Second Chances: Indonesian Football Player

Chapter 104's

There were a total of twenty-eight Anderlecht players attending training that day. They can't all play at once in a single 11 vs 11 game session. So, the assistant coach left six of them, including Nero, on the bench. They will only get a chance to get into action after the squad rotation is scheduled to happen fifteen minutes later.

Nero was not disappointed in the slightest when he heard that he would not be in any of the starting line-ups. He could use the breaks in this exercise to rest and regain his strength while observing what was happening on the field. That will help him be better prepared when it is his turn to join in the game.

So, he stood on the sidelines and downed the water while watching the players take their positions on the field. He noticed that the coaches had split the squad in an unbalanced manner. The eleven most likely starters are all green, while the second-stringer wears a red oto.

Nero could easily guess the coach's intent. It seems like they have organized a scrimmage match with the sole aim of improving the teamwork of the first player to wear the green vest. On the other hand, the second team with the 'only' red vest served as the perfect grindstone for them. The coaches only used them to sharpen the starting squad, which will play a friendly against Rubin Kazan in Russia the following day.

Realising that, Nero was a little bit happy to be on the bench rather than being part of the red team. He did not join Anderlecht to become a grindstone for others. His only hope is for the coaches to give him a chance to show his talent in official matches.

As long as he can play in official matches for thirty minutes, he is confident he can convince the coach to keep him in the squad. With class A passing skills, game intelligence and tactical awareness, he knows that he can easily rival the other midfielders in Anderlecht's starting eleven. All he needs is a chance to prove himself, and he hopes it will come sooner rather than later. That way, he can start his professional career with the best possible.

Nero watched from the sidelines as Alexsandar Mitrovic, Anderlecht's new number 9 signing from Partizan, took his place on the ball in the centre circle. No trace of leeway or antics about his personality appeared when Nero met him that morning. Nero knew that he was carefully assessing the situation all over the pitch as he waited for the referee's whistle.

His opinion of the attacker instantly increased.

*PRIIIIIIIIT*

At 11:15, Bersch Hill, Anderlecht's assistant coach, blew his whistle. The scrimmage match immediately began with a green team kick-off.

Mitrovic lifted his foot and hit the ball back towards Cheikhou Kouyate in left midfield.

Cheikhou Kouyate, one of Anderlecht's midfielders in the green team, controlled the ball perfectly and passed it back into defence with his second touch. Olivier Deschacht, Anderlecht's new captain, accepted outside the 18-yard box. He quickly flicked the ball to Bram, his partner in the centre of defence. The latter did not hold it for more than a few seconds. He sent it to the sidelines where Massimo Bruno waited for a simple but precise pass from Bram.

At that point, the opponent, who was wearing a red vest, was already pressing the green team and reducing their pass options. If it was some amateur player, they would lose the ball because they only had two touches.

That means that even before a player receives the ball, he must make a few yards distance first by running into open space away from his opponents. Then, he must control the ball while assessing where to pass it with the next touch.

The player must complete the entire process seamlessly in seconds so that he is not pinched by opponents who may be lurking nearby. It was a difficult task for anyone to accomplish if he did not have high-level ball control, in-game risk analysis, and spatial awareness.

However, the team in green was no ordinary team. They are Anderlecht's most likely starting eleven for the new season. All the experienced players like Bram Nuytinck, Luka Milivojevic, Olivier Deschacht and Ronald Vargas are on their side.

So, they pass the ball from one end of the field to the other, with a smooth one-two touch. They managed to dominate the red team consisting of second stringers without much effort. They even tried several times to break into the red team goal and fired several shots on target. However, the skilled goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, the number 1 red team, maintained the score at 0-0.

"Leander and Youri, don't let them pass the ball freely in midfield" Nero heard Coach Bersch Hill shouting at the red-clad midfielders.

"The purpose of this exercise is to hone our passing and positioning skills when under pressure. If it is not suppressed, the exercise will be futile. So, run towards them as if your life depended on it. Don't give them room to breathe and try to recapture the ball as quickly as possible." He roared at the top of his voice between gasping breaths.

Hearing the cries of the assistant coach, the red-clad players improved their game and focused their attention on pressing the green team. Leander Dendocnker and Youri Tielemans, central midfielders, are working harder than anyone else, trying their best to get rid of the green team. Thanks to their efforts, they managed to force Ronald Vargas, the green team's attacking midfielder, to do more than two touches on the ball, resulting in a foul.

The assistant coach blew his whistle, and the ball was handed to the red team. Youri Tielemans started the game again by giving feedback to Thomas Kaminski, the goalkeeper of the red team.

Kaminski controlled the ball well in his box before passing it to the wing towards Jordan Lukaku, a left-back. The latter kicked him towards Leander Dendoncker in defensive midfield after passing Mitrovic, the green team's centre-forward.

The team in red finally got their first ball possession in the game.

Over the next few minutes, they played confidently with short but precise quick passes, trying to find their way through a very agile 4-3-3 formation of green teams. It seems that the boy in red will be the one to dictate the tempo of the game for a while.

However, the pressure from the green-clad players came to them with an intensity that matched their status as forwards before they could even make one shot on target. They tightly tag the players in red and limit their pass options. They did not give red team players a break until they forced them to play a high and long ball towards Matias Suarez, the red team's centre-forward.

However, Matias Suarez, the Argentine striker, failed to capitalize on Leander's defensive breaker pass at the end. Olivier Deschacht, Anderlecht's captain, jumped him and headed the ball back into midfield. Luka Milivojevic, a highly tactical defensive midfielder, passed the ball in midfield before releasing a breakthrough pass to the right flank with his second touch.

With that single pass, Luka Milivojevic managed to catch up to his opponent unwittingly.

Massimo Bruno, the green forward on the right flank, received the ball on the wing, past Jordan Lukaku, the red team's left-back, with a deft starting touch. He then played one-two with Mitrovic, the centre-forward, and advanced into the red team box like the wind.

Mbemba, the red team's centre-back, hastily shut it down. But the two attackers were too fast for him. Without a surprise, they passed him with a quick pass that was short and precise. They made it into the red team box in seconds.

Nero could only sigh when he saw Mitrovic receiving the ball back inside the box. Without losing his composure, he immediately fired a first time shot into the bottom left corner. 1:0.

The green team managed to get the first goal in a scrimmage match. It's not that the red team didn't try. However, a green team consisting of the first player is much better.

*PRIIIIT*

Coach Hill blew his whistle once more, attracting the attention of all the players on the pitch.

"OK, okay," he shouted, "it was a good game from the boy in green. However, the red-clad boy should have done better to stop the goal. So, as always, the boy in red should come down and give us 20 press-ups." He clapped his hands to emphasize.

All the players and coaches on the pitch laughed at that. And without any complaints, the red team members started doing push-ups as punishment for conceding goals. When they were done, the assistant coach nodded before asking for the rotation of the squad as fifteen minutes had almost passed.

Nero quickly tightened his shoelaces and pulled his stockings over his shin guards before running onto the field towards the assistant coach. He has no problem playing in the red team or the green team, because he can certainly prove his playing skills in both teams. And Nero feels the Red team just lost experience alone from the green team.

Coach Bersch Hill, assistant coach, broke his daydream in the next second. "Nero, take the red vest from Samy," he said, in a calm tone. "Over the next fifteen minutes, you'll be playing in the right midfield. Make sure you do your best to press when your team is not in control of the ball. No rest is allowed on the field. Are we clean?"

"Yes, coach," replied Nero, trying his best to dampen his excitement. He quickly picked up the red vest of the heavily worn Samy Bourad.

Nero then took up his position on the pitch alongside Leander Dendoncker and Youri Tielemans in the red team's three-man midfield. Since he failed to join a stronger team, he will try his best to show his individual ability even against the starting eleven. That way, he would definitely get a ticket to join the squad heading to Russia the next day.