After the game was done, I was congratulated by my team as well as the coaching staff. Coach Joao just had a knowing smile on his face, as if he knew this was all going to happen.
I met up with my parents. I was immediately engulfed in my mom's trademarked bear hug, where she hugs me to death, tells me that she loves me and how proud of her son she is.
"Let us go to the church first, thank the lord for your excellent performance, and then we could go for a celebratory lunch" my mom said.
"Yeah! Let us go eat Italian" Digão said excitedly. I have a hunch that he is more excited about the food than he was at my performance.
"We need to think again about these celebratory lunches, my love. With the way Ricardo is performing, we might have to live at the restaurant at this point." My father grumbled.
Just to tease him, I added on to it.
"I mean, we have to go for one after my first start, after my first hattrick, after I make it to the u17 team, and the list goes on. Maybe we get to fatten up this little shit here with how many celebrations we have coming up". I winked at my mom.
She stifled a laugh, and put on her puppy eyes and said "You don't really want to cut down on the family tradition of celebrating achievements and family time, do you Bosco?"
We couldn't hear my father's response as he just mumbled to himself about over achieving sons and a manipulative wife.
It was a wonderful day. We went to church, and I thanked the gods for the opportunity and for watching over me. I prayed for the happiness of my family. I find this cathartic. Maybe one day, I would get into the existential discussion, but for now I decided to go along with the flow and just pray.
After returning from the restaurant, my dad was excited to watch back the footage he shot. We had a VCR at home, so he put the tape on, and we watched all 20minutes of footage he shot. Recording had its limitations back then and we couldn't buy too many tapes and record everything, so my father picked his moments. He started recording from my warm-up, he recorded all the important moments, the missed chance, my diagonal cross field pass, the corner, my strike, the two assists. Everything he recorded was bang on the money. Without any editing, this was my highlight reel.
Even though the quality was a bit low and the camera shaky and shot from a distance, you could still make out the number 22. My runs, my passes, my goal were all caught perfectly by my father, in all their glory.
I became a little bit emotional watching all this.
"Thanks a lot for doing this papai. Thanks for putting in the effort and being there for me, and recording. Thanks for everything. Thanks mamãe, and Digão, for being there to support my first appearance. This means the world to me"
I do not care what people say about men and emotions, I have learned enough from my past that I was not going to be a brick wall. I would express myself properly. I wouldn't bury my emotions, I would let it all out. In private of course. I would try to stay composed for the public eye, but I need to be open about my feelings with my loved ones.
We shared an emotional moment then and shared a group hug.
After that day, everything changed. After that fantastic performance, my teammates warmed up to me. They understood that I wasn't just doing well in practice, but could back my skills up with performance in tournaments. 1 goal, 2 assists in 22 minutes. That was beyond good.
So, my teammates reached out to me more in training, we discussed runs and how we play together. Coach Joao was not going to rush things though.
"Proper development is important Kaká. I see immense potential in you and I do not think that you would stay at this level for long. You're going to knock on the U17 and U20 teams. Until then, I want you to perfect your basics, and not burn yourself out"
"Remember, one step at a time. And every step matters."
That vote of confidence meant something to me. I would remember his guidance. I would remember how he spent time improving my passing accuracy.
I may have the system, and I may have some natural talent, but these coaching sessions every day, this is the foundation. This needs to be the strongest.
I continued practicing with renewed vigor. I want to build up my stats. I also wanted to complete my mission. 15 goals and 10 assists. 1 match in and I had 1 goal 2 assists. This is going to be easy. The season just started in March and it goes on till December. I have plenty of time to wrap this up, and move up to u17.
With the confidence in my abilities and based on the feedback from the coaches, there is a high chance that I could make the u17 team for Sao Paulo youth cup. The cup starts in Jan and always ends on 25th January.
This year, I am not worried about trophies. I just want to be selfish, put in my best performances and move up levels. Next year, I will target trophies.
The next weekend came by, with it came the next match. I started on the bench again, but came on in the 50th minute. I had 30 minutes this time. I made the most of it. The synergy between Luis, Diego and I had improved so much over the past 1 week of training. I ended up scoring two goals and providing one assist. I started to realise that I don't really belong at this level.
It is always in the little things. Defenders reading your runs. Midfielders choosing when to tackle and when to intercept, or when to press. Forwards making the runs. These are all things one learns on the job. Because of my high game intelligence, be it because of Kaká or because of the countless hours of football I have watched, I always stayed calm, always kept scanning the field, and made the right passes.
My passing accuracy kept improving, I was completing about 85% of my passes. I was very happy with that number. I don't mind giving away the ball trying to make an outrageous pass, because at this level, a good pass could be the match winner.
The next match, I started. It was against Palmeiras youth team. They're a very strong team and we had a tough match. Everything was physical and all the running took a toll on us. It was a draw, but I still scored one and assisted one.
In the blink of an eye, 3 months had passed. Every week, I would see some coaches from u17, senior team come to watch us practice and some watch us play even. I could feel their eyes on me whenever I played.
I didn't disappoint though. I was a professional through and through. With the system training, and coach Joao's guidance, I was raising eyebrows.
I already completed my mission. It took me just 13 games. I scored 16 goals and assisted 13. In the 13 games we played since I started, we won 10, drew one and lost 2. That was a big improvement from the past.
Everyone knew that a big factor for the jump in performances was me. I made Luis and Diego shine. I am pretty sure that they would join me when I move up to u17.
I put the 1 point I earned from my mission into passing.
I expected the system to give me a boost to my stats since I was playing competitive matches. Other than a slight increase, I didn't see much difference in the way it treated practice and games. I had a feeling that it was because I was playing at an inferior level. For example, if I was scoring and assisting like this in the senior team, I am sure that I would see a spike.
I kept chanting my new mantra. "One step at a time. One day at a time. Make every step matters". It was something coach Joao told me after my first match. I took it to heart.
Here are my stats after three months.
**********G.O.A.T System**********
Stats Missions Training Cards
**********G.O.A.T System**********
Stats
Name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka)
Age: 15
Height: 177cm
Weight: 70.8kg
Position: Attacking Midfielder/ Winger
Preferred Foot: Right
Weak Foot: ***
Skill Moves: ****
Work Rate: ****
Overall Rating: 78
Potential: 92
Pace: 86
#Acceleration: 87(+1)
#Sprint Speed: 85(+1)
Shooting: 74
#Positioning: 80.8(+0.8)
#Finishing: 71.4(+1.4)
#Shot Power: 73.8(+1.8)
#Long Shots: 75.4(+1.4)
#Volleys: 68.4(+0.4)
#Penalties: 79.5(+1.5)
Passing: 75
#Vision: 80.8(+0.8)
#Crossing: 69.5(+1.5)
#Free Kick Accuracy: 70.8(+0.8)
#Short Passing: 77.6(+1.6)
#Long Passing: 76.8(+2.8)
#Curve: 74.6(+0.6)
Dribbling: 83
#Agility: 86.2(+0.2)
#Balance: 82.6(+0.6)
#Reactions: 75.4(+1.4)
#Ball Control: 81.6(+1.6)
#Dribbling: 84.8(+0.8)
#Composure: 63.6(+1.6)
Defending: 38
#Interceptions: 32.5(+0.5)
#Heading: 55.5(+1.5)
#Defensive Awareness: 40.6(+0.6)
#Stand Tackle: 32.6(+0.6)
#Slide Tackle: 36.6(+0.6)
Physical: 54
#Jumping: 62.8(+0.8)
#Stamina: 66.6(+1.6)
#Strength: 51.8(+1.8)
#Aggression: 46
Traits:
#Speed Dribbles
#Playmaker
#Technical Dribbler
What an improvement over three months. This is nice. To see all the hard work I put into training, converted into quantifiable stats is such a broken tool. I will forever be indebted to the system.
After practice today, I was called over to his office by coach Joao.
I cleaned myself up at the showers, knocked on the door and heard "Enter"
"Hey coach Joao. You asked for me?"
"Hello to you too Ricardo. Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the immediate future."
I didn't say anything and waited for him to clarify and continue.
"For the past three months, you have put up insane numbers for the u15 team. I have seen it. I have brought in coach Martinez from the u17 team to watch your performances."
"We disagree on a lot of stuff, myself and other coaches. Some of them want to turn you into a striker. They wanted to test you in Diego's role."
I was about to retort, when he raised a hand to stop me.
"I didn't say that we agreed. I don't see it and coach Martinez doesn't like it either. We both agree that you're a once in a generational talent. Your passing vision and passing are too good to be wasted on a striker. Yes, you're scoring many many goals, but this is u15. What coach Martinez and I agree on is that you lack challenge at this level. You are not meant to play at this level."
"So, we have discussed further and with management approval, we want to stop you from the u15 matches and try you with the u17 team instead."
My excitement must have shown on my face, because coach Joao had the faintest of smiles on his face.
"I could see you bursting with excitement, but remember U17 is not going to be the same as u15. You wouldn't be dominating everyone with your quick pace and dribbling and through passes. U17 teams play differently. They can read the passes. They defend well and they will match your pace. So, for now, for a few weeks I want you to go and meet with coach Martinez and join the training sessions for the u17 team."
"We will analyse your performances in these two weeks of practice and see if you warrant a spot in the u17 team."
"Since these are youth competitions, rules aren't strict about the teams, we could make changes and bring in new personnel as long as they have already been contracted. So, think about it. Tell your parents about it, and make a decision."
"I have seen your development since you were 8/9 years old. So, I believe in your abilities. But, I want you to be cautious. I don't want to rush you into this and break your confidence. That's why I recommended we ease you into this and integrate you into the team first. Coach Martinez wanted to start you immediately, but I suggested against it."
"I hope you understand that I want you to have the best of careers and I don't want to rush you into these big steps."
"Take your time and tell me your decision tomorrow. We will make the necessary arrangements."
I was silent for a moment, taking in his words. I wanted to say that I was ready and that I could prove to everyone that I am better when I start, but I also realised that he was genuinely looking out for me. If I were actually 15 years old, I might not have understood that, but with what I have seen of academy players in the past life, coach Joao was spot on. He wanted me to integrate first into the team, form a chemistry, and then go into the u17 matches. So, I took a deep breath, and looked straight into his eyes and said
"You might think that I would lash out or be angry at this coach Joao, but I can see where you're coming from. You are looking out for me and want the best for me. You haven't steered me wrong once in all these years, and I trust you. If you think the practice sessions are what I need, to slowly get into the team, that is what we shall do. I don't need to think too much about this. My answer is a yes, I will do what you suggest. And I will prove to everyone that this was not a fluke at u15. I am going to shatter their expectations of what a 15 year old kid could do at that level. Thank you for everything and thanks for the opportunity"
He took in my words and a slow smile crept up on his face.
"With your decision making on the field, and your composure and the way you talk, you don't sound like a 15 year old Kaká. I thank you for your confidence, but I would still like to tell your father about this and include him in the decision. For now, he is still your acting agent/representative. Have a conversation with him and let me know tomorrow. I will also reach out to him separately to explain our decision"
"I have full confidence that you are indeed going to be exceptional Kaká!"
With that, I didn't linger on much longer, I took my leave and went home immediately.
By the time I was there, coach Joao must have already talked to my father about this on the phone, and my father agreed with everything and he was all for it. It was his mantra and mine, one step at a time. One day at a time.
It has been decided. It is time for a challenge. The easy mode football is over, now it is time to step up.
It is time to play big boy football and measure myself against players who have had time to develop and hone their skills.
If I fall down, it doesn't matter. Because I have all the time in the world to get back up, and go again. That's how winning is done.