The First Whistle.

"It's snowing," Immanuel said. "We're still playing?"

Everyone was in the locker room. Tati and his staff hadn't come in yet. Nerves were high as some new players were rumored to start this game. It was also snowing, and the coldness swept through.

Ian had layers on him. He wasn't the best with the cold, even though he's lived in a state that has had cold winters for all his life. Immanuel had been resting in his cubby after asking Lorenzo a ton of questions. Lorenzo had been standing on the rugged black floor, inspecting the wooden cubbies. Klaus was watching videos with his headphones on. He was trying to keep a low profile and get in the zone.

"I'm ready," Ayomi said as he listened to music. "I'm so ready."

"I've got a good feeling about today," said Mikael. He was sitting next to Ayomi and had a conversation about what would happen. The locker room atmosphere was like that of a cafeteria. Everyone spoke to the people around them. There's the one who wanders around thinking and the one who is knee-deep in conversations. Ian had been listening to a conversation between Kaiser and Roberto. They wanted a third-party analysis, so he chimed in.

*Knock, knock, knock*

The locker room door creaked open, and a few familiar faces appeared. Tati followed right behind them as they put down their gear and started prepping players. Tati had walked into the middle of the locker room. It was a small, rectangular-shaped locker room where the cubbies were a bit cramped.

Everyone looked at him, wondering what words of wisdom he'd bestow on them before their first match. But Tati didn't say anything. All he did was look around for a few minutes before ushering everyone out of the locker room. In a line, everyone marched onto the muddy, unmaintained field that was being inspected as they moved closer to it.

"Get a feel for the field," Tati said. "Your brand new shiny boots will look very dirty after the game. You will also get dirty. The field isn't the best, so I want you all to take it slow. No silly dribbles, no idiotic runs. Do not try and do ridiculous things. We've gone over what Hartford is capable of. No matter how easy I said the game could go, football is football. Soccer is soccer; whatever you call the sport, anything is possible."

Ian stood right behind Tati when he gave this short speech. It made him feel happy that he got the opportunity to actually play for someone with this much passion. Still, the thought of him getting booted from the club he was at before swayed constantly in his mind.

The clouds dipped lower, but this didn't stop the supporters from showing up. Flags in hand as they sing and sit on the bleachers across from the small number of supporters that were cheering for Waterfront.

Once warmups were completed, everyone headed back into the locker room, which was located just a few feet from the field. The locker rooms were located in a medium-sized rectangular brick structure with three doors, one for the home team, one for the officials, and the other for the away team. The large bleachers that sat across from each other with the field in the middle, were taller than the locker room building as a whole.

The lineup was given out. Some new changes were made, but the majority of the main players stayed put.

Goalkeeper: Mikael Ramaggio

Left back: Kaiser

Center backs: Luca Bonnatelli, Yuri De Meer

Right back: Jorge Pineda

Left Center mid: Gregor Mankowski

Center Attacking mid: Reggie Bucknell

Right Center mid: Klaus

Left wing: Immanuel Ngongo

Striker: James Kranavic

Right wing: Richard Harrison

Everyone else clapped for those who were starting. Immanuel was excited, as he couldn't stop rapidly tapping his feet. His head was bobbing up and down before he exhaled and looked back at Tati.

"The plan is simple," Tati stated. "We attack their defensive line that plays too high up. It's been a flaw that they've never fixed. Attack work through the wing, but if you'd like to switch up toward the middle, do as you please. Fullbacks may go up a few, but do not get ahead of yourselves. Overlapping and hogging the ball toward the box will get you closer to being subbed off at half."

Everyone acknowledged the words that came out of Tati's mouth as he ushered them, once again, outside to line up. The game was starting, but Ian was on the bench. This didn't phase him. His nerves were getting to him, but he wanted to see how the game played out. He wanted to get better at attacking and dribbling. A good observation of veterans and newbies doing it all at once would help give him a perspective on what's needed for this team.

The two teams walked onto the field, and a small but hearty home crowd cheered their team on. Flags waved on as even the kids were screaming their lungs out. For a team that has been so lackluster lately, their supporters still bled their colors.

The first whistle blew as tensions were already high. The team that started with the ball was Hartford, as they played through the middle using their midfield. They passed slowly, waiting for anyone on Waterfront to make a move. Something that Tati didn't fully get correctly in his pre-match predictions was the use of veteran players for Hartford. Instead, many of the players starting off were young, and a lot of them made their debuts. Half of the team had no film to go off of, which meant Waterfront would be blind to how Hartford progressed with the ball.

Hartford held the ball for more time as seconds passed. They played slowly and disregarded all tactics they used in prior games. They kept composed but couldn't make a move further into Waterfront territory. Every second, they'd pass the ball, hogging up possession as the ball became muddy.

Tati observed the way Hartford was playing. They were playing rather cautiously but level-headedly. One of their players tried to make a run, which alerted everyone on Waterfront's left side, but it was a failed attempt, and Hartford once again just passed it around.

Waterfront didn't press and watched as the ball was being played at a slow pace. They didn't keep their eyes off their zone, nor did they encourage others to cut passing lanes. A mistake was soon to come in due time, they all thought.

Hartford took it upon themselves to pass it more toward the back. This moved the defense back and the Waterfront attacking players up.

*6*

Six minutes have passed, and Hartford still hasn't made a decision on what to do. They attempted to scatter the Waterfronts defense by passing it to their goalkeeper to lob it over the middle, but the attempt failed. They played toward the wing now, using their fullback. They used their right back, who was decent at dribbling, to start a semi-attacking play. In front of him was Immanuel, who didn't press but stayed locked in his zone.

Tati created zones for players to stay put in when they're in defense. This zone usage is only for when the whole team, or a partial amount, is back in their half. Hartford's fullback pressed up but decided to kick the ball back to their center back, who wasn't aware of the pass. The ball flicked up, hitting a mud hole, which is where Immanuel had already been heading. His legs extended with all their might to poke the ball off its initial path, which it did. Immanuel had possession, but due to the imbalance when landing, he lost pace.

"Go, Immanuel!" screamed the Waterfront bench.

Using his toe, he poked the ball further up, using his speed to burst into open space. No one was near him. His placement put him on an incline toward the goal. Hartford's goalkeeper was not their starting goalkeeper. He was very tall and had an insane wingspan, something you'd see on an NBA or college basketball team.

Immanuel positioned himself to make it seem like he wanted to curl it in. The keeper moved up, stretching his body out. His legs were long enough to reach the ball as it rolled further inside the 18.

"Shoot!" screamed the few supporters that traveled with the team.

The keeper watched Immanuel wind up the shot as he was still running with the ball. Shielding his body, the keeper committed to the shot being taken. Immanuel switched up his positioning quickly and toe-poked the ball between the long legs of the keeper. The ball slid, popped up due to the mud, and passed the distorted white line before nestling smoothly into the net.

"YEAH!" screamed the Waterfront supporters.

Immanuel jumped for joy as he scored his first goal of his career and the team's first goal of the season. His face lit up like a child getting their most-wished-for gift for Christmas. Some of the players came toward him, giving him a hug, as they started off the game with a lead.

Tati urged everyone to get back into position, as well as screaming for Immanuel and congratulating him. But the game was far from over, and Hartford was back with the ball to start another kickoff.

*12*