"I've safely lead him there. Gino.
"Ah, right. Thanks for your hard work."
At Coach Luca's words, Manager Tony nodded in reply.
Gino Calvani, who had served as the U17 team's ace for nearly two years, left the team today.
Ah, saying he "left" might be putting it wrong.
He was called up to the U19 team, after all.
He was a good kid who played well and listened well. Maybe I'd grown attached over time, because even though it was something to celebrate, it felt bittersweet somehow.
"He'll adapt well, right?"
"Why wouldn't he? The kid plays better than the guys two or three years older than him."
"That's true, but still. He's leaving earlier than planned, so..."
"Nothing to worry about. If anything, he should have gone up sooner. It's just that the slots above weren't opening up."
"Well, that's true."
In fact, Gino Calvani's call-up had been moved up from the original plan.
They had intended to send him at the end of this year or early next year, after he'd fully accumulated experience.
These days, forcefully advancing players through age groups wasn't the trend like it used to be.
And the upper teams weren't in urgent need of player reinforcements either.
So they had planned to let him accumulate as much experience as possible and manage him carefully before sending him up.
However, as the saying goes, things don't always go according to plan. Gino ended up leaving for the U19 team a bit early.
It was because of Lee Ji-an.
"Wasn't I right about letting him play in a match? He looked good. Seems motivated too."
"Alright, I know. Stop talking about it. I'm tired of hearing it."
Now that Lee Ji-an had opened up and started showing motivation, it was time to focus on him.
Sorry to say this about Gino, but looking at it objectively, if you had to choose who had higher potential between Lee Ji-an and Gino—
Manager Tony had no choice but to raise Lee Ji-an's hand.
Therefore, it was time to invest most of their resources into Lee Ji-an from now on.
Real match experience, that is.
If there was one thing Lee Ji-an was lacking right now, it was exactly that—real match experience.
In other words, they needed to funnel experience points to him. During that time, they couldn't keep Gino, who was a year older, as backup, so they sent him up.
"I'm already looking forward to it."
"To what?"
"A year from now. He's at that level despite wasting two years not being able to play properly. If we train him properly from now on, imagine how much he could grow. Aren't you excited?"
Manager Tony smirked and nodded.
He was right.
When it comes to developing a youth player's skills, the best method, bar none, is playing actual matches
Nothing is more effective than playing in real games.
But Lee Ji-an hadn't received the benefits of that most effective method.
For about two years, no less.
In triathlon terms, it was like running the entire cycling portion on foot while everyone else was on bikes.
But talent.
This unfair starting line—Lee Ji-an had it.
So what if he couldn't bike.
He started ahead of everyone else, and his running itself was much faster than theirs.
Even after wasting two years, Lee Ji-an was still ahead.
So, if they let Lee Ji-an start cycling from now on—
How far ahead could he possibly go?
It was only natural to be excited.
"But still."
"Mm."
"I'm a little worried, actually."
"Worried?"
"This week's opponent is Napoli. I'm worried his confidence might get shattered."
"Hmm."
Manager Tony nodded again at this.
Truthfully, he still wasn't entirely certain about this.
After saying they shouldn't rush things, he wondered if he himself had rushed things.
Sending Gino today meant starting Lee Ji-an from this weekend's match.
And this week's opponent was none other than Napoli.
Though only a few matches had been played, Napoli was currently a strong team sitting in second place in the group.
They had recorded good results last season too.
Having him make his starting debut against such a strong team definitely carried some risk.
It wasn't just Lee Ji-an—young players in general don't tend to have strong mentals.
It was common to see kids get severely shaken by trivial mistakes.
And Lee Ji-an in particular had vulnerabilities in the mental department—especially the type with low self-esteem.
If they put him out against Napoli and the results weren't so good, Manager Tony's decision could very well turn out to be a terrible move.
"But, if you think about it the other way, there's no better opportunity than this."
However, Manager Tony thought that the greater the risk, the greater the potential return.
Lee Ji-an's lack of self-esteem.
Could there be anything better than taking down a strong team like Napoli to fill that up in one shot?
Well.
There might be, but nothing came to mind at the moment.
Also, Manager Tony didn't think the risk was as big as Coach Luca was worried about.
"He'll do well."
Napoli's kids might be good, but at the end of the day, they're U17 level. But Lee Ji-an? His talent is beyond that.
As long as they created an environment where he could perform without pressure, Lee Ji-an would certainly do well.
His talent was the proof.
"Well, of course, there's also the fact that contract renewal is coming up."
The fact that it was almost time to discuss contracts was another reason they couldn't delay any longer.
Honestly, in the current situation, even if the team decided not to offer Lee Ji-an a professional contract, there wouldn't be much to say about it.
Because he hadn't been able to play in matches at all.
During the youth contract period, they could give him time, but now that it was getting close to discussing a professional contract, things were different.
No matter how much the manager, himself, advocated for potential, from the team's perspective, there wasn't enough proof.
But if they started stacking up results from now on, the team would have no reason to refuse.
In fact, they'd probably scramble to keep him.
And this Napoli match would be one powerful statement more than anything.
"Luca."
"Yes."
"This week, we need to stay sharp too."
"Of course."
"First, we take down Napoli."
"Absolutely."
Manager Tony and Coach Luca nodded.
ㆍㆍㆍ
"...So, in the end, this is how the movement needs to happen. Understand?"
"Yes. I understand."
I nodded at Coach Luca-nim's lengthy explanation.
"Good. Let's go."
"Yes."
Unlike yesterday, which ended simply with recovery training—
Starting today, Tuesday, our team began full-scale match preparation.
Right now, we were in the middle of tactical training.
I recalled what Coach-nim had told me and executed the sequences.
I naturally started training with the main squad now. It seemed to be because Gino had been called up to the U19 team.
In the end, tactical training became something Andrea and I alternated through.
One thing different from last week was that today, Coach-nim was giving me more detailed tactical instructions.
From the overall role of the Second Forward position to the detailed situational tactics in various scenarios.
I focused on training while receiving thorough explanations.
Though he also said that if the situation didn't work out, I could try doing things my own way, so it wasn't too difficult.
"Left-!"
"Move, move! Find the space!"
More than anything, having played in a match once, even if just barely—
My mind felt much more at ease.
Thanks to that, I also felt like my vision was getting wider.
The team members seemed to have gotten a little more used to me too, so syncing up with them was much easier than last week.
Of course, that doesn't mean I was completely relaxed.
Just because Gino was gone didn't mean his spot was automatically mine. After Gino, it was clearly Andrea next.
Andrea was a guy who had been consistently playing matches for the past few months. There was no comparison to me, who had played just one match—and only 10 minutes at that.
Even I could see that Andrea's chances of starting in the weekend match were much higher.
But since I also absolutely needed to earn that spot, I was giving everything I had in training.
"Hoo, hoo-"
Come to think of it, it was kind of strange.
Before, I actually wanted someone else to play instead of me. Now it was the complete opposite.
On top of that, I was even having thoughts like this.
That I wished I really was a genius after all.
Back in the day, I hated being called a genius.
Because I knew I wasn't one.
I hated that pressure.
But now, I was thinking it would be nice if it turned out I really was a genius all along.
Geez.
I'm this desperate.
At the same time, I also thought that I was still far from being an adult.
Because an adult wouldn't flip-flop like me.
"Ji-an! Nice-! Great movement!"
Well, thanks to that.
Training was going well.
ㆍㆍㆍ
"Hey, is there no pot bigger than this?"
"I don't think so."
"What, this tiny thing is all you have? Do you guys not cook at home? You're missing the basics here. The basics."
"Dad-! Ji-woo says your basics aren't... mmph!"
"You want to die? Keep it down."
"Mmph mmph-!"
I pried off Ji-woo's hand trying to cover my mouth and snickered.
Look at her.
It's funny seeing someone who never gets flustered actually getting flustered.
"Ugh. You're getting bold because you think Dad will take your side? You'll regret it later, you know?"
"Dad-! Ji-woo said..."
"Okay, okay! Geez."
Seeing Ji-woo puff out her cheeks with her brows furrowed, I felt like I understood why she teased me so much.
This is fun.
Today was Friday.
It was a day off for both Dad and me, so Ji-woo came over to our place.
Something about making us food or whatever.
We'd both been busy during the week.
Me with training, Ji-woo with getting ready for school.
So we didn't meet up separately; we just talked on the phone.
Unlike Korea, once evening hits here, you can't really walk around carefree.
It's a bit dangerous, and there's nothing much to do anyway.
Maybe that's why—ever since we met up earlier to do grocery shopping, Ji-woo had been in a good mood.
We hadn't met in person, but we had still talked on the phone every day.
Yet she acted like there was so much she hadn't gotten to say, going on and on.
It was the most chaotic grocery shopping of my life.
"Okay. Boil water here,the ingredients here. Good to go."
"You're done prepping?"
"Yup!"
"Then should I go to my room?"
"What are you talking about. Stay there."
"Why. There's nothing to do."
"Want me to give you something to do?"
"No."
"Then at least stand next to me so the chef doesn't get bored."
"Sigh..."
Nobody asked you to do this.
She's the one who said she'd cook for us.
And her intentions weren't even pure.
If I came to Italy for soccer, Ji-woo came for culinary studies.
There was a famous cooking school nearby that she'd enrolled in, she said.
So she wanted to practice before classes started, but it felt awkward to cook freely at her homestay family's place, so...
That's why she was doing this here.
Of course, Dad said she could come over anytime... but isn't this basically using me and Dad as test subjects?
"Alright, now the noodles are going in! Right now!! Swoosh-"
...This doesn't inspire confidence.
Just as I was watching Ji-woo's cooking with suspicious eyes, I sensed a presence behind me and turned my head.
Dad was standing there, and...
"...?"
Dad looked at me, gave me a thumbs up, then walked away again.
...What was that supposed to mean?
*
"How is it? What do you think?"
Dad and I each took a bite of the pasta Ji-woo had served and looked at each other.
"..."
"..."
Then we nodded at the same time.
What the.
This is actually good.
"This is good. Impressive, Ji-woo."
"Really? Phew- That's a relief."
No, this is weird.
On the surface, it didn't look any different from the pasta Dad makes.
Was pasta always this delicious?
"Eat up, eat up. I can make more."
Under Ji-woo's pleased gaze, we devoured the pasta like there was no tomorrow.
When was the last time I had a home-cooked meal this good? If Dad's cooking was this good, I probably wouldn't be so thin.
"You're really going at it. It's actually good, huh?"
Ji-woo said, grinning from ear to ear.
When I just kept chewing with my cheeks stuffed instead of answering, Ji-woo said.
"Since noona made you pasta and everything, you have to score a goal again this time, okay?"
"...."
...Who talks about work while eating?
When I narrowed my eyes and looked at Ji-woo, this time Dad patted my back and said.
"Dad wishes I could go too. But I just can't make it. Sorry about that."
"It's okay."
Earlier, during the day.
I got a message from the team.
Saying I was called up for Sunday's match.
But it wasn't just any call-up.
Unbelievable.
I was actually in the starting lineup.
I had hoped for it, but I hadn't expected it.
Starting lineup.
And in an important match against a strong team, no less.
Surprise and pressure hit me at the same time, but more than anything, I felt grateful.
Somehow, I'd managed to avoid getting caught in my lie again.
Of course, it was too early to feel relieved.
Simply starting wasn't the only important thing—what mattered more was what kind of performance I showed in the match.
"So, how many goals this time? Three? Four?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Then what about the celebration? Last time..."
"Hey, hey. Stop."
"Aw, why."
"Dad. She talks too much."
"That's what I like about her. Ji-woo, come over anytime from now on. Treat this place like your own home."
"Really? I will! Hehe."
Hmm.
Anyway, this time I'm ready.
Ready to make my bluffing into reality.
Honestly, I don't know where this confidence is coming from.
But I felt like I could do it.