As they went back into position to restart the match, Lukas walked up to Christian.
"Give the ball as soon as you get it. There’s sothing I wanna try." Lukas whispered to Christian.
Christian was confused, but he had seen the way Lukas controlled the match, so he just nodded.
The referee’s whistle blew and the ga resud.
Keziah passed the ball all the way back to the goalkeeper during the kick-off.
The goalkeeper looked and saw Christian unmarked, and sent the ball his way.
Christian trapped the ball, and turned to see Marvin closing in on him fast.
He imdiately released the ball to Lukas who was now by the left wing.
The fullback was closing in, but Lukas had already seen him through the corner of his eyes.
Lukas opened his legs—the ball rolled through both his and the fullback’s legs—and turned to stop the ball from going out of play.
He stopped the ball right at the corner flag when the sa full back ca lunging in.
Lukas smiled as he saw the tackle coming. In his mind, the play was already complete — and destined to end in a goal.
Lukas flicked the ball upward with the outside of his right foot and jumped to evade the tackle.
He was now driving into the box from the left hand side as reinforcents for the U19 team started arriving.
A drop of the shoulder and a La croqueta beat the center back that ca to stop him.
Lukas heard shouts from the Keziah and Christian who were already in a good attacking position, but he had sothing else in mind.
He took one look at the goalkeeper just as he got to the left 18-yard box line.
He saw the keeper covering his near post.
And a smile appeared on Lukas’ lips.
With the inside of his right foot, Lukas hit a ground shot that seed to dance around the outstretched legs.
Maurice—the second center back—threw his legs in to block the shot, but it just went through his legs.
The goalkeeper got down fast and stretched his hands as wide as he could, but he was not getting anywhere close.
The ball kissed the goal post and the side of the net before hitting the back of the net.
It looked like Lukas had passed the ball into the net.
"What did I just watch?"
This was what the expression on everyone’s face was saying.
They were dumbfounded.
Lukas, however, just stood as he watched the ball rest in the back of the net with a smile on his face.
He couldn’t remain as calm though as his teammates, starting from Christian, mobbed him.
"Yoooo! Is this why you asked for the ball?!"
"That’s crazy!"
"How did you curve that out of the goalkeeper’s reach and back into the net from THAT angle?"
Lukas was flooded with questions as they jumped on him.
He just smiled as they walked back to the center circle where Alex was already waiting to kick-off for the U19 team.
FWEEE*
The match resud.
This ti, Lukas dropped back to help defend the lead.
He was by far the best player on the field, but he knew if he left his team to defend on their own, they would lose the match.
The attack from the U19 team ca in waves, but the U17 defense refused to budge.
Lukas’ strength and defensive awareness were proving to be very important.
It was a marvel to watch a 15 year-old go into a shoulder charge with a 19 year-old and co out on top.
He looked at the board: 10 minutes left.
The U19 had been pushing, and it felt like it was only a matter of ti before they broke through.
No matter how good Lukas is, he couldn’t stop all the attacks from a team especially when his defensive stats weren’t his strongest suit.
But then it happened.
The U19 team’s left winger was twisting and turning, trying to beat the fullback on his trail.
He successfully beat him and was running into space to cross the ball into the 18-yard box for Alex.
As he tried to cross—
BAM*
He fell on the floor.
Lukas had gone to support his left back and just a single shoulder to shoulder challenge was all it took for the winger to hit the ground.
The winger raised his hands to protest.
The referee just motioned for him to get up.
Lukas didn’t even wait to see what the referee’s call would be. He didn’t hear the whistle, so he took the ball and imdiately drove forward with pace.
He took one look up to see Keziah sprinting down.
He was initially back in his own half to defend. But imdiately Lukas got the ball, he started running down the middle.
With the outside of his right foot, Lukas hit the ball—a trivela.
The ball left the ground as it danced around the recovering defenders to land exactly in Keziah’s path.
Keziah’s first touch hit the ball a bit too hard, but he chased it down like his life depended on it.
He was through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the center back—Maurice—was now inching closer to him.
As the chase continued, Keziah reached the ball first and raised his leg to shoot.
But was clattered by a rough foul by Maurice from behind.
"ARRGGHHHH!" Keziah’s scream could be heard all over the pitch as he hit the ground and rolled in pain.
"Why would you do that?" Christian scread as he rushed up to Maurice.
"Do you want to break his leg?"
It was a kind of foul that had no place in a friendly match—worse still a match between teams from the sa club.
The dical staff rushed to the pitch as the referee showed Maurice a red card—the academy will have to decide his punishnt later.
Keziah was still wincing in pain as he was carried off the pitch, Lukas was holding back Christian who looked ready to throw hands.
After the scuffle ended, the official ti for the match was almost over.
With the U17 team leading 2-1, it would be best to just end the match here, partly as a punishnt for Maurice’s tackle.
It was a friendly and there was no rule against ending it whenever they wanted.
As the referee conversed with both coaches on whether to end the match there, they decided to consult Christian—the U17 captain—for his opinion.
The referee walked over to Christian who was standing with Lukas.
"Christian, the coaches have decided to go with your opinion, we could end the match now, or take the free kick and play extra 7 minutes."
Christian thought quietly.
"Don’t end the ga. Let take the free kick." Lukas whispered to Christian.
"Are you serious?" Christian asked.
"Yeah, just trust ."
Christian turned to the referee.
"We’ll continue the match." He said.
"Alright, we’ll continue with a free kick."
The referee pointed to the spot of the foul and marked the location the defense wall can be made.
Philip was the original free kick taker for the U17 team. But as he went to place the ball at the spot—
"Phil, let Lukas take the free kick." Christian’s voice interrupted.
Philip looked at Lukas with an expression that said "you can’t be serious," but he didn’t say anything.
He too had seen Lukas’ performance throughout the ga, and if his set-piece ability was as good as his passing or shooting abilities, he would be the best person for it.
Although he wanted to take it, Philip threw the ball to Lukas without complaining.
Since the foul on Keziah, sothing had been boiling inside Lukas. Seeing his teammate get taken out on a stretcher during an academy practice match was rage-inducing.
However, he had lived long enough to keep a cool head in such a situation.
He caught the ball Philip threw at him, and placed it at the spot.
The U19 goalkeeper was screaming at the top of his lungs to set up the wall.
Marvin—one of the players that ford the wall—was staring at Lukas as he placed the ball down.
"He can’t be good at everything." He thought as he tried to convince himself that Lukas was not good at free kicks.
He had seen Lukas’ passing, dribbling, and finishing skills. From the first goal, he already knew that he had lost his bet with Alex. But he still prayed Lukas would be terrible at free kicks.
God turned a deaf ear to his prayers, though.
Lukas looked at the wall, then at the goalkeeper. His eyes were filled with quiet rage.
Since Maurice judged that giving Keziah a potentially career-ending injury in a friendly match was worth it, he was going to punish them for that.
The referee blew his whistle, as Lukas took one last look at the wall before his run up.
BOOM*
A/N: Life is such a weird thing.
From winning a premier league trophy, a Nations League trophy, and having a wedding, to being gone in the blink of an eye.
It’s so bizarre how it is. I refused to believe the news when I saw it earlier today. 28! And gone just like that.
A mother lost two of her sons to the sa car crash today.
I don’t even know what to say honestly.
May Diogo Jota and Andre Silva rest in peace.
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