Chapter 35 - 33 - First Game

Chapter 35: Chapter 33 - First Game

Frescaty felt different with another team waiting on the pitch.

Rafael had spent the previous week training on the same grounds, but the grass had been cut again before Sunday and fresh white lines now stood out beneath the morning light. Spare balls were arranged beside both technical areas, the medical staff had taken their places behind the metal rail, and a single club camera faced the halfway line from the opposite side.

There were no supporters around the pitch, no music and no stadium announcer filling the quiet. Every clean strike of the ball carried across the training ground, and Rafael could hear Mondorf’s defenders talking to each other during the warm-up almost as clearly as he could hear his own teammates.

He had played enough closed-door friendlies during his first career for the setting itself to feel normal. Wearing Metz senior kit at seventeen was harder to ignore.

Caron played the ball firmly into his feet.

Rafael cushioned it back before moving across the mannequin in front of him.

"Again."

The return came harder, and Rafael opened his body before directing it toward Noah Perrin on the right.

Perrin sent it inside and continued his run.

"Better," Caron said.

They completed another sequence before the assistant coach blew his whistle and called the starters toward the technical area.

The team plan had gone up after the morning briefing. Rafael would play the first forty-five minutes at centre-forward before Mathieu Renaud replaced him at halftime.

The head coach had made sure neither of them read too much into the order.

"Forty-five each today," he had told them. "We need to see both of you properly. Which half you play doesn’t decide anything."

Renaud had nodded and moved on.

Rafael had done the same.

Now the assistant coach pointed toward Mondorf’s defensive line.

"We’re not chasing every pass. If they go back and the centre-back receives facing his own goal, that’s the trigger."

He traced the pressing route with one hand.

"Rafa, close from inside so the keeper isn’t there for him. Noah goes when the ball travels to the full-back. If the first press isn’t on, don’t invent one."

Rafael nodded. "Got it."

"Good. Stay connected."

The group separated.

Rafael took one drink before starting toward the pitch.

Blue light appeared across his vision.

[NEW MISSION]

[FIRST SENIOR TEST]

[Objective: Create one clear scoring chance from open play.]

[Deadline: Halftime]

[Reward: First Touch +0.3]

[ACCEPT MISSION]

[DECLINE MISSION]

Rafael read it once and selected the first option.

[MISSION ACCEPTED]

The panel disappeared before he reached the halfway line.

Mondorf were already taking their positions.

Rafael moved between the centre-backs and glanced toward the defender nearest him. The man was broad without being especially tall, with dark hair cropped short enough that sweat was already visible along his forehead from the warm-up.

His shirt read KIEFFER.

Marius Kieffer.

Kieffer looked toward Rafael before saying something to his defensive partner.

"If he drops, I’ll go."

His partner nodded. "I’m behind you."

There was no crowd to swallow the exchange.

Rafael heard every word.

The referee checked both teams and started the match.

Mondorf played backwards from kickoff while Rafael held his position between the two defenders.

His first real involvement came less than two minutes later.

Caron recovered possession in midfield and turned away from pressure before looking forward. Rafael checked toward him, but Kieffer had already started moving and arrived almost with the pass.

Rafael tried to establish his stance before the contact came.

Kieffer gave him no time.

A shoulder pressed firmly through Rafael’s left side while the defender used his hip to stop him turning. Rafael still managed to touch the ball back toward Caron, although the return lacked enough pace to carry the attack forward.

Caron collected it and sent Metz sideways instead.

Kieffer backed away.

"Every time," he called toward his partner.

Rafael returned to the line.

Mondorf had needed one pass into him to decide how they wanted to defend the next one.

Several minutes later, Metz tried him again.

This time Rafael checked his shoulder early and saw a little more space between himself and Kieffer. The pass travelled firmly along the grass, and Rafael allowed it across his body before bringing it under control.

His first touch moved half a metre too far.

Kieffer stepped across him and knocked the ball into touch before Rafael could recover it.

Caron came over for the throw.

"Closer."

"Yeah."

That was the whole conversation because Caron was already looking for the next option.

Metz kept possession from the restart, but Rafael did not see the ball again for several minutes. Mondorf stayed narrow through midfield, while Kieffer followed whenever Rafael made an obvious movement toward the passer and his partner protected the space behind him.

Rafael moved toward the left centre-back once, then returned between them when the ball went elsewhere.

The next attack developed down the opposite side.

Still nothing.

He could feel the irritation building before he admitted it was there.

A Metz midfielder collected possession near halfway and turned away from pressure. Rafael saw the ball and came much farther toward midfield than the shape required.

The first pass went to Caron instead.

Rafael kept moving.

Caron found him square.

The pressure came from behind before Rafael could release the ball.

Not Kieffer.

Mondorf’s holding midfielder had tracked him into the space, and Rafael had never looked for him.

A boot came around his right side and took the ball cleanly.

Mondorf broke forward before Metz could reset.

Rafael turned and immediately saw what his movement had removed. There was nobody occupying the position ahead of the midfield, and one pass went directly through the space before another released Mondorf’s winger on the left.

He drove inside and shot low from outside the box.

Metz’s goalkeeper got down quickly enough to push it beyond the far post.

"Rafa!"

The assistant coach was pointing back toward Mondorf’s centre-backs.

"Stay with them. Let the midfield bring the game to you."

Rafael lifted one hand. "Yeah."

Caron stopped beside him while Mondorf prepared for the corner.

"If you’re standing next to me, I’ve got nobody ahead when I turn."

"I know."

"Then stay up there."

There was no anger in his voice, only impatience with a mistake he expected Rafael not to repeat.

Rafael jogged back toward Kieffer.

The previous week had already taught him not to chase possession simply because he had gone several minutes without touching the ball, yet the first time a senior match made him feel anonymous, he had done exactly that.

Mondorf restarted after the corner was cleared, and Rafael stayed between the centre-backs even when possession moved away from him.

Caron stopped forcing passes toward him.

Rafael noticed that as well.

He had lost the ball in a position that nearly produced a goal at the other end, so the midfielder had become more selective.

Fair enough.

Mondorf built from the goalkeeper again.

Rafael watched the shape rather than the ball alone.

Kieffer received and played into midfield before moving several metres wider. The ball eventually went back to the goalkeeper and returned to him, but Kieffer’s body was already open toward the touchline.

Rafael waited.

Mondorf went inside once more.

Several passes later, possession travelled all the way backwards again.

This time the goalkeeper returned the ball toward Kieffer with the defender facing his own goal.

Rafael went.

He curved his run from the inside, taking away the easy return to the goalkeeper without closing the pass toward the touchline.

Kieffer looked over his shoulder.

Perrin was already preparing to move.

The pass went wide.

"Go!"

Perrin reached the full-back as the ball arrived.

The Mondorf player tried to come back inside, but Rafael had continued his run into that route and forced him to change his mind.

He sent the ball down the touchline instead and put too much weight on it.

Caron stepped across his opponent and recovered possession.

Metz suddenly had the ball thirty metres from goal.

The attack travelled left and ended with a blocked cross, but Rafael was already returning to his position before Mondorf restarted.

Kieffer spoke to the full-back.

"He’s closing the return. Play inside sooner."

The next time the same situation appeared, Kieffer did exactly that.

He released the ball into midfield before Rafael could complete the press.

Rafael slowed instead of chasing him.

The game continued.

Metz began seeing more of the ball as the half settled, and Caron eventually looked forward again.

Rafael checked toward him with Kieffer already tight behind.

There was no point trying to turn.

He protected the ball for a moment, touched it back into Caron’s path and moved away from the contact before Kieffer could trap him there.

Caron moved it toward Perrin.

A few minutes later, Rafael received another difficult pass and returned that one cleanly as well.

The next time Caron faced forward, he searched for Rafael before choosing the wider option.

That was enough.

The goal came midway through the half.

Metz recovered possession near the centre circle and worked it into Caron, who turned with enough space to carry the ball forward.

Rafael began on Kieffer’s left shoulder.

Perrin stayed wide.

Rafael pushed toward the space behind the centre-back, forcing Kieffer to turn and retreat while Mondorf’s left-back narrowed several steps toward the middle.

Caron continued carrying the ball.

Rafael intended to stay high.

Then Perrin moved.

The winger left the touchline and accelerated toward the space opening between Kieffer and the full-back.

Rafael saw the run.

He checked toward Caron.

Kieffer followed immediately because Rafael had already threatened the space behind him.

The pass arrived into Rafael’s feet.

A simple return to Caron was available.

Instead, Rafael opened his right foot and guided the ball through the channel behind Kieffer.

Perrin reached it without slowing.

Mondorf’s full-back turned late and chased him into the box, but Perrin had already moved onto his stronger foot.

The goalkeeper came forward.

Perrin shot across him.

The ball struck the inside of the far post and went in.

Metz led 1–0.

Perrin turned as he jogged back toward halfway.

"Good ball."

Rafael lifted one hand.

Caron passed between them.

"Better."

There was no celebration beyond that.

The referee was already waiting for Mondorf to restart.

Kieffer spoke to his partner before play resumed.

"If the winger comes in, leave him to midfield. Don’t follow that far."

Rafael heard him.

That space was gone.

Mondorf defended him differently after the goal.

Kieffer stayed tighter whenever Rafael came toward midfield, while the holding midfielder took more responsibility when Rafael drifted away from the defensive line.

The next pass into Rafael arrived with the centre-back already leaning through him.

He returned it immediately.

Caron kept moving.

A few minutes later, Rafael tried to let another pass run across his body and turn away from the pressure, but Kieffer blocked the route before Rafael could get around him.

The ball went backwards again.

"You’re not getting that," Kieffer said as they separated.