Chapter 69

Izan followed Luis de la Fuente as they walked to his office. No attempt to converse was made on the way so Izan kept quiet.

The duo finally arrived at his office. Coach Luis de la Fuente offered Izan a chair as he also sat down.

"How’s the camp" he asked after Izan sat down.

"It’s been good so far. I’m learning a lot of things from the older players" Izan said truthfully. Even though he had ability, Izan felt that he wasted his chances when he looked at the places like Pedri.

They took every chance they got and made it into something threatening, and he had also learned to do saw, although he wasn’t at their level yet.

"It’s good that you learnt something, ", de la Fuente said. "I mainly wanted to talk about your position" de la Fuente said.

"Where do you like to play?" De la Fuente asked, and the conversation turned serious. "I like attacking sir. I like to create chances rather than finish them off, and I also want to be the one pulling my team out of a draw or loss when the striker is not doing his job," Izan went about.

"So you like assisting others" De la Fuente said. "Not quite. Yes, I’d rather pass than shoot, but I also take my chances when they present themselves, " Izan replied.

De la Fuente looked at the boy in front of him, trying to engrave his image in his mind. "Very well, Izan, if that’s what you like, then do it", De la Fuente said, earning a questioning look from Izan.

"Don’t worry, all I meant is that let loose and show your abilities to the full. On my team we give our all even when the opponents are down".

"We also like to take advantage of small opportunities to turn nothing into something. To turn a kickoff into a goal, defence into an attack and even a saved penalty into a goal." De la Fuente said.

"That’s the ideology of this team. I’m looking for someone who can help you do that. I found him,m but it’ll be a while before he matures into the player I want him to be, but until then, you are on your own".

"So you want to build a team around me," Izan asked. "Not quite. I want to build a team that moves with you. A team that can score goals when you attract attention or when you don’t show up or when your influence on the game is less" de la Fuente said.

Izan smiled wryly as he felt his shoulders slump due to the Coach’s words. "No pressure, eh? All that will happen if this fails is me being fired, but if it works, Spain will be unstoppable, and by that time, you’ll be leading the charge" de la Fuente ended.

The two sat in silence for a while with the clock the only thing breaking the great silence. "Go and prepare for the evening session. Tomorrow, I’ll show you to the world in the grandest stage of them all" De la Fuente said before turning away from Izan to look at the glass window behind him.

Izan nodded and got up. He walked to the door and looked at the old man who loved his country to death before leaving.

"It’s time for another generation, Alvaro", De la Fuente said as he turned to look at the Files of the players on the table.

The most prominent among the Files was a file with the name "LAMINE Y. " on it. Luis de la Fuente looked again and turned away.

Izan walked to his room to bathe. The Coach had called him directly after the session so he couldn’t bath.

After he was done, Izan put on one of the national team tracksuits and went downstairs. After breakfast, the players had time to themselves again so Pedri and Izan drove to the u20s building to pick Pietro.

This time Mark tagged along as the four of them went out to sightsee. Izan took a few pictures for his IG since Miranda had always told him to stay relevant till she found a manager for him.

If only she knew how relevant he was going to be after tomorrow. The Four people returned after a while with Pietro and Mark getting off at the u20s building.

Izan and Pedri also went to their building after parking the car with each going their way. Izan decided to visit the recovery room to get treatment for his tense muscles.

He could always use a conditioning pill but those things were expensive. They were among the reasons why he couldn’t upgrade the system yet.

Izan enjoyed his time as the massage and muscle sessions helped him relax. Izan slept through the massage and only got up to find the Masseur gone.

Izan checked the time and found that it was nearly dinner. He put on his clothes and walked towards the Cafeteria.

"Yo, you missed the afternoon session", Rodri said after he met Izan. The two had gotten a bit close during the morning session.

"Yeah, I went to the recovery room because my muscles were a bit sore but the Masseur gave me the massage of a lifetime. I think I slept through it and woke up just now" Izan said.

"Well, you’re still young, so your body needs much rest than us. That’s why you’re sleeping that much" Rodri offered his thoughts.

Izan nodded and proceeded to go for his food. He made a mental note to train in the evening and then go apologise to the Coach.

Even if he had a good relationship with the Coach, he shouldn’t take it for granted. Pedri, who saw Izan taking his food, called out to him.

The latter walked over with Rodri to the table where Pedri and Oryazabal sat. The Four talked about a lot while eating and they seemed to have a few things in common.

Izan excused himself after he told the trio that he had to train to make up for the evening session. The trio also offered to join. The company of world-class players was something Izan couldn’t refuse so he accepted.

The four went at it for 45 minutes and only stopped when they saw the light in Coach Luis de la Fuente’s office get turned on.

They decided to end it while I was headed towards de la Fuente’s office. *Knock*knock*knock, "Come in", Izan heard and entered.

He found Luis de la Fuente going through some documents. "I came to apologise, sir, for missing the afternoon session ", Izan said, causing Luis de la Fuente to raise his head.

"Do you think you could have missed it if I didn’t want you to? And you even went behind my back to train."

"I know how young you are and the rest you need; that’s why I let the Masseur let you sleep. But you went out to train with those other rascals" Luis de la Fuente said.

"Sorry, Coach, it won’t happen again", Izan said sharply. "It better not; now go and rest", de la Fuente said, focusing on the papers again.

Izan smiled as he looked at the white-haired old man before exiting the room. "Silly kid" de la Fuente muttered after Izan had left.

"Have you tried to contact him" an older man spoke in a room of middle-aged men. "We tried Mr Tashima, but his club said that we were late as he is already at the Spain National Team camp", a younger man spoke.

"Well, he can still switch. Let’s monitor his situation, and if anything happens, we swoop in. This is for the sake of the Japanese national team" Mr. Tashima spoke with conviction.

"Yes sir" the group of men gathered there replied affectionately

Izan went to the game lounge after his bath. Luis de la Fuente had told him to rest, but he couldn’t sleep, so he came back down.

Izan joined in on the FIFA tournament that the players had organised themselves. Izan worked on eliminating a few of his teammates in knock-out games.

He played with Valencia as everyone had to play with his team. Valencia was just decent in Fifa, so the players were a bit surprised by Iran’s game.

"I’m not in this one. You guys should have pre-ordered the Fc24." Izan said as he got out in the semifinals, courtesy of Pedri.

"Well, do that by the next international break in November", Cucurella said. "Then pray you’ll be here. Playing shit and all. You’re lucky Balde got hurt," Rodri said, causing the others to laugh.

"Come on, Rodri, don’t rub it in", Cucurella said, adding another wave of laughs. The players laughed some more.

Izan turned around and walked to his room. This was his first international appearance and he wasn’t about to mess it up due to not sleeping enough.

After Izan left, fitness Coach Carlos Cruz appeared and scolded the players before chasing them to sleep.

Izan, who was already in bed, dreamt of scoring a goal in his sleep. Hopefully the same will happen the next day.

A/n: Hey guys another one for today have fun.