Free Web NovelChapter 11: [11] "They Must Go Through Us First"
Hugo gaped at him. "Luc, Belleville are third in the table, ahead of us on goal difference, and haven’t conceded a goal in 14 matches extending from last season till now, and you just put one of the biggest targets in football history on your back. Every defender in the league is going to be out for blood. If they break your legs you can’t score, Fontaine wins by default."
"If you all have my back then they won’t hit me, protect me, supply me, I score you goals," Luc said simply. He scanned the room, keeping his eyes fixed on each player. "You guys are looking to keep playing regular football for a living? Or are you the team looking to overthrow the king? I need you to just fight with me! I’m going to score the goals!"
Mateo rose up, slowly. He rolled his heavy shoulders, a grim dangerous smile on his face. "The boy is crazy. But he’s our crazy boy." He slapped his huge hands together, echoing gunshot sounds off the concrete walls. "Alright, listen up! No one during practice should touch the American today! If Belleville wish to cut his legs, then they must go through us first!" ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
The room erupted. The tension broke and changed to a feral energy. These were men who knew how to be underdogs, the bagged boys of the Ligue Alpha. Now, they were on the front lines of the biggest storyline in European sports.
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The door to the locker room opened in an abrupt manner. Coach Henri was in the frame. He seemed to be without sleep for a week. His bags had a dark purple hue, and his tie was amiss.
"Beaumont," Henri grimaced, his voice becoming loud. "My office. And may the god of your choosing have mercy on me. Pray that the board has not decided to get rid of me yet."
Luc went out of the room with the tired coach. While they were strolling down the hall, Juliette came out of the medical wing. She clutched her clipboard to her chest. She didn’t say anything, but she caught his eye as he passed. Her eyes were piercing and she was looking for any sign of hesitation or fear.
A glimmer of a wink he gave her, and he walked into Henri’s office.
Henri sank into his desk chair with his face in his hands. "Do you even know what you have done?" He mumbled through his fingers. "The referees will be on our backs, the media will be on our backs and Fontaine’s team will play on Friday. The pressure will be astronomical on us, on you, by Saturday if he scores just enough to surpass your tally of 1."
"I feel good, play good when I am pressured, Coach."
Henri raised his gaze, his eyes completely bloodshot. "We play Belleville and they have centre-backs who are twin Senegalese, six-foot-four, very muscular and they already gave an interview this morning stating that they’re going to ’welcome the American to the real world’."
"Let them talk," Luc said as he picked up a dry erase marker from Henri’s desk and approached the tactical white board on the wall. He drew himself running around behind Belleville’s defensive line. "They’re aggressive, they like to step up and intimidate strikers physically, which means that they leave a huge space right here."
Luc made a lot of forceful marks on the board.
Luc instructed Henri to "play Hugo as a deep-lying playmaker," as he took full control of the room. "Tell Mateo to fill up Hugo’s blind zones. When those twin center-backs come at me to break my ribs, Hugo will throw it over their heads in this pocket, every time."
Henri was looking at the whiteboard, and then at his new team striker. The audacity of the kid was amazing. Not frightened by threats to his life. He was already working out how to use it for his own ends.
Henri whispered, "It’s a huge risk. They will crush you if Hugo’s pass falls short." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Hugo would not miss," said Luc. He dropped the marker back on the desk, clattering against the wood. "Coach, get your head in the game, the countdown to December has begun and I don’t plan on losing."
Luc was leaving the office, going straight for the training pitch. The whole country’s gaze was fixed on him now.
