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The first half had just ended with a score of 2:1 and we were currently gathered in front of our bench for our halftime talk. This school doesn't have their changing room attached to the park, so we have to make do. That is beside the point as this is probably the most awkward halftime talk, we've ever had.
The guys who played in the first half all had a gloomy mood seemingly expecting the nature of the team talk. Then again maybe they have already given up since nothing they tried so far has worked. Judging by the stern look on coach's face as he whispered something to trainer Oliver, he's not happy either.
"I don't even know what to say to you all," Coach Bauer stated with disappointment written all over his aged face. He seemed to be trying to think whether to reprimand or encourage us to do better.
"First, let me tell you all that your performance has been a great disappointment, I can hardly recognise the team that played in the first half. Because whoever that was it's not the team, we have been training for the past two months." He continued his speech raising his voice slightly to emphasise his point further.
One by one he made eye contact with us throughout his speech seemingly asking us for an explanation. His questioning eyes were only met with embarrassed glances and the occasional innocent eyes of those who didn't play. However, even those of us innocent of his lecture didn't dare to breathe funny and tried our best to minimise our presence.
"Guess that's tomorrow's problem, here is what we are going to do in the second half, Ben M. You will be going in for Finn.," Coach said in a serious tone after seemingly deciding to deal with the team's chemistry problems on a later date.
There was no outward reaction from Ben after being told that he was going to play, and he just nodded in response. However, that may be due to him and Finn being good friends and he didn't want to make him feel bad. That didn't seem to help the midfielder as he hung his head in defeat.
"I'm not taking you off because you played badly but we need some creativity going forward. You have been solid throughout the first half, but we need to do some work on your attacking methods kid." Coach quickly consoled him surprising me since coach Garret never did that before.
Then again, they both have an entirely distinctive style of coaching especially when it comes to communicating with us. Coach Bauer has a grandfatherly vibe and is quite approachable during training and even when you see him in school. Whereas Garret gave off the vibes of a teacher or principal well someone who is high and mighty a knows it all.
"Tom, you will also be going in for Blake, son I want you to act as a focal point and help us create some chances at goal," Coach continued announcing the change of our striker whilst also letting him know what he wanted him to do.
Blake seemed to want to protest his decision to take him off, but Coach gave him no chance to do so. A simple stare reminded him just how solemn our current conversation was. The fact of the matter is that coach wasn't happy with their performance so he wouldn't tolerate any objections right now.
"That's all for now, go out and show me something different I want to see you fighting for every chance you get." He finished off the team talk with that sentence encouraging those who would be playing to do better.
~~~
Start of the second half the Eagles were a completely different team from how they ended before the intermission. Maybe it was due to their coach's team talk or perhaps they have something to prove to themselves. Whatever it was it resulted in them showing a lot more grit in their game play.
No longer letting the Pasco midfielders easily control possession they actively challenged them for every loose ball. Like a flock of birds spotting prey the eagles players swarmed their opponents whenever they played a sloppy pass. Ben who had just came on had an instant impact in the game as the team suddenly had a threating aura about them.
Although they have haven't launched an attack, yet the young playmaker easily controlled the flow by stringing together passes with his defence and midfielders. The team went from barley defending their own box to forcing the Pasco team out of their own half. All this was the effect of Ben who actively got involved in every aspect of the field.
In the fortieth minuet of the game Ben actively demanded the ball from Damin who had just gotten control of the ball from an aerial dual. Spinning around using the balls momentum he charged forward crossing the halfway line. Seeing his actions as a signal for an attack everyone sprang into action charging forward leaving only the two central defenders to guard for a counter.
Using a quick one two pass with Lucas he easily circumvented a charging midfielder. Deftly dodging to the right to bypass another midfielder he sent a short pass to the edge of the box. Tom was there to receive it whilst using his body to hold of the central defender.
Seeing Ben trying to enter the box on his right he made a quick turn in that direction waiting for the perfect chance to pass. However, the pass never came since as soon as he felt the defender behind him step in that direction, he swiftly turned in the other direction.
He moved forward into the box whilst using his hand to hold off the defender he had just fooled. Without hesitation he shot with his weaker left foot sending the ball towards goal. Although it's his weaker foot the shot was still deadly as it headed to the right side of the goal.
Through a stroke of luck and skill the ball sneaked underneath the keepers outstretched leg. (swish) Is all that was heard as the ball spun inside the net evoking cheers from the few away fans. Tom didn't mind it though as he run back to his half wildly celebrating his goal.
~~~
"Rakim go get ready you too Max," Coach Bauer called out to us causing a smile to simultaneously appear on both our faces. Not wasting another moment, we started running along the side of the pitch to warm up a little.
"You excited?" Max asked me as we reached the corner flag going through a dynamic stretch routine. His excited expression is all the indication I needed to know his state of mind.
"Yeah, just doesn't feel right sitting on the bench," I answered with a smile trying my best to raise my body heat as quickly as possible. A few jumps and a couple of on-the-spot sprints did the trick as my muscles warmed up.
"I get what you mean watching the game from the side line is so boring." He said with an eager smile mimicking my warmup. It didn't take long for us to finish off our warmup since all we had to do is raise our body heat again so we could immediately affect the game when we went on.
"Alright boys you ready?" Coach called out to us to which we nodded and quickly jogged over to him ready to join the match. It's the 45th minute so we won't have long to impact the game but it's enough to stir up trouble and maybe clinch the win.
we didn't have to wait long for the ball to exit the field as Lucas performed a slide tackle at the other end of the field. His tackle was clean knocking the ball out of place and the opposing player into the air. His reaction after completing the tackle threw me off though as he started doing a celebration in front of the player leaving everyone stupefied.
Coach not wanting to give the referee a chance to book him for his provocative actions signalled for a player change. It did the trick as the ref blew the whistle indicating a player change. Max went on for Ryan Garcia taking on the role of a right winger whereas I'm going on for Damian Green.
high fiving my teammates that went off I made my way towards my familiar left wing ready to get started. Max did the same explaining the change in formation to our teammates who looked a little confused. From a 431 our formation changed to a more aggressive 323 allowing us to open up our flanks.
"You had a good game,"
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To Be Continued...
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