Playing Against The U17s III

Sebastian burst into the U17 half, accelerating with purpose, the ball under tight control at his feet. Even though the older boys had been on the attack, their central defensive midfielder, Victor Kristiansson, and the four defenders at the back had stayed behind, and they were the only players between Sebastian and the goal.

Victor was already moving to meet him. Not charging, but tracking. Shadowing. Trying to slow him down and buy time for his teammates to recover.

Sebastian's eyes darted across the field as he ran.

To his right, Lucas Friberg, their right midfielder, was tearing down the flank.

To his left, Anton Karlberg, their left midfielder, was doing the same.

Up ahead, William Enarsson was sprinting through the middle, but he was being closely tracked by both center backs. There wasn't much space to get a clean ball through to him.

Sebastian's thoughts were already in overdrive.

This might be it.

A chance like this wouldn't come often. Maybe not again for the rest of the match. If they were going to score, it had to be now.

So he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Instead of steering away from the Victor, Sebastian angled directly toward him.

The older boy steadied himself, eyes locked on Sebastian, preparing for a challenge. He expected a dribble attempt and wasn't going to commit too early. He was determined to not let Sebastian get past him.

Sebastian slowed just a bit as he closed in.

Then the footwork began.

One stepover. Then another. Then a third in quick succession before moving with the ball past the left side of Victor.

Victor, even though he was slow to react, still tried to recover by turning left to get the ball off Sebastian.

That was all Sebastian needed.

Even though he'd gone left, he hadn't pushed the ball far. The instant Victor turned to follow, Sebastian used the outside of his right boot to slip the ball cleanly through his legs.

Nutmeg.

The other players watching on the sidelines erupted.

"Ooooooooh," "Dammnn."

Victor Kristiansson spun around, shocked, and reached out in a desperate attempt to grab Sebastian's bib.

Sebastian shoved his arm away and went past him completely.

The older boy stumbled behind him, thrown off balance and completely beaten.

Now free, Sebastian approached the edge of the box.

He scanned the defenders.

The center backs still hadn't stepped forward. Maybe they were too focused on tracking William, or maybe they thought Sebastian wouldn't shoot from there.

He didn't know, nor did he care.

But one thing he was was grateful to them for making his job easier.

One more touch pushed the ball ahead of him into shooting range. Just a few yards outside the eighteen-yard box.

Then Sebastian angled his body to the left before lifting his right leg to shoot.

The defenders realized too late, and they tried to rush in and block the shot.

Sebastian wiped the ball cleanly with the inside of his right boot and sent it flying.

The shot rose, curved, and rocketed into the top left corner of the post, well beyond the reach of Tobias Kristensson's outstretched gloves.

Goal.

"Get in!" Sebastian shouted, pumping both fists into the air.

He barely had time to take another breath before his teammates crashed into him, shouting, grabbing him, and jumping all over him in a wave of celebration.

"Hello! There's a body under here!" Sebastian yelled, laughing. "Get off me. I'm too young to die!"

The boys kept laughing as they helped him up and gave him a few more high fives and slaps on the back.

The energy had changed. The tension that had hung over them before kickoff, the nerves from facing older boys with more experience, and the pressure of proving themselves had eased, at least for now.

They had struck first.

And suddenly, winning no longer felt like some wild hope.

It felt possible.

Sebastian looked around at the faces of his teammates, still catching their breath, still buzzing.

He clapped his hands, voice firm but excited.

"Come on guys. We can win this. Let's go."

The boys nodded and jogged back toward their half, glancing at one another with growing belief.

Sebastian, still amped with adrenaline, caught sight of the U17 coach standing on the sideline, arms folded, lips pressed into a thin line, silently watching his players.

The U17 boys wore serious expressions now. The shock of conceding first to younger boys with less training was written clearly on their faces.

The striker stood silently at the center circle, his left boot resting on top of the ball, which sat dead still on the kickoff spot. His face was unreadable.

"FWEEEE!" The referee glanced at his watch and then blew his whistle.

The game resumed.

The striker rolled the ball sideways to the midfield, and play was back underway.

But what followed surprised Sebastian and his teammates.

The U17s didn't suddenly explode into a higher gear. They didn't charge forward with renewed aggression. Their pace didn't increase, nor did their passes get sharper.

They played the same way they had before they conceded. They maintained possession with short passes while advancing into their half.

But one thing had changed.

Sebastian.

Or more precisely, their attention on him.

Now, no matter where he went on the pitch, there was always someone marking him. Even when he didn't have the ball, one of the U17s stuck to him like glue.

And when he did have the ball, there were two.

Most of the time, it was the left central midfielder, Oliver Fredin, and the left winger, Onur Körhan. They didn't wait to see what he would do. The second he received a pass or even took a touch, they were closing him down.

They had clearly identified sebastian as the focal point and the most troublesome person on the U-15 team and had concluded that shutting him down would fizzle out their attack, making it easier for them to win.

Sebastian had sort of expected them to increase their attention on him after the goal. He was no fool. But what he hadn't anticipated was the double-teaming. And the fact that they did it without a single word from the coach.

I guess they weren't youth athletes for nothing, he thought.

Out on the right flank, the U17s' right winger, Felix Konstandeliasz, was now charging forward with the ball. Abdi Nuur, their left wingback, stepped up to challenge, but Felix got past him with a simple change of pace.

But he wasn't able to get past Kasper Nyström, their left center back, who closed down on him immediately and was able to get the ball from him.

He turned and played it into Noah in the middle.

Sebastian was already peeling away from Oliver, who had stuck to him like glue all match. Timing it perfectly, he sprinted into a pocket of space and called out.

"Noah!"

Noah didn't hesitate. He played a quick, clean pass into Sebastian's path and then darted forward himself, planning on playing a quick one-two with Sebastian.

But the other central midfielder, Mattias, had seen the movement and was already trailing Noah.

Sebastian took a quick touch, then turned his body toward the U17 half.

Oliver was coming again, closing fast.

Sebastian didn't wait. He shifted the ball with a sharp double touch, sliding it with the inside of his right foot across his body to the left, then quickly pushing it forward with his left foot.

He was past Oliver before the older boy could react.

But he didn't make it far.

Just as he surged forward into space, a blur of green and white slid across the turf.

The U17 defensive midfielder, Victor, had read the play and came flying in with a tackle, but his timing was just a fraction off.

Instead of winning the ball cleanly, he clipped Sebastian low on the shin.

Sebastian lost balance and tumbled to the ground, rolling once as the momentum carried him forward. It hadn't been a dangerous tackle, just a reckless one. He lay on the grass for a second, catching his breath.

The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot of the foul. No card. Just a free kick.

Victor stood a few steps away, looking down at Sebastian on the turf.

He didn't offer a hand.

Instead, he said flatly, "We're not letting you do anything else in this match again."

Then he turned and walked away to join the wall forming near the edge of the box.

As Sebastian sat up, his eyebrows lifted in surprise at Victor's words.

A small, tight smile formed on his lips, and he shook his head side to side in amusement, as he hadn't expected that at all.

Alright, he thought, feeling just a little vengeful. We'll see about that.