"Are you okay, boy? Go to the medical staff, they will bandage your injury..." their coach said to Isaac at the first opportunity he got.
"No, it's not a big cut. I just need a plaster..." Isaac said, afraid he might not play the next game.
"Just go to them, they'll put something on it," the coach insisted, so that Isaac just had to comply.
As Isaac walked to where the medical staff were, as he did, his strange system sent him another notification.
[SYSTEM TRIAL COMPLETED!]
[SILVER CARD ACQUIRED!]
[OPEN?]
Isaac realized he had reached the medical staff, he tried to close the system so he didn't seem crazy and luckily, it closed.
After a member of the medical staff mercilessly rubbed some ointment in his wound, Isaac was ready to go. He joined the red team meeting, where the coach was speaking to the boys.
" Your name is Isaac, right?" He asked.
Isaac nodded.
"Alright, come sit here," he said.
The coach continued to speak.
"So, as I was saying, I'll just recap for our friend over here. There scouts from not only top European academies, but also from the top European teams. What I'm saying is that if you do well enough, you can get into a top team, it all depends on you. Now, I'll announce the teams. "
The coach read out the team names but Isaac was relieved to discover that his name was in the squad. Something confused him, however.
He put his hand up.
" Coach, are we playing with 2 strikers? "
" Nice question, I was about to speak to you about this. You are going to be playing in midfield for this game."
Isaac felt himself be surprised. "But coach, I'm a striker?"
"Just trust my decision. Your job, is to advance the ball from defence, to attack. Just try to do that for me, all right?"
Isaac dejectedly nodded. He did not see how he could succeed in a position he was so unfamiliar with, but he had to try.
"Wait...open card!" Isaac beckoned.
Sure enough, a silver car.
A man with long hair appeared, on him was a Milan shirt.
CARD LEVEL: SILVER
PLAYER: PAULO MALDINI
ATTRIBUTE: CRUSHING DEFENCE
[DOES PLAYER WISH TO ACTIVATE CARD?]
[YES/NO]
"An improvement in defense? Isaac sighed, he'd just have to do with this... He guessed. At least now he could better do his job on the defensive end of things.
In 10 minutes, the match was beginning.
Isaac felt a wave of excitement flood his senses. He bounced on his toes, as he waited in anticipation for the match to begin.
The deciding moment, the final chance... Every little chance would count. This would decide his future, if he failed to impress now... He'd have to go home, to his broken, old home... and he'd have to watch on as his grandmother took on strenuous jobs, never resting her feeble body.
He enjoyed football, no doubt. He also loved the sport, he'd been inspired by so many footballers, all of whom grew up underprivileged but through the sport they loved had found a better life.
Isaac wanted to help his grandmother, and he wanted to help his country. This was his first step in doing so, the deciding step.
Isaac took in a long deep breath, relishing the scent of grass... He felt his chest rise and fall, and then he heard the referee's whistle. It had begun.
Their team striker, Sbu, passed the ball into the midfield. Their right midfielder received the pass, before sending in a pass to Isaac. Isaac received the pass, and immediately passed to their left fullback.
The agile player carried the ball forward, luring in the opposition. When the opposition winger pressed him, he immediately chose to send the pass to Isaac.
Isaac had already been twisting his head back and forth, as he located his teammates. Doing this, he already had an idea where he would pass the ball.
On receiving the ball, he swung his left foot. The ball made a satisfying sound as his leg made contact, and he relished the feeling of kicking the ball.
The ball found it's way to Sfiso, who had dropped deep to recieve a pass. After passing, Isaac immediately ran into the halfspace between the opponents defence and midfield.
Sfiso returned the pass to Isaac successfully completing a one-two. Isaac on the other hand realized that he had two options. He could switch the ball to the right wing, where Theo was free, or he could send a through ball to the left where the fullback was making a run. Since Sfiso's movement had pulled out the opposition right back, there was a gap on the left wing.
Since it was easier, therefore having a higher rate of success, Isaac sent a ball to the left wing. The ball rolled right unto the path of the speedy left back, setting him up, perfectly. The left back raced down the wing, in the process drawing out the oppositions right center back.
"Pass here!" Shouted Isaac, as he drifted into the space being created. The left back complied, and sent a pass inside, to where Isaac was.
"Keep running!" Isaac yelled, as he received the ball on his right foot.
The defender continued running.
Isaac waited for a single second, before sending in a simple through pass. The pass found it's way back to the fullback who sent in a pass far post.
The keeper tried to intercept the pass, but failed.
Now if the striker got to it...
However, there was nobody at the far post. The ball reached the opponents fullback, who wrestled off the hyper aggressive Theo. He then sent a pass to the defensive midfielder, commencing a counter attack.