Chapter 12: Meet The Teammates

The players had to take a day off after their defeat against Juventus on Tuesday, they got the privilege to sit the whole of Wednesday out despite that loss and once it was Thursday, they got right back into training.

Just like always, Axel was one of the first players to get there but he was only the third person to get there because Peterson was already on the pitch along with Davi Sky.

The Brazilian youngster who had just moved from Benfica to Manchester City earlier this season, he was a fairly good-looking young man with blue eyes and well-trimmed black hair.

He was slightly taller than Axel but anyone would think they're the same height unless they stood close to each other.

"Hey, everyone!" Axel greeted as he slowly made his way to the pitch.

Davi was busy joggling the ball while Peterson seemed to be doing pushups on the floor and while Davi stopped what he was doing to wave at his teammate, Peterson didn't stop.

"Hey, Axel," Davi said as he made his way to the youngster and bumped him on the shoulder. "Long time no see."

"Huh? It's only been a couple of days." He responded with a confused expression on his face.

"Precisely." Davi blurted before putting his arm over his shoulder. "Teammates are supposed to see each other almost every day so a couple of days apart is actually a long time, get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I guess." He replied with an awkward expression on his face.

"So, how's your sister?"

"My sister?"

"Yeah, how's she doing?"

"Well, she's okay." The youngster replied before letting out a sigh.

The fact that he had a big sister would have remained a secret for as long as possible if his parents had not passed away, now someone like Davi knew about that.

'I sense annoying questions.'

"Well, that's great, do you mind telling me her age?" The left-back asked, pulling his face closer to his.

"Um sorry, but I can't disclose that information to you." He replied before taking his arm off his shoulder. "I have to go talk to Peter now?" 

"Hey, but Axel."

He didn't bother turning back to him and just kept moving until he got to Peterson who was up on his feet now.

"Hey, kid." He smiled as soon as Axel pulled up in front of him. "Are you going to complain more about the chance I missed in that game?"

"No, I'm over that." He shook his head. "Although I would prefer you to try to be a bit more clinical in front of the goal in the match against Arsenal, I wouldn't feel great if I finish my second game as a pro without providing an assist."

"I'll try my best, don't worry." The winger assured him. "So, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay." He replied. "I guess I'll join you guys in warming up while waiting for the coach and everyone else to get here." He added before running off.

He ran a couple of laps around the pitch before stopping to stretch a bit.

He got that over with quickly and was joggling a ball when the rest of their teammates began to enter the area.

There was Rafael Miguel, the team's captain, a thirty-year-old Spanish player with black hair that was starting to get a bit tall, he had brown eyes and seemed to have a bit more muscle than some of the players. 

Up next were Paul Stevens and Pierre Lotus, two of the best defenders in the world at the moment.

Paul had short blonde hair while Pierre's hair was somewhat red. Both defenders were about six-foot-tall, something that contributed to their brilliant aerial ability.

Merino was the next person to walk into the pitch, he was one of the shortest players in the squad but that was because there were a lot of tall players in the squad.

His hair was dark and his eyes matched that color but he had fair skin and a less athletic body than most of his teammates.

Tacky Martins walked in alongside the six-foot-two Moreno Rodriguez who was just towering over him.

Tacky was the only African player in the squad, he had an Afro-style haircut with his hair neatly combed.

Up next was the Spanish national team goalkeeper, Moreno Javier.

With a height of six foot two, he was the tallest player in the team with dark curly hair and darkish blue eyes. 

Moreno's height was a huge advantage for him as a goalkeeper but despite that, the goalkeeper managed to concede four goals against Juventus in their last Champions League match.

And then finally there were Axel's fellow midfielders Pedro Adriano and Maxi Lars.

The two seemed to be really close friends always going everywhere together.

Pedro was blonde with blue eyes just like Axel's and while Maxi was also blonde his eyes were brown. 

Axel had way more teammates but these were the ones who were in the starting eleven along with him.

All the players made it there before Gregory could so no one had to pay a fine that day.

He spoke to them for a while, especially about their loss against Juventus and their upcoming match against Arsenal, and after that, they dived straight into training starting with warm-ups of course.

After the warm-ups, they did some rondos and dribbling drills before switching to something Axel liked, free kick practice.

The ball was placed twenty-five yards away from the goalpost with four free kick dummies placed near the edge of the box to be the wall.

Peterson went first, he struck the ball with his right foot and succeeded in floating it over the dummies but Moreno dived toward the right just in time to get the tip of his glove on it and send it over the bar. 

"Hah!" The goalkeeper yelled after quickly springing up from the floor.

The winger smiled before turning his gaze to Axel who was just standing there.

"It's your turn, Axel." 

The youngster was about to take a step forward when someone pushed him from behind causing him to stagger to the ball.

"Show us what you can do, Axel!" Maxi yelled before smiling at him.

'Everyone seems so warm and close today.' He smiled before turning his gaze to the ball. 

He took a deep breath before taking three steps backward, and after raising his hand to confirm if Moreno was ready, he quickly closed up on the ball and curled it toward the goalpost with his right foot.

He floated the ball over the wall with just enough shot power to get it to the goalpost.

Moreno thought the ball was going to fly over but it ended up moving down a bit just at the right time to hit the crossbar and fall into the goalpost.

It wasn't anything they hadn't seen before but it was still impressive.

"Hey, you're pretty good with spot kicks," Peterson said as he made his way to him and raised his hand for a high five.

'Well, I did score twenty-five free kicks as a B team player.' He said inwardly after accepting the high five.