The Malmö FF Youth Academy Trials IX

FWEEEEEE!

The game resumed with Team D kicking off and the scores level at 1-1. Kalle passed the ball to Oli in the midfield, who turned with the ball and passed it back to Diego Vargas in the defense.

Team C, who had just gotten an equalizer, were full of morale and were charging at them, guns blazing, trying to put pressure on them and quickly win back the ball. Diego then passed the ball to the left, where Emil Karlsson was waiting for it.

By now, Team C had already begun man-marking most of the midfield, closing off spaces quickly. One of their attackers came charging straight at Emil, who hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do with the ball. That was when Sebastian, trying to shake off his marker, suddenly sprinted a few steps away to free himself and dropped slightly deeper, calling out, "Emil, I'm open!"

Without thinking twice, Emil released the ball to Sebastian. But trouble was already closing in. The same marker who had been tracking Sebastian earlier now came rushing in from the right. As the ball arrived, Sebastian calmly stepped on it, dragged it back with the sole of his boot, then nudged it forward with the outside of his foot, slipping past the defender in a clean V-shaped motion.

Just as he escaped, the Team C left winger came darting in from the right side, attempting to cut him off. But Sebastian was already one step ahead. He performed a smooth double touch to the left, bypassing the winger with finesse before sliding a quick pass to their right back, Noah, who had found himself unmarked.

Noah received the ball, but two Team C players were already closing him down. One was a midfielder, the other the same left winger who had just been beaten. They tried to trap him near the touchline.

Sebastian had already moved down slightly and positioned himself to Noah's left, offering a safe outlet and calling, "Noah, back to me!"

The pass came, and Sebastian collected it, turned swiftly, and pushed forward as if readying for an attacking move. Nearing the midfield, another Team C player, the one who had originally been marking Martin, moved to intercept. But Sebastian did not hold the ball long. He spotted Martin in space and passed it to him sharply, yelling, "Martin! Pass it to the right back!"

Martin did not waste a moment, laying it off to the right where Noah had positioned himself again. Sebastian kept moving, drifting into pockets of space, calling for the ball once more.

What followed was a few minutes of calm, smart football. Sebastian moved in tandem with the defenders and midfielders, playing quick passes, controlling the tempo, and working triangles with the attackers when needed.

It was not flashy, but it was frustratingly effective. Team C kept trying to press, but the constant ball movement and Sebastian's awareness made it nearly impossible to catch them out. Slowly but surely, Team C's intense pressing began to falter. They could not maintain the energy or coordination, and Sebastian was just about done passing the ball around.

It was time to attack.

As Oli passed the ball to him, Sebastian glanced over his shoulder before it even reached his feet, quickly scanning the positions of Team C's players in their half. Some of them were already panting, their energy clearly spent.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The moment the ball reached him, he pushed it forward past the left of his marker, creating an open path to goal, and exploded into a sprint.

He covered yards of space in mere seconds, ball glued to his feet. Glancing up as he ran, he could see his teammates making surging runs alongside him. The left back was stepping up quickly to close him down, so Sebastian dropped his shoulder to the right, feinting his body one way before pushing off into the space on his left.

The left back took the bait and staggered for a split second, allowing Sebastian to slip a quick ground pass with his left foot into the path of Luca Moreau.

With Sebastian pulling the defense toward him, Luca had been left in acres of space as he burst into the box. He carried the ball into the area as if he was going to send a pass across the face of the goal to one of the onrushing attackers and sprinted toward the touchline.

Just as the center back committed, Luca faked the pass across, dragging the ball back under him before pushing it further out with his left foot to get a better shooting angle. In one smooth motion, he whipped a powerful shot toward the left corner of the post.

The keeper reacted brilliantly, diving full stretch and managing to get his right hand to it, sending the ball out for a corner.

Luca watched as the keeper's save sent the ball out for a corner, and he instinctively raised both hands to his head in frustration. He let out a small groan, then turned toward Sebastian, guilt written all over his face.

"Sorry, Sebastian," he called out, shaking his head. "I should have scored."

Sebastian jogged over, his eyes following Martin as he took the ball to the corner flag. "Don't stress it. Just score the next one."

"Anyway, let's get ready for the corner." Turning back to Luca, he tapped him on the shoulder before walking away.

Martin was already waiting to take the corner, while the rest of the team positioned themselves in the box. Sebastian stayed just outside the edge of the area, watching the setup closely. Given his height, he should be in the box, as he had a very good chance to head the ball in, but he was outside the box to either get at the end of a possible rebound or prevent a possible counterattack from team C.

Martin swung in a decent cross, but it was a Team C defender that rose highest and got to the end of the set piece, heading the ball clear. It flew out of the box, but Sebastian quickly got to it, controlling it with a single touch as it dropped, and in one smooth motion, he turned to face the goal.

On turning, he saw one of the opponent's midfielders already heading towards him to try and mark the ball off him. Without hesitation, Sebastian executed a quick step over to the right, then to the left, throwing the opponent off balance, before pushing the ball with the outside of his right boot just past the outstretched leg of his opponent.

As he advanced toward the box, another defender stepped out to close him down, determined to block any attempt at goal. Sebastian then nudged the ball with the outside of his right boot toward the right before lifting his right leg, pretending to shoot, causing the defender to lunge desperately to try and block the shot.

But he simply nudged the ball past him, leaving the defender sprawled on the ground and Sebastian with enough space to take one more touch on the ball to get it under control before blasting the ball with the inside of his right boot into the bottom left corner of the goal.

The keeper, who had been expecting the ball to be heading towards the top right of the goal, was shocked as the ball zipped into the bottom corner of the net.

"Goaalllll!!!" Sebastian took off in a burst, sprinting toward the stands with his arms wide, searching eagerly for his family. Then he spotted his sister, standing and waving wildly, her face lit up with pride. The moment he saw her, a smile spread across his face.

Without thinking, he raised his hand and waved back before bursting into a smooth somersault, landing on his feet to the roar of the crowd. His teammates came racing after him, surrounding him with cheers and high fives as they celebrated the brilliant goal.