Second Chances: Indonesian Football Player

Chapter 55's

Riga FC started the first half well, they played a pass in the midfield, they used a 4 4 2 formation. The fans in the stadium cheered the home team which added to the morale and spirit of the home team.

The RSCA Youth Academy players followed coach Marcel's instructions to stay and let Riga's team have the ball. The goal is to let Riga FC play comfortably which when there is a chance we will use a deadly counter-attack.

Riga's team pushed Nero and his teammates back to half-court without giving them plenty of chances to reclaim the ball. During the first 12 minutes, they controlled most of the ball, almost 75% percent according to Nero estimates.

They played a short – pass casually and slowly advanced deeper towards the RSCA Youth Academy penalty box. None of their players held the ball more than four touches before passing it. It was like they were fighting for possession rather than the chance to break through the box of the RSCA Youth Academy penalty.

Their four midfielders often set themselves up in diamond formations to receive and distribute passes effectively. Their number 6 is the diamond defense point. He made sure that the attacking midfielder Riga always had a free back by positioning himself in front of the defenders.

Their wings fill two positions on the left and right of their diamonds. The winger helped in the middle, reducing the insignificant pressure exerted by Zachary and his team-mates to their number 6. Although Riga's pass was a bit rough on the edge, they were still smoothly—at least at the level of the academy team under 18 years old.

Their captain completes the diamond as an attacking midfielder. He gave Nero and his team-mates some problems. He has a good eye for the ball and is technically strong, sometimes releasing good, measured passes through the defenders of R.S.C. The Anderlecht Youth Academy.

In the 12th minute, he released a high pass from the middle circle. One of Riga's attackers locked him on the edge of the box after leaving our defenders. Riga number-9, a tall black-haired man, controlled the ball easily and fired a right-footed shot that hit the crossbar.

Riga number 9 cursed in a foreign language at the fortune earned by the RSCA Youth Academy. Nero and his team-mates, however, were not the least bit bothered by the missed chances from Riga. They had faced a similar situation in their friendly against Anderlecht's side a few months earlier.

Miguel Alaron, the RSCA Youth Academy centre-back, controlled the ball time resulting from the rebound perfectly and threw it out of the box with his shot. Nero chased after him, following his trajectory in mid-air. His four teammates who had defended against the relentless barrage of attacks from Riga also followed suit in quick succession. The boys from Anderlecht's academy team ran like a pack of wolves with the intention of attacking immediately after reclaiming the ball.

Nero had already predicted where the ball would land using the vision he had. With his long strides, moving like the wheels of a racing bike, he controlled the ball faster than all the other players in the defensive midfield.

He did not let it bounce because it would slow down his pace. He dribbled the ball to the side and clamped it with his tilted foot, carrying it under his control with a motion that flowed like water.

He then spun around and went to the other side of the field without pause. He didn't want to waste a single second as Coach Marcel had instructed him to take advantage of every counter-attack opportunity to put Riga's team off guard. He will follow the coach's instructions for that strategy and score the winning goal as quickly as possible.

Looking ahead, he realized that Bjorn Smirkson, the attacker from the academy, had broken away from his target and ran to the right wing.

Nero did not hesitate to kick the ball towards him without stopping his running. The two played one two, passed the two Riga midfielders, and immediately stepped into the opposing half. Their passes were smooth, utilizing the space on the wings, leading to Riga's goal.

A defender stuck out his long legs to steal the ball at his feet. However, Nero flicked the ball into his left foot, out of the defender's reach, and continued his run into Riga's goal. He drove past the four defenders at his fast and agile running speed, like a cloud floating in the wind.

Nero saw nothing else but two obstacles: defenders blocking his way to Riga's goal.

He doesn't stop to dribble, but spins past them, cuts into the field, towards the box. He was sure they could not match his speed. In his mind, he had already imagined how he would beat the goalkeeper and score the first goal for the RSCA Youth Academy.

However, as he passed the second defender from last before entering Riga's box, he felt a tug on his shirt. Nero cursed inwardly as the defender's foul play messed up his dribbling rhythm, slowing it down. Worst of all, the centre-back escaped without a red card because he was not the last man. The Counter Attack RSCA Youth Academy would then end up in vain unless they scored from the resulting free-kick.

He didn't want to bet on The Miracle Shoot Lionel Messia because he hadn't perfected it yet. He focused his mind, looking for a way to break away from the defender. However, the grip on his shirt tightened, pulling him backwards and almost making him fall to the ground. Nero's mood sank. He began planning to dramatise his fall, hopefully influencing the referee to take out the player holding him.

However, in the corner of his eyes, he saw someone moving into the box. His vision is back to work. Nero smiled as he expertly flicked the ball between the legs of the last defender using the outside of the shoe he was wearing. He did a small touch that pushed the ball just about a meter from the defender, into the box.

A figure ran towards the ball and it was Ryandi! Defender Riga died a step and could not react. Ryandi remained unnoticed until he fired a missile shot towards the goal.

The ball exploded and shot past the goalkeeper. But Nero was disappointed, it bounced off the post and rebounded to the field. Ryandi has missed a good goal-scoring opportunity. He held his head between his hands in anguish.

"The ball is still in the game" shouted Nero as he chased the ball that had just bounced near the penalty spot. His heart pounded heavily on his chest as he tried hard to reach it in front of goalkeeper Riga.

But he's not fast enough. The goalkeeper swooped superbly towards the bouncing ball and punched it out of the box, out of Nero's reach. He jumped like an acrobat, about two metres away to keep the ball out of front of Nero.

"Kick free," Nero heard one of his teammates, possibly Isaac, shouting from behind him. "He pulled our captain's shirt right in front of the box."

*PRIIIIIIITTTT!*

Hope blossomed in Nero's heart as the sound of the whistle followed the plea. He turned around only to find the referee, in a yellow uniform, pointing to the spot where the defender had pulled his shirt. He realized he still had a chance to put the ball into the goal. The referee has allowed the advantage to play just because of the scoring chances. He called the ball for a free kick as soon as Ryandi missed the chance. And better yet, the setpiece is right on the edge of the box.

The referee indicates a high central defender who committed a foul with a yellow card. The player tries to complain in a language that Nero cannot understand, maybe Latvian or Russian but the referee doesn't take out his nonsense. He kicked him out and started setting free kicks for the RSCA Youth Academy.