Academy Visit

Vitor woke up the next morning with a smile on his face, excited by the prospect of visiting the soccer academy where he might begin training. In his past life, Lucas never had this opportunity. His parents did their best to provide the basics, but the dream of attending a soccer academy was unreachable. Perhaps that was the reason Lucas never managed to pursue a soccer career, he needed opportunities, but they never came.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Vitor reflected on his new life. He had a second chance, a more comfortable life, and he wasn't going to waste it. He got up with determination, went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and took a quick shower. It was another school day, but the visit to the academy in the afternoon was what really occupied his mind.

As he put on his school uniform, Vitor thought again about the past. Before, he attended a public school, but now he went to a private one. In Brazil, the quality of public schools varied greatly, and often the infrastructure was poor, with mediocre education. Now, he studied in a much better environment, with more resources and quality teaching. He silently thanked any God or entity that had granted him this new life.

His mother drove him to school, and upon arrival, Vitor was greeted with a wave of compliments from his classmates. Everyone was impressed by his soccer performance the previous day. As he entered the classroom, he noticed a girl waving at him, smiling and winking. The scene made him smile. "Is she flirting with me?" Vitor thought, finding the situation amusing.

When classes ended and recess began, Vitor pulled out a snack prepared by his mother. The same girl from earlier approached him. "Hi, Vitor, that's your name, right?"

Vitor turned, recognizing the girl, and replied with a friendly smile, "Hi, yes. And what's your name?"

"Giovana, nice to meet you. You will be my new boyfriend," she declared, smiling confidently.

Vitor was surprised but found the situation funny. "What? Boyfriend?" he thought, almost laughing. "She's just a kid, I can't laugh now," he tried to control himself, but the urge to laugh only grew.

He tried to say that he couldn't be her boyfriend, but couldn't hold back the laughter. Vitor's reaction left Giovana embarrassed but also annoyed. "Who do you think you are to reject me, boy? I'm the prettiest and most popular girl in school," she said with determination.

Vitor couldn't help but admire the girl's beauty. She really was lovely, with porcelain skin, sky-blue eyes, and hair as black as night. Definitely the type Vitor liked, but he had the mind of an adult and would never think of her inappropriately. With a smile, he patted the irritated girl's head as an adult would do with a child.

"Don't touch me or talk to me, you idiot," she grumbled, walking away to eat her snack with her friends.

Vitor smiled to himself, finding the situation cute and funny. "Maybe in 8 years, Giovana," he thought.

The rest of the morning was quiet. During recess, Vitor was surrounded by classmates who wanted to get close and become his friends. He felt overwhelmed by the attention and decided to retreat to a quieter corner of the school. After recess, classes continued normally until the end of the period.

When his mother arrived to pick him up, she asked, "Ready, son? Let's go to the soccer academy."

Vitor smiled and nodded, eager for the visit. They got into the car and headed toward the academy, which, to Vitor's surprise, was incredibly close to his home and Morumbi. This made everything easier, and he felt like he was about to take the first step toward his dream.

Upon arriving at the academy, Vitor couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness.

The academy's infrastructure was impressive, with a full-sized soccer field, a smaller field, both with real grass, as well as some small futsal courts. The environment was welcoming and well-maintained, indicating that the academy took the development of young players seriously.

After observing the place, Adriana asked the person who received them about Coach Paulo and mentioned that she would like to speak with him. The man replied that Paulo was currently managing a match on the large field and invited them to watch while the game was in progress. He also mentioned Paulo's appearance to help with recognition.

With Adriana agreeing, the man led them to the stands, positioned in front of the FIFA-standard field. Vitor and his mother settled in, ready to watch the end of the match.

Vitor noticed, on the left side of the field, a man named Paulo, accompanied by some colleagues, giving instructions to the team that was playing. It seemed that two different teams were competing in the match, each side with 11 players and some substitutes. On the right side, another man, dressed similarly to Paulo, was also giving directions to the players, suggesting that he was another coach at the academy and that the teams were in some kind of internal competition.

On the field, a red LED scoreboard showed the number of goals for each team and the remaining time of the match. Vitor realized he had arrived at the end of the game, already in injury time, with the score tied at 2-2. After a brief instruction from the coaches, the game resumed.

The boys playing the match were clearly older than Vitor; he estimated they were around 14 years old or more. Their performance was impressive, demonstrating good technique and tactical awareness for their ages. It was evident that these boys had been training for many years.

Vitor, even with the experience gained from playing amateur soccer for decades in his past life, wondered what his new journey would be like. At school, it was ridiculously easy to stand out among his classmates, but he had never played with people who were trained to become professionals. Despite this, he hoped that his past experience, even if amateur, would give him a significant advantage to always be one step ahead of others in this life.

Surprisingly, Paulo's team ended up losing the match in the final minute when the opposing striker scored an incredible long-distance goal. Vitor was a bit surprised; he expected Paulo's team to be better than the opponent, but he noticed a clear difference in technical quality between the teams.

As the match ended, the players began to leave the field, heading toward the exit to meet their parents. Vitor noticed the sad expression on the faces of the players on Paulo's team.

"Come on, son, let's talk to Mr. Paulo," Adriana said, taking Vitor by the hand and leading him to the coach.

"Hello, are you Mr. Paulo?" she asked the man.

"Yes, how can I help you?" he replied, looking down at Vitor, who looked him straight in the eyes.

"I would like to enroll my son in the academy. His PE teacher, Mr. Roberto, recommended this place and suggested I talk to you, Mr. Paulo, recommending my son," she replied.

"He seemed very impressed with my son's performance during the match at school yesterday," Adriana added, smiling gently as she patted Vitor's head.

"Oh, really?! And who is this champion?" Paulo asked, turning his gaze to Vitor.

"Go on, son, introduce yourself to Mr. Paulo," Adriana encouraged.

Vitor quickly thought that he should make a good impression and decided to be bold. "My name is Vitor Mancini, and I'm sure I'll become a great player if you teach me the right way."

"So young and already so charismatic? I like it. And I also like your name; it's the name of a future legend! I can already imagine your jersey with the name Mancini," Paulo said, joking as he patted Vitor's head. "How old are you, Vitor?" he asked.

"I'm 10, but I bet I can play with older boys without any problems," Vitor replied, boldly once again.

"Hmm, did you bring any cleats? If so, follow me. Let's go to the center of the field," Paulo said.

Nodding and confirming that he had his cleats, Vitor followed the coach to the field, after hearing an encouraging word from his mother to do his best.