Become A Football Legend-Chapter 32: Waldstadion

[Ego Summon in Progress

Ego: Riyad Mahrez

Mission: First Touch Close Control skill training till level 2/5 ]

Just as Lukas read the screen, he felt a tap on his back.

"Hey, Lukas."

"Oh my God! That scared the crap out of me," he screamed as he jumped and turned to see who had touched him.

"Don’t be scared. I’m Riyad Ego Mahrez. I’ll be teaching you the first touch skill from now on."

Lukas was dumbfounded as he stared at the character in front of him.

Unlike the Abstracts Lukas had finally gotten used to, it was completely human-like. It was way past the uncanny valley. It felt like Mahrez himself was in the LTC.

It looked and sounded exactly like Riyad — very coarse voice.

It had the same kind of LTC-branded training kit Lukas had on.

"This is insane," Lukas thought as he stared at the being standing and staring back at him.

"What are you staring at? We will be starting immediately."

"Huh...yes.. okay.."

"The first, and most important part of the first touch skill, is to predict where the ball will land accurately.

Even the best touch won’t save you if you misread the ball’s flight.

Watch this."

Ego Mahrez moved to the right wing of the pitch, where they were standing. At the left back position, an Abstract spawned.

Lukas watched attentively as the Abstract hit a perfect lofted pass towards Mahrez.

He didn’t have to make any unnecessary movements as the ball fell perfectly by the side of his foot.

It was like a kill switch had been flipped — the ball died right at his foot.

No roll, no bounce, nothing.

"You saw what I did, right? I stopped it cause this is practice. In a real match, you’ll most likely be getting chased down even before the ball meets you, so you should think of beating your marker with that first touch."

"Damn. That was impressive."

"How do I know what part of the foot to use?"

"It all depends on what you want to do with that first touch. And different people are able to perform the same skill with a different part of their foot.

But one constant thing — they do not have to think about what part of the foot they wanna use."

"How does someone like you do it?"

"It becomes muscle memory once you practice enough. You just see the ball, see the player, and you will already know what to do.

For that to be the case, though, you need to practice like your life depends on it. And that’s exactly what I’m here for," the Ego flashed a sly grin.

"Why do I have a feeling this is just TT cosplaying as Mahrez to put me through hell?" Lukas thought as he looked at the Ego, who was smiling mischievously.

"Alright. I’m ready."

"Good, now run. Your first training is how to predict the landing area of the ball."

Mahrez lobbed the ball, and Lukas started tracking it.

The skill training was on.

* * *

Back on the Riederwald Academy training ground, coach Sebastian walked onto the pitch where the U17 players were all warming up.

The majority of them, however, were sneaking glances at one part of the field.

He followed their eyesight to find Lukas receiving a pass from Christian. The ball from Christian was overhit, causing it to go too high.

Lukas had his eyes in the sky as he backpedalled to where the ball would land.

With a raised left foot, he plucked the ball out of the air. It stuck perfectly to his leg as he brought it down.

"Ooohhh!! Finally!!" Christian screamed as he ran towards Lukas.

"It’s still not enough," Lukas thought as he looked at the ball. freёwebnoѵel.com

However, this time, a small smile was tugging at the corners of his lips.

Not just Christian, everyone was impressed.

Especially Anne, who was watching with Javi.

"Wow. You said he was good, but that doesn’t do him justice. He’s really good," she said as her eyes were glued to the part of the pitch where Lukas was.

Anne grew up in a family of football lovers. Her father, who passed away when she was 10, was a retired player for a semi-pro team in Berlin.

Her mother has worked for the Deutscher Fußball-Bund for over 30 years, and her siblings were all directly or indirectly working in the football business.

The love for the game flowed through her veins. So when she heard from Javi that his son was an aspiring footballer and was trying out for Eintracht Frankfurt after being dropped from SV98, she thought he would just be another academy player who had passion but lacked talent.

But just from the way Lukas was controlling passes from Christian, she could tell there was a lot more to see.

"Should I tell her about him?" She contemplated, deep in thought.

"No, not yet. Javi said he’ll be playing for the reserves starting next week. She will find out anyway if there’s a 15-year-old tearing up the Regionalliga with a reserve team. She’s that tapped in." Anne concluded.

She was thinking of telling her mother — who worked with the DFB’s U21 men’s team — about Lukas. But she decided against it.

Back at the field, Coach Sebastian approached Lukas.

"That was impressive. No wonder the B-team manager is hell-bent on snatching you up."

"Thanks for the compliment, sir. And thank you for the training so far. I have really improved a lot."

"Yes, you have. You get even better in every new session, it leaves me lost for words."

"Hahaha.. I always try to be better than yesterday, sir."

"That’s a great mindset to have going forward. Always strive to be a better version of yourself tomorrow. Even if just by a bit. It adds up."

"I’ll keep that in mind, sir."

"I heard this will be your last training with us. Is that right?"

"Yes, sir. Unfortunately, I have to take my end-of-year exam this week. When I’m done, I’ll be reporting directly to the U23."

"Yeah, that’s unfortunate, but you can’t neglect your academic life. I know I only coached you for barely a couple of weeks, but I’m really glad I could be a part of your early career. Keep this up, and the sky is the limit."

"Thanks, coach. I will be forever grateful for everything."

"You’re welcome. But I still have you for today, so—"

FWEEE*

Coach Sebastian cut himself off as he blew his whistle.

"Everybody! 5 laps around the field. The last person gets 3 more laps. Let’s go!"

The entire team took off.

In the middle of the pack was Lukas, smiling as he ran.

* * *

"Dad. Why are we here?" Lukas was dumbfounded as he looked around where Javi had brought them.

Two tower-like structures stood on either side of the huge stadium. Lukas was standing in front of it, but couldn’t see where the walls ended.

The signature white and red design of the entrance was accentuated by the sun setting behind it.

At the top of the 65-meter structure, the letters stood in deep blue.

DEUTSCHE BANK PARK

They were at the Waldstadion — now known as Deutsche Bank Park — the home ground of Eintracht Frankfurt.

"This must be your first time here, right?" Javi asked as he put his arm across his son’s shoulders and admired the structure with Lukas.

The area was booming with people who came out in droves to support the German national team.

Chants and drums could be heard from inside the stadium already, while some people who couldn’t get a ticket continued the chants outside the stadium.

Lukas, however, was lost in his world.

"This is beautiful," he thought as he stared at the entrance to the stadium.

He had only been here once in his previous life for a World Cup Qualifiers hosted at the stadium.

Although he acknowledged their position in the Bundesliga, he wasn’t exactly an avid fan of Eintracht Frankfurt in his past life.

But to think he will be playing in this stadium very soon if all goes according to plan.

He was beaming as he thought about the future — having this much crowd come to sing for a team he will be part of.

"We should check in, Luke," Javi said as he tapped Lukas’ shoulders.

"Huh? Check-in? You got tickets!? How!?" Lukas was genuinely surprised. In his previous life, this never happened.

He had guessed his father brought him here to see the atmosphere outside the stadium since they were already nearby, but he didn’t imagine Javi got tickets.

"It’s all thanks to Anne."

"Really? That’s wonderful news. Thanks a lot, Anne," Lukas tried to hide his confusion, only showing his surprise and his gratitude.

"It’s nothing. The tickets weren’t that expensive anyway. Let’s have a great time," she responded with a soft smile Lukas couldn’t quite read.

"Is this one of the butterfly effects my new actions are causing? I barely spoke to my dad throughout this period in my previous life. I don’t remember him getting tickets from Anne. What changed?"

Lukas’ mind was filled with thoughts, but he knew he couldn’t answer them. And do the answers even matter?

All that was important at the moment was that Lukas was stepping into the Deutsche Bank Park.

This time, it was to watch the national team play. But next time, he will be stepping out to the greetings of the fans.

He knew his time was going to come, but he couldn’t predict how close that time was.

A/N: We’re getting close to the end of this volume. Vol. 2 will start with his time at the reserve team. I’m sorry if it feels draggy, it’s all important.

Wonderful day today. You all have a great day/night

Love y’all.

-Writ

The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)novelkiss