"Alright lads, this is the finals. I need you all to be sharp and play to the best of your abilities. We may be the favorites to win but that doesn't mean that we can afford to be complacent". A middle aged man stood at the fore front of a room filled with boys within the age group of fourteen to sixteen.
All of them were similarly dressed; they were wearing a football kit which consisted of a white shirt and black trousers.
"Just as we feel that we can win, we should also acknowledge the fact that we can lose, quite nastily in fact". The middle aged man continued with his speech. "But if we go out there and play some sexy fucking football... then we're going to fucking win! So let's go out there and play sexy football like our lives depend on it, because they do!"
The shabby motivational speech from the middle aged man fired up most of the boys that were inside the room. There were a few who didn't react to it though.They were either too nervous that a few nonsensical words couldn't calm their nerves or they were already confident in the first place hence the motivational speech had little effect.
In the far corner of the room there was a pale skinned boy that looked about thirteen years of age, clearly the youngest in the room . He had blonde hair of medium height, neatly combed back. Above his lips there were thin strands of hair constituting a faintly visible moustache.
Alexis looked down at his trembling hands and heaved a sigh to calm himself down.
"It's just a stupid match against a shitty team. You don't have any reason to feel afraid. You'd be their fucking star player if you played for them" Alexis muttered under his breath. After muttering a few more sentences, he finally managed to calm himself to some extent. He looked up to see that majority of the team had already left the room.
"Oi! Butcher, aren't you coming. The match is starting soon" A tall sixteen year old boy smiled at Alexis. He had the captain's armband firmly tightened around his right biceps.
Alexis smiled. "Sorry, I was just..." He didn't complete his statement.
[And it's time, the two teams are making their way from the tunnel. The Kings Youth Cup final begins now. Lovely atmosphere over here. We can hear the excited cheers from the family and friends seated in the crowd and we can already see that it's going to be an interesting match]
[Yes, a classic situation of David versus Goliath here. Real Stars Academy have really taken London by storm in recent years quickly establishing themselves as one of the best Academies in the south-east of England haven't they?]
[Yes they have, and for what it's worth, few of their products have recently gone on to sign for bigger clubs as of recent. In fact, current captain James Werr has signed for English League club London Blue effective from the start of next season]
[Their opponents on the other hand, they're in foreign territory. This is their first cup final since they were established. It's new territory for everyone involved, the players, the coach, the owners so I'm really curious to see how they're going to handle it]
[Speak no more Jim, the match is starting!]
The referee blew his whistle and Alexis's team kicked off the match.
The first twenty minutes of the match was particularly boring. It was basically Alexis's teammates passing the ball around. Their opponents decided to be shameless and went for a low block right from the get go so it was basically Real Stars Academy trying to find an opening.
As time elapsed, it became obvious that there was some sort of friction between Alexis and his teammates.
In this match, Alexis was playing as the sole attacking midfielder in a 4-2-1-3 formation. Ideally, he was supposed to be the heart of the team, dictating offensive play and creating chances for the forwards. In other words, he was supposed to have the ball a lot of times. However, since the match has begun, be hasn't touched the ball much.
The only time he got a few touches in was when James (captain) passed it to him. Even then he was in a tight spot and barely managed to pass the ball to an open teammate.
After a few more minutes of knocking the ball around, the team decided to trust Alexis with the ball. He was the most advanced midfielder and was supposed to be the lonk between the midfield and the attack, and since the coach had emphasized on maintaining the general formation shape, nobody was willing to play out of position.
When Alexis realized that he was about to get the ball from one of his teammates, his heart started to pound.
"Don't mess up... Don't mess up... Don't mess up..." He muttered under his breath.
As soon as the ball touched his feet he felt someone running at him from behind. He did a body faint to the right before moving the ball to his left side.
He only had a moment to look up and try to find a free teammate before he was closed up by the pressing opponents. Thanks to his skillfulness, and mind blowing luck, he was able to maneuver his way away from the press and find enough space to send a through ball to the left winger.
The left winger easily ran past his marker and got the ball. He raced towards the box and cut back to find space after which he sent a cross into the box.
The striker jumped for the ball but he wasn't able to beat his marker and the cross was cleared away.
[What a chance from Real Stars to take the lead. Alexis Butcher had been real quiet all match. His first real involvement with the game and he was able to create such a chance for Mark Gordon (left winger) to get a cross into the box. They'll be gutted that they couldn't get more out of that chance but it's a start of something]
[Well said Jim. Really beautiful footwork from Alexis Butcher to dance his way from the encolosement. The vision to pick out Gordon and play the pass. Really beautiful]
[Thirteen years old playing in an under sixteen match. He'll been looked down upon by his opponents but that right there is just showing everyone the quality that he has. Top talent on his good day and he'll looking to do more of that]