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Chapter 31: Porto Juniors vs Familicao U-19: An Unfamiliar Face
The match resumed once again and the Familicao team began pressing aggressively once again, but the FC Porto Junior's team's players who had gotten a good ear dressing from their coach didn't lose their cool and succumb to the Familicao team's high press.
Instead, they passed the ball cleverly among themselves and gave the ball to their teammates as soon as they saw an approaching Familicao player.
With this style of play, the Familicao team's players quickly tired out and the Porto team managed to retain possession and slowly began to work their way up the field and into the opponent's half.
Joao Teixeira had just received the ball from Andre Oliveira and he had quickly sent the ball towards Tiago Andrade who was open on the left side of the field.
Tiago received the ball and took off down the open left side of the field aiming to either get close enough to send the ball into the box or to cut into the box on his own, but before he could get far his path was blocked by two Familicao's players.
He slowed down and flicked the ball between his feet, trying to find some space to dribble the ball past them, but the players didn't commit to the tackle and seemed intent on pushing him out of the pitch.
Seeing that he couldn't get past them, he tried to look for other passing options, but the Familicao players had everyone around tightly marked, but luckily he found Umaro Cande on the right side of the field unmarked and quickly sent a cross-field pass toward him.
Umaro quickly positioned himself to be able to trap the ball, but as the ball approached his outstretched leg, so did Jose Macedo, a midfielder from the Familicao team.
Jose Macedo jumped into a sliding tackle at the ball, trying to clear it before it reached Umaro, but then ended up in a collision with Jose's outstretched leg, slamming into Umaro with force and both of them ended up on the floor while the ball rolled out of play.
{That looks like it'd hurt} the commentator said as he watched the two players collide.
Jose soon rose from the floor, but Umaro was left on the floor, rolling around in agony while clutching his right leg and hitting the floor repeatedly in pain.
Players from both teams, along with the referee soon approached, seeing that the Umaro wasn't standing up.
The referee first showed Jose a yellow card before going over to where Umaro lay on the ground still clutching onto his right leg with his eyes shut in agony and his teammates surrounding him with concern.
Seeing that the situation seemed to be quite serious, the referee quickly called for the medical team to enter the field and check on the injured player.
Antonio watched the medical team rush to go and check on Umaro with a concerned look on his face before glancing at his team's bench, different wheels turning in his head as this was an unexpected situation.
From the way things looked, it didn't seem like Umaro would be able to continue the match even though it was only the 32nd minute of the match.
Originally Umaro was supposed to come off for Jason sometime in the second half after Jason had watched enough of the match's proceedings, but now that Umaro was injured, it seemed that Jason would have to come on earlier.
Unfortunately, Jason was the only player on the team's bench who could play in the right midfield.
Antonio didn't have anything against Jason playing, but his team was currently losing and it was too early in the game to make risky choices like bringing in a new player who wasn't familiar with the team, especially as the game hung in the balance.
Different thoughts flew around in Antonio's head, but in the end, he couldn't go against his superior's request to put Jason in the game... there wasn't even any other option anyway, so he called to Jason,
"Begin warming up, you have two minutes."
"Yes coach," Jason replied almost immediately, his face brightening up as he stood up from the bench and began to do warm-up exercises.
He could not help but feel a bit happy that his teammate had gotten injured and allowed him to join the game earlier, but he wished him a speedy recovery in his heart as he warmed up.
After two minutes, he was standing behind Antonio while adjusting his jersey and Antonio was giving him instructions.
"I'm sure you were watching the game attentively, but what I need from you is to keep the possession while being quick on the attack as soon as you get the ball,"
"Feed the ball to the strikers who are free or cut into the box should the opportunity appear, but don't forget to help Fabio in defending the right side of the pitch when we are not in possession,"
"Also, tell Mylo to run around a bit more, he needs to be free to receive passes," Antonio fired off into his ear as they stood on the sidelines waiting for Umaro to be brought off the pitch on a stretcher.
{That tackle must have hurt as much as it looked. The injured player is being brought off and it looks like he would not be able to continue} the commentator intoned as Umaro was carefully placed on the stretcher and lifted carefully and moved off the pitch by the medical team.
{A new player is coming on, and it is an unfamiliar face}
{An unfamiliar face, an unfamiliar name, and an unfamiliar history, I wonder what surprises this player has for us today} the commentator spoke as Jason ran onto the field towards Mylo and whispered the coach's instructions into his ear,
"Coach said you should run around a bit more and free yourself from your marker so we can send passes your way," he told Mylo who responded with a nod.
With the coach's instructions delivered, he ran towards the right of the field, waiting for the match to resume, his blood boiling in