Their Loss

The defender lunged in, and met the air.

Lukas was now staring at the goalkeeper as he gave him the eye, and rolled the ball to the bottom left corner.

"Wow." Christian had his hands on his hip as he stared at Lukas who had a big smile on his face.

"We have a gem in our hands huh?" Sebastian thought as he watched the whole play develop in real time.

"He should be in the club as soon as possible."

***************

Lukas stepped into the locker room after the training session had ended. He had been undoubtedly the best player in the 11v11 tactical match they played helping a relatively weaker side B win 2-1 after being down 0-1 before he came on.

He had a big smile on his face.

"That was really fun. The game felt so easy. Not just physically, but mentally as well. I was making passes I wouldn't even had previously seen." Lukas thought as he walked into the room.

[*Yeah. It was impressive to watch you play. I am so proud—*]

"Thanks, TT. That's sweet of you to say."

[*—of myself for how fast I've made you so good.*]

"I take back what I said. You're still as annoying as ever."

"Hey! Lukas! That was unbelievable what you did to me on that field." Christian nudged Lukas' back with his elbow as he walked up behind Lukas.

"What did I do?"

"Look at this guy. Pretending you don't know what you did. I'm tired from chasing you all game."

"Well at least you got some extra cardio workout. Win-win right?" Lukas said with a grin.

"Yeah, sure man. I hope we're in the same team next time. I doubt you'll be with us for long though."

"What do you mean?"

"Bro. Do you see the way you played?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"You've gotta be trolling me right now. I doubt a lot of the U19 players can hold a candle to you. You're probably as good as some reserve team players."

"How would you know that?"

"Well, I've played some games in the U19. We've also occasionally watched the reserve and first team training. So I'm sure of what I'm talking about." Christian explained confidently.

"Well, thanks for the compliment. I don't think I'm quite there yet though."

"I think you are. Wait, how old are you?" Christian asked.

"Me? I'm thirt—fifteen! I'm fifteen."

"What? Fifteen? No way! There's no way I'm believing that!" Christian screamed.

"Seriously. I turn 16 in six months."

Lukas' answer had turned a few heads in the locker room who looked at him in disbelief.

He was one of the youngest players on the team, but he had just run them ragged on the field.

"He's this good at 15? Yeah it's over for us."

"Where did the club find this dude?"

"What club let him leave?"

"Is he from this region?"

"I didn't see him in last year's U17 Bundesliga."

They all had the same thoughts written on their faces.

Some were thinking his athleticism was because he was 17 or maybe even above that—despite his baby face.

"Why do you sound shocked? Are you saying I look older than 15?" Lukas asked as the squinted his eyes to look at Christian.

[*Look at the thirty-six year old neanderthal teasing a kid. Disgusting!*] TT exclaimed in Lukas' head.

"It is fun TT. Shut up though!"

"No, that's not what I meant. I thought you were older because of how well you played."

Some of the players were surprised he was this good but also unknown. This was because lots of youth players who are better than their age group, stand out in local media as their performances in the youth Bundesliga are all covered by local media.

If a player is that good, other players in several academies will know about him because they all look through the news to see who is being talked about.

And Lukas' name, didn't ring a bell.

"Hey, Lukas, where did you play before coming here?" Shayan asked, as he joined the conversation.

"Oh me? I played for SV Darmstadt 98 since I was 8." Lukas responded.

"Hmm.. Were you in the U17 team last season?" Christian asked.

"Yeah. I made a couple U17 Bundesliga appearances off the bench."

"Wait a second, you were being benched!? Is SV98 the German La Masia? I didn't know they had enough players to even bench you!" Shayan couldn't believe his ears."

"Believe it or not, I wasn't this good last season. They dropped me from the team when the season ended."

"Yeah I don't believe you at all." Christian said as they started preparing to head to the washroom.

"It's up to you really. But I'm being honest."

Lukas had a big towel firmly wrapped around his waist, and a smaller one across his shoulders as he stepped out of the shower and started drying his hair.

"Yo! What do you guys eat over there in Darmstadt? How do you have this much defined muscles at this age." Christian asked as he stood with his hands on his waist, and stared at Lukas.

Lukas looked lean, and extremely fit. His pecs and abs were well defined. His biceps and triceps were visible even with his hands down.

He wasn't bulky, but he wasn't lanky either.

"Well if you go through half of what I go through in the LTC every day, you'd probably look the same, if not better." Lukas thought.

"Well it's genetics I guess. Gotta thank pops." He replied.

"Yeah right, Mr. Show Off. You have been blessed with a gifted body, oh great Lukas, the favored one."

A few of the players dressing up laughed at Christian's attempt at a joke but Lukas only grinned, only he knew what had made him as good as he was.

*************

Lukas walked down the stairs with his backpack, he met Javi and Marco at the lobby of the administrative building.

They were having a conversation with coach Sebastian.

"Aha! There he comes." Marco said as he gave Lucas a fist bump.

"We were just talking about you." He added.

"Everything's good I hope?" Lukas inquired, as he looked at Marco with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course everything's great. We were just having some discussions about your tryouts and when you'll be able to join us." Coach Seb replied Lukas' question with a smile.

"Already? It's the first day of the tryouts though." Lukas asked.

"Well, I have seen as much as I need to see. I heard the details of SV98 academy from your father. I gotta say, it is their loss."

"Haaa! I have to have a conversation with Patrick—he will be pissed!" Marco said as he rubbed his hands on his temple.

"Patrick?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah. He's the head coach of the SV98 U17 team and was already pushing to bring Lukas back to the club." Marco explained to Seb who was nodding.

A grin appeared on Sebastian's lips.

"Sucks to be him I guess. Lukas is gonna be one of us come July 1st."

They said their goodbyes as Lukas, Marco, and Javi walked out of the academy building and headed for their vehicles.

The next practice was scheduled for Friday—two days from the present day.

Lukas looked at Javi, who was standing there gazing at Lukas with a big smile on his face.

He hadn't said anything yet, it felt like he was still taking in the performance his son had put up in front of him.

Thinking back on all the days he had gone to SV98 youth team's academy matches. From the U12 to the U15 and then the U17.

Whenever his son played, it was always a source of pride for him.

But he was also a football lover, and he knew from watching his son's games—Lukas wasn't destined to become a footballer. Football didn't love Lukas as much as Lukas loved football, and watching his son struggle with a form of unrequited love for the game was heartbreaking.

He stayed strong for Lukas' sake though. Always there to give motivational advice after a horrible Lukas masterpiece.

But now watching that same son of his, dominate the field in a game—even if it's just training—and seeing several clubs trying to recruit him into their academies, was a different kind of euphoria for Javi.

"Is everything okay, dad?" Lukas asked Javi as they walked to his car after the conversation with Seb ended.

"Yeah it's fine. I'm just so proud of you, Luke."

***************

The ride back to Darmstadt, was quiet.

Javi was focused on the road, as it was getting late.

They were stuck in the evening traffic due to workers who worked in Frankfurt but lived elsewhere.

Lukas was on his phone, he was chatting with João on WhatsApp.

"First day of tryouts, how did it go, Luke?"

"Bro, it went even better than I thought. I scored and assisted a goal each in the practice match."

"Ohhhh, Mr. Superstar is now starting to shine huh?"

"Bro, I haven't played an official match in forever. This was just practice with the U17s."

"You know you're 15 right? If someone heard you, they'd think you were 20-something."

"Thirty-something would be more accurate." Lukas thought.