Chapter 126: Volume 2, - 126: The First Alvalade Night

Chapter 126: Volume 2, Chapter 126: The First Alvalade Night

The floodlights hummed softly against the damp night air, their white glare reflecting off the saturated grass of the Alvalade.

On Villarreal’s right flank, Víctor Moren picked up the ball for a quick throw-in. Rayan bent his knees, staying light on his toes three meters inside the touchline. His lungs burned with a steady heat, his calves feeling heavier each time he reset his stance in the block.

"Rayan! Back two! Cover the inside channel!" Gonçalo Inásio yelled from behind, his arm extended to point out the gap between Rayan and Morino.

Rayan immediately shuffled backwards, adjusting his angle relative to Manu Triguero, who was dropping low to offer a short option. Víctor Moren threw down the line instead. Rayan dropped with Moren’s return run, extending his leg to cut off Triguero’s low passing lane into the box.

"Good recovery from Rayan there. Inásio gives him the correction, and the youngster closes the inside lane immediately."

"Again!" Triguero called, forced to turn backward.

Villarreal recycled the ball through midfield, shifting the play across the pitch. Danis Tasend slipped the ball inside to Álex Baeno.

Baeno opened his body twenty meters out and whipped a rising, right-footed effort toward the far top corner. Franco Ismael sprang across his goal, leaping laterally to push it over the crossbar with a loud, two-handed slap.

"What a save from Franco Ismael! Baeno looking for the consolation, and Sporting’s goalkeeper preserves the clean sheet!"

"That’s the concentration Amorim will want at three-nil. The game is won, but the clean sheet still has to be protected."

"FRANCO!" someone roared behind the goal. Hands cracked together across the lower stand as Ismael pushed himself upright, clapped his gloves twice, and shouted to his backline. "Organize! Mark the back post!"

Rayan retreated to the edge of the eighteen-yard box, tracking the late run of Danis Tasend as the corner was prepared. He positioned himself between the ball and the fullback, keeping one arm extended to maintain spatial awareness. Inásio rose in the crowded center, powering a clear header out toward the halfway line.

Morino gathered the loose ball, took a heavy second touch, and was brought down by a tactical foul from Capou.

Before the free kick could be taken, the head referee signaled a stoppage. The fourth official raised the board: red 72, green 13.

Eduardo Quaresmo turned toward the bench, pulling at the tape around his wrist as Luís Nedo waited on the line.

A second board followed: red 9, green 77.

Viktor Gyoker bent forward once, hands on his knees, before jogging toward Jovani Cabral.

"Two final Sporting changes here: fresh legs for the closing minutes as Luís Nedo and Jovani Cabral enter."

The fourth official then raised the electronic board once more, showing four added minutes.

"Four minutes of added time at the Alvalade."

Morino rolled the free kick short to Inásio.

"Ousmane!" Inásio called, rolling the ball across the backline.

Ousmane Diamande received it, stepped forward two paces, and put the sole of his boot on the leather. Jovani Cabral signaled for a long run down the right, but Diamande shook his head.

"Back," Diamande muttered, turning to play a crisp ground pass to Franco Ismael. Ismael held the ball until Brereton Díez committed to a late chase, then clipped a simple pass left to Inásio as the clock ticked past 93:40.

Pepe Rein sent one final long clearance upfield from the Villarreal box. Nedo controlled it cleanly on his chest, dropped a short layoff to Morino, and the head referee raised his whistle to his lips.

Three sharp blasts echoed across the stadium.

"And there is the final whistle! Sporting CP secure a convincing three-nil victory over Villarreal CF to claim the Troféu Cinco Violinos!"

"Three-nil, a clean sheet, and Sporting’s senior players have controlled the night. Rayan Duarte El Mansouri gets his first Alvalade senior-team minutes as part of it."

"SPORTING! SPORTING!"

Green-and-white scarves lifted behind the goal. Karim’s section joined the chant as players began walking toward one another across the pitch.

Rayan slowed his jog to a walk, placing his hands on his hips. Sweat ran down his forehead, stinging his eyes. Beside him, Matteo Gabbio approached, unbuttoning his wrist tape. The Italian defender extended an open palm toward Rayan.

"Good tempo, kid," Gabbio said in English, giving Rayan’s hand a firm, brief shake. "Keep working."

"Thank you," Rayan replied, nodding.

Two meters away, Pedro Gonsalves pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it toward Pepe Rein. The veteran goalkeeper caught it against his chest, chuckled, and peeled off his own yellow jersey to hand back. Near the center line, Hidemasa Morino walked over to the head official, shaking hands with the referee team while chatting quietly with Manu Triguero.

A group of stadium stewards brought out a long, carpeted dais, setting it up near the center circle alongside a small table draped in Sporting’s green-and-white banner. The Troféu Cinco Violinos sat gleaming under the floodlights.

Rui Amorim walked onto the pitch, slapping Morino and Jovani on their backs before stopping in front of Rayan. Amorim offered a brief, dry handshake. "Good discipline in the pitch. Get into the line for the photograph."

The squad gathered around the presentation table as Sebastian Coatez returned from the bench area to join the group. Coatez stood at the center, lifting the heavy silver trophy into the air to a loud cheer from the supporters.

"And Sebastian Coatez raises the Troféu Cinco Violinos. Three goals, a clean sheet, and a strong presentation night for Sporting."

"And somewhere on the edge of that photograph is fifteen-year-old number eighty-two. A small first step tonight for Rayan Duarte El Mansouri."

Rayan took up a position on the far left edge of the group, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Geni Catano and Paulino Vieira, clapping as the stadium photographers’ flashes went off in rapid succession.

He raised his eyes toward Section Three of the hospitality balcony. The distance and the glare of the floodlights made it impossible to distinguish individual faces, but he could see three figures standing against the glass, waving down at the pitch. Rayan raised a hand in return, holding it up for two seconds before turning back to join the team’s lap of honor.

As he crossed the threshold of the player tunnel, stepping off the grass and back onto the concrete corridor, his vision flickered with a quiet, pale amber luminescence.

[CAREER MILESTONE VERIFIED.]

[FIRST SENIOR-TEAM APPEARANCE AT ESTÁDIO JOSÉ ALVALADE.]

[COMPETITION TYPE: FRIENDLY.]

[REWARD: TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT SLOT ×1.]

---

[DEVELOPMENT SLOT DETAILS:]

Unlocks 1 Dedicated Project Slot for Technical Skill Training.

[PLAYER STATUS UPDATE:]

Overall Rating (OVR): 53

EXP Granted: 0

Skill Unlocks: None

Rayan closed the interface with a subtle glance downward.

He unlaced his left boot outside the dressing room door, sitting on the low wooden bench in the corridor. The damp smell of grass and wet leather rose from the studs. Down the hall, the sound of music and laughing teammates echoed off the tiles, but Rayan just sat for a moment, untying the double knot on his right lace, his fingers cold against the mud.