章 9: The first 45

The sun blared its rays on the pitch making the well-conditioned grass glitter and sparkle, all had been set for the match and all its participants have arrived. The two coaches Paul and Frank went to a corner to discuss all while the players were warming up.

The referee was appointed from the Marion side and would judge the friendly match between the two teams. Paul walked back to his team. He had already set their roles and told them what play style they should use as well as the players they should look out for.

The team lineups are.

Marion.

Formation: 4-4-2

Coach: Paul Siegfried.

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Goalkeeper (1) Jeremiah Clinton.

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Left back (3) Mark Birch.

Center back(6) Everest Wallflower.

Center Back(4) Kyle Fitzgerald.

Right back(2) Silvestre Perkins.

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Left MF(54) Nagisa Aoto.

Center MF(43) Xavier Leon Frederick.

Attacking MF(23) Liam Briar.

Right MF(17) [Captain] Arthur Posey.

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Center forward(19) Xiao Haoyu.

Center forward(31) Benjamin Parker.

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Subs. GK(1) Roland Ian, CB(8) Trevor Garrison, CB(65) Gregory West, CMF(10) Lucas Carter, CF(84) Max Basil, CF(27) Byron Whitaker.

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Tenzin.

Formation. 5-4-1

Coach: Frank Martin

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Goalkeeper(1) Richard Tellagado.

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Left back(3) Kevin Hans Jr.

Center back(31) Winston Shaw.

Center back(20) Grant Jeremy.

Center back(52) Victor Ferdinand.

Right back(91) Henry Bale.

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Left MF(13) Chance Tremblay.

Defensive MF(16) [Captain] John Faraday.

Attacking MF(25) Aaron James-Taylor.

Right MF(47) Quentin Thomas.

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Center Forward(9) Tony Octavio Maximus.

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Subs: GK(1) Oswaldo Peters, LB(86) Patrick Munley, CB(66) Logan Christian, CMF(12) Leonardo Adams, CMF(56) Jonas Davidson, SS(18) Curtis Arnold.

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Both teams lined up opposite each other on the pitch before shaking hands and then running to their respective halves, the referee flipped a coin and pointed to Marion. The home team would be starting the match and things were going swimmingly, Paul had predicted that Tenzin would go for a defensive lineup and most passes would be directed to the main striker. Tony.

The ref blew his whistle signaling the start of the match and Xiao passed to Benjamin, the strikers wouldn't be able to cut through all that so the ball was passed into the midfield. Tenzin wasn't pressing the ball for some reason, they were prepared to intercept and mark but they didn't make a move.

"It's almost as if they're avoiding something," Cory said watching the game from the sidelines.

"..." Paul didn't say a word, he couldn't afford to break his concentration.

Byron heard Cory's words and it also seemed like Tenzin was avoiding something but even he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

Xavier passed the ball over to Liam and the attacking midfielder ran with it, Xiao and Benjamin ran into the opposition's half but were being marked tightly. Liam stopped and lobbed the ball over to Nagisa, time was going and not one attack had been made. The defensive formation of Tenzin didn't move an inch except to mark the strikers.

Nagisa ran along the left side of the pitch and although he had nice pace and good control immediately he got within 30 yards of the goal, three defenders cornered him and snatched the ball.

"Are they going to start their attack?" Arthur thought and moved back.

"Here." Winston passed to Victor and the defender cleared the ball, sending it to the opposition's side of the field. Xavier took control of the cleared ball but was confused. There were no openings in their defense, and Tony their one striker entered the midfield making it 5 defenders and 5 midfielders.

The match went on like this for a while, passes would connect but once the ball got within 30 yards of the pitch 3 defenders or midfielders would corner the player and take it away, right before they clear it back into Marion's side of the pitch.

There were no tackles in the match, no throw-ins, no corners, no free kicks, the first 45 minutes were just gruesomely boring and each player Marion player was annoyed. "Is this how you're gonna play? how are you going to win!" Arthur shouted but no one responded.

The ball would be passed around in the midfield, Liam would hit a deep pass into a striker who penetrated the defense but immediately the striker took hold of it. The ball would be taken away by 3 players from Tenzin and then cleared back into Marion's half.

Byron examined each player on the pitch, he almost enjoyed watching from the sidelines because of how much he saw. One-touch football would be the way to destroy the defense but putting too many players up might go sour and end up in a counterattack by the opposition. He visualized what he would do if he was with the ball and simultaneously he thought about what Tenzin might've been trying to avoid.

Minutes passed on the pitch without any movement being made by either side, Marion was already out of breath from running in and running back out of Tenzin's half. There wasn't much of a crowd today besides the few bystanders who saw the players line up and then came to spectate and even they were bored of the exhibition they were watching.

After minutes of watching and thinking, Byron knew exactly how he'd play if he was on. However, it was a risk. Each time a player had the ball in their half Tenzin would send three players to take it away from them effectively stopping passing lanes and running lanes but what if there were three players together? If three people charged Tenzin with the ball all clustered up, 3 defenders wouldn't be enough and 9 defenders would be one too many. If they sent 6 defenders or six midfielders, a space would open up on the pitch and a pass would be possible.

The referee blew his whistle and both teams walked to their benches after what seemed like 90 minutes had passed, Annabel passed out water bottles to the team and looked at her brother. This wasn't how he played regularly meaning something was up. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on but was sure it was something bad.

"You guys will be pairing up in threes when going on the attack, my prediction that they would attack heavily by passing nonstop to Tony was wrong. However, the game is not over yet."

"Yeah guys, I was thinking that too. The midfield would all group up taking two players from the defense and charging up once the strikers breakthrough. Everest and Silvestre would be in charge of defending the goal while all of us go up front." Arthur told his team, assuming his role as captain.

Everyone on the team agreed to the proposition and set out to play the remaining 45 minutes but something still felt off. Cory had said something earlier that Paul was starting to consider a bit more, but what could they possibly have been trying to avoid?

"That's Winston isn't it?" Roland asked looking at Lucas and Byron cocked his head to the Tenzin bench.

"Yeah I heard he dropped out of Marion and went to another school, it's amazing that he's here at Tenzin." Lucas confirmed.

"That's what they're avoiding!" Both Byron and Paul said in unison.

"It's Benjamin, they aren't going to defend anymore!" Paul shouted and the referee blew his whistle.

Tony passed the ball to Aaron and the midfielder cleared the ball back into Marion's half. "Going with the same strategy again." Liam set himself to grab the ball but immediately after the ball landed he didn't see it anymore. A dark figure passed him by and immediately he turned back he saw the ball in the back of the net and Tony running back to his teammates.

The pitch was already silent before the goal was scored but now it was dead quiet, not one player expected an attack but that wasn't even the scary part. No one on and outside the pitch saw Tony move a muscle.