Chapter 149: The Rebirth
Wednesday, 6 October, 2010
In the days after Dev's meeting with Niels, everything became a blur of hard, focused work.
The cold dread he'd felt in the coach's office gradually turned into a quiet, determined fire.
He knew his spot was on the bench, a result of his own lost focus and he was determined to show his coach, his captain, and most of all himself, that he deserved a second chance.
He was the first to arrive at training every morning and the last to leave, staying behind to run extra sprints and practice his ball control. The shame from his mistakes had turned into his motivation.
The biggest change, though, wasn't in his physical game, it was in how he approached it.
He wasn't playing solo anymore.
He'd become an important part of the team's rhythm. During a smooth possession drill, with the ball moving quickly in a tight circle, Dev felt a real connection with his teammates, a feeling he hadn't had in weeks.
