Oswin walked over to Bongani and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, Bo. We already told everyone that if they ever receive a one-on-one challenge, we'll be there. You won't have to face it alone." He paused before asking, "By the way, what formation are you planning to use? And when's your match?"
Bongani smiled and rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "My match with Pirlo is tomorrow," he said. "And I'm thinking of using a 3-5-2."
Everyone exchanged confused looks before turning their attention back to Bongani. Oswin still had his arm around Bongani's shoulders. "Why?"
"Are you sure about this, Bongani?" Winston asked, concern evident in his voice.
Bongani slipped out from under Oswin's arm and stepped into the middle of the group. Everyone gathered around him as he began explaining his idea with animated hand gestures.
"Listen, guys. I know this isn't a formation most people use, but there's a reason I chose it." He held up three fingers. "The 3-5-2 gives us versatility. It balances defensive stability with midfield dominance while still giving us enough numbers to create a strong attack."
Winston rubbed his chin. "But the formation demands a lot of fitness, and it can leave us vulnerable to fast wingers. If Pirlo has someone quick on the flank, they could exploit the space behind the midfield."
"I know, but…" Bongani rubbed his chin again.
Then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait." He snapped his fingers. "Yes! That's it." He began pointing at different players as he explained.
"If the midfield becomes too difficult to control, we can transition into a 4-4-2." He pointed toward the players who would start on the wings. "The two wide midfielders can drop back and become the left and right backs. One of the three center backs can shift toward the right side, while the midfielders spread out to maintain our shape."
He looked around the group. "The formation would change during the match without us needing to make substitutions. What do you guys think?" Silence followed, everyone stared at one another, trying to visualize the transition Bongani had described. Winston rubbed his chin.
"Bongani, the idea could work, but the transition is complicated. The biggest problem is communication at the back. If everyone doesn't know exactly who is supposed to drop into which position, we could leave huge gaps." He glanced toward the defenders. "It can be done, but we'd need to practice the transition until everyone knows their role without thinking about it."
"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you guys." Bongani clasped his hands together. "Pleeeeeease, can you all stay behind and practice with me? We can even skip dinner just for today."
Hickman immediately raised his thumb. "Why not? I already skipped lunch, so what's one more meal?" He grinned. "We need to beat that Pirlo guy."
One by one, the players nodded. Bongani looked around at them, his expression slowly brightening.
"Really?"
"Of course," Hickman replied.
Winston stepped toward Oswin. "Since everyone agreed, Oswin and I will stay too. We'll help point out any mistakes we see."
Oswin nodded. "Yeah. If we're going to do this, we might as well do it properly."
Bongani nodded firmly. "Okay." He looked toward the field. "Let's start."
Inside Building B, Diago walked into the courtyard, where two football fields occupied the center of the building. His hands were tucked into his tracksuit pockets, his spiky hair sticking upward. A grin spread across his face as he glanced around.
He walked into the building and climbed the stairs to the second floor. There, he spotted a group of players huddled around one of the beds. One of the pale-skinned youths broke away from the group and fist-bumped Diago.
"Thanks for gathering everyone here," Diago said sincerely.
"No problem, bro. When you said Sebastian Hallbrook wanted our help, who were we to turn him down?" The youth leaned closer. "Anyway, did he really say he would talk to his father and get him to sponsor us once we done with the academy?"
Diago nodded with a wide smile. "That's what he promised."
He walked toward the youths gathered around the bed. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for accepting my invitation to meet here today."
The youths looked at him expectantly, their eyes shining with anticipation. Diago cleared his throat. "Next week, I need your help with the one-on-one challenges. Those of you in Groups C and D, I want you to challenge each other."
The youths exchanged confused looks before murmuring among themselves. Diago took one hand out of his pocket and casually dusted something off his chest. When the murmuring continued, he cleared his throat again, drawing everyone's attention.
"Don't worry. There's a reason for this." The room gradually fell silent. "Whoever loses rating points doesn't need to worry. Sebastian promised that he would use his family's influence to help you when the senior clubs begin scouting."
The youths immediately nodded, their expressions brightening at the promise. "Okay, I understand that," one youth said. "But what's the real reason for all these one-on-one challenges?"
Diago's grin widened. "The reason is simple." He paused for effect. "One of you needs to recruit Winston twice next week." The room erupted into murmurs again. Diago yawned as he listened.
"Winston? Man, that player is going to be difficult to recruit. He was already looking for players today."
"I heard from someone in my dome that Winston was walking around asking players to join his one-on-one challenges."
"I heard that, too. I wasn't here when he was recruiting players earlier."
"Where were you, anyway?"
The youth shrugged. "I was in the toilet taking a shit. What is to ya?"
"Enough, guys," another youth interrupted. He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"If even two of us get lucky, we could score big." He spread his hands. "Think about it. Even if our ratings are low, we could still have a chance of being scouted by a major senior club. Just being associated with the Hallbrook name could make clubs come looking for us."
The murmuring gradually died down. One by one, the youths began grinning. They were already imagining what Sebastian's backing could do for their futures.
Diago looked around the room and smiled. "Looks like we have a deal." He turned toward the group and gave them a casual nod. "Nice doing business with you, gentlemen."
Without waiting for a response, Diago turned away, walked toward his bed, stripped off his tracksuit, and climbed under the covers.
Across the row of beds, Noah lay in a full set of pajamas decorated with a popular cartoon character. "Duke, do you think my brother will challenge that player next week, or will that player challenge him first? It's so exhausting not knowing whether I should start challenging people from Group A or wait."
Duke was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He rose onto one elbow and turned toward Noah. He had almost forgotten how different the twins were. They might have been identical, but their personalities couldn't have been more different. Noah had always been more feminine. Even as children, other kids had made fun of him because of it. Darwin, on the other hand, was stern and intimidating. Whenever anyone mocked his twin brother, Darwin would defend him with his fists. Most of the youths who knew them back then were afraid of him.
"Knowing Darwin, he'll challenge that player first," Duke said. "He'll want to make an example out of the lower-rated players who might try to disturb his climb. Besides, he's waiting for his chance to challenge Sebastian. Those two friends of Sebastian are the problem."
Noah applied some Vaseline to his lips and smacked them together. He rested a hand against his chin. "Oh, yeah. That rich player at the top of Group A." Noah paused as something occurred to him. "His two friends could cause problems if we act rashly. But I still think we should challenge them separately."
He turned toward Duke. "What about the player who started all these one-on-one challenges?"
"That won't work. Darwin needs us on his team. And even if we challenged them, I think they'd be alert enough to injure us." Duke sighed. "As for Winston, Darwin said he'll challenge him after Winston finishes his match with that other player. He told us to prepare, so we should decline any one-on-one challenges until then."
"Yeah, I know," Noah smiled. "That's why I'll be sleeping like an angel these upcoming days."
He reached into his suitcase and pulled out two palm-sized packets. Tearing them open, he removed two thin, circular green pads and placed them over his eyes. Then he lay back on his bed, facing the ceiling. Duke did the same, staring silently upward.