NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Making waves
The Valencia u19 team was to meet the Real Betis u19 team some 4 days after the match with the Sevilla u19s.
The Match with Sevilla u19 had proved to be a tough nut to crack as neither was willing to lose.
Ultimately, Valencia u19 won by 4 goals to 3. Izan after the match celebrated with his team and was ecstatic as he was on his way to completing the serial challenge issued by the system.
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Izan stared at the holographic page infront of him. He had accumulated some stat points as he was close to completing the serial challenged issued by the system.
Quest
[1* Host should score 7 goals and make 5 assists in the remaining matches.]
Reward: +5 stat point
+10000 lp
Status: goals[10/7] | assists[7/5]
Completed
[2* Valencia U19 should top group 7]
Reward:+10 stat points
+7000 lp
Status: Completed
[3* Win in the quarter finals of the 'Copa de campeones de juvenil']
Reward: +15 stat point
Status:Completed.
[4* Win in the semi finals of the 'Copa de campeones de juvenil']
Reward: +20 stat point
+20000 lp
Status: not yet
[5*Win in the finals of the 'Copa de campeones de juvenil']
Reward: +25 stat point
1 free trait and 40000 lp
First team call up.
Status :not yet
Izan saw that the completed quests had given him 30 stat points and 17,000 lp points. He was overjoyed as the recent changes to the system had made it a bit hard for him to accumulate points.
Izan looked at the quests for a while before opening his player information.
PLAYER INFO
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NAME:[IZAN MIURA HERNANDEZ]
AGE:[14]
HEIGHT:[1.81m(5'11)]
PROFESSION:[FOOTBALLER]
STATUS:[YOUTH PLAYER]
TEAM: Valencia Under-19s
SYSTEM EVALUATION: [Youth prospect]
PLAYER RATING:[68/100]
POSITION:[Wing forward/Attacking midfielder]
POTENTIAL:[89]
LEGEND POINTS:[30,500/67,000 to lv5]
STAT POINTS:[34]
STATS
■■■■
Speed:70
Body control:65
Spatial awareness: 71
Technique: 65
Shooting:66
Passing: 69
Body strength: 68
Weak foot strength: 4 stars
Skill move :4 stars
SKILLS POSSESSED
■■■■■■■■■■■■
Stepovers:92% Completion
La croqueta:77% completion
Cruyff turn:84%Completion
Roulette: 79% Completion
Traits
■■■■
Izan had been wanting to break through the 70 OVR for a while but wanted to wait until he accumulated a lot of stat points. Curious about how the OVR[overall rating] of the senior team were, Izan asked Max.
(Be honest,how many of you forgot max?)
[From my data, the highest OVR on the senior team is 82 whiles the lowest is 68] Max said.
Izan was a bit surprised that,with his Ovr right now ,he could probably be a substitute for the Senior team.
Izan decided to hold off on the upgrade as he wanted to do it after the final.
Izan went and took a shower before he went to bed as there was going to be training tomorrow.
***************
Valencia academy grounds,Paterna
8:30 AM
Izan stood behind the ball as he looked at the dummies infront of him. He had always been the first to arrive for training even though a lot of the players lived nearby.
He looked up before whipping the ball into the back of the net.
Izan was interrupted by a sound of clapping. He looked up and saw an unknown face walking alongside Coach Moreno.
Izan had some idea about the identity of the person who was with Coach Moreno but decided to hear it from him.
"Miura, This is the captain of the under-19s,Pietro Cava" he said whiles pointing to the brown haired youth beside him.
Izan smiled and brought his hand forward for a handshake. Pietro didn't waste anytime and took Izan's hand.
He had heard of a player who had been making waves in the under-19s side but looking at him now ,he didn't look like a kid. Well except for his cute face.
"As coach said,I'm pietro" he said once more. Izan also replied and told pietro his name.
Izan wanted to use the snooping function on him so badly but decided to wait because staring too much at someone was not polite.
"Okay now that the pleasantries are out of the way,you can continue to train Izan. And 'oh' you can also join him pietro if he doesn't mind" Coach Moreno said.
Pietro looked at Izan seeking confirmation to which Izan nodded. Izan was doing freekicks so pietro joined in on the fun.
They both played 5 freekicks each with Izan scoring 5 in 5 kicks and pietro scoring 2 in 5.
Pietro had been the freekick taker before Izan but now,he had to accept that the kid was better than him.
They also did some passing drills to which both of them excelled. Pietro's vision and passing was his strong points but his shooting was also spectacular for a midfielder.
Izna who had heard that pietro had once been called up to the senior team asked him how it was there.
"Well they are friendly if you have some ability but won't delay to toss you aside if you waste their time. Their gameplay too is also sharp and fast. I had to play with them for some time before even getting a bit used to their passes" Pietro said.
The both took some balls to do individual and targeted practices.
Izan decided to use the snooping function on him.
He looked at him and Clicked the icon that looked like a magnifying glass.
Izan smiled at what he saw.
PLAYER INFO
■■■■■■■■■
NAME:[PIETRO LUIS CAVA]
AGE:[18]
HEIGHT:[1.85m(6'16)]
PROFESSION:[FOOTBALLER]
STATUS:[YOUTH PLAYER]
TEAM: Valencia Under-19s
SYSTEM EVALUATION: [Has the potential to be special]
PLAYER RATING:[70/100]
POSITION:[Attacking/central midfielder]
POTENTIAL:[88]
STATS
■■■■
Speed:68
Body control:70
Spatial awareness: 73
Technique: 70
Shooting:65
Passing: 71
Body strength:73
Weak foot strength: 4 stars
Skill move :3 stars
SKILLS POSSESSED
■■■■■■■■■■■■
Stepovers:80% Completion
Cruyff turn:70%Completion
Traits
■■■■
Izan saw that Pietro was up by 2 Ovr(s).
Izan was excited to play with and against Pietro. This was his first time seeing a player who had a higher OVR than him ever since he got the system.
The players started to arrive one by one as it was getting close to 9 o'clock.
The players had a warm up session followed by some stretches and some sprinting.
After that, they had some rondos and some shooting practice which was owned by Hugo,Izan and Pietro.
The players who came and saw Pietro were excited as him being back boosted the morale and overall ability of the team.
After the training session,Coach Moreno decided to make them play a practice match with both pietro and Izan on the same team.
That match was horrifying for the opponent team as both of the two players turned into a nightmare for them.
The two players who had just met played like they had been playing together since they were in their mother's womb.
Izan and pietro were having fun playing with each other as they both seemed to understand each other and where th other would be.
The match ended in a 5-0 win for Izan and pietro's team. Afterwards,Coach Moreno separated both of them and put both of them in teams with the same ability.
The match was exciting as Izan and pietro were at each other necks in the game.
Pietro would make a beautiful pass that would lead to a goal. Then suddenly, Izan would convert a freekick.
The training match ended in a 3-3 draw.
Coach Moreno was in a dilemma as both players were on top of their game.
He was devising a formation that would allow both of them to play when they needed it.
He decided that since,Pietro had just recently returned from injury, he would be on the bench for the next match.
He would then come off the bench for a winger,then Izan would moved to the wings as he could also play on either side of the wings.
Coach Moreno was happy about the attacking options his team had. The training continued for the following days until the match with the Real Betis u19 team.
The match was nothing short of one-sided as Valencia u19 crushed their opponents.
The opening goal of the game was scored by Hugo after receiving a pass from Izan in the 6th minute of the game before shooting it into the net.
The second goal came 10 minutes after the first as Mark,the valencian defender met a header from a corner by Izan.
The keeper had no chance as he stood rooted to the spot. Izan had provided 2 assists since the start of the game and wanted to join in on the scoreboard.
His prayers were heard as he got a rebound ball on the edge of the box.
Not wasting any chance,he volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
The first half ended in Valencia u19 going 3 goals up.
Pietro who was itching to get in on the fun joined the game at the start of the second half.
Izan who moved to the wings became a nightmare to the right back facing him. Izan was going around the player nutmegging him and toying with him.
Pietro put his name on the score sheet as he met a timely pass from Izan to make it 4-0 for Valencia u19.
The spirit of the Real betis u19 had already been broken as none of the players expected such humiliation.
It didn't stop there as Izan and pietro put their names on the score sheet again making the score 6-0 for valencia u19.
Coach Moreno seeing this subbed off Izan. The Valencia u19 fans who saw him coming off stood up and clapped for Izan.
Izan reciprocated this gesture by also clapping for the fans. He had made 5 goal contributions as he scored 2 goals and made 3 assists in the match.
Pedro fontin who came on for Izan also got his name on the scoreboard moments before full time.
The results on the scoreboard was incredible.
Valencia u19 [7]-[0] Real Betis u19
Hugo.6'
Mark.16'
Izan. 24' and 65'
Pietro.49' and 77'
Pedro 90+4'
Coach Moreno was happy by the performance put up by his team.
The news of the Valencia u19 team decimating the Real Betis u19 team by 7 goals to nil spread quickly.
Some 2nd division teams started asking for the services of some of the players on loan.
Some medium and relatively big clubs like lyon, Brighton, Benfica and Arsenal were looking to trigger the release clauses of players like Izan, pietro, Hugo and Andranik.
They were however unlucky as all of the named players had a clause in their contracts which stated that they had to play for the senior team for at least a year before they could move to another club.
The Final of the copa de campeones juvenil was the 30th of May 2022. Izan who was given 2 days off spent them with his family and normally went outside with Olivia as her time for leaving was nearing.
Izan made the most of the days. He had received a notification from the system that he had unlocked the 5 star skill moves and was now eligible to purchase difficult Skill moves.
He had also completed the 4th quest of the serial challenge ano had gained 20 stat points and 20,000 lp points.
He was still deliberating if he should upgrade his Ovr but decided against it.
The players went back to training preparing for the match against Real Madrid u19 as the won 1-0 against Barcelona u19.
The match would be tough and Coach Moreno wanted his players to be at their best whiles making sure no one got injured.
He even had the first team doctors check the fitness levels of the players before they would face Madrid and the results that came out was satisfactory.
They trained until a day before the match which training seized. The tactical aspect followed as they watched the recent matches of the Real Madrid u19 team and tried to find the opponents weakness.
Finally the day of reckoning came as both teams stood in the tunnel waiting to step onto the pitch.