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For the next few days, Xavier had the team practicing their Liverpool Red-themed style of play. It was only three days before the game against Williamson Memorial that he switched things up a bit and made them practice retaining the ball higher up the pitch.
Xavier also had them do surprise drills focused on the tactics they were supposed to use. As far as Alexis knew, he usually wasn't too strict about it, but he seemed to be taking it more seriously lately.
And like that, it was a day before the match against Williamson Memorial. Everyone was inside the locker room. Xavier was holding a piece of paper and talking, once in a while making gestures with his hand.
"Alright, so that's all for today," Xavier said after talking for a while. "We're also going to decide on some other things. Our generous sponsors, our very generous sponsors, the kit sponsor specifically..." Usually, whenever he mentioned anything about sponsors, he always glared at Andy. That was because Andy's dad was the main sponsor of the football team. This time, however, he was talking about the kit sponsor, which was Trey's dad, so naturally, he looked at Trey. Instead of the hateful glare he had whenever he mentioned sponsors, he had a wide grin on his face as he faced Trey. "They asked me to get all your numbers for the upcoming season. I wanted to use the numbers you lot used during preseason, but I don't have enough energy to hear some of your complaints."
"So here's how we're going to do it: everyone on the starting eleven for tomorrow will get the number corresponding with their position. The rest of you wankers will choose," Xavier said. "That being said, I just sent the starting eleven to the group chat."
As soon as he said those words, everyone hurriedly opened their phones. Alexis had a grin on his face when he saw the starting eleven. It was a 4-2-3-1 formation, and he was starting as the sole attacking midfielder, so he was probably going to get the number 10 jersey. Trey was the starting left winger, so he would get the number 11. The two of them briefly exchanged glances and broke into smiles.
"Alright, cunts, now that we've gotten that over with, there's also something else I need to clarify," Xavier said. "I've neglected this part up until now, which is a bit bad on my side, but fuck that. Your captain for this tournament is Archie. Free kick taker, Davi—ahem, Dave. Penalty taker, Michael. Corner kick taker, left and right, James."
"Anyone have any complaints?" Xavier asked while looking around.
Everyone shook their heads. They were all very satisfied with who he named for those positions. One couldn't help but notice that they were the only four remaining on the team from the previous year.
It didn't mean they weren't capable, though. Dave had established himself as the best free-kick taker in the squad. His Robert Carlitos-like free kicks really left goalkeepers with no chance. James had the 'sexiest' crossing in the entire team, according to Xavier. Michael had never missed a penalty once in training, and Archie was the sort of person that was close to everyone—the closest to captain material in the squad.
After saying all that, Xavier dismissed everyone. Trey and Alexis linked up and walked home together, excitedly discussing the match. For Trey, it was his first time playing competitive football of any kind, and for Alexis, it was the first step to professional football.
...
"Mom, are you busy tomorrow?" Alexis and his mom sat opposite each other inside their moderately sized living room.
Sandra had a smile on her face when she heard Alexis's question. "Don't worry, just text me the address of your match, I'll be there."
"Are you sure you won't be busy with work or something?" Alexis asked. Recently, his mom had been working overtime. He didn't want to disrupt her work over something as trivial as watching a bunch of teenagers kick a football.
"If I were busy tomorrow, I wouldn't tell you I'd come." Sandra smiled. She also had priorities. No way she was going to miss a day of work just to watch a football match, even if it was for Alexis. "So just text me the address, and I'll be there."
"Ok, Mom," Alexis nodded. He chatted with his mom for a little while after that, then went to sleep. He was very excited about the match tomorrow.
The next day came fairly quickly. Alexis left his house quite early so that he would be able to do a bit of training drills. He knew not to do anything excessive; he would be playing for ninety minutes, after all.
Everyone on the football team was exempted from classes that day. The school understood that they needed their all to prepare for the match.
The match was beginning at two o'clock in the afternoon. They would have to drive to Williamson Memorial for the match. It was an away fixture.
Inside the bus, Xavier revised the tactics with everyone one more time. He even made sure that the players who were going to be on the bench were actively involved in his revision. No one knew when he would have to call upon them.
When they got to Williamson Memorial, everyone looked around. They were quite curious. It was a bit smaller than their school, but from the interior decoration and painting, it also looked quite better. They were led to the locker room area by a staff member and changed into their jerseys immediately.
The jersey consisted of a red shirt, black shorts, and white socks. Trey's father obviously tried his best with the jersey. The styling and design were quite, in slang terms, 'woke.'
"Coach, what did you say about the formation in transition? I've forgotten it," Sam asked Xavier after he had finished changing.
"For fuck's sake, check your phone, Sam," Xavier said. "You don't know who or what is listening to us."
"This isn't a cartoon, Coach. And I'm sure that the Cup officials would make sure that no one is sabotaged," Sam was a bit amused by Xavier's paranoia.
"Did you watch *Supa Strikas* when you were younger?"
"Yes."
"So how many times did their opponents fuck with them without the Super League authorities finding out?" Xavier said.
"Every episode," Sam answered, a little confused.
"Every fucking episode!"
"Sam, just check your phone," Archie said. Everyone in the locker room had gotten a good laugh at that point.
A few minutes later, a match official came to call them out. It was time for the match.
The starting eleven walked to the tunnel leading to the field while the players on the bench went ahead to take their seats. A few seconds later, they were joined by the Williamson Memorial players.
Both sides sized each other up, and after what felt like forever to Alexis, the referees in front of them began to march out. His first real match since his injury...
...was starting!
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