BEEP!
{NEW! 1 Unread Message!}
{Sender: Legion}
{If you're in, meet me at the gym.}
That night, Endrick left home with a mentality, the Muhammad Ali mentality.
'I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'.
This was the mentality that Endrick took to the gym.
After a few minutes of walking, on arriving at the gym, Endrick saw Legion outside alongside a familiar face. He walked closer with a smile and exchanged a handshake with the always smiling gym instructor.
"Welcome to the gym man". Erwin was all smiles.
"Nice to see you man". Endrick bumped a fist at Legion's shoulder.
This cold 15-year-old remained nonchalant as he simply nodded back.
Seeing that they were clearly not about to enter the gym yet, Endrick looked at Erwin who explained. "She's coming".
Endrick's eyes widened. "Maria?"
"Yeah". Erwin smiled. "You think you were the only one who felt motivated?"
"Actually, if I'm not wrong, this is the first priority advertisement featuring something not about the galactic community in about a hundred years".
"Do you know how much attention that attracted?"
"Man, I'm not gonna lie, I'm also interested in this Unity of yours already".
"At least, I want you guys to win so I can boast that when you guys were nobody, I was the only one there who helped you in training".
Erwin laughed. "Remember me in your paradise".
While they laughed, the silhouette of a beautiful young girl soon entered their vision. Unlike before, Maria was on tight gym clothes this time, highlighting her curves and hips at just the right angle.
All 3 boys froze as they stared at her. Her long blonde hair waved to the night breeze, further accentuating her natural beauty as her smooth curves swayed to the rhythm of the night calm.
With a serious face, Maria was soon standing before them.
"I'm here".
Legion's face finally turned cold again. "Let's train".
That night, led by Erwin, the training was solely focused on reaction speed. Having played multiple competitive games already, one thing that all 3 of them learned was that reaction speed played a great part in the game.
Not just to react to get the ball first, most importantly like showed by Enigma, reaction speed was extremely important to dodge enemy shot attacks.
Around 4:00am in the morning, while they still trained, all 3 of their galactic phones beeped at the same time as they received messages.
BEEP!
{NEW! 1 Unread Message!}
{Sender: The Bogeyman!}
{Congratulations winners and losers, the results of the 2nd phase of the elite team trials have been compiled and the 22 qualifiers have been decided.}
{Team Black:}
{Goalkeeper: God-between-the-posts}
{Right Back: Flash204}
{Right Center Back: Ice-in-mah-veins}
{Left Center Back: Prime-Defender}
{Left Back: Aurora88}
{Center Defensive Midfielder: The-Destroyer}
{Center Midfielder: Ultron}
{Center Midfielder: Apeman}
{Center Midfielder: Lord-of-Support}
{Center Forward: Legion}
{Center Forward: Enigma}
****
{Team Yellow:}
{Goalkeeper: GravityMan}
{Right Back: Power-Truck}
{Right Center Back: Turtle909}
{Left Center Back: Hell-Bulldozer}
{Left Back: BlackStar}
{Center Midfielder: Maria202}
{Center Midfielder: WarriorThug}
{Right Winger: Drip-Lord}
{Left Winger: Anthony}
{Center Forward: Paschal007}
{Center Forward: Endrickdinho}
****
{Substitutes: There are no substitutes!}
{NOTE: The team formation is not fixed, you can change it.}
{NOTE: The selection for the last phase of the elite team trials encompasses the performance of the players across the whole trials. Of course, you never believed it when I said defenders' qualifications would be by goals right?}
{NOTE: These 22 players are the best of the elite team trials so far.}
{NOTE: Give me a game to remember!}
{Coach Advise: Meet up with your teammates to familiarize and build chemistry, the contacts of your teammates will be sent to you.}
…
{File Attached- Common Facts About Football!}
****
"Yes!" Maria jumped and pumped her fists in the air.
"I made it!" She was excited.
"I told you". Legolas laughed; he was happy for her. "Besides, we are in the same thing, that's a cause for celebration".
"…" As soon as he said that, he paused, then he turned to look at Legion.
Legion looked at Endrick seriously. "Nature seems to always wants to pit us against each other as opponents, perhaps that is our fate".
He walked closer and extended his hand seriously. "Let the best player win".
"Yeah". Endrick took his handshake and nodded seriously.
That morning, they trained some more before finally taking a much needed nap. None of them went home, they spent their full day in the gym.
Food and everything for comfort was already arranged by Legion.
That day, around 5:00pm in the evening, Endrick finally called Maria closer. "This game is a final, we can't afford not to build chemistry with our teammates".
"I want to organize a meeting in 2 hours, I hope that they come".
"Yeah, do it". Maria supported him.
Taking his galactic phone, Endrick sent messages to all his teammates, the content was simple.
BEEP!
{Sender: Endrickdinho}
{We are teammates, we need to familiarize with ourselves.}
{Location: Player stands of the Estadio do Arruna.}
At 7:00pm that night, 9 of the 11 players of team yellow gathered at the game in the location that Endrick indicated, the Estadio do Arruna.
Endrick and Maria arrived to meet 7 of them already seated.
Paschal007 rubbed his cute blonde hair as soon as they both arrived. "Let's start whatever is it that you have in mind, the other 2 are not coming".
"Oh…" Endrick did not hesitate, he stood up to face them.
"First of all, I appreciate all of you for coming today, it means a lot to be because it shows that you all feel the same way that I feel about the match".
"You've seen the advertisements".
"Without a doubt, this is the greatest game of our careers yet".
"This is the first time in over a century that a priority advertisement is focused on a non-combat galactic subject, we should make the most of it".
"Like the Bogeyman already emphasized countless times…" Endrick smiled. "Football is a game of 11 players, the best way to maximizing our potential on the football pitch is to first build a chemistry among ourselves".
"One way to start building chemistry is to know ourselves more".
Endrick pointed at himself. "My name is Endrick, my username is Endrickdinho, and my favored position on the pitch is the right wing".
"My greatest ambition is to become the G.O.A.T of football".
"That should be simple enough". Endrick smiled.
"Wait". A hand raised the next moment, it was the player on all black with the name BlackStar. "Goat? As in, you mean, the meeh goat?"
"…"
Endrick's lips twitched. "The greatest of all time".
"Ahh…, ok, ride on". He chuckled in a good-natured manner.
Endrick smiled. "So, just make the 2nd introductions".
"Ahh, me?" BlackStar was surprised. "Ok then".
"My name is BlackStar".
Endrick's lips twitched. 'I gave my real name and you can't give yours?'
"My favored position is the left back position; I don't know how the Bogeyman was able to know and give that exact position to me but it's cool".
"As for my greatest ambition, it's making as much money from Unity football, my instincts tell me that it's going to be the next cash cow in our society".
"Afterall, who doesn't like money? Hehe…"
"…" Everyone looked at him.
GravityMan went next. "My name is Geraldo; I like playing as the goalkeeper. For now, I don't have any grand ambitions, my current ambition is giving my best performance in the final game to help Team Yellow win".
"My ambition is to become the best defender in the universe".
Endrick didn't even need to look to know, it was the familiar Turtle909.
Maria followed. "My name is Maria, I like the midfield position, my greatest ambition is to become the greatest playmaking midfielder of all time".
"My name is WarriorThug, I like bullying opponents". He grinned. "I have the strength of a bull; my current ambition is winning power duels against Apeman".
"My name does not matter; people know me as the Drip Lord". He flashed a bright smile. "My goal is to play drip football and score incredibly drip goals".
"My name is Anthony". This player refused to reveal more.
The last player finally went. "My name is Paschal, my favored position is the striker position, and my goal is to be the best".
This player's deep voice immediately turned the atmosphere stiff and cold.
Endrick reacted fast by clapping in excitement to quell the tension in the atmosphere. "As teammates, what do you guys say about a training game?"
"We're in!"