Free CRAVING U (The Rook Café) by Llàrjme Page A

Michele
Canosi, sports agent of international fame, who was interested in knowing more
about a couple of his players.  He wished for nothing better than a successful
career for his boys – something his own skills had not made possible for
himself – but he was afraid of them being mishandled or badly-advised.  He had
seen too many promising young players given contracts at too young an age to
play outside of Italy without a Virgil at their side, only to return to Italy
injured and frustrated, no longer of any interest to local clubs.  This is why,
during practice, he had lied to his boys, telling them only that a couple of
scouts from lesser northern teams might be coming to watch them from the
stands.
    While equally patient and generous with
all of his players, Esposito had a secret but visceral preference for Matteo,
who he considered an absolute future superstar, complete with the character and
morals needed to handle fame, success, and money.
    “This is an embarrassment!”  The manager
hotly greeted his players with these words in the locker room during halftime. 
“You’re sleepwalking out there!”  He theatrically slammed shut a locker door
left ajar.  “You are the best damn team I have ever coached.  You are the
absolute best of youth soccer!”  He looked them one by one in the eyes.  “Now
get out there, and this time, I want you to leave it all on the field.”  He
took a deep breath and shouted, “Because. We. Are. Going. To. Win. Today!”
    “Yeahhhh!” they roared in response, fired
up.
    “I can’t hear you,” he said, winding them
up.  “What are we going to do?”
    “Win!  Win!  WIN!”  They rushed back
toward the field, determined not to disappoint their coach, and especially not
to let themselves down.
    Esposito held Matteo back at the others
ran off, and whispered to him, “Don’t bring your personal problems onto the
field again.”  He gave him a smack to the back of the head.  “Got it?”
    Matteo lowered his eyes and nodded, upset
with himself for having reacted so stupidly and immaturely to a provocation.
    During the second half, Matteo pushed the Brenta team, and his teammates responded.  At the 57th minute, the playmaker hit the
crossbar with a bullet from 30 yards out, and at the 82nd minute, he dribbled
around three opposing players and sent a perfect cross in front of the goal,
where Marcello found it and headed it into the net for the tying goal.
    “Goal, goal!” the stands erupted with the
pent-up emotions of having had to wait nearly the entire match for the
equalizer.  “How many minutes left?” they quickly began to ask the people
sitting next to them.  “Have they already started extra time?”
    In fact, they had... the referee had
allowed for 5 minutes of extra time, only three of which were now remaining. 
The Dogado team, exhausted after the Brenta onslaught, tried
every tactic in the book to protect the 1-1 score and walk off the field with
what for them would be a more than acceptable tie.  Matteo ran about like a
fury, pleading with his teammates to keep sending him the ball to try to slip
past the iron curtain of the Dogado defense; when he saw that there was
no hope for a coordinated attack by the blue and gold , he took the ball
and forced himself into the deep Dogado defenders, earning a free kick
from a dangerous position.
    There was practically no time left, and
the free kick would in all likelihood be their last chance to score.  The
referee pulled out a yellow card for the Dogado player and pointed at
the spot on the ground where the shot would be taken.
    Silence fell throughout the stadium.  The
crowd was hypnotized by Matteo as he gently placed the ball on the grass, 20 yards
from the goal, at a central-left position.  He had spent countless hours over
the past two years practicing set pieces, studying the techniques of the best
free kickers in the game: from a bending trajectory to a falling one, gaining
valuable and erratic