(Third person pov)
(24 April 2006)
Lilleshall National Sports Centre
"Welcome back Matthew" said the same African British guard with a smile catching Matt off guard.
"It's been 2 Years, you still remember me" he asked with surprise.
"Well, a surname like yours is easy to remember" said the man with a laugh.
"That's Cap" said Jack from the side making him stop mid laugh.
"And who are you you man" asked the man kindly.
"Jack" said Jack, making Matt smack him on the back.
"Tell him your full name idiot" said Matt sighing.
"Wilshere, Jack Wilshere." Said Jack as he looked at the guard's eyes.
"Alright Bond ripoff, you're quite the character"
"The best there can be"
"I doubt that"
"That's your job"
The guard raised his eyebrows, "lad got a point", he looked at Matt, "where did you find him" he asked with genuine curiousity.
"In school, he was crying over spilled milk. Now we should go or we'll be late" said Matt stopping their banter.
"Hey lads.. win it" said the man closing the gates behind them.
Both of them got inside car, Jack was too excited to sit straight, constantly bombarded questions about the camp and how training will be there.
"There will be a thing here, people of same clubs stick together, they form groups. Just be aware of that" said Matt giving Jack an early heads up.
"But.. shouldn't we be building team chemistry or coordination.. team raport or something like that?" He asked confused.
"We're in England mate, here their club's more important than worldcup for players" said Matt, he had seen that last time.
Even though he had made a couple of work colleagues last time, Levi, Richard, Fraizer and Mark. He never talked to other people, which was the same for them.
Big Club players bring arrogance to the team, small clubs players brings jealousy, and when they see a good player, they collectively tries to bring him down, and relish in his downfall, it's the dark truth of English football.
"Why did you pick England then?" Asked Jack.
"I couldn't pick another bro, I just couldn't" said Matt, his voice a little heavy.
Looking outside, nothing had changed. The garden remained the same, he could see that old building again.
"Shit" muttered Matt as he saw the same Scottish guy standing outside with a writing pad.
"What" said Jack who had heard him.
"Nothing" said Matt gently, the car came to a stop and both of them got out.
"You're name please" said the man in black coat.
"Matthew Delevigne"
"Welcome back, Not you sir, the other gentleman" he said looking at Jack.
"Oh, Jack wilshere" said Jack who had taken out luggage.
"You're room number is 14" he said trying a paper badge with a thread on the luggage.
"And you have the same room as last time" he said to Matt with a friendly smile.
"Thankyou" said both of them and moved towards the hall.
Suddenly Matt stopped, "Wait I forgot something, wait here" he said going back.
"Excuse me, last time you asked for my jersey, I played only one game, it was against Croatia. Here" said Matt handing him a jersey.
"Thankyou" said the man with gratitude as they shook hands.
"See ya" said Matt before running back feeling a little embarassed.
He and Jack entered the hall, this time they sat down without asking anyone, just marked them in.
After the initial registration, they were ushered into the training facility where they did indoor drills.
A man wearing black tracksuit, grey hair walked in, he had athletic build, his shoes were a little dirty, he had certainly walked out of a field, a whistle hung from his neck.
"Hello and welcome Lads, I am Howard Wilkinson, you can call me Boss, coach, gaffa, or just Howard, anything you like. I am going to be the Head coach/ manager of this team and I would like your 100% corporation, to win this tournament, are you guys with me?" He asked.
"Yes Gaffa" cheered Danny Welbeck, after him were serious of cheers and acceptance.
'Why does he sounds like Trevor Brooking. Oh! He's also corporate' thought Matt sitting next to Jack.
Beside Jack was Henri Lansburyand Kieran Gibbs, both were Arsenal academy's players. Matt and Jack had played with them last year.
The Arsenal academy's U-17 team was managed by Roy, so everyone trained together. Matt had thought only him and Jack were here from Arsenal, he was surprised to find them here.
"Matthew Delevigne" he called surprising Matt.
"Yes Gaffa"
"You played in the last Euros, how was it?" He asked, everyone looked at Matt.
Matt stood up, "Sit down, it's not a class Matthew, just tell us your experience" said coach kindly.
"I played one game, it was 2-1 to Croatia before half time, I came on second half, scored 2 goals and assisted one against Croatia. They were tough opponents, using their builds to bully weaker players.
They were using high double pivot system in their midfield, often gaining possession in our half which cause us to conced early." He said pausing, remembering the game.
"That's good, how did you counter that?" Coach asked curiously.
"By going deep, I took the ball near post and passed to the strikers making the run." Said Matt making the coach raise his brows.
"You can do that? And peacock played you just once?" Howard was genuinely confused.
"My passing accuracy is quite good" said Matt shrugging.
"We'll see, now change into your training kits, on the ground in 5" he said walking away muttering something to himself.
------
14 May 2006, Ettelbruck
England vs Spain, 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Championshp Final.
Spain 11:
GK – David De Gea
RB – César Azpilicueta
CB – Alberto Botía
CB – Sergio Domínguez
LB – Diego Mariño
RM – Ignacio Camacho
CM – Fran Mérida
CM – Dani Parejo
LM – Aarón Ñíguez
ST – Iago Falqué
ST – Bojan Krkić
[Commentary box]
"It seems there's been change in Spain starting 11, Dani Aquino is out, coach Juan Santisteban is using his star Bojan Krkić, who was rested in semifinals" said Lauren.
"Indeed Louise, it was a bold move by him, let's see how it pays off tonight" said Louise.
"You remember, 2 years ago Spain ended England's journey to the trophy, they had returned empty handed Louise." Said Lauren.
"Last time they didn't had a clinical finisher like Wilshere, he has scored 8 goals in 4 matches, all assisted by Delevigne, both boys had broken records this tournament" said Louise.
"I can't see them loosing, Spain has to pull off a miracle to defeat England. They are playing the most beautiful football I have seen" said Lauren.
"Oh no, don't count Spain off Lauren, they've done it before and they can do it again" said Louise.
"Lets look at England's scorers,
we have Jack Wilshere - 6
Then, Danny Welbeck - 4
Delevigne - 4, all 4 of them were freekicks by the way, his freekicks are like magic he did in those Harry Potter movies" Said Lauren with a laugh.
"You went to watch them, kids movies?" Said Louise.
"My daughter loves them" said Lauren with a sweet smile that made Louise avert eyes.
"On paper, it's a double pivot that England use, but we've seen their strategy, just get the ball to Delevigne" said Louise.
"And that's a great strategy, let's see how Spain counter that, Here's England's playing 11.
GK – Jason Steele
RB – Michael Mancienne
CB – Ben Mee
CB – Jack Cork
LB – Kieran Gibbs (C)
RM – Victor Moses
CM – Henri Lansbury
CM – Matthew Delevigne
LM – Scott Sinclair
ST – Jack Wilshere
ST – Danny Welbeck
There's no change in England's lineup" said Lauren.
"It's Kickoff time, this is Louise and Lauren in commentary box, let's enjoy the game" said Louise
[Commentary box out]
"You finally got time for your son" taunted Pandora looking at Eva who was wearing a England's jersy and blue jeans.
"I wasn't worried, you were with him. But yes I'm sorry about that" she said lowering her head a little.
"No! Don't bully aunty, mom, she's here even though she's so busy at the hospital" said Cara, she got up and hugged Eva tightly making the later smile.
Pandora shook her head, she and Eva were like sisters, it was nice for her to see Cara gently cheer up Eva, but as her big sister, Pandora has to make sure Eva doesn't neglect Matt.
"Alright let's watch the game", They were sitting with England's crowd, there were more than 7 thousand people in the stands, most of them wearing England's jersy.
There was a small group of yellow who wore hufflepuf flags, a signboard said, "WE SUPPORT HOGWARTS CHAMPION" was hung above them.
"People are mad about those movies" mumbled Pandora looking at them.
"They adore the movies what's wrong with that" said Eva, both of them were looking at Matt who was doing warmups on the field.
"The problem is not the fans, it's the creeps, and media. 15th April, Birthday of Emma, there was so much about that party on tabloids. Poor girl was crying, adoration is one thing Eva, obsession is another" said Pandora.
"I'm worried about Cara now" said Eva looking at the girl who stood beside a railing shouting at Matt.
"Me too, I sometimes think about the decision, of making her act in movies and doing these photoshoots, I don't know what will happen"
"Nobody knows that Dora, didn't we all do the same with Matt, so trust Cara, she's happy and we will do anything to keep it that way" said Eva with hand on Pandora's shoulder.
"Mom! It's starting, look" said Cara coming back to her seat, her hair swaying in the wind, the was getting darker.
-----
"Stop their number 10. That's all you have to do. He drops deep, so attack, clatter him. He can't score a freekick from their half. Be aggressive. If he's going for a long ball or pass, you can possibly injure him.. do it." Said Santisteban to his players.
It was disheartening to injure a kid, but it's football. He had just became the coach, and he wants to build a dynasty for Spain, that could rule the football world in future, so he can't afford to fail here.
"Coach, what about the cards.. of we do that won't we receive a red" said Dani Parejo, he was going to compete with England's 10 in the midfield after all.
Santisteban turned his eyes, "One red, that's all. If you can't do it with that, you rotate, I'll substitute, but not more than one, got it", the players nod at him.
Santisteban smiled looking at them, these were some good kids, few exceptional talents like De Gea made him happy and optimistic about Spain's future.
------
"They'll be coming for you" said Coach Hamilton looking at Matt, he was quite concerned about Spain's brutal game.
"Not the first time boss, I'll switch position with Jack or Ben, if they go overboard" said Matt.
Premier league is the toughest league on the body, the physicality to play at the highest level, getting absolutely clattered every match. The defenders don't fear card's or referee, they'll go for the legbif that wins them a game.
"Lets do that from the start, pass the ball back, Matt will play as center back, Danny you run straight, Jack will be man marked. You would have to loose your markers to score. Get us a freekick if you can" said Hamilton giving instructions to players.
"And if they come up with heat, we do the same" said Hamilton, giving them a little freedom on the field.
"Now, let's get this trophy" he said clapping their backs.
(Pov end)