Chapter 36 - 34 - First Game II

Chapter 36: Chapter 34 - First Game II

Rafael looked at him. Kieffer had already turned toward the ball.

Metz kept trying.

Not every combination worked.

Rafael attempted a first-time return toward Caron and put too much pace on it, forcing the midfielder to stop and recover possession instead of continuing forward.

Caron looked at him.

"You had a touch."

Rafael nodded. "Yeah."

"Use it."

The next time the same option appeared, Rafael did.

Mondorf pushed slightly higher as the half approached thirty minutes, which gave Metz more space when possession changed.

Perrin began receiving more often on the right, and another attack ended with the winger looking up for Rafael inside the box.

Rafael moved toward the near post.

Kieffer followed.

The low cross came quickly.

Rafael checked half a step behind the centre-back and managed to reach the ball first, directing it toward the near side of goal.

Mondorf’s goalkeeper had already shifted.

He caught the effort comfortably against his chest.

Rafael turned away and jogged back.

Kieffer glanced at him.

"Better."

Rafael wasn’t sure whether the defender meant it as praise.

He didn’t care enough to ask.

Mondorf created another dangerous attack several minutes later when Metz lost possession near the right touchline. Rafael stayed high rather than following the ball into midfield, and after the move ended with a cross being cleared, Caron collected the second ball and immediately looked forward.

This time Rafael was where he expected him to be.

The pass came.

Kieffer arrived with it.

Rafael laid the ball off first time and spun toward the box.

Caron returned possession into the right channel.

Rafael almost reached it before Mondorf’s second centre-back moved across and cleared.

"Good," Caron called as they turned to press the throw.

The final minutes of the half passed more quickly.

Rafael did not see another shooting opportunity, but he stopped disappearing from the game simply because he wasn’t touching the ball.

Mondorf restarted from their goalkeeper shortly before the break and worked possession back toward Kieffer.

The defender received facing his own goal.

Rafael recognised the trigger and curved his press.

Kieffer recognised it too.

Rather than trying to play short, he sent the ball long before Perrin could close the full-back.

Metz’s centre-back won the first header.

The referee blew for halftime before the second ball settled.

Rafael slowed and walked toward the technical area.

The head coach met him near the line.

"You’re done."

Rafael nodded.

The coach glanced toward the pitch while the second-half players began warming up.

"You were too low early."

"I know."

"You nearly cost us."

"Yeah."

The coach looked back at him.

"Then you settled down."

Rafael waited.

"Good pass for Noah."

"Thanks."

"When we couldn’t get clean possession through midfield, you still struggled to give us something direct. That’s where Mat’s ahead of you at the moment."

Rafael glanced toward Renaud.

"Okay."

"Don’t fix it today. Just understand it."

The coach turned toward the substitutes.

"Get a top on and recover."

Rafael moved away.

Renaud approached the touchline wearing his match shirt.

They passed just outside the technical area.

"How are they?" Renaud asked.

"Kieffer doesn’t shut up."

Renaud looked toward the defender. "Centre-back."

"That explains it?"

"Usually."

Rafael smiled and held out his hand.

Renaud slapped it before jogging onto the pitch.

The second half began with the same defenders Rafael had just spent forty-five minutes dealing with, but Renaud offered them a different problem.

His first long-ball duel went badly.

Kieffer got above him and headed clear.

On the next one, Renaud tried to hold his position with an arm across the defender and conceded a foul.

He didn’t complain.

The third time Metz played directly into him, Renaud established his stance earlier, absorbed Kieffer’s contact and laid the ball into Caron’s path.

Several minutes later, he won an aerial duel and headed possession toward a midfielder moving beyond him.

Rafael watched from the bench.

That was the part Renaud did better.

The difference showed just as clearly when Metz tried to play faster.

Caron fired a pass into Renaud during a transition and moved immediately for the return.

Renaud took an extra touch to secure the ball.

By the time he released it, Mondorf’s midfield had recovered.

"Quicker, Mat," Caron called.

Renaud lifted a hand.

On the next similar action, he returned the pass first time.

The second half became less useful for comparison once both teams started making substitutions. Midfielders changed, full-backs rotated and Mondorf eventually replaced both centre-backs, including Kieffer.

Metz lost some of the rhythm they had found before halftime.

Mondorf equalised after a cross from the left was only partially cleared and the loose ball dropped to an attacker inside the penalty area.

The finish made it 1–1.

Neither side found another goal before the referee ended the match.

Rafael stood with the other substitutes and followed the players toward the changing building.

Blue light appeared across his vision.

[POST-MATCH SUMMARY]

[Result: Draw]

[Final Score: 1–1]

[Individual Performance: One Assist]

[Mission Status: Completed]

[Unclaimed Rewards: 1]

[VIEW REWARD]

He left it unopened until he was inside.

Once the players began separating toward the showers and lockers, Rafael selected the notification.

[MISSION REWARD]

[First Touch +0.3]

[CLAIM REWARD]

Rafael accepted it.

[First Touch increased by 0.3.]

[All Mission Rewards Collected.]

[CLOSE]

The panel disappeared.

Three-tenths wasn’t going to solve the problems Kieffer had given him, but Rafael hadn’t expected it to.

He sat down and began removing the tape from his ankle.

Perrin and Caron were talking nearby.

"You were late with that run twice before the goal," Caron told him.

Perrin frowned. "I scored."

"You can score and still be late."

"That sounds made up."

Caron looked toward Rafael.

"Was he late?"

Rafael pulled another section of tape free.

"Twice."

Perrin stared at him. "Traitor."

Rafael smiled.

"But the third one was good."

"Exactly."

"That’s not what exactly means," Caron said.

Perrin ignored him and pointed toward Rafael.

"Ball was good too."

"Run helped."

Caron shook his head and reached for his shirt.

The conversation moved on.

Rafael returned to his ankle tape.

A week earlier he had barely known either of them. Now they were including him in an ordinary argument about a goal without treating the assist as anything remarkable.

The head coach entered after most of the players had settled.

"Recovery tomorrow. Normal work Tuesday."

The room quietened.

"We’re keeping the group together another week."

Rafael looked up.

The coach glanced toward him and Renaud.

"You two stay."

Both nodded.

"Next game we’re not splitting the position evenly. We’ll work toward a more settled opening group."

He looked at Renaud first.

"Mat, your direct work was useful. When the next pass is there, move it quicker."

Renaud nodded. "Yeah."

Then Rafael.

"Rafa, you found good spaces once you stopped chasing the ball. We still need more from you when the game gets direct."

"Understood."

"Thursday you’ll both work with the same group. We’ll make the call after that."

That was all.

The coach moved on to the recovery schedule.

Later, once Rafael had showered and changed, he stopped beside the updated programme outside the dressing room.

Thursday’s tactical session included a separate attacking group.

Caron.

Perrin.

Two other senior players.

Then the centre-forwards.

Mathieu Renaud

Rafael Morales

Rafael looked at the two names for a moment before leaving.

His first senior forty-five minutes had kept him in the group.

Thursday would decide who got the next start.