Chapter 52 - 50 - What a Moment!

Chapter 52: Chapter 50 - What a Moment!

Rafael was already reaching for his training top.

He jogged down the touchline and gradually increased the pace through several short accelerations, then opened his hips and changed direction a few times before returning.

The assistant checked the match while Rafael approached.

"You feeling good?"

"Yeah."

"Fine. Start wide when we’ve got settled possession. If the ball goes to Noah’s side, you can come around Mat. Just make sure we’re not leaving our left-back alone every time they break."

Rafael nodded. "Got it."

The instruction was brief enough that neither of them needed to discuss it further.

The ball went out a minute later.

Rafael exchanged hands with the player leaving the pitch and ran into position while Metz prepared the restart. Renaud stayed between Fortuna’s centre-backs, Perrin moved toward the right, and Rafael took the opposite side.

Metz circulated the ball across their defence until the left-back had room to advance.

Rafael stayed wide rather than coming immediately toward possession, which kept Fortuna’s right-back from narrowing toward Renaud.

The pass eventually came into his feet.

Rafael checked inside before the ball reached him and saw a midfielder beginning to close from that direction. He returned possession with one touch and continued beyond the full-back.

Caron saw the movement, but the covering midfielder recovered quickly enough to block the lane, so he turned and switched the ball toward the other side instead.

Rafael slowed and returned to his position.

Fortuna attacked down his flank soon afterwards.

Their right-back pushed beyond the winger before Metz had completely settled, and Rafael went with him while the left-back stayed closer to the ball carrier.

The pass travelled outside.

Rafael followed the run far enough that the right-back could not receive facing forward, forcing him to send possession backwards before Metz pushed out again.

Two minutes later, the same player went beyond him from deeper.

Rafael turned and tracked him almost to the edge of Metz’s defensive third before the attack broke down. Caron anticipated a return pass into midfield, stepped ahead of his opponent and won the ball cleanly.

Metz immediately moved forward.

Rafael changed direction with them and accelerated. His opening strides were fine, but the long recovery run had not completely left his legs by the time Perrin broke down the opposite side.

Renaud sprinted between the centre-backs, and Caron released Perrin.

Rafael kept going.

Perrin reached the attacking third and drove the ball across the six-yard area. Renaud attacked the near side but could not get a touch, and the cross continued through the space behind him before rolling beyond the far post.

Rafael was only reaching the edge of the penalty area.

Renaud looked toward the empty space for a moment as he slowed, then turned and began moving back up the pitch.

Rafael did the same while Fortuna restarted before either of them spoke.

The next time their centre-backs passed between themselves, Rafael shifted across with the ball rather than sprinting at whichever defender happened to receive it. Renaud remained central instead of pressing, so there was little value in Rafael travelling fifteen metres only to open a pass behind him.

When the ball eventually went toward Fortuna’s right side, Rafael closed the angle and stopped once the defender played backwards, allowing his breathing to settle while Metz moved together.

A few minutes later, Caron recovered possession near halfway.

Rafael was wide enough to receive immediately.

Caron played the ball toward him, and Rafael returned it inside before the right-back could arrive. He then continued forward, but instead of running down the touchline, he angled into the space between the full-back and nearest centre-back.

The right-back followed.

Behind Rafael, Metz’s left-back accelerated into the outside lane.

Caron spotted the overlap and released him.

The Fortuna defender looked toward the ball before checking Rafael’s movement inside, and that brief hesitation left him too far from either player.

Metz’s full-back reached the attacking third.

Rafael continued into the area while Renaud occupied the two centre-backs.

The low cross came toward the near side.

Rafael attacked the first space, taking one defender with him, and the ball travelled behind them toward the penalty spot.

Renaud arrived onto it and opened his body.

His first-time finish went across the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

3–1.

Rafael’s momentum carried him past the near post before he turned.

Renaud was already heading toward the full-back who delivered the cross, and Perrin arrived from the opposite side moments later.

Rafael joined them as Renaud put an arm briefly around the full-back’s shoulders.

"Perfect," Renaud said, still breathing hard.

Perrin came alongside them and looked toward the goal. "He still had to finish it."

Renaud glanced at him. "Thank you, Noah."

"I wasn’t complimenting you."

Renaud laughed and started back toward halfway, while Rafael followed without adding anything.

Fortuna’s right-back stayed slightly deeper after the restart.

When Rafael next received near the touchline, the defender stopped several metres away rather than closing immediately.

Rafael carried the ball inward onto his stronger foot.

A midfielder recovered across him while the centre-back remained occupied by Renaud, leaving Rafael enough room to take another touch before shooting from outside the area.

The effort travelled through the gap but stayed too close to the goalkeeper, who caught it cleanly against his chest.

Rafael turned and began recovering.

Renaud passed him on the way forward.

"I was there."

"You also had two defenders with you."

Renaud glanced back toward the centre-backs. "I’ve had worse company."

Rafael smiled and kept moving.

As both teams made more substitutions, the match became less controlled. Fresh players attacked spaces faster, while those who had been on longer needed an extra second to recover whenever possession changed.

Rafael could feel the difference in his own legs.

He still tracked the right-back when the run threatened Metz’s shape, but he stopped wasting energy when possession had already travelled away from his side. When Metz regained the ball, he checked what was developing before committing himself to another sprint.

Caron recovered possession once near halfway and immediately looked left.

Rafael had room ahead of him, but Perrin was already moving on the opposite side and Renaud had started through the middle, so Rafael stayed underneath the attack instead.

Caron played toward Perrin.

Fortuna eventually won the ball near their own corner and tried to counter through midfield, but Rafael was still close enough to help close the first pass. The loose ball fell back to Caron, who controlled it and turned forward again.

When Caron recovered possession again a few moments later, the opening was better and Rafael committed to the run.

The second attack carried Metz back into the final third before Fortuna cleared.

His legs remained heavy, but he had managed the workload well enough that they were still useful whenever the right run appeared.

With a little over ten minutes remaining, another Metz player began warming beside the technical area.

Rafael noticed the board being prepared and saw his number appear when play stopped.

He jogged toward the touchline.

Renaud came across while the substitute waited to enter.

"You good?"

"Yeah."

Renaud nodded. "All right."

Rafael held out his hand, and Renaud slapped it before returning to the middle.

Rafael exchanged hands with his replacement and stepped off.

The assistant passed him a bottle.

"Walk for a minute before you sit."

Rafael nodded and continued along the touchline while drinking.

Nobody stopped him for an immediate review because the match was still going, and Rafael was content to leave it that way.

When he eventually sat down, the muscles through his thighs felt heavier than they had after most of his central appearances during preseason.

Metz managed the remaining minutes without adding another goal.

Fortuna created one late chance when their winger cut inside and sent a low shot beyond the far post, but the final whistle eventually confirmed the 3–1 win.

Rafael stood with the other substitutes and returned to the pitch.

Players exchanged handshakes before splitting toward their respective changing rooms. Renaud stayed behind for several seconds speaking with one of Fortuna’s centre-backs, while Perrin had already started toward the tunnel with Caron.

Rafael followed the others inside.

By the time the squad had showered and changed, supporters were still gathered along the barrier outside the route toward the team bus.

Several senior players stopped almost immediately, and shirts, programmes and phones began appearing through the gaps.

Rafael adjusted the strap of his bag and continued walking.

"Morales!"

He glanced toward the barrier, although there were enough players around him that he initially kept moving.

"Rafa!"

The second call was closer.

Rafael stopped and turned.

A boy near the front was holding a Metz shirt in one hand and a black marker in the other.

"Can you sign it?"

Rafael looked behind him.

Caron and two of the defenders were still coming from the building.

He turned back toward the boy.

"You mean me?"

The boy nodded quickly. "Yeah."

Rafael smiled and stepped over.

"All right. Give me the pen."

The shirt already carried several signatures across the front. Rafael recognised Caron’s near the crest and another belonging to one of the senior defenders farther down.

He found an open space along the side.

"Here okay?"

"Anywhere."

Rafael rested the fabric against the top of the barrier and signed his name before handing the marker back.

The boy looked down at it for a second.

"Can you put the nine?"

Rafael’s hand stopped before he completely released the pen.

"The nine?"

The boy nodded and pointed beside the signature.

"Please."

Rafael took the marker again and added a small 9 beside his name.

"There you go."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Someone farther along the barrier called Rafael’s name as he stepped away, but the bus driver was already waving the remaining players over.

Rafael started toward the bus, then glanced back when he heard the boy speaking excitedly to someone beside him.

The shirt was raised between them, covered with the signatures of senior Metz players, and Rafael’s name now sat among them with a small number nine beside it.

He looked at it for another moment before turning and climbing onto the bus.