Second Chances: Indonesian Football Player

The Chapter 110

Coach Marcel's eyes narrowed as he let his gaze explore the players in the tactics room before continuing.

"As you can see, we just lost a little extra effort in our game" said the coach, his voice humbling. Your teammates are in trouble, but you don't care. You shamelessly gave up everything to her. What the fuck!?"

“We played as professionals in the top league in Belgium, but we did not make the extra effort required. We didn't defend as a team, and therefore we conceded a lot of goals very badly. Where is the level of concentration that characterizes a professional player?” He spoke, starting to move around the room.

"Where is the focus needed to win the league or the League Cup ? Because in the last three games, it looks like you're just playing for fun. But this is not just playing. You guys should know this."

"You have to remember that you are a regular player of the best team in Belgium." The coach's words came out of his mouth slowly but surely as his tone turned firm. “You are paid high to win the game. You shouldn't lose against a team like KV Mechelen. You can't even lose against a team like Standard Liege, even Club Brugge. All those clubs don't have a history as good as ours." He stopped as if hoping his words would first seep into the heads of his players.

The coach sighed, shaking his head. "I've told you enough about our past performances" he said, returning to the front of the room. He took his notebook from a table nearby. "We will now focus on our performances in the future. What's the way forward? That's what I'm gonna talk about in a minute." He opened his notebook.

"First, I will start by announcing the squad for Belgium's second-round match against Lommel SK on Wednesday."

"Deeh!" A loud cry sounded throughout the room. Even Nero who had just first attended the meeting was shocked. Usually, the coach will announce the match squad on the night before the game. The match against Lommel SK was played on Wednesday, but the coach has decided to mention the line-up on Monday morning. It was an unusual occurrence.

"Don't act too surprised" said Coach Marcel, raising his hand to show that he needed to be quiet. The players immediately calmed down. "I'm going to give a chance to some players who haven't played in the first team this season. So, I have to announce the squad today. That way, we can fine-tune our game plan and tactics with the selected players during tomorrow's light training session."

"You have to understand that it's always difficult for me to choose the starting line-up" the coach continued in a serious voice. "I hate leaving talented players out of the squad."

"But I still have to pick the starting eleven and seven more on the bench every game. I understand some of you may have to stay at home or watch the game in the stands. I know you feel bad about it. Maybe , you might think I have a bias against you if I don't regularly refer to you as part of the squad."

"But what I ask is for you to believe in me" the coach said in a serious tone. "As long as you work hard and do the best of your abilities, even if you are a U-19 player, you will get a chance at one point in time. I work on only one principle: respect for hard work and achievement. So don't feel sad when you find your name missing from the squad. Instead, work harder, try to get in the squad against Cercle Brugge on Saturday." He let his gaze explore the players. "OKay?"

"Yes, coach," the players replied, more or less in unison.

"OK, I'll name the squad now," he said, moving towards the screen.

Nero felt his heart start racing as Bersch Hill, the assistant head coach, pointed the remote at the screen. Immediately, eleven white shirts arranged in a 4-3-3 attacking formation appeared there. But they don't have names.

Nero felt sweat pouring down his forehead as every nerve in his body tingled with anticipation. The coach's promise doesn't mean much to him. He would only relax when he saw his name with his own eyes in the official match squad.

"It's going to be an away game" Coach Marcel started, his eyes narrowed as he glimpsed his open notebook. "But we will keep playing using our standard 4-3-3 attacking formation."

The centre-backs are Olivier Deschacht and Bram Nuytinck. Left back: Andy Najar. Right back: Sandy Walsh. That'll be our defense ."

"In midfield, we will not have three players as usual. Only this time, we will give a chance to our younger squad members. We'll drop one defensive midfielder to form a triangle with the right and left midfielders." He pointed to the screen to explain his point.

"The defending midfielder will be Leander Dendoncker. Left midfielder: Youri Tielemans. Midfielder: Nero Juniar."

Nero sighed when he heard his name. He finally made it into the squad after waiting for more than two months.

At that moment, he could barely contain the happiness flowing through him like a comet. He had the impression that he would be on the bench, but Coach Marcel had surprised him and named him as part of the starting eleven.

He was drunk with joy. Had he been alone, he could have jumped up and down and danced like a child who had just seen Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. But, as he was surrounded by his teammates, he maintained a poker face and continued to listen to the coach's instructions.

“We will use three attackers, two on the wing and one through the middle as our spearhead,” continued the coach while pointing to their respective positions on the screen. "The left-hander is Matias Suarez. Right-hand man: Nathan Kabasele. Middle attacker: Alexsandar Mitrovic It was the starting eleven."

Nero was shocked once again. The coach has left most of the first players out of the starting eleven. Only Alexsandar Mitrovic, Olivier Deschacht, Bram Nuytinck and Silvio Proto remain in the starting line-up for Wednesday's game.

"On the bench" continued the coach after a while. “We have Luka Milivojevic, Cheikhou Kouyate, Ronald Vargas, Fabrice N’Sakala, Massimo Bruno, Cyriac, and Fede Vico. That's all for the players. We'll fine-tune the details tomorrow."

"DING"

Not long after the coach finished mentioning the name of the squad, a system notification rang out in Nero's mind.

"The system has detected that a user has been added to the Belgium Football Cup match squad," an apathetic feminine voice from the AI sounded in his mind soon after.

"The conditions for the long-term mission of the serial system have been met."

"The 2013 Belgian Football Cup Series mission began successfully."

"Do users want to see the details of the mission now?"

"Not now," Nero replied directly inwardly. He would open the system interface once he returned to his apartment. He did not want to attract unnecessary attention by focusing on the system screen instead of the coach.