40 Yards

Janseh passed the ball a little bit wide but he still reached it, this was the preliminaries for the tournament and they were already two down.

"I'll make this goal, I'll bring us back into the game." Byron Whitaker the forward said as he charged at the opposition defense, his dribbling was subpar and he didn't have the best speed burst but that wouldn't stop his dream of becoming a pro player. He weaved through the back line and saw a chance for an outside-the-box goal.

"I'll make it... I'll make.... it." Byron wanted to shoot but he was afraid, what if he didn't make the shot? What then. They all go back home with tears in their eyes. "No."  He was in a double mind about the situation but right before the ball was snatched from him by a defender he passed toward the corner kick flag. "But no one is there..." The defender thought but was immediately proven wrong when Cole, the right winger charged forward. "That's our best option," Byron passed the ball to Cole, the perfect pass tore through the opposition giving Cole enough time to be one on one with the keeper.

The clock was at 89, even if they scored now they would still need to score one more within the stoppage of about 5 or fewer minutes if they wanted to somehow push the game into extra time. "Shoot Cole!!." The keeper rushed the through ball that spliced through his defense but the winger had gotten there faster, driving it into the top left corner with force.

"One more." Byron high-fived Cole and both athletes returned to their positions. "Attack, Attack." "Defend, Defend." The coaches of the teams each had something different to say.

The midfield pushed through their limits and got the ball to Cole who ran down the right wing with an absurd pace, making the defender that man marked him look like a snail. Still, in this position he would need to cross the ball inside and no one was currently in the box to receive. "PASS IT HERE!" Janseh called out while running behind Cole, the ball was passed back and three additional minutes were put up by the referee.

"Gabriel!" Janseh hit a long pass that sent the ball into the top half of the pitch, charging forward Gabriel ran through the defense using his strong build to his advantage. 2 more minutes were left and the opposing team's defense had crowded the box leaving little to no room for a pass. Gabriel stopped but someone ran passed him, someone he knew could deliver if given the chance. "Take it, Byron."

Byron received the ball and set himself up for a goal, he knew the exact positions of everyone in the defense that's exactly why he ran to a space on the left that gave him a one-on-one with the keeper even though at a bad angle. The keeper wasn't expecting it so he was a little bit out of position meaning all he had to do was shoot but he hesitated. "Can I really make this?" Doubt crept in for one second and that was all the opposition needed to take the ball from him and make a break.

The ball was played quickly through the midfield and ultimately landed at the feet of Horace Parker, the forward who sported an already impressive 2 hattricks in the first two preliminary matches with this being the third. He was face to face with Kobe, who was the last defender between him and the goalkeeper but none of that mattered as he turned a fake shot into a spin-around move which he used to get around the defender before using the tip of his boot to flick a chip shot over the goalie who rushed out to pressure him.

The entire crowd watching the youth game shouted out the name Horace, while some cursed the name Byron. Saying he wasn't fit to be a striker but his teammates and coaches never said anything to him, they all cried and then walked home after facing defeat at the hands of the ace striker who just completed his third hat trick.

The spectators were all gone but Byron stood there kicking the ball around the pitch and then shooting it into the net. He was calculative and rarely relied on impulse so every time he tried to calculate in front of goal he began doubting whether he could make it or not.

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this." he shot the ball into the net and walked to go retrieve it.

"Maybe you're playing the wrong position." A voice said from behind him. " Maybe you're fit to be further back."

The plane touched down and he walked toward the cab that waited for him, he had just finished scouting in Korea and he had one more player to scout before he could have a good night's rest. Horace Parker was the name on everybody's mouths. Despite it being a smaller scene for soccer, his name was mentioned on multiple news channels that called him the next Messi.

He had currently accumulated a terrific amount of 30 goals within his last major tournament not counting the six he already had in this current one, there was no youth team that didn't want him playing for them. However, Horace had seemed to decline every team that gave him a recommendation and sometimes even a scholarship into their school. So he wanted to ask the boy in person.

He had gotten to the match around the 85th minute and Horace already had two goals in the match bringing his total in the tournament to a whopping eight. The team they were facing off against wasn't bad either, their winger had an absurd stamina pocket and could keep running at fast speeds through the entire game. "Cole Christopher." He wrote the name down on his notepad and then realized there was someone else he was overlooking. "Byron Whitaker." He had memorized the faces and names of every player in the tournament on the event he would stay longer.

At first glance he could tell exactly what faults Byron had but he could also tell the qualities the striker possessed, although in a good enough position to let off a shot he passed to the winger. This would seem to the crowd like a play forced due to a lack of confidence especially since he had enough space to get off a shot, but in actuality it was a brilliant move that drew the defense toward him but ultimately as a dummy striker.

The game moves so much quicker for those on the pitch, you can barely get two seconds to stop and think about where you are or where the defense is, but Byron seemed to do it effortlessly. Immediately he grabbed the ball he could tell where every player around him was. He passed the ball to Cole, who at the time was behind him same with the defender that tried to snatch away the ball. He made quick and concise plays that brought his teammates into the attack or put him in the exact position he needed to be in.

The same goes for his second attempt, he had purposefully hung back with the midfielders giving him time and space to enter the one position nobody was guarding since they all focused on Gabriel. "A striker with perfect vision, a calculative mind and a nice pass."

He stayed behind after the match waiting for Byron to leave the gates before he'd confront him but was surprised when he never walked through. He walked back to the pitch and saw Byron shooting the ball into the goal, top left, bottom left, top right, bottom right, center. He scored with a precise shot to each of the corners he aimed at but why couldn't he recreate this on the pitch?

Byron had two goals already in the tournament and had accumulated three assists, these weren't the best numbers when compared to someone like Horace but it still meant the boy had an eye for goal.

He approached him and asked him whether he would consider a position change and Byron just stared at him for what seemed like five minutes before saying. "Never."

"Your abilities lie in your calculative mind, this is not the most needed attribute in a striker. You waste too much time calculating your goals whereby you should  just put your foot through."

"So I'm guessing you're here to tell me about how bad my play was today." Byron kicked the ball into the top left and went over to pick it up.

"My apologies, I'm Joseph Trumann. Official scout and manager for the Marion soccer team. It's also a school... just in case you were wondering." Joseph looked at Byron as he went into the post.

"What does Marion want with someone like me?" He picked the ball up and started walking back to Joseph.

"I believe your positional awareness and passing would be greatly appreciated in the club."

"You guys have some of the best youth players there are, some of them even get called up to play in the under-20 matches."

Joseph grabbed the ball from Byron and started kicking it around the pitch, "Marion has two teams, team alpha and team beta. A and B for short. Team A is a mixture of second years and third years right now meaning they're more suited to play in the under 21s and some of them have even left to join pro teams."

"I did hear that Arthur recently joined Milan, they even paid 10 mil for him."

"That's what you get when you flourish in Marion," He passed the ball to Byron. "So, what will you say to joining the team."

He received the ball and thought about his options, he was going to enter a high school eventually and this wasn't a bad deal. "I don't know."

"Okay, let's make a bet." He stopped and looked at Byron to see if he had any objections. "Okay, I'm gonna defend and you're gonna attack. If you score I was never here but if I stop your goal you're gonna think about my proposition, Marion is in another state after all."

"What do I have to lose anyway," Byron thought to himself. "Deal!, don't start crying when I score old man.

Joseph laughed and Byron charged at him with the ball, he wasn't necessarily running fast but he was still fast enough that he couldn't be left unguarded. Joseph man marked him from the front moving back slightly when the space became too small. "Your dribbling skills are subpar as well, the one thing you have going on for you is the fact your teammates pass the ball." Joseph mocked him as he put one leg forward trying to tackle Byron.

"That's true I suck at dribbling." Byron shifted his weight to his left and carried the ball in that direction, leaving Joseph at his side and an empty goal in his front. Even though he doubted himself when on the pitch there was nothing more he loved than a blazing strike that hits the net.

"And that's a goal." He shot the ball and it was just like he envisioned it, the curl was nice, the spin was immaculate and the power was superb but he didn't envision the leg of the Marion coach hitting it and changing its trajectory.

"You take too long. Being calculative and precise is nice and all but when being marked there is barely enough time for you to look at the post and back However, there's enough time for you to pass since you would be behind."

"What?" Byron looked at Joseph in puzzlement.

"I can't wait to see how you evolve." Joseph walked away. "I hope to I'll be seeing you next year, Byron Whitaker."