God Of football

Chapter 74: Finally Let loose

”Get him ready,” Luis de la Fuente said. Pablo Amo stared at his boss for a while before he understood what his boss meant and approached the person in question.

”Zubimendi, get ready,” Pablo Amo said as he walked away. Zubimendi nodded at his words and got up to warm up.

Izan, who heard Pablo Amo’s words, got downcast but didn’t show it. Pablo Amo, who was walking away, stopped and looked at Izan, ”What are you sitting there for? Get ready too. You’re both going on” Pablo Amo said before joining Luis de la Fuente.

”Why are you so dramatic? ” Luis de la Fuente, who had seen what transpired, said. Pablo Amo just stood there laughing sheepishly and scratching his head.

Pablo Amo’s words sank in as Izan got up to Warm up. Some of the players tapped him on the shoulder while some mouthed his congratulations.

Those whose faces were crunched up, too, kept their heads down. Izan thanked his mates before walking to join Zubimendi.

The Fans who saw Zubimendi and Izan warming up started a chant. ”Oh my God, Izan is coming on,” a fan said.

”That Valencian kid. I’ve heard of him, and I’ve seen him play, and all I can say is wait till you see it. He has 4 goals and 4 assists Laliga this season” a burly man said.

”Wait, but we’ve only played 4 matches”, a fan clarified. The people around them finally understood how absurd the stats were.

”Well, if I tell you he’s not even 16 years you’d probably be shocked-” the burly man tried to continue but stopped when he saw the faces of the other fans around him.

He sighed before saying, ”Don’t look at me like that; you have phones; why don’t you check them?”.

The other fans, struck by a sudden realisation pulled out their phones and began searching. Some typed his name on Google, while others proceeded to Valencia’s squad hub.

Either way, they saw that the burly man wasn’t lying. The mouths of the fans who had just found out about this went agape.

In the meantime, Izan and Zubimendi finished with their warmup and proceeded to wear their kits. Izan got the same number as the one he used in Valencia.

Looking at the No. 21 Spanish Jersey in hand, Izan couldn’t help but feel excited. He put on his jersey and joined Zubimendi who was receiving instructions from Luis de la Fuente.

After Luis de la Fuente was done with Zubimendi, he turned his attention towards Izan. ”How are you feeling, kid?” he asked with a slight concern.

”I’m excited sir. Although I’m about to go in, I still can’t wait” Izan said with a smile. Luis de la Fuente laughed at Izan’s words and finally spoke,

”I said something, and I’m keeping my word; I’m setting you loose on them. Perform well and repay my trust in you, okay?”.

Izan smiled and nodded at his words before saying, ”Don’t worry, I will”, Izan said as he finally looked at the pitch.

Merino, who saw his number in red, came out for Zubimendi. Oryazabal on the Far end of the field also went out.

Izan, who saw Oryazabal exit the pitch, also entered. Pedri, who saw Izan coming on, smiled. Izan went to fill the position Oryazabal had left.

Pedri, who was near him, spoke, ”Look who decided to join the Party”. Izan looked at the former but didn’t say anything and just smiled.

The double change for Spain was made in the 71st minute. Willy Sagnol looked at the kid who entered and smiled wryly while looking at Luis de la Fuente.

Luis de la Fuente also looked at Willy Sagnol’s face. The latter’s face seemed to say, ”Did you have to”.

Luis de la Fuente smirked and looked away.

The ball which went out of bounds was against Spain. Kvarastskhelia opted to see this one out and launched the ball at Mikautadze.

The striker who found the ball coming his way wanted to control it into a running motion but found out that he couldn’t.

Aymeric Laporte had rushed behind him and now the striker couldn’t move as he pleased because he felt like a boulder stood behind him.

Mikautadze finally accepted defeat and kicked the ball towards Kiteishvili in the middle. The attacking midfielder lunged at the ball and headed it towards Giorgi Chakvetadze as he was surrounded by too many opposition players.

Giorgi Chakvetadze found himself all alone as he saw Jose Gaya a bit farther from his Position. Chakvetadze took his time with the ball, but the smile on his face soon changed when he felt a leg in front of him.

Izan, who had been watching the proceedings, tracked back when he saw Kiteishvili heading the ball towards Chakvetadze.

Taking advantage of the opponent’s unawareness, Izan dispossessed him cleanly. The former tried to salvage the situation, but he ended up fouling Izan.

The referee, who saw what went on clear as day, blew his whistle for a foul and showed Chakvetadze a yellow card but the Georgian players seemed to think otherwise.

They aggressively approached the referee hoping to pressure him into rescinding his decision. The Spanish players felt that they would suffer injustice if this went on, so they also approached the referee, but this time to shield him from the Georgian players.

This turned into a bit of an altercation leading the referee to issue 4 yellow cards, 3 for the Georgian side and 1 for the Spanish side.

The Georgian players who received the yellow cards now had to be careful as they were now at risk of being sent off.

Rodri approached the ball for the earlier foul and sent it into the opponent’s box after seeing Spanish numbers inside it.

Joselu was the first to meet the ball but his header was not enough to threaten the Georgian goal as Kashia cleared it out.

The ball was headed out for a throw but Izan chased it before jumping with his right foot for a touch in the air.

This action of his kept the ball from going out and also drew appreciation from the Fans who were surprised that Izan could still keep the ball in play.

Izan, after controlling the ball, turned to face the opposition goal. Izan drove forward slowing with the ball as Chakvetadze approached.

The Georgian was hoping to intimidate the little kid who had come on, but he was laid to waste by Izan with a smooth, la croquetta that sent him the other way.

Izan, after getting rid of Chakvetadze, made eye contact with Pedri, who was making a run. Izan resolutely sent a curl-driven pass with the outside of his right boot into the box.

A few of the Georgian players tried to clear it but couldn’t as the ball flashed in front of Marmadashvili, but the keeper decided not to meet the ball as it looked like nobody would get a touch on it.

As if listening to Marmadashvili’s thoughts, the ball curled some more and found itself near Pedri, who met the ball with an outstretched foot, sending the ball into the back of the net.

Marmadashvili stood rooted to the spot, and so were the Georgian players, who all thought the ba was out. Pedri, on the other hand, rushed towards Iza,n, pointing at the latter while approaching him.

When Pedri got to where Izan was, the former stretched forth his hand which Izan clenched in his for a celebration that looked like two people sealing a deal.

The other Spanish players laughed and approached the duo, interrupting their celebrations as they jumped on them sending them tumbling.

Luis de la Fuente, who stood on the touchline, was all smiles as he stood there, surprised that Izan had been able to make an impact just a few moments after coming on.

After the Celebration, the Spanish players returned to their half, this time, a bit relaxed as they led the opponents by two goals.

The Georgian players, after the restart, tried to pull on back in hopes of at least drawing the match. This led to them revealing a few gaps, which Izan noticed and wanted to take advantage of.

The Georgian players chose Kvarastskhelia to initiate an attack. The Napoli man had been quiet for a while and decided to use this chance to remind them that he was still in the game.

He tried to get rid of Azpilicueta by using his pace but Aymeric Laporte helped Azpilicueta with Kvarastskhelia forcing a change of possession.

After the change in possession, the Georgian players tracked back quickly. Azpilicueta looked at Izan on the wing and sent the kid the ball quickly.

He had noticed the kid ever since he joined them, and he was impressed, to say the least. The kid reminded him of a Chelsea teammate who joined Real Madrid a few years back but at the same time, the kid was different.

Izan found the ball coming at him and also found Lasha Dvali who had come on earlier chasing him. Izan knew he’d be dispossessed or would not even get a chance to compete for the ball but a thought flashed through his mind.

”That would be so cheeky,” he thought with a smile. As the ball began its descent, Izan rushed to meet it and so did Lasha.

Izan ran ahead of the ball a bit, confusing Lasha, who wondered what the kid in front of him was about to do.

The ball fell but Izan was still ahead of it with his back to the ball. As if guessing what Izan wanted to do, Lasha rushed at him but was a tad too late.

The ball fell as Izan used his back to change the direction of the ball before following it. The Stadium was riddled with ’ohs’ and ’ahs’ as the Fans marvelled at Izan’s display.

Lasha tried to suddenly re-adjust and chase after Izan but couldn’t. Izan, with space in front of him, cut through the pitch.

Izan reached the byline and was chased by a few Georgian players he decided to cross with a Rabona.

The Georgian players around him tensed as the ones near him threw their bodies into the way of the cross.

Seeing how they had committed, Izan faked the Rabona before driving the ball to the edge of the box.

Izan found space after getting to the edge of the box so he planted his left foot beside the ball before hitting the valve of the ball with his right.

The ball moved gracefully, with dip and curl and it travelled towards goal. Marmadashvili saw the ball coming his way and lunged at it.

His fingertips touched the ball but it wasn’t enough to change the trajectory of the ball that much as the ball smacked the inside of the post before rustling the net.

’Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllll’

The Spanish Fans jubilated at the curler that they had just seen. Izan rushed towards the corner flag after the ball entered the goal and slid on his knees.

A/n: Sorry for the late update. I wrote the chapter but I forgot to copy it and accidentally cleared it. Anyway thanks guys for the support it means a lot.