God Of football

Chapter 65: Not your regular

Izan stepped out of the car, taking a moment to appreciate the fresh breeze that brushed against him.

He expressed his gratitude to the driver for the ride, and with a swift nod, the driver departed.

The Cuidad del Futbol was the same Izan had seen in the pictures. It looked modern but still had a traditional touch to it.

Izan stood there for a few minutes while looking around until someone came. ”Sorry, Mr. Hernandez, for keeping you waiting,”, an older man said.

”Oh, it’s okay; it’s only been a few minutes since I arrived here and I’m no Mister”, Izan said with a smile as he tried to make the conversation more comfortable for himself since having an older person call you formally just didn’t feel right to him.

”Okay then, Izan, My name is Joaquin and I’m the team’s travel manager. I hope your journey here was comfortable, ” Joaquin asked Izan, who was taking his hands out of his pockets.

”No worries, Mr Joaquin, everything was nice,”, Izan said. ”I’m glad you liked it, and please, call me Jo”, Joaquin said.

”Okay, Jo”, Izan said to get it out of the way. ”Okay, so enough with the pleasantries; let’s go meet your teammates”, Jo said while rubbing both hands together.

Izan nodded and the two boarded the mini golf cart that Jo had come with. ”Cute ride” Izan couldn’t resist saying. Joaquin laughed and explained the rationality behind it.

”The association approved of them since they don’t produce fumes so it lessens the worry on the environment and also keeps the oxygen content in the air extra high for the players on the playing fields around”.

Izan nodded at his explanation and felt that the Association had done well with this action. Joaquin and Izan soon arrived at the Hotel Residencia, where the players were staying.

”Ok, you were the last player to be called up, so you got a room to yourself; now, here’s your keycard,”, Joaquin said as he shot a key card at Izan.

”Thanks, Joaquin ”, Izan said before Joaquin proceeded to go. ”Dinner is at seven, so don’t miss it, first impression”, Joaquin, who was a bit far away, screamed.

Izan laughed at Joaquin as he couldn’t get enough of his clumsy acts since their little road trip here.

”Well, let’s go,”, Izan thought as he dragged his luggage behind.

[Cafeteria]

”Who the hell was screaming outside like that?” a voice asked.

”Probably Jo; he’s the only clown here,” another voice replied.

”Who was he screaming at, anyway?” the first voice continued.

”Probably the new guy. Why do you think Coach left a spot on the team?” a sharp, distinctive voice chimed in.

”I heard he plays on Gaya’s team,” the voice added.

The three voices kept discussing Izan without even knowing who he was, while the person in question had just found his way to his room.

Izan entered the room after swiping his keycard through the reader. Once inside, he set his luggage in the corner and took a moment to acclimate to his surroundings.

The room was for two but he’d be the only one using it. Izan quickly called his mom and after talking with her, Izan decided to take a shower.

After the shower, Izan heard a knock on the door. After putting on a t-shirt, Izan opened the door and found a tracksuit with the Spain logo and a note which said ’dinner’ on it.

Izan smiled and turned the note over to find an inconspicuous ”MR.J” written there. Izan shook his head and brought the tracksuit inside before wearing it on top of his white shirt.

Izan took his phone and soon found himself on the way to the cafeteria. He had guessed it but it seemed that the Coaches and other staff were not staying on this wing of the hotel as he hadn’t met one yet.

The walk seemed long but Izan saw light at the end of the tunnel as the Cafeteria came into view. Izan, who heard sounds as he came closer to the door, didn’t linger and pushed one door open.

The Chatter momentarily stopped as everyone turned to look at who had entered but when they saw a young-looking Asian face, most of them went back to what they were doing.

”Hey kid, you’re next door” a voice Izan soon found out was Mike Oryazabal said. Izan, not understanding what Mike meant, nodded and got out.

Two players who sat at a table beside Mike Oryazabal saw the whole exchange and laughed at how Mike handled it.

”Probably just one of the junior sides wanting an autograph or something,” a voice said.

”Okay, now eat your food, Fran” the voice sitting opposite the first one rattled. ”You are no fun, Pedro”, the voice identified as Fran spoke.

”I thought he looked familiar” Porro muttered.

The two continued to bicker for a while forgetting about the kid who had just entered. Izan, on the other hand, found the room Oryazabal talked about.

He was a bit surprised that Oryazabal talked to him first so he couldn’t respond and could only nod. Anyway, it worked out well, and he told me he was supposed to be.

At least that’s what Izan thought. Izan opened the gate and entered. The group of players inside were also surprised to see a new face enter.

The u20 players had arrived a week ago and had already played a match, so who was this kid? Izan, who had also entered the room, felt that something wasn’t right.

This wasn’t the Spain National team; It was, but it wasn’t the right one. Whispers and murmurs flew around the room.

”Who is he?” was one of the whispers flying along the room. ”By the way, doesn’t he look familiar?” a voice said.

Before they could all react a voice called out, ”Izann?”. The eyes of the players turned sharply to look at the source of the voice.

Izan, who had found a place and was about to settle, heard someone call his name. Izan following the gazes of the other people in the room, saw someone he would have never thought he’d be glad to see.

”Pietro” Izan said with a smile. Pietro, who had confirmed Izan’s identity, ran towards him. ”Wow, you were invited to u20s; good for you, man. Mark is also here, follow me” Pietro said as he dragged Izan away.

”So, he’s Izan. I heard he’s making waves in La Liga,” one voice said.

”I haven’t been paying much attention to that because of my matches, but I do catch some games when I can. He toys with defences. His free kicks are phenomenal, too. Just ask anyone who played with him in Group Seven of the juvenile league,” another voice replied.

”Plus, he’s not even 16 yet,” a different voice added.

”Some people do have it easy; I mean, how good does it get? Some of us play in the play in English Premier League, and we don’t hype ourselves up that much,” another voice said.

”Well, let’s see,”, a player said and went upstairs and brought down his laptop. ”What did you bring this here for ” an annoying player asked but was shut up before the owner could even answer.

The player searched for Laliga’s compilation of Izan’s matches and there were a lot. ”Are they promoting him or something?” a person asked, but they all kept their thoughts to themselves.

After watching the videos, the players understood the hype.

Hernandez Izan M iura. He Is Him.

Pietro and Izan walked to where the u20 dorms were and although it wasn’t that far, Izan was still tired because of Pietro’s rabid speaking.

”Were you invited too?” Mark asked after he had gotten the whole gist from Pietro. ”You guys have misunderstood; I was invited, but not for the under-20s”.

Izan responded to clear this misunderstanding, but it set him back again.

”Oh, well better luck next time. You’re better than those u20 players. You can probably play with the senior team and look like you belong there, but your age is a factor,” Pietro said.

Izan smiled at their misunderstanding as it was funny so he just let them be. The trio talked about their club and life and also about Pietro’s girl who was for real this time.

”By the way, which age group were you invited to?” Mark asked as Izan said he had to wake up early tomorrow.

”The senior team” Izan responded before going out.”Not bad eh, the seni-” Mark suddenly stopped when it sank in.

Mark wanted to look at Pietro but the latter had already given chase. Both tried to catch Izan, but they knew they couldn’t.

”Two big men chasing one man in the night, what would others think of you when they see this” was what Izan said to make them stop chasing him.

Izan walked up to his room and swiped the keycard before entering. Falling onto the bed was a must. He had to prepare to fall to the ground tomorrow.

”Seriously though, but did he say Senior team?” Pietro asked as he and Mark walked back to their dorm room.

”I heard it, so you must not be crazy”, Mark replied before running. ”You son of a bit-” Pietro didn’t finish and started to give chase.

”Can’t those two go to sleep” Izan said with a smile since he could still hear the two bickering even from where he was.

A/n: Thanks guys I’m feeling better and thanks for the tickets and powerstones. Never got them so now I can appreciate them. Love y’all