Bongani and Pirlo quickly exchanged glances before Pirlo continued celebrating with his teammates. Bongani shifted his gaze toward his own team, who were shaking their heads in disappointment. He quickly clapped his hands together.
"C'mon, guys! We still have plenty of minutes left to play. C'mon, we're not done yet!"
The rest of the team raised their heads and nodded at Bongani as he reassured them. They returned to their own half, and Bongani nodded toward his striker before restarting the match. The game resumed with sharp, firm, and purposeful passes. The ball zigzagged across Bongani's half as everyone of his teammates played with renewed determination. Their eyes were filled with focus, and it showed in the way they moved and passed the ball.
On the other side, Pirlo and his team remained vigilant.
They now knew about Bongani's ability to shift his formation, and they were prepared for whatever tactic he decided to use next.
Their passes shifted from low passes to aerial balls, then from one flank to the other. Bongani's new tactic was to stretch Pirlo's team, pulling them away from the middle and forcing them wide.
The left-back quickly passed the ball to the midfielder in front of him, who immediately played it to the central midfielder. Their quick central passes forced Pirlo's midfielders to retreat under Pirlo's hand-gesture commands.
As the lone striker, Pirlo pressed alone. However, when Bongani's midfielders and strikers began putting more pressure on Pirlo's side, Pirlo signaled to his teammates with another hand gesture. Two midfielders immediately lunged forward, attempting to mark the ball as it was passed toward the right flank.
Bongani's formation shifted into a 4-3-3.
Hickman immediately gestured for the right-back and left-back to push forward into midfield. At the same time, he signaled for one of the center-backs to move wide and cover the space they had left behind.
Bongani and his attackers continued pushing Pirlo's team backward.
The midfielder running with the ball along the flank passed it inside to a central midfielder moving through the middle of the field. However, the midfielder was quickly boxed in by two of Pirlo's players. Without hesitation, he passed the ball back to Elijah, who was positioned behind the attacking players. Elijah trapped the ball underneath his cleat and lifted his head, searching for a teammate making a run.
He glanced to his right.
Bongani, who was now playing as a winger, made a dummy run behind the defenders. Believing Elijah was about to release an aerial pass toward him, the defenders quickly moved to close Bongani down. At the same time, the midfielder who had previously been standing in the middle darted into the space the defenders had left open.
The central defender immediately followed him, that was the opening Elijah had been waiting for.
Elijah quickly lifted an aerial pass toward the other winger running along the flank. The winger controlled the ball and immediately darted toward the byline. As he reached it, he sent a sharp low cross across the face of goal.
Bongani was completely unmarked.
With his shoulders lowered and his body leaning forward, he met the cross and gently tapped the ball with the inside of his foot. The ball rolled underneath the goalkeeper's outstretched body.
Thwack!
Bongani's striker jogged into the net to retrieve the ball before quickly running back toward the center, high-fiving his teammates along the way. After placing the ball on the center spot, the match restarted.
Pirlo quickly passed the ball to a midfielder beside him, who immediately moved it toward another midfielder on the flank. The midfielder started dribbling into Bongani's half, trying to penetrate deeper into their defense. However, his ambition was quickly cut short.
Bongani's midfielder and right-back closed in on him from both sides, boxing him in. The player tried to wiggle his way out of the pressure, but the right-back quickly intercepted the ball.
The ball rolled toward the middle of Bongani's half.
Their formation immediately shifted into a 4-3-3, and they quickly began pressuring Pirlo's team again. Bongani's midfielder quickly fed the ball to Elijah, who was moving through midfield. With just one glance, Elijah immediately lifted an aerial pass toward Bongani, who was making another run behind Pirlo's defenders.
Bongani timed his run perfectly, staying just onside—Pirlo's defenders didn't immediately pressure him. As the ball arced toward Bongani, he didn't attempt to control it. Instead, he struck it first-time, sending a high cross into the penalty area. This time, however, Bongani's striker was outmatched by Pirlo's defenders. One of them rose above the striker and headed the ball away from the box.
The winger who had dashed into Pirlo's penalty area quickly shifted his body and blasted the loose ball. Pirlo's defenders leaped and turned their backs. The ball struck one of them and deflected back into the field.
Elijah quickly collected the loose ball and passed it to the midfielder on his right. The two began exchanging quick passes, waiting for their attackers to move back onside.
Pirlo and his teammates immediately put pressure on Elijah and the other midfielders, forcing them to recycle possession. Eventually, they passed the ball back to Hickman and the two central defenders. The defenders exchanged passes among themselves until the ball eventually returned to Hickman.
As the anchor of the defense, Hickman lifted his head and scanned the midfield. He spotted Elijah, the anchor of the midfield, dropping deeper to receive the ball. The moment Elijah dropped back, the other midfielders pushed forward into Pirlo's half.
Pirlo immediately readied himself. He gestured for his two wingers to cover the flanks before moving forward to pressure Elijah directly.
Hickman passed the ball to Elijah.
The moment the ball reached his feet, Elijah quickly performed a Cruyff Turn. Pirlo committed to the challenge and slipped past him. Elijah immediately paced forward into Pirlo's half. With another quick glance, he noticed that Pirlo's left-back and right-back had moved wide, leaving the lone striker facing two central defenders.
A midfielder began sprinting alongside Elijah, the two quickly started exchanging triangular passes with the striker.
Their tactic was clear.
They wanted to draw the two central defenders away from their positions and create an opening for the striker to make a quick run behind them. Elijah, the midfielder, and the striker began exchanging rapid tiki-taka passes. As Elijah and the midfielder moved closer to Pirlo's penalty area, the two central defenders were drawn toward them.
That was the opening they needed.
Elijah quickly lifted a lobbed pass over the defenders toward the striker, who had made his run behind them. Pirlo's goalkeeper immediately rushed off his line and stretched his body, trying to make himself as big as possible.
But the striker remained calm and composed, with a delicate touch, he flicked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.
Thwack!
"Yessss!" Winston and Oswin shouted at the same time as they quickly rose to their feet.
"Good thing Bongani came into this match with multiple game plans," Winston said. "Pirlo's entire plan was to exhaust them in the first half."
Oswin clapped his hands together. "Yeah, which was stupid on his part. He thought Bo wouldn't be as good without us there. But he didn't know Bo was a gifted tactician."
Winston sat back down and watched the players celebrating on the field. "I can't wait to play using one of Bongani's tactics in our next one-on-one challenge."
Oswin sat down beside him with a furrowed brow. "Oh? Are you planning on challenging someone next week?"
"No, I'm just saying. Besides, who knows? There might be some player out there who has an issue with one of us."
"True," Oswin said. "And that would be a good thing since we want to get you into Group B, then eventually Group A."
Winston glanced at the large hanging clock as it approached the ninety-minute mark. "Yeah, true. Next week, I might start looking for players in Group C and B to challenge. Especially since Bongani will be joining me in Group C." Oswin followed Winston's gaze toward the clock before looking back at the field.
The referee blew his whistle.
Bongani and his team immediately began celebrating their victory. Oswin grinned and gave Bongani and his teammates a thumbs-up from the stands.
"That's good. We can work on getting both of you into Group B," Oswin said. "We should make another plan for next week's challenges."
Winston chuckled. "I thought you wanted to relax this weekend."
"I can still relax in the sauna," Oswin replied, stretching his limbs. "You should join us. We can go over our plans while relaxing by the pool and in the sauna."
He turned toward Winston. "C'mon, let's go join Bongani and the others."
Winston nodded, the two rose to their feet, descended the stairs, and headed toward the changing rooms.