บท 9: Chapter 9: An Almost Perfect Debut
Chapter 9: An Almost Perfect Debut
Here we go again!
In this match, Novara played with a 4-4-2 formation, with Bruno coming on as a substitute and occupying the right midfielder position, but he didn't just stay in a fixed position, his presence extended across the entire attacking front.
For instance, when he scored his first professional goal, he was on the right side. But in subsequent shooting attempts, some were from the center and others from the left. This time, he was on the left side.
Cesena's right-back was the talented Emanuel Fante, a 20-year-old player who was already attracting attention from several Serie A teams. But at this moment, facing Bruno, two years younger than him, Fante was experiencing the greatest challenge of his professional career.
After playing more than eighty minutes, Fante's physical endurance was reaching its limit, and now he was facing the newly-entered Bruno, full of energy. When Fante saw Bruno receive the ball again on the left side, he had no choice but to confront him, while calling on his teammates to defend, including Cesena's right midfielder and a center midfielder.
At this moment, Fante and Cesena's right midfielder approached to press from front and back, while the defensive midfielder dropped back to assist in defense, and the central defender stayed back to protect the area. It seemed like there were no cracks in the defense, but the fans in front of the television were filled with anticipation, expecting a magical performance from Bruno, as similar scenes had occurred several times in the last ten minutes.
...
"Here we go again! Bruno faces the pressure from several defenders. What skill will he show us this time?" exclaimed De Canio, Novara's local commentator.
Bruno played with the ball with his right foot, like a master playing the violin.
"He's the player with the best touch I've ever seen," commented De Canio with amazement.
On the screen, Bruno wasn't looking at the ball, but the ball seemed to be like an enchanting elf, spinning around his feet.
Suddenly, his body stopped, like a sudden change of rhythm in a symphony. A touch with the right foot, another with the left, and then he sent the ball in the other direction with his left foot.
These two light touches caused Fante's and Cesena's right midfielder's rhythm to accelerate, involuntarily leaning towards the left.
Bruno's weight shifted to the right, and with a light touch of the right foot, and a push with the left foot, his body shot forward like an arrow, easily surpassing the two Cesena players.
As they tried to regain their balance, the two players slipped and fell backward, completely losing their defensive position.
The Cesena defensive midfielder approaching from behind had to hurry and launch into a desperate slide.
It was an all-or-nothing situation: either stop Bruno or let him face the defensive line directly.
He had no other choice, because he couldn't match Bruno's speed or pace anymore. His only option was to commit a foul!
...
"Watch out!"
Amidst the shouts of De Canio and the fans, Bruno seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and suddenly stopped. The Cesena midfielder could only watch helplessly as Bruno passed by him, without touching him, while his own momentum made him slide forward and away considerably.
When he turned to look, Bruno was already carrying the ball towards the area, and the tall Cesena central defender in front of him looked like a stake, completely deceived by Bruno's movement.
Fortunately, Cesena's goalkeeper, Alessio Teodorani, quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Bruno.
"Bruno! Oh oh oh! After passing four players, he now has Teodorani in front of him."
Teodorani moved quickly, positioning himself correctly and blocking all possible shooting lines from Bruno.
He even intentionally left a space at the top of his head, hoping to tempt Bruno to shoot over him.
The one-on-one between the goalkeeper and the forward is a game of wits.
In the blink of an eye, Bruno was facing Teodorani with the ball.
Teodorani felt a great relief in his heart. The closer he was to the forward, the narrower the shooting angle would be and the greater the chance of saving the ball.
Just at that moment, something happened that left Teodorani desperate: Bruno passed the ball!
He gently pushed it towards the center, where Novara's forward, Mohamedi, easily received it and pushed it into the empty goal.
Teodorani was stunned. Why the hell did he pass the ball? Shouldn't most forwards try a one-on-one with the goalkeeper?
What kind of play was that?
...
Everyone was very surprised. After dribbling past four defenders, why would Bruno choose to pass the ball instead of trying to score himself? Shouldn't his only vision at that moment be the goal? Who knows if there was any teammate trailing in the center of the field?
But almost no one expected what Bruno did, passing the ball accurately and avoiding the Cesena central defender, landing right at the feet of Novara's forward, Mohamedi.
Obviously, while dribbling, Bruno had been observing the situation in the center of the field and had a clear understanding of the position of the players from both teams.
To be honest, when the ball appeared in front of him, Mohamedi was also very surprised.
He was simply making his usual run forward, and never thought Bruno would pass the ball in that situation.
That was too selfless!
Were there really people like that?
After pushing the ball into Cesena's empty goal, Mohamedi stopped briefly, then ran towards Bruno, thanking him for his selfless assist.
The other Novara players also joined in to celebrate with Mohamedi, who had scored a hat-trick that day.
Although it was Mohamedi who scored the goal, during the celebration, the focus was on Bruno. Everyone knew that 99% of the credit for that goal belonged to Bruno.
As for Mohamedi's goal, even their grandmothers could have scored it.
Even the commentators focused their attention on Bruno. They talked about his impressive dribbles, his precise passes, his selflessness...
...
With Bruno's assist in the match, helping Novara change the score to 5-1, Cesena's fighting spirit was completely crushed.
At the 85th minute, after a powerful two-on-one combination in the center of the field, Bruno shot forcefully, overcoming Teodorani's attempted block, but unfortunately the ball hit the post and bounced back into the area, where another Novara forward, Pablo González, pushed the ball into the net.
Bruno achieved another assist.
6-1.
That was the final result of the match, as shortly after Novara scored their sixth goal, the head referee blew the final whistle.
After the match, although the Man of the Match award went to Mohamedi for his poker of goals, Bruno also received praise.
Even major newspapers in Italy like La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport mentioned the young Portuguese midfielder in their reports the next day, albeit only in a small corner.
After all, this was just a Serie B match.
But in Novara, Bruno quickly won the love of the fans.
Smiling boys are always loved, and even more so if they play football so well!
And in the coach's heart, Tessar, Bruno's performance, although not yet enough to be an immediate starter, had convinced him to give him more opportunities to prove his worth.
Of course, it wasn't that Tessar thought Bruno lacked the ability to be a starter in Novara, but he believed Bruno needed time to fully integrate into the team.
And that, both for Bruno and Novara, was the best option.
(End of Chapter)
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