprocating her actions. Hori who had just gotten out of the house saw her brother hugging her mother.

Izan saw her and called her to come in too for a hug. Hori not wasting anytime jumped into the hug as the family of three held each other together.

Izan after coming in took a shower before coming down for a quick lunch.

He picked up his phone and dialled a number.

”Hey Olivia” Izan said after the call went through. ”Ow hey Izan” Olivia responded.

”How have you been” Izan asked.

”Iʼve been good,how about you” Olivia said. ”Iʼm okay” Izan said with a heavy breath.

”So when is your vacation” Izan asked after a few seconds. ”Oh. Sorry Miura but I canʼt come until the summer holidays ” Olivia replied with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

She had already come for the Easter break and wonʼt be coming until August.

Izan sensing the sadness in her voice said ”itʼs okay liv, I can visit too” .

The words Izan said made Oliviaʼs mood change. ”Really,when” Olivia asked before calming down.

”I donʼt know the exact date that Iʼm gonna be ready but hopefully next week” Izan said.

Olivia continued smiling as she had the phone on her ears. ”Wait why am I so happy” Olivia thought when she felt her cheek getting hot.

Izan and Olivia talked for a while as they made their plans for the meeting .

Izan and liv talked for a while without realising,time had passed.

They each said their goodbyes before hanging up.

”Who was that,your boyfriend ” a voice said. Olivia looked at the person and rolled her eyes. ”Must everything be about that, Jamie” Olivia said whiles looking at the woman infront of her.

Jamie a tall,brown haired girls with adequate bust and backside stood there. She had become friends with Olivia in high-school and both of them had decided to come to the same university.

”Listen,if a girl is on a call and is giggling and smiling so much that she didnʼt even noticed when her best friend got inside her apartment,sheʼs probably talking to her boyfriend who sheʼs head over heels for”

”So spill,who is he. Do I know him. Is he on campus”. Olivia who couldnʼt stand the incessant questioning of her friend stood up and walked away.

Jamie stared as her friend walked on.

”Why was she smiling so much though” she thought with a smirk.

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[3 days later ]

Izan arrived in Paterna with his mother. He got out of the car and stood at the entrance to the cuidad de deportiva Paterna which was the name of the training complex where the Valencia Main team trains.

Izan saw Coach Moreno heading towards him and he look puzzled. He turned around and wished his mother goodbye. ”Have a nice time Miura and remember that mom always loves you” Komi said before driving off.

Izan looked at the back of the car before turning his attention to Coach Moreno who was now besides him.

”What are you doing here coach. Arent you supposed to be with the u19s” Izan spoke.

”Really, look at this kid. You think youʼre the only one who got promoted ” he said. When he saw that Izan was still looking puzzled he spoke.

” Iʼve been promoted to the 1st assistant Coach after the main assistant left for a coaching job. The 1st assistant at the time has now taken over the position so I took over his” Coach Moreno said.

”Thats your mom” he asked after a while. ”Yeah” Izan replied.

”Come on letʼs go” Coach Moreno said.

Coach Moreno told Izan about the structure of the valencia main team as they walked to the training field.

Izan came relatively early as the older and starting players in the team had yet to arrive. This was because Izan had arrived about an hour early.

It was the end of the season and most of the main players had taken early leaves whiles the injured ones were recuperating. The rest who didnʼt want to lose shape were the ones still there.

With the help of Coach Moreno, Izan did a few passing and dribbling sessions to try and get a good feel for the ball as always.

Some of the substitutes and the young players on the team started to arrive. They were surprised to see a new face on their training grounds.

Some looked at Izan with intrigue whiles others looked skeptical about him.

Most of them knew that he was probably from the youth team and had joined the first team for the last stint of the season.

There were still 4 matches left in the Spanish League till the end of the season and it was at this point in the season that most of the clubs that donʼt have any hopes of playing in europe or were in contention for the title experimented with their young players.

”Yo, Izan is that you” Izan turned around after he heard the familiar voice. ”Hello pietro ” Izan replied.

Pietro came forward and hugged Izan. Pietro, after their copa de campeones juvenil win last season was promoted to the senior squad and had performed decently in the chances given him.

”Howʼs life in the Senior team” Izan asked. ”Pretty good actually. They gave me a chance and I took it. I hope they start playing me more this season after one of the midfielders got injured” pietro said.

”Izan welcome to the first team”. Izan heard another voice and without even turning he knew who it was.

”Come on Mark, do you want the whole world to hear you screaming his name” Pietro said.

Izan,Mark and Pietro talked for a while before doing some passing sessions with Izan.

The reserve players whonwere on the pitch kept eyeing Izan to see if he was any good and from their observations in the passing session with pieteo and Mark, he was good.

But passing wasnʼt everything in football.

After a while, the manager Ruben Baraja arrived and the players started in the drills.

Izan showed his electrifying pace in the speed drills earning a nod from the manager.

His dribbling was also up there with the best in the team. His passing ability the drills was also very great.

One of the trainers blew the whistle and the shooting drills was next.

Coach Moreno leaned in the ears of Ruben Baraja and said something to him. Ruben Baraja showed a somewhat surprised expression.

”Heʼs scored all his freekicks in all the matches with the under-19s” he thought. Ruben Baraja had watched Izan in the division de honor and also the Uefa youth league and was surprised by the play of the young player.

He was also surprised when he found out that he wasnʼt even 15 years old when the previous manager wanted to call him up.

”Well if he can bring his freekick arsenal to the Laliga, then Iʼm sure we will have another way to make it count from setpieces ”.

Izan scored 10 in 10 shots from the shooting drills and also netted in 6 out of 6 freekicks.

His freekick prowess was confirmed by Ruben Baraja after this drill and he was happy to get such a player on his hand.

”With his pace, playing him on the wing position is the best option” Ruben muttered as he thought of Izanʼs pace.

Coach Moreno, as if sensing Rubenʼs thoughts spoke”In fact,his main position is an attacking midfield position. Although I played him as a winger on some occasions which he also plays very well”.

Ruben was a bit surprised because the day he watched the match,Izan was playing in the wing position.

”He can also play on both the left and right wing of the pitch as both his legs work effectively.” Coach Moreno added like a salesman trying to sell goods.

”Heʼs also versatile.Iʼll try him in the 2nd match of the four matches” Ruben thought.

”Gather around boys” Ruben said. ” Iʼm seeing some new faces and so we will be playing a welcome match to welcome these player to the first team”.

”Some of your stays may not be permanent so do well and earn you spot in this team”.

Some of the players were form the Valencia Mestalla which was the reserve team for Valencia CF and most of them wanted to get out of playing reserve league football.

Manager Rubenʼs words had set a fire in them as none of those called up wanted to return to reserve football.

Jose Gaya,the captain of the Valencia team had arrived but stood at the entrance watching them with a smile.

He looked around before his eyes fell on Izan. ”So youʼre,the kid little pietro had been talking about”.

Izan was drafted to one of the two sides for the training match which was going to last for just 45 minutes.

Izan was playing in the wing position. A positon he hadnʼt been playing much since his transition.

He had only played on the wing position about 8 times in the under-19s and this was his 9th time in that position.

The training match kicked off harshly for Izan as he got knocked down by a player on the opposing team at the start of the game.

Izanʼs body strength was a class above most of his teammates but him being unsuspecting led to him being bodied.

No foul was given as the match continued. Izan got up from the ground and was met with the offender.

”Better go back to the under-19s if this is how youʼre gonna play” the player said with a smug expression before going.

The player was a bit taller than Izan and wanted to use his physique to intimidate him.

Izan wasnʼt bothered by the playerʼs attitude but he wanted to wipe off that smug expression.

The match continued and Izan wasnʼt seeing much of the ball as his team wasnʼt really passing the ball to him.

He didnʼt know if it was lack of trust or if they were doing it intentionally but he was getting a bit frustrated.

Izan a bit irked by this calmed down and kept looking around. The opponent team had the ball now and were attacking.

Izan decided to go and take the ball if they were not going to give it to him.

Manager,Ruben Baraja who had been watching Izan was frowning.

”Was all that talk about him false. But Iʼve seen him play and I can say heʼs talented than most. Although his teammates arenʼt helping,he should at do something” he thought but just then Izan made a clean tackle and took the ball from the opponent team.

Izan with the ball started on his conquest. ”If youʼre not passing im not passing to you” he thought.

With his speed,he started moving forward with the ball. Izan faced with 2 players made a body feint that threw them the opposite direction of where he was going.

With them out of the way, Izan continued in the midfield. He felt freedom in the match as Izan kept pulling out skill moves one after the other.

He dribbled 4 more players before coming into a one on one with the player who had bodied him .

Izan without a lovely piece of step-overs confused the player and when the player thought Izan would go left, he threw his right leg forward to intercept the ball.

All Izan did was roll the ball with his left leg through the legs of the player who fell to the ground after Izanʼs dribbling and skills left him in an awkward position.

All the players on watching and playing laughed at the situation that had just occurred.

”What the actual Fu-” one guy tried to voice out as Izan curled the ball into the right top corner of the goal.

Silence rang through the pitch as they all looked Izan. Izan didnʼt look at them as he had already made his statement.

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Thanks guys for the support and powerstones