Second Chances: Indonesian Football Player

Chapter 41's

The second half is about to start, now our team is making a change of players. Stefan replaced Bjorn Smirkson, while Emi Lautaro replaced Andres Kim. Now coach Marcel changed the formation to 3-4-1-2 with Duo Stefan and Ryandi as the spearhead and with my position slightly shifted forward behind the duo. Meanwhile from Anderlecht II, a striker Sebastian Locigno came in to replace Jordan Lukaku, while Mehdi Tarfi was shifted to the right wing back position. It looks like they intend to play more attacking by including additional strikers.

*PRIIIIITTTT*

The referee blew the whistle starting the second half, kickoff ball was taken by Anderlecht II team, they intend to master the possession from the beginning of the second half. With the entry of Locigno has a direct impact on the Anderlecht II team. It was evident in the 49th minute that Dendoncker was back playing short passes with Samy, I tried to stop them, but Samy cleverly sent a pass to Mehdi on the left. Mehdi quickly passed some of our players. Kierst overshadowed it and tried to close the crossing space that Mehdi would send. But Mehdi had other plans, he did one-two with Locigno who approached him and managed to cut inside our penalty box. Larsen tried to stop him, but he gave a flat pass into the middle which was already greeted by Dendoncker who took a hard kick towards the goal with his right foot. I tried to block the ball but the ball was too fast and hit our goal.

Now Anderlecht II team managed to equalize, the score became a 2-2 draw. It was a really tough fight, both teams showed their quality in this match. Both teams are not willing to give up in this match. After the equalizing goal, the two teams attacked each other.

The Anderlecht II team was led by Leander Dendoncker as the master of the attack, while in our team I was the playmaker of my team. Several times I made a breakthrough pass towards Ryandi and Stefan, but their goalkeeper was very On Fire in this second half. Meanwhile Damon also did not lose to On Fire under our crossbar. Several times the odds that are almost certain to be a goal can be saved by him.

In the 68th minute, we had a chance through a free kick after Ryandi managed to win the free kick after Matthys broke it. Now I'm entrusted with taking this free kick. I held the ball and put it at the point designated by the referee. After that I took a few steps back. I try to focus, I take a slow breath and focus all my attention on this kick.

After the referee blew the whistle sign for me to kick, I took two small steps and one large step before kicking the ball with my left foot. The ball drifted towards the top right corner, Davy Roef tried to reach the ball however, my kick was too far to reach. Now the score is 3-2. And now I print Hattrick.

Meanwhile with Coach Marcel and his Assistant.

They saw a free kick made by Nero. They were quite impressed with the kick he made.

"Don't you think it's a waste to leave Nero out of the Riga Cup?" The assistant coach asked, his tone dubious. "With him, we have a real chance of winning for the first time. It could attract more talented students to the academy."

"I know that." Coach Marcel nodded. "I've seen his free-kicks during training. If he perfects his dead ball, we could threaten the academy giants during the Riga Cup. However, I need to convince the old man before Anderlecht officials allow us to take advantage of him at a competition." Coach Marcel sighed, pulling his beard.

"Why is that?"

"Sports director Anderlecht doesn't want Nero playing abroad for a while" Coach Marcel replied. "They were afraid that other clubs in Europe would hunt him down before he even played for Anderlecht. Only Mr. Thorgan can allow him to play in trophies because he oversees all of Nero's affairs here in Belgium."

His Assistant Coach frowned. "That's a challenge. You don't seem to get along with Mr. Thorgan. Will he allow it?"

Coach Marcel remained silent. He was focused on the game at the time. Nero had just sent a breakthrough pass into Anderlecht II's box, catching their centre-back subconsciously. Stefan had the ball on the edge of the penalty box— and fired a superb shot towards the bottom right corner of the goal. The ball could not be reached by goalkeeper Anderlecht which resulted in a goal-increasing lead for the RSCA Youth Academy to 4-2. He sees Stefan celebrating by running towards Nero and hugging him.

"Don't worry" said Coach Marcel after celebrating the goal. "I'll find a way for him to join us. Just register him as part of the team that takes part in the Riga Cup. Leave the rest to me."

Back to Match.

After Stefan managed to score in the 75th minute, the game changed completely. The players of the academy team became more excited and mastered possession. The second-team player Anderlecht was completely overwhelmed by the RSCA Youth Academy team. But of course they do not want to give up, sometimes Leander gives good passes to the Striker, but unfortunately Damon is really Onfire today. He has saved the goal of the academy team several times from conceding. Anderlecht II's team made several substitutions as Jordy Peffer came in to replace Samy Bourard. Anil Koc replaced Mehdi Tarfi.

With the entry of their Anderlecht II team now more attacking, while the academy team also although already superior 4-2 did not want to relax their attack. Evidently in the 87th minute, we had a chance, I quickly made a cross into the middle that led straight to Stefan, he managed to get the ball and control the ball with the chest before volleying towards the goal. Even goalkeeper Davy Roef was unable to react as a kick by Stefan hit the net hard, adding to the RSCA Youth Academy's lead of 5-2.

We had a little celebration celebrating this goal, while Stefan whispered to me.

“Thank you bro, for giving me two good assists.” He said with a smile.

“Heh no problem.” I said with a smile.

We finally continued the match. In the 90th minute, Leander Dendoncker produced a superb long pass from inside his half of the pitch. A mistake—a miskick, from one of the defenders, gives a chance to the lurking Locigno. The Anderlecht II striker remained calm and fired a right-footed shot of— that was saved by Damon's fingertips. The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the corner.

The RSCA Youth Academy players successfully defended the corner. Miguel Alaron beat all the players and headed the ball away from the box after beating his target.

Dendoncker fired a rebound shot from the edge of the box. However, Larsen Maguek, one of the academy's centre-backs, blocked the resulting rebound shot, sending the ball back into midfield.

Three Anderlecht II team players sped up at lightning speed, chasing after him. I was in front of them. Swinging fists, arms, and legs, I ran towards the ball that had not landed on the right wing.

The vision of the tunnel came about when I was just focusing on the ball that had just bounced on the ground. Cleat his boots stuck in the smooth grass of the team's training ground as I increased my speed and beat everyone—including the opposing defenders to snatch the ball. My A+ agility is no joke at the football academy level. Although I am not the fastest, I can easily defeat most of my comrades for speed.

The ball was bouncing when I reached it. I didn't stop to control the ball. I bowed slightly and headed forward without slowing down in the slightest.

A deft first touch with my head took me past one defender. Before long, I ran away from one second, and suddenly— seemed to have miles of empty space in front of him on the right wing.

De Bruyn, a midfielder who did not take part in the corner kick, rushed in to close the ball, but in doing so, faced off against me. He spread his hands wide like a defensive basketball player. His eyes burned with intensity and his posture warned me that he would use any means to take me out no matter the consequences.

I frowned but did not reduce the speed. I passed the ball past Anderlecht II and then ran up the outside lane towards the wing. But like most defensive midfielders, he dodged towards me, hoping to block me or maybe even knock me down.

However, his efforts were in vain.

I kept running wider, navigating around the wings, going faster and faster towards the ball. I left the midfielder in the dust and stepped back onto the pitch without slowing down.

My lungs were screaming for breath as I cut diagonally into the field and ran towards the box, with no defender blocking my progress. I kept running, every step was important. Then, before I knew it, I almost went into the box.

Goalkeeper Davy Roef came out to greet him. I quickly glanced around me for the first time since I started running. I noticed that Ryandi almost matched his pace with his fast run. He had just stepped onto the 18-yard box bow.

He led a group of players, all of them chasing me.

I didn't think twice and just pushed the ball into his path. Ryandi calmly slotted the ball into the back of the empty net, adding to RSCA Youth Acadmey's lead of 6-2.

Ryandi came at me and tried to lift me in the arms of celebration after scoring. However, I wriggled out of his arms before the other players could join the celebration and strangle me.

**** ****

"Don't you think he's more like a winger than a midfielder?" The assistant coach asked as he glanced at the celebrating academy players.

Coach Marcel cleared his throat. "He played both positions well. We need to advise him on where to focus most of his efforts. I don't want him to waste time training for more than one position. I think midfield is best suited for him because he likes to pass the ball. when dealing with one-on-one goalkeepers." The coach had a rare smile plastered on his face.

"We can try it on the wing and see how he plays against the senior Anderlecht player next Friday" his assistant coach suggested. “We need to make sure he plays in the right position at a critical stage in his career.” She added.

"I'll think about it,"

The match ended 6-2 to win the RSCA Youth Academy.