Such a large increase in stats made Harry jubilant. He wanted to go out on the fields and scream at the top of his lungs.
"Sorry to interrupt your fantasies, but your current abilities are that of a player with a rating of 347. Only during matches you might have some brilliant moments that are worthy of your rank."
'What? Why?'
"Sometimes you can be really brainless. I worry about your intellectual level. Your natural and artificial stats are in the process of blending. Therefore, obviously your current ability will not be as high as it should be."
'Oh, I see.'
'No, you don't. Go to sleep. You have more training tomorrow.
- - - - - - -
Another two months passed as Harry trained wholeheartedly in the village. His training was going better than planned. His relationship with David, Ali, Robinson and Sherry had become closer. He was now more comfortable around his grandfather, although he still remained a mystery to Harry. He even developed a great relationship with Frank Lampard.
Harry learnt that Lampard was the Head Coach of the under17 team of the war-torn country. Loss of life was too great in the said country and many world peace organisations had to step in to lower the loss of life. Lots of international NGOs joined in to provide relief support.
One such NGO had a major donor named Lampard. They saw that football had completely stopped during the past year or so. So, the NGO wanted to do something for the young football talents and the sport itself. They turned to Lampard to ask for his services. Looking at the situation, Lampard decided to accept the job.
It was not long after he joined that Harry's grandfather, also a major donor, offered a safe place for the talented kids. Frank had the vision to select the best under 16 players to train a year in advance.
His best batch trained directly under him and the two assistance coaches at the K village. Moreover, he frequently visited the reserve squads practicing in the other villages. Furthermore, he kept in touch with the performance level of the kids by organising combined training sessions and practise matches.
As a result, on Sundays, Harry and his friends had the opportunity to participate as substitutes in the matches held at K Village.
Their improvement surprised many. However, their play time was too little, and they were still far apart from the level of the national team. So, not many felt as amazed by their improvement as Harry's grandfather did.
His grandfather was really blown away by the boys' talent. He felt proud of the way Harry became so organized, punctual and disciplined. Most of all, he felt relieved and happy that his grandson had a great talent.
He often chose to watch Harry play from the small shaded stands made for reserve players, substitutes and coaches. He was fully in support of Harry's football career. He was even dead serious about investing in the agency.
Hence, a certain young agent had to work very hard trying to find football academies/clubs suitable for the development of Harry and Co.
It is said that fate favours those that work harder. Today Harry received surprising news from his agent.
"Team Blaugrana and Team Red Devils are coming to the capital of the P country in an event to promote football in the P country.
An exhibition match is set to take place on the 23rd of January at the national stadium between Blaugrana Legends and Red Devil Legends.
Most importantly for us, from the 10th of January to 16th January, the clubs will hold tryouts for players aged 18 or less. Any eligible player of Country P can apply to take part in the trials."
There was further information, including the procedure to apply. The key point to applying was that Harry needed to send the clubs some appealing videos of his performances. The deadline for which was 6 pm, December 15.
Thereafter, the review committee of the two clubs will select the 100 best talents to participate in the tryouts.
Following that, a 5-day training camp will be held for the participants. The 30 best performing players will be selected to participate in the actual trials.
In the last two days, all 30 players will be given a chance to show their talents in two football matches.
Finally, a minimum of 1 player each will be selected by the academies of both clubs.
Harry was ecstatic upon reading the news. Team Blaugrana was coming. The giants of the SP country's football were coming. Will he be able to join the club of the best player of world football, aka Lionel Messi's club?
Team Red Devils excited him equally. Even though they have declined. They are still one of the biggest names in football. The current football world is split between Messi and Ronaldo. That very Ronaldo rose to fame at the Red Devils.
For a young talent, any one of these two clubs was a dream to go to. Harry and his friends were not an exception. Harry immediately told his agent to prepare application forms for his clients. He asked his grandfather to hire a professional cameraman to take their videos in training.
Maria reminded Harry that training videos alone might not be enough. So, he also asked coach Lampard to let the 5 of them participate more in matches.
'I have only 4 weeks of time to submit my application. I should focus more on my football skills than my physical fitness. I will try to increase my skill proficiency during this period of time. Maria, change my schedule slightly for the upcoming 2 months.'
"There you go again, searching for instant success rather than being calm and steady. It's just one trial. Calm down. I will absolutely not cut off your gym time.
Nonetheless, I have been thinking of reducing an hour from your running time.
We will make this reduction a permanent change in your schedule. So, you will have an extra hour to hone your skills in the mornings."
- - - - -
Around 4 weeks later, on December 14 at 6 pm, Harry and his friends were introduced as substitutes in the last possible practice match before the deadline. They still had half an hour to impress in this crunch match currently at 1-1.
Fabio was in the coaching box for the main squad and the other team was headed by a promising young black coach named Leo.
The formation of the main team was 4-2-3-1. The trio of Harry, Robinson and Ali led the line. David took position alongside another holding Midfielder. Sherry was obviously in goal.
The under-16 team had a great playmaker called Bemba, who was wearing the captain's armband. He looked unhappy with the change as his team was already on the defensive in today's match. The reserve squad was in top form, pressing high and fast.
To his surprise, the newly introduced holding midfielder made a wonderful tackle to rob the ball from the opposition winger looking to cut inside.
The ball was quickly passed to him by the covering full back. He saw Harry on the left wing at the half-way mark and managed to accurately find him.
Harry controlled the ball with a deft touch of his left foot. He smoothly switched the ball to his right foot while sending the incoming defender the wrong way. With a yard of space to maneuver, he lifted his head and spotted both Ali and Robinson making a run.
Harry sent a wonderful diagonal lofted through ball for Ali running in space on the right wing. Ali neatly collected the ball with his right foot, raced to the byline and sent in a low ball across the box through the outstretched legs of his marker.
Robinson had predicted Ali's pass and gotten away from his marker. He only needed a simple touch at the near post to finish off the move.
It was beautiful, majestic even. Bemba who had the best view of the move was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe the front 3 made that move look so easy.
The boys were too happy to notice everybody's shock. This was a perfect camera material for their applications.
Sadly, that was the only good bit of play the front 3 managed. They frequently lost the ball and were on defence most of the time. Sherry had to save 2 shots from the opposition striker and 1 shot from distance by their captain playing in midfield.
David looked great in the first 15 minutes where he neatly intercepted passes around him or pressed and won the ball from those looking to dribble past him. However, he mistimed a tackle at the 76th minute and got a yellow card shown by Nick who was refereeing the match.
He was affected badly by the card and his performance dwindled. The opposition managed to score a goal in the last 10 minutes and drew the game.
- - - - - -
A week later, all the boys were informed that they had been selected. Everyone felt relieved and proud. The expectations of the boys went through the roof. They could almost see themselves becoming professionals.
Each one of them trained with devotion like never before. The hunger for improvement was written on their faces and so was that desire to be selected.
- - - - -
Harry was nervous. He was tensed. He was hopeful. Not only that, but he was excited. He was eagerly awaiting the next day. His heart wanted to thump out of his chest. He just couldn't sleep. It was 12 am already and the date had changed to the 10th of January.
Time had passed by so quickly that Harry couldn't believe it. He felt unprepared and anxious for the big day. In contrast, he was enthusiastic and itching to show off his skills.
Anyway, he just couldn't calm down and sleep. He had rolled over and over in his bed. He decided to go through his system once more. Maybe looking at his progress in data would soothe his nerves.