The girl practices kick after kick, unable to stop. Sarah wanted the coach to finally make her not just a defensive midfielder, as was usually the case, but at least a "false nine". She is tired of not being put in the position she feels most confident in, and her opinion isn't listened to at all. Sometimes she did not even understand why she was trying so hard if all this was in vain?
And Gavira didn't even have to open his mouth to be put in the place of the "false nine". And where is the justice here?
Nearby Adelaide, one of the youngest forwards on the women's team, falls onto the grass. The girl wanted to rest while Sarah did not even think of stopping. Lounging on the ground, forward pulled off her tightly tied boots to allow her legs to relax. Finally, spaniard also followed her, not forgetting to take a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
— Fran is going to change the scheme to the nearest friendly match. — portuguese woman sighs, running her hand over her sweaty face. — He wants to give Alexia a rest and try something new, while it is possible without loss.
There is hope in Hernandez's heart. Maybe they will put her in Alexia's place? Of course, this is very presumptuous. What is she, and what is Alexia Putellas herself. She was someone Sara looked up to. She was what Sarah longed for. But still... who else would Fran put in that position besides Sarah? Seriously. There are no other options but her, other than Sarah Hernandez.
— Fran wants to try you in defense. — Ada finally whispers, still unsure if this conversation was even worth it. — As a central defender.
Sarah smiles wryly. Defender? Seriously? Seriously, she had never tried being a defender in her life, except in early childhood. She did not like to hang around the gate and just make sure no one slip past her and score such a desired goal. It's not her prerogative. Sarah wanted to be ahead of the rest, ahead of everyone in her path. She wanted to close the attack, send the ball with her accurate shot right into the corner of the gate. What Adelaide was telling her was not what she had dreamed of for so long.
The girl goes to the coaching staff. It was quite easy to find him. It was enough to walk past the locker rooms. Fran Sanchez, coach of the Barcelona women's team, sat in his office, and Alexia, the current captain, stood next to a huge magnetic board. Indeed, it is very difficult not to notice them. Putellas was actively proving something to Fran, smoothly moving the magnets with the photos of the players on the board. Hernandez quickly finds herself: this photo was taken at the semi-finals of Euro a couple of years ago, it was a match against the English team. Really terrible match. Sarah'll always remember this with hatred due to the fact that after this match she spent half the summer with plaster. But what happened then didn't matter now. What matters is what happens now.
Alexia frowns again at the next words of the coach. It was inconvenient to watch the whole picture like this, almost hearing nothing, but Sarah could not enter until she had some specific reasons. Finally, the captain picks up a magnet with the image of a girl - she was standing in the place of the defensive midfielder, her usual position - and quickly puts her in the place of the central defender. That's it. Adelaide did not deceive her when she told her about it. And, it turns out, all her efforts were in vain.
Sarah feels how her blood slowly begin to boil in her veins, and she immediately bursts into the room. Of course, no one expected her appearance here, and Alexia froze in place, not completely attaching the magnet to the board.
— I want to be a false nine. — the girl blurts out in one breath, tightly squeezing her lips. Everyone present still did not fully understand what was happening. — Put me on.
— Listen, Sarah, — Fran folds his arms over his chest, watching with interest. — in the summer we have a great opportunity to try players in new positions without damaging the club reputation, and we would like to try you. But not as a striker.
Sarah flops wearily into the chair in front of his desk. She has already managed to understand that she will not get what she wants quickly, and here she will have to try hard.
— Why not, Fran? — the girl is indignant. — Right now we don't have strong forwards who can go through a tight line of defense, and you will probably give Alexia a rest. You need someone who will take the attention of some of the defenders to herself, and I am objectively the best for this role. I'm very fast and my dribbling is great, so I won't lose the ball if something happens. You just need to give me a chance, Fran. At least one chance, I'm begging you.
— Our new scheme does not provide for a "false nine". — Alexia intervenes. Obviously, she did not like this situation at all. — But it provides a tight line of defense, which you fit with your style of play.
It was foolish to argue against someone who really knows everything better than you. The girl had never questioned Alexia's authority, never in her life.
Only if it wasn't about her.
— I want to play in attack. Just give me a chance, I won't disappoint you. — the girl literally pleaded. She knew that what she was doing now was absolutely wrong, but there was no other options.
— No.
Sarah feels how disappointment was quickly spreading through her mind. With powerful waves it suppresses the mind and overshadows everything around. How much does she have to work hard to finally get what she wants? Is what she does not enough? Doesn't she not enough torment herself and tear herself up? Is this not enough?
— I won't play in defense. — Hernandez feels how her voice tremble in a betrayal, and immediately stops. She didn't want Alexia to see her weakness. Although it was already too late to think about it.
— It's either this or it's not, Sarah. — Putellas calmly replies, tossing the magnet with her photograph on the table. She made it clear that this conversation was over.
Hernandez didn't hesitate even for a second; the girl flies out of the office, literally flying onto the field. In the open air it instantly became easier to breathe. The blonde quickly looks around for Adelaide, because she needed to at tell someone about what just happened. And she finds her. Sitting on the stages next to Eric, Aurora and her little goofy brother. Sarah was ready to hit herself over the head. Her eyes were wet after talking with Alexia, how is she going to explain to them all what has just happened?
The girl slowly approaches the blue seats, and her brother immediately stands up from his seat, only to notice her blank look. The guy hugs his sister, asking in a whisper what happened, but she did not pay attention to it.
She looked at Pablo.
Gavi's frown made her cringe all over. She had no idea what happened to him, since he was looking at her like that, and, frankly, she did not even want to know. Yes, she has no idea what she now deserves all this; after all, he could start his strange staring games later.
— What's happened? — Eric repeats, but louder, bringing the girl out of her trance. Sarah quickly dusts herself off and straightens her T-shirt.
No, she would never complain to her brother for anything in her life if Pablo was here.
— Everything is fine. — she rubs her eyes red to hide her tears. — Anyway, why did you come?
— We want to take a walk after your training. — her older brother replied calmly. — If you do not mind, of course.
— Just let me finish this shit.
The girl jogs to Adelaide, who is just warming up on the field, doing leg swings, and immediately joins her friend. One, two, three - one after the other. They continue this until Fran enters the field along with Alexia. The last one exercise for today, one of the most basic games imaginable. The coach divides everyone into two teams, of course, one of them was led by Alexia. Sarah and Adelaide got on the Mary's team and, to be honest, they were very pleased with the choice. But the two of them had completely different tasks for the game.
Iglesias ran forward, attacking, and Hernandez stood near the gate, on the defense. Fran still put her as a defender.
The girl shifted from foot to foot before she started moving towards the middle of the field, slowly, in small steps. Yes, the defenders very often took a direct part in the attacks, but Sarah now did not see any point in this. So she wanted to express her protest against the actions of the coach. Suddenly, she notices how quickly Alexia begins to move with the ball to someone else's penalty area. To her penalty area, damn it. Sarah takes a couple of hesitant steps towards her before realizing something for herself. What did she say to Fran? She is fast. She can keep the ball. This is all useful not only for the attacker, but also for the defender.
Sarah doesn't feel her own legs as she follows Alexia at speed. She did not understand why everyone else did not run after her, but still stood still, slowly retreating to the gate. But it's even better for her: Sarah will deal with everything by herself. It was getting harder to breathe with every step, but the girl was already almost reaching Alexia. She didn't even think about anything else at that moment; only one thing was important to her - to stop Putellas at any cost. She didn't care that this was a regular practice and shouldn't be played so hard. For Sarah, it was a matter of life and death.
The girl "attacks" Alexia from the side, making a dirty tackle and literally knocking the ball out from under the feet of the forward. Involuntarily, she knocks Alexia to the ground, and captain immediately grabs her sore shin, but Sarah, frankly, does not care. Let it lie, let it take time, the main thing is that the game continues. U-turn, fast, almost in one place; Sarah instantly finds the ball with her eyes and literally in a second poisons it to the other half of the field to the attackers. Adelaide had a well-developed touch, and she immediately takes the ball, directing it to the goal only with one blow.
Alexia has lost. Sarah has won. Easy.
Fran finishes this exercise, and Hernandez immediately heads over to her brother, wiping her sweaty neck with a clean towel. There was such a sincere smile on her face, and it could not be compared with the bewilderment on the faces of Eric and Aurora. Of course, they did not expect such aggressive behavior on the field, especially towards Alexia.
The smile was only on Pablo's face. It was so weak, so that no one notices. He was smiling with his eyes.
And he knew for sure that someday he would repeat what she had just done with Putellas.