Football singularity-Chapter 709 - 710 Ten Siblings?
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[2021-03-06 | Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach | Bundesliga MW 24]
[Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen | Attendance: 0]
"Rakim over here," Amiri’s shout pulled me out of my musings, almost making me drop the ball that I had been juggling, but my left foot reacted quickly enough to catch it.
Looking up, I saw the midfielder standing in a circle of 6 about to start a rondo. Which was a mini game of possession football with one or more players in the middle chasing the ball. It was the best warm-up exercise, allowing players to test their feel for the ball and wake up their possession instincts before a match.
"Here!" I shouted, flicking the ball up around waist height before swinging my mid left foot, hitting the ball on the underside with the outer side of my boot. The ball flew across the field in a rainbow arc, spinning with backspin as it cut across the field, landing perfectly at the midfielder’s feet.
"What’s up with you? You’ve been out of it all day?" Wirtz asked the moment I joined the rondo, taking my turn inside as the last to join. "This guy was up at 5 in the morning doing core exercises in the hotel room, can you believe that?"
"Weirdly, I think he seems like the type to even train in his sleep," Charles said, earning a chuckle, but quickly stopped smirking as I caught the ball with my heel that he tried to hop over my left leg. "Kake."
"No whining, take your turn in," I told him, swapping positions and restarting the game. "Seriously, though, how did you know I train in my dreams?"
"And he’s back to normal, flase alram guys," Wirz immediately said, flicking the ball around Charles Lunge. "I swear Moussa ahd 10% of your confidence he could run through a defence."
"Hey, don’t bring me into this." The Frenchman shut down as if he were avoiding the taxman, prompting the rest of the guys to chuckle. "Don’t give me that look, you two are the worst when you gang up on me."
"What are you scared or something?" Bailey questioned, barely holding back his laughter. "They are like four years younger than you. What could they possibly do?"
"Bro, I have ten siblings, and I tell you I’d rather deal with them than these two, less chance of emotional damage." He responded with a defeated look but was still sharp enough to chop the incoming ball to his left into the feet of Charles.
"Bro, don’t make either sound as we bully you." I retorted just as Amiri managed to intercept Jeremie’s pass. "At worst, we just tease you a little, but most of it is your fault. Just stop moving mad, and we won’t have ammo to use against you. Still, ten is a lot."
"No, but you guys do this all the time, and ten is a perfectly average number." He defended but earned little support from the circle. "Wirtz has nine, so he can tell you."
"I think you guys might need a reality check. This is the 21st century, not the 19th?" Bailey interjects, earning nods from the rest of the guys. "I don’t know whether to be impressed or feel sorry for your mother, though."
"Hey, it’s not our fault that we have strong genes," Wirtz complained, narrowly avoiding Jeremie’s tackle with a deft flick of his boot.
"You’re too sensitive," I interjected with a thoughtful expression, sending the ball to Bender on the first touch. "Didn’t your parents try ten times before creating a football monster like you? Though if you ask me, they had it right with Juliane."
"Hey, I score way more goals than her."
"Bro, she’s a defensive midfielder, just give up, you can’t compete where you can’t compare." I retorted with a light smile. "Heck, even your girl watches more of her matches than yours."
"Oh, look, the coaches are calling us in." I quickly said before he could respond, jogging off to the tunnel after realising I had just exposed my friend’s relationship to the guys.
~~~
[MW24 | Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 vs 0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen]
"Welcome to match week 24 of the Bundesliga as Gladbach host league leaders Leverkusen in this Rhine derby." Derek Rae’s magnetic voice resounded through the broadcast as we lined up in our formation. "It is a beautiful March afternoon with clear skies and little chance of rain, perfect weather for football."
"Both teams are having an incredible run in European competitions, with Gladbach reaching the round of 16 of the Europa Cup and Leverkusen the semi-finals of the Champions League." Stewart Robson intoned as the starting line-ups flashed on the screen. "Both sides will want a victory to build momentum for the next stretch of highly important games."
---
Formation - Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-2-3-1):
GK: Yann Sommer
RB: Stefan Lainer
CB: Matthias Ginter
CB: Nico Elvedi
LB: Ramy Bensebaini
CDM: Christoph Kramer
CDM: Florian Neuhaus
RW: Jonas Hofmann
CAM: Lars Stindl (c)
LW: Marcus Thuram
ST: Alassane Pléa
Substitutes: Tobias Sippel, Jordan Beyer, Tony Jantschke, Denis Zakaria, Hannes Wolf, Patrick Herrmann, Breel Embolo
Manager: Marco Rose
--
Formation - Bayer Leverkusen (4-3-3):
GK: Lukas Hradecky
RB: Jeremie Frimpong
CB: Edmond Tapsoba
CB: Jonathan Tah
LB: Wendell
CM: Florian Wirtz
CDM: Charles Aránguiz
CM: Nadiem Amiri
RW: Moussa Diaby
ST: Patrik Schick
LW: Rakim Rex
Substitutes: Lennart Grill, Lars Bender, Aleksandar Dragović, Julian Baumgartlinger, Kerem Demirbay, Leon Bailey, Demarai Gray, Lucas Alario
Manager: Peter Bosz
---
~~~
*(FWEEET!)*
[1’]
The referee’s whistle pierced the silence, and Gladbach kicked off, and we immediately pressed high as we looked to win the ball early. I, Schick and Diaby led the charge, speeding forward like a pack of wolves. Alassane Pléa passed it back to Stindl, who knocked it back to left back Bensebaini under Schick’s pressure.
Diaby was quick to arrive in front of the fullback two seconds later. Forcing him to pass it back to the keeper hastily, Yann Sommer, between the sticks, he did not have time to receive the ball calmly and cleared the ball with a big boot. Aránguiz, just past the midfield, received the ball, bringing it down with his chest.
Pléa tried to bother him, but the holding midfielder calmly sent it wide to Wendell. "Here," I called out to him, dropping back to just beyond the halfway line, deftly receiving the ball with my right.
The Gladbach right back was immediately behind me, trying to pressure me as I shielded the ball with my body, feeling him trying to get a foot in. Without looking, I dipped my left shoulder, performing a swift Cruyff turn, spinning away from his challenge in one fluid motion.
I drove forward a few yards, scanning the field, resisting the urge just to run solo. Wirtz was making a run centrally, dragging Kramer with him. Schick was holding up Elvedi on the edge of the box. Diaby was also charging up the right flank, forming an idea of what I wanted to do. A smile formed on my lips as I came to a sudden stop the moment I felt Lainer’s hand pulling my right arm.
He came to a sliding stop, trying to halt his momentum, but I already jabbed the ball through his legs as he slid past. Cutting inwards, I accelerated, reaching the ball before Florian Neuhaus and using a quick La Croqueta to glide past him. I released the ball forward into the feet of Schick, who was holding up Elvedi.
Not slowing down, I accelerated forward, charging into the open right lane. He didn’t send the ball my way, though; instead, he laid it off to Wirtz, who had beaten his marker. Before I could cross into offside territory, he sent a looping through ball over the last line of defence.
Stepping into the box, I barely had a moment to react as the ball looped over my head and descended in front of me. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer had also vacated his line and was charging at me.
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To Be Continued...
