Chapter 30 - 28 — The Shortlist

Chapter 30: Chapter 28 — The Shortlist

The first-team head coach read the final line of the medical report before setting it down.

"So he misses the start?"

"Most likely," his assistant said. "He’ll still be finishing rehabilitation when the squad reports back. The medical team might have him outside for part of the work, but they don’t want him involved properly yet."

"And the other striker?"

"He’ll be available, but they want his workload managed for the first couple of weeks."

The head coach glanced at the preseason schedule lying between them.

One of the early friendlies had already been pencilled in, and the first tactical sessions would begin almost as soon as the players returned.

"We can’t run the first block with one fully available centre-forward."

"No."

"Recruitment?"

"Still working on it. Nothing close enough that I’d plan around it."

The third man at the table had been quiet until then. He worked primarily beneath the senior squad, watching the academy and development players who might eventually become relevant to the first team.

The assistant looked toward him.

"The reserve striker makes the most sense."

"He does," the scout replied.

"He’s already played against adults. He knows what the contact feels like, and we’re not wasting the first week teaching him that a senior centre-back won’t let him turn whenever he wants."

The scout nodded. "Physically, he’s the safer option."

The head coach noticed the pause.

"Who else?"

"Morales."

The assistant looked across the table. "The U19 striker?"

"Yes."

"He’s had a good few weeks."

"It’s more than the goals."

The scout opened the folder resting beside him.

"I watched him before this run started, then again during it. His movement has changed. Earlier in the season, he wanted to be involved in everything. Now he leaves possessions alone when there’s nothing useful for him to do, and when he does leave the line, there’s usually a reason."

"He’s still doing it against U19 defenders."

"Mostly."

"And when you watched him with the reserves?"

"He struggled physically."

The assistant leaned back. "Which is exactly why the reserve striker should go."

"I didn’t say Morales should go ahead of him."

That stopped the disagreement before it became one.

The scout turned another page.

"I’m saying we already have a reasonable idea of what the reserve player can handle. Morales is the unanswered one. His decisions have improved, but I don’t know whether they survive when the defender is quicker to the contact and stronger once he gets there."

The head coach looked at him. "Lens?"

"I was there."

"And?"

"They pressed Metz hard. Morales didn’t spend the match forcing himself onto the ball just because he wasn’t seeing much of it. He adapted."

The assistant tapped the table once. "That still doesn’t make him ready for this level."

"No. It makes him worth watching."

The head coach picked up the medical report again, though his attention had already moved elsewhere.

"The reserve striker stays first."

"Agreed."

"Send me Morales’s physical data, the report from the reserve appearance and the recent academy reports."

The scout nodded.

The assistant asked, "Clips too?"

The head coach looked at the fixture list.

"Paris on Sunday?"

"Semifinal."

"I’ll watch him there."

Yanis noticed them first.

"The first-team coach."

Rafael had been waiting for the next pass in the warm-up and glanced toward the stand without leaving his position.

The head coach sat several rows up with his assistant beside him.

A midfielder waiting nearby followed their gaze.

"Here for us?"

"Maybe," Yanis said.

Another teammate looked across the pitch toward PSG. "Could be Delorme."

One of the academy coaches called for the next group, ending the conversation before it could spread.

Rafael received the ball, returned it and moved to the back of the line.

He looked toward the stand once more.

That was enough.

There had been years in his first career when the presence of one important person changed the way he played. A scout appeared and suddenly the simple pass felt too ordinary. A manager watched from the stand and Rafael found himself chasing defenders farther than the team had asked him to.

He had mistaken being noticeable for playing well.

He would not do it again.

His attention shifted briefly farther along the stand.

His mother had made it. Lucas sat with the other two classmates, and the burgundy scarf was back around his neck.

Rafael smiled before turning toward the pitch.

Across from him, PSG were finishing their own warm-up.

Mathis Delorme stood among the defenders.

Rafael recognised him immediately this time.

By kickoff, everyone in the stand had disappeared from his thoughts.

PSG took care of that.

They kept the ball from the opening whistle and made Metz work without it. Their centre-backs separated whenever possession went backwards, while the midfield offered just enough movement to stop Metz from settling into one pressing route.

Rafael closed the left centre-back on an angle.

The ball travelled across the defence.

He stopped instead of chasing it.

Behind him, Metz’s midfield shifted together.

PSG went wide.

Their left-back was already moving forward by the time the pass reached him.

Yanis followed.

The same movement happened again on their next long possession, and when Metz finally recovered the ball, Rafael looked over his shoulder.

Yanis was still deep in his own half.

A midfielder tried to play Rafael anyway.

Rafael stepped toward the pass.

Delorme arrived first.

He had begun moving almost as soon as the midfielder opened his body, crossing Rafael’s shoulder and taking the ball before Rafael could receive it.

PSG had possession again within seconds.

Rafael returned to the defensive shape.

He had known what Delorme would try.

Knowing did not make him late.

On Metz’s next possession, Rafael stayed closer to the defensive line.

Delorme stayed beside him.

Rafael moved short without committing fully to the run.

The defender watched him and remained where he was.

The midfielder chose another pass.

Rafael returned to the line.

There was no prepared movement that Delorme was going to answer for him every time.

PSG kept making Metz defend.

They rarely forced the first pass they saw. If the opening was not there, they went backwards and started again.

Rafael spent several minutes shifting between their centre-backs without touching the ball.

When Metz finally found him near halfway, Delorme was already against his back.

Rafael controlled, felt the pressure and sent the ball back where it had come from.

There was no turn available.

Another Metz player tried finding him early a few minutes later, but Rafael stopped his run once he saw Delorme already moving across the lane.

The pass went sideways instead.

Midway through the half, PSG opened Metz properly for the first time.

Their left-back pushed forward again and Yanis followed him deep.

PSG played down that side long enough to drag Metz across, then returned the ball into midfield.

Rafael saw the switch coming before Metz could stop it.

The pass travelled quickly toward PSG’s right winger.

Metz’s left-back moved out.

A midfielder recovered toward the box but did not see the runner behind him until the winger had already reached the outside.

The low ball came back across the area.

The PSG midfielder met it first time.

Metz’s goalkeeper got down quickly, but the shot had already passed him.

The net moved.

Rafael turned toward the centre circle.

PSG had not needed anyone to beat three defenders. They had simply kept moving Metz until one runner reached a space half a second before the player responsible for him.

The game restarted.

Metz responded with urgency, but the first few possessions only made the problem worse.

A midfielder received under pressure and immediately tried Rafael.

Delorme came through his back as the ball arrived.

Rafael managed to return it but could not turn.

The next time Metz recovered possession, Rafael did not move.

The midfielder looked forward, saw nothing and kept the ball.

Three passes later, Metz still had possession.

Their coach shouted approval from the touchline.

Rafael stayed beside Delorme and waited.

Another attack developed.

The midfielder carrying the ball finally escaped the first PSG player and faced forward.

Rafael still did not move.

Delorme glanced toward him, then toward the ball.

Yanis was only just coming forward on the right after another defensive run.

Rafael saw him.

That had been missing earlier.

The midfielder lifted his head.

Rafael checked short.

Delorme followed.

The pass reached Rafael’s right foot.

He sent it away immediately.

Yanis received the layoff while already moving forward.

Rafael turned.

Delorme had stepped out with him and now had to recover toward his own goal.

Yanis accelerated into the channel before PSG’s defensive midfielder could close it.

Rafael ran beyond Delorme.

The second centre-back moved toward him.

Yanis entered the penalty area and sent a low ball back across goal.

The delivery arrived behind Rafael.

He had to adjust.

His first touch brought it across his body and away from the recovering defender.

[TWO-TOUCH FINISHER ACTIVATED]

Rafael opened his right foot with the second.

The goalkeeper pushed across goal.

The ball reached the far corner before he did.

Rafael heard the net before Yanis reached him.

"You needed me after all."

Rafael pushed his hands away from his shirt. "You made one pass."

Yanis stared at him. "One?"

Their teammates arrived before he could finish.

The celebration ended quickly.

Delorme was already standing near halfway when Rafael turned back.

The defender looked at him once.

Rafael looked back.

Then the referee restarted the match.

The difference appeared almost immediately.

When Rafael dropped on the next Metz possession, Delorme stayed with the line.

PSG’s defensive midfielder came toward Rafael instead.

Rafael returned the ball.

A few minutes later, he moved short again and Delorme followed only far enough to discourage the pass before dropping away.

Rafael stopped looking for the same combination.

There would be no second goal simply because the first one had worked.