The training basically consisted of a few warm up exercises. There was a few shooting and dribbling drills for the forward and midfield players while the defenders worked on possession. After that, they all retreated to the theatre to watch the previous matches of their opponents.
When the training session concluded, the other players went home in a rush. Omari acted contrary. Instead of going home, he stayed behind to work on his shooting.
According to what the system told him during his previous training, the curler skill only increased the curve of his shot, the accuracy depended on him. That meant that it would only make the ball curl and regardless, the ball would still go wherever it was headed if he shot it normally.
"Oi! Get out of there!" Steve (The head coach) said while walking towards him. He thumped his head slightly. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm just practicing my shots". Omari mumbled. His hands reached up to his head, clutching where he was hit moments ago. He looked up at Steve, his eyes betraying his surprise.
"There's a reason why we only had light training today". Steve said. "You've got a match tomorrow. You're supposed to go and get some rest instead of pulling off all nighters. If you exert your body too much today and play for a full ninety minutes tomorrow, then lord knows what type of an injury you could get!"
Omari was still in shock from bejng thumped on the head by Steve, and although he didn't hear most of his words, he heard enough of it that he got the message.
"Alright, I've heard you". Omari said. "I won't train again today". He went back into the locker room and picked up his stuff, heading home almost immediately.
By the time he came home, it was already approaching the wee hours of the night.
"How was training honey?" His mother asked him as soon as he entered his house.
She was standing right in the doorway. He glanced at the interior of his house briefly and realized that if his parents hadn't told him, he probably wouldn't have realized that they were millionaires.
Their house wasn't in the fancy part of town, it was relatively close to the suburbs.
The house itself wasn't that grand or extraordinary, it resembled the average house that one would casually walk past on the streets.
It had two storeys, and had been painted in different shades of blue and white. The doors and window panes were painted black but that was it.
The living room was simple. It was well furnished with multiple sofas and a big couch at the far end. There were a few flowers to decorate it. A few family portraits were hung around.
"It went great". Omari said. A smile forcing its way to his lips. He'd tried to hold it back as he spoke. "I got selected to start tomorrow". He said it as if it was no big deal but his mother could tell that it meant a lot more.
"That's great". His mother said. A smile forming on her lips as she traveled through the room and hugged her son.
Omari smiled back and went straight to the kitchen. He took an armful of fruits and went straight to his room.
He ate a few fruits and collapsed on his bed. He would've expected to spend a lot more time awake on his bed due to his excitement, but he slept off almost immediately.
The next day, school went passed like a breeze. He didn't even mind the attitude of the teachers or some of the other students. The only thing on his mind was that he was going to play football!
He was going to start!
In all his life of being a youth footballer, he had never even made it even to the match day squad, not to even talk of starting in the first place.
He was in euphoria right now!
After what seemed like forever, school was over. Ayanfe went back to the dorm, he wasn't in the squad. As the coach said, he was only a new player and from another continent at that. He would need a bit of time to adapt to the method of the club.
He practically jogged the entire way to the training area. They would have to host the matches at the first team training ground. They weren't old enough to use the team stadium.
His hands raced as he changed from his school uniform and placed them inside his bag. He changed into a general pre match training uniform.
The coach arrived a few moments later and since he was still by far the earliest, revised a few match day tactics with him and advices him to do a few sprinting and shooting drills.
By the time he was done, most of his teammates had already arrived. The coach called them to a huddle and gave them a prep talk before they were supposed to change to their match day jerseys.
"Alright now, those lads coming here to try and win against us, they're shit players ". His words caused the room filled with teenagers to burst into laughter. "And I'm pretty sure that we're not comprised of shit players. So definitely we're going to beat them". The manager said. His words fired up the group and they let out a roar as they went to get their jerseys.
"Plus if you don't win, you're all running laps on recovery day". The manager said while exiting the locker room.
Some of the older players let out pained groans. Only Omari had a bright smile on his face. Even if the manager didn't threaten them, there was no way he was going to lose on his debut.
"Alright team, let's go!" The captain called out. He grabbed his jersey from his locker.
Omari grabbed his shirt and looked at his back. His last name was written boldly over the number 10. A smile washed over his face. This was going to be his first match!
This was the beginning of his career!