"Good. If you feel pressured or heavily marked, always look for a way to break through the pressure," the bald, short instructor said to the youth players. "Next."
The training drill continued for hours as the players took turns. The bald, short instructor regularly gave them pointers, correcting their mistakes and explaining how they could improve. By afternoon, the instructor blew his whistle three times and walked away, leaving the exhausted youths collapsing onto the ground.
The instructor stretched his back and straightened himself.
"These youth players have potential. It's been a long time since I last played a serious match," he said, twisting the cap off his water bottle.
He glanced at the instructor beside him.
"How are you holding up? Last time I checked, you were complaining about your back."
"It's better now. That slide I did really fix up my back." He rubbed his lower back before straightening himself. "Mr. Draven knows his stuff."
"Told you. They don't call Mr. Draven the Devil Instructor for nothing."
The instructor took a small gulp of water before twisting the cap back onto the bottle.
"Come on. Let's hit the showers before the one-on-one matches start today."
He stretched out his hand toward the instructor sitting beside him. The other instructor grabbed it, pulled himself to his feet, and swung his towel over his shoulder. Together, they walked toward the back door.
Across the dome, Winston and Oswin lay on the ground, both trying to catch their breath. An assistant walked around the field, handing out bottles of water and towels. He placed them beside Winston and Oswin. "Thank you very much," Winston said, straightening himself.
The assistant smiled, nodded, and continued toward the other youth players.
"Good thing I'm not playing today," Oswin said, dunking water over his face. "Because if I were, I would've slowed down Bo's match today."
"I wonder if he managed to register the players he recruited yesterday," Winston said, twisting the cap off his water bottle before taking a long gulp. "The one-on-one challenge was initiated pretty late yesterday."
"I'm sure he did. I mean, the instructor gave him this morning to recruit people."
Oswin's gaze shifted toward a group of players gathered on the other side of the field.
"Look. There's that player—Pirlo. The one who challenged Bo,"
Winston swept his gaze across the scattered players.
"Where? I can't see him,"
Oswin pointed toward a tall, muscular boy standing among the players.
"That's him."
Pirlo was tall and heavily built, with long, silky hair flowing down his back. His pale skin contrasted with his strong square jaw and prominent nose. He repeatedly stretched one leg, massaging the muscle while laughing and chatting with the players around him.
"So that's him, huh?" Winston said after examining Pirlo. "You're right. I recognize him now."
"Told you."
Oswin took another gulp of water. "Based on today's training, do you think he'll pose a threat to Bo?"
Winston pondered for a moment. "Sure, he has skills, and his spatial awareness is good, but his decision-making will hold him back. If Bongani emphasizes closing him down, I don't think he'll be much of a threat."
Winston glanced toward Pirlo again, "And Bongani's formation change should take Pirlo by surprise."
Oswin looked at Winston and chuckled, "Look at you analyzing him like a coach. You and Bongani have the same mind when it comes to analyzing these kinds of situations."
Winston shrugged without taking his eyes off Pirlo, "Nah. I just like studying the players around me."
Oswin stood up with a yawn and stretched his arms above his head, "That's good. Being able to scout other players will help you. I've also been keeping an eye on other people's skills."
He looked toward the dome entrance, "Anyway, let's check on Bo. Sitting here is making me sleepy."
Both Winston and Oswin walked out of the attacking dome.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Sebastian, Diago, Lucas, and Diego watched the players scattered across the dome field.
Sebastian leaned back in his chair. "What did the players from Group B say about the proposal?"
"They agreed," Diago replied. "They'll start next week."
Lucas grinned as he watched Oswin heading toward the dome doors. "Let the bloodbath begin," He turned toward Sebastian. "Are you sure you don't want to get in on this? It would solidify your dominance in the academy."
Sebastian shook his head. "No. I don't want to ruin your opportunity to play with that kid, so Diego will take my place." He paused, his eyes following Winston and Oswin as they disappeared through the doors. "And that Winston kid will come looking for revenge once he finds out."
A faint smile appeared on Sebastian's face. "So I'll wait for him to seek his revenge."
Diego, sitting beside Diago, was still clueless about what was going on. The only thing on his mind was how happy he was that Sebastian had recruited him into their group. When Diago had approached him back when he was packing his belongings in Group C, he had promised Diego that if he agreed to join their group, he would talk to Sebastian about getting his father's company to sponsor him.
After losing his match against Winston, Diego had lost many of the friends he had made in Group B. None of them wanted to be associated with a player who had been demoted. They were afraid that being friends with a player who had fallen in rank would make them targets for one-on-one challenges from other players.
Some even equated Diego's relegation with a decline in his skills. Since he had been demoted, they feared his abilities were deteriorating, so they decided to cut ties with him completely.
"Well, if he does act, he'll need a lot of work to climb back into Group B before he can come beat me," Diago said with a yawn. "I've been looking for a worthy challenge. These players are nothing but ants to me."
"By the way, what teams are you guys hoping to be scouted by?" Diego asked, shifting his upper body to get a better view of the three friends sitting beside him. "For me, it's Arlesey Athletic F.C."
Lucas swung an arm over the back of his chair. "Between F.C. Cerceda and Westminster."
"F.C. Cerceda," Diego said, "My older brother plays for Westminster."
The three looked toward Sebastian, who was scanning the players in the dome as they packed their belongings and left one by one.
"The Big Three clubs," Sebastian said casually. "I already have two scouting requests from two of them."
Wow. Then why are you here? You should be at home preparing for the senior league in the next few weeks. Diego looked at Sebastian with admiration.
Sebastian sighed and rose to his feet. "Let's go. I heard there are some one-on-one challenge matches today. I'm getting bored sitting here." The others rose to their feet and followed him out of the dome.
Meanwhile, at the football field outside Building D, Winston and Oswin found Bongani, Hickman, and the rest of the recruited players huddled together on the field.
"Still going over the game plan," Oswin said as he sat down between Hickman and Bongani. "So, you guys ready for the one-on-one challenge?"
Bongani replied with high spirits, "Yep. I think we're ready. The final touches are all set up."
Winston looked at Hickman, who simply nodded, "What happened? You seemed pretty stressed earlier. Did you finally find a better way to transition between the formations?"
Bongani's eyes lit up as he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the pointers earlier. I finally figured it out. And thanks to Hickman for helping me set up an aggressive defense."
"What about me? I helped too," Oswin said, furrowing his brow.
Bongani stretched out his fist for a fist bump.
"Of course, Oswin. You helped me out a lot with the attacking midfielders." Oswin bumped his fist against Bongani's.
"Do you guys have time to squeeze in one more part of the game plan?" Winston asked. "I promise it won't take long."
He pondered for a moment before looking around the group, "Who here is confident with their lob passes?"
Bongani, Hickman, and the rest of the players looked at one another in surprise. One player with dark skin and mop-like hair slowly raised his hand.
Winston nodded.
"I think you should incorporate what we learned during today's dome training into your game plan."
"I've been thinking the same thing," Oswin added. "I know Pirlo will probably try to use what he learned during today's training against us."
Bongani's eyes widened, "Well, tell me. I want to use it in our game plan too."
Winston began explaining the training drill he had gone through that morning, breaking down the movement and passing patterns they could use against Pirlo. Bongani listened carefully, his eyes lighting up as he began to understand the idea.
"What do you guys think? Is it possible to put this into our game plan?"
Hickman nodded, while the other players turned toward the youth who had raised his hand. The player rubbed his chin, looking up as he realized everyone's eyes were on him.
"It's possible."