Peterson and Martins

"Gather round," Tati said. "We're playing great football. But there are improvements that we need to add."

The boys sat down. The starters were exhausted but still ready for any changes. Ian sat there, watching the emotion over them as they sweated, but still engaged in the words Tati was about to speak. Tati rolled a whiteboard toward the middle of the room. Tati gave pointers to the midfield to feed the wing. His eyes were swerving, looking at each and every player sitting in front of him.

"Be on the lookout to see if they'll switch up their defensive activities," Tati noted. "Immanuel seems to be bossing his defender very well. They aren't quick enough to challenge him. Play more to the wing; that way, if they lay off the middle, go through the middle. We have the manpower for it, alright?"

"Yeah!" screamed the players.

"We're making some changes," Tati uttered. "It's the first game, but I want to see how some of you do in professional games."

Everyone looked around, wondering what was happening. With the chemistry already going well, why make sudden changes, especially at half? But nevertheless, the players knew that Tati was a man to take risks. It was, after all, just game one.

"Ayomi, you're in for James," Tati continued. "Sergio, you're in for Richard. Ian, you're in for Gregor. That is all for right now."

"Me?" Ian whispered. "Shit."

"On your feet, Ian," Gregor said. He was towering over Ian. "I'll give you the rundown on what to look for."

*46*

As the game was underway again, Ian was the first to receive the ball. He passed it up to Sergio, who had made a run in behind the winger. It was his first pass, and it was the pass that cooled his head a little.

Sergio made his way past the midfielder, who pressed him, sliding the ball elegantly across the grass as he cut back and passed it back towards the midfield. Klaus received the ball this time and jogged up the middle before sending it to the right wing. Immanuel controlled the pass, dribbling his defender but failing to get toward the box. Poking his foot out, the fullback managed to force the ball out of play. But his energy is already depleting from having to cover Immanuel. The second half has only just begun.

"Hey!" screamed Reggie, who came up for the throw-in. It hit his chest as he turned, locking eyes with Ian.

Without a thought in his mind, he progressed forward. The ball came toward him with a huge pocket of space that was slowly closing in. Sergio was on the wing but had already run into an offside position. Ian held the ball a little longer before passing it to Klaus, who had flicked it up to Reggie. The passing play had improved since the first half. Reggie jogged up, dribbling one midfielder before taking a shot, leaning as forward as he could. The ball lifted slightly off the ground, knuckling toward the bottom right corner.

*Pkch*

"Good try!" screamed the Waterfront defense. The keeper had flung his whole body to reach that ball. He had been off his line in an awkward position. The shot came unexpectedly, as there was a player open to Reggie's right.

*50*

Hartford was finally counter-attacking. They made their way past Immanuel, who jogged back as their winger passed the ball toward the middle. Just before their attack, they made a substitution. A young boy named Charlie Martins wandered onto the pitch. He was not on the list of players to watch out for. But according to information from another Hartford player, Charlie Martins was a boy fresh out of their academy. He played a few friendlies and team scrimmages before being given the green light for the senior team. Charlie Martins stood at 5'8" and had muscular legs. His hair was lengthy and straight, so he tied it up.

His arm movement had been directing the passes, as if he were the captain. Everyone followed his command. His IQ was like prime Modric. Not once did he ever get the ball. But he commanded every pass, using just his arms and his voice. It was as if he were the conductor of an orchestra.

*64*

Hartford had more possession, but that was mainly because they kept failing at breaking the wall that was Waterfront's defense. Charlie Martins hadn't received the ball at all since he came on. His position was midfield, but every time Hartford Momentum would progress up the pitch, he'd fall further back. It was as if he was waiting for something. But the chance was dwindling.

*70*

Ian had the ball at his feet. His dribbling skills were slowly increasing as he looked up to see who was open. He made his way toward the middle, using his speed to break free of any sort of press. Hartford's center backs were still playing a very high line. So high that it squished their midfield as well. Ian cut back, shifting a Hartford midfielder before running to his left and passing it toward Immanuel.

Immanuel gestured for Ian to follow him as he dribbled past the fullback, rolling the ball under his foot before chopping to the right and passing it to Ian, who was in a crowd of players. Without hesitation, he flicked the ball up toward Immanuel, who had made a run, but was a millisecond late as the ball went out of play.

"Good try, Ian!" screamed Sergio from across the pitch.

"Again!" screamed Tati.

"Good try, Ian," Reggie said as he jogged back.

Hartford's keeper hurled the ball up to their attacking players. Charlie Martins was also up there. The ball didn't go to him, but to their striker. As everyone raced back, the ball was finally passed to Charlie Martins, who started dribbling toward Klaus. His movement was similar to Immanuel's, as he fended off and dribbled past Klaus and Yuri. He wasn't through on goal. But his movement opened up a pocket in which a winger from Hartford was ready to receive a through ball.

"Charlie!!" he screamed as he made the run. He ran in front of Kaiser, and since Yuri was displaced, a gap had opened. The left side was in trouble as both the left center back, Yuri, and the LB, Kaiser, were struggling.

Ian had run at full speed to get to the ball as the pass was made. Hartford's winger had terrible control of the pass as it bounced on the rough pitch. Ian had reached him, out of breath. Using the same tactic he used against Immanuel, he stretched his right foot out as the winger prepared for a shot. It deflected off his toe and swayed in the air, forcing Mikael Ramaggio to make a quick adjustment and grab the ball safely.

"Whoa!" Ian gasped. His shirt and shorts had gotten muddy as he stood up.

"Nice work!" screamed Tati. "Mikael, quickly now!"

There was little to congratulate. Charlie Martins, despite his youth, had absolutely dominated the midfield throughout that counterattack. His presence caused Tati to make changes, which saw Johnny Maredo Sosa Jr. come in as a center back. Johnny ran on the pitch as Yuri had been subbed off. He brought an explosive press to this team, and subbing him on now had made the players confused.

Tati, on the sidelines, arms crossed, gave the go-ahead for Johnny to tell the defense the new plan. With that, the news shot up all the way to the attack. The formation wasn't changed, but the play style was.

The fullbacks would be put in a position where they had to stay back. This plan was to stop Charlie Martins from using the wingers as a dummy.

*76*

Ian had the ball as he moved his way up the pitch, passing it to Ayomi, who held up play. Passing it back to Ian, he made his way again up the pitch after Hartford, for reasons unknown to all of them, dropped back as far as possible. The defense had moved back, causing the midfield to stay near the edge of the box.

Ian chucked the ball into the box, not noticing that a Hartford winger had made his way up the pitch. The ball was cleared out of the box, and again, Hartford was on a slow but intelligent counter. Ian had tracked back as the ball slowly rolled toward Charlie Martins. He accelerated toward Klaus. Ian, who was steamrolling toward him, tried to tug on his shirt. Klaus had made the smart decision to move back until he was stopped by the center backs. Ian had bodied Charlie Martins but couldn't tackle the ball.

Another midfielder for Hartford took the ball from Charlie Martins as the play continued. Tati wanted Ian to watch Charlie Martins at all costs. He relied on Ian's defensive intelligence. He could only hope for the best.

The ball was knocked out of bounds by Kaiser. Before it could be put in play again, another sub was being made. Their right-wing and left-wing players were being subbed off. As the subs were coming onto the pitch, the small crowd for Hartford cheered. The two wingers, Simone Callisto and Josiah Trenton, jogged onto the pitch. Simone Callisto had long hair, just like Charlie Martins, but his was curly. He had a baby face but was a giant. His skin was tannish white, and he had brown eyes as he jogged over to his position on the right wing. Josiah Trenton was around 5'9" and had cornrows. He also had a headband with a scripture on it. He had dark brown skin and hazel eyes. He jogged over to his position on the left wing.

*80*

As the ball was thrown in, it was intercepted by Kaiser and kicked up toward Immanuel. He, once again, got past the fullback by crossing his legs and megging the defender as he ran down the side. He low-crossed it into the box as it bounced from an uneven patch. Ayomi had received it, smacking it with his left foot after a bad touch. The ball flicked toward the crossbar as it pinged off it and smacked the ground behind the line. A quick restart and counterattack made the score 3-0.

Hartford made their final two substitutions.