First Team Call-Up

Tuesday, 17 April 2012 - Zoudenbalch Training Complex

A thin ribbon of mist hovered above the grass when Amani arrived for the morning U‑17 session. Zoudenbalch looked almost theatrical in the new sun: a gauze of dew over emerald blades, breath‑puffs curling from every mouth, boots clicking briskly on the concrete walkway. Sparrows hopped along the stand roof, chirping like over‑excited commentators.

On pitch 3, Coach Pronk had the group boxed into a forty‑by‑thirty‑meter grid, six‑a‑side rondo with two floaters. Amani wore the yellow bib and, as usual, the black‑banded strobe lenses that flickered his vision on and off at half‑second intervals. Darkness, light, and darkness again. Half the session he played by sonar: footfalls, shirt‑rustle, the zip‑sigh of a pass through damp air.