Capítulo 737: Egoists? II
With all that said, Rohr focused on getting the players to work well with each other and gave them the appropriate tactical instructions for how they would be playing the following day.
After the tactical session, the manager had the players get back on the field for one last scrimmage with them trying to put into action the tactical setup they had just been discussing.
As the scrimmage went on, Rohr nodded to himself as he watched the players move the ball cleanly among each other.
It was clear to note that among the defenders who had considerably less ego issues, their partnership was very good, but the forwards didn’t seem to be playing too badly either.
Of course that didn’t fool the manager as he knew that this was only because it was a training session.
Once the game actually began with fans in the stadium watching them and a clock ticking, things might very well change, but he hoped they wouldn’t.
After watching for a while, he called quits on the training session for the day and sent the players back to rest, emphasizing on them resting.
The game the following day was set for 9:30 pm at night so he wanted them to get some training early before the game, hence he wanted them to be well rested enough so they could train without any risks.
Some of the players had other plans though and Osimen wanted to even drag Jason out for a night out as according to him, the dinner party the previous night was not enough celebration, but Jason wiggled his way out with the excuse that he really needed to rest.
Lying through his teeth that he still had a bit of jet lag from flying continually over the last few days, Jason managed to escape Osimen’s plans for that night.
Splitting his time between doing some yoga, a few basic calisthenic exercises, watching a movie, and doing a very long vide call with Adele, he finally went to sleep around 10pm.
**4th June 2021**
Waking up early, the players had some light training done between 9 and 11 before spending another hour and a half making the final tactical preparations.
Rohr also finally put out the starting lineup.
The team would be playing the 4-4-2 formation for the game and looking through the list of names in the starting lineup, Jason realized he wasn’t a part of the starting lineup.
Not sure whether the manager was trying to avoid stressing him too much as he had just joined the team, or for other reasons, Jason didn’t feel anything but a little disappointment at not being able to start the game.
It was no big deal though as friendly games to national teams were as domestic cup games were to the football clubs.
They were opportunities to give a lot of new players a runout, so Jason wasn’t going to get all hung up because he wasn’t a part of the starting lineup in a friendly game.
The players spent most of the rest of the day resting, but were active from time to time so as to stay ready for the game.
By 6pm the players had their pre-match meal, rested for thirty minutes and then got on the bus taking them to the stadium where the match would be held.
Unsurprisingly, the streets were very lively even as the sky had gone down and the stadium was even livelier.
Lagos was very well known for their nightlife and there was no doubt about Nigerians’ love for football, so the players had quite a bit of support at the stadium even though it was nighttime and just a friendly game.
The players alighted the bus after it came to a stop, went to their locker rooms to change into their warm-up kits and then headed out to the stadium for a quick warm-up session before the game.
While the players warmed up, the stands slowly filled up with the fans who had come to watch the game live while outside the stadium and all over the country, people were tuning in from their TVs and phones to watch the game.
In the country of Cameroon, as well, the Cameroonians were tuning in to watch their countrymen battle it out for pride on foreign soil.
By this point, the confirmed starting lineups were already released and many people were already arguing over the lineups and who they believed should be there or not.
Lineups were one thing that most football fans never agreed on and after seeing the strange formation and a few unexpected names, both the Nigerian and Cameroonian football fans burst forth in argument over who would be the better fielding option and whether the formation the teams were playing was the optimal one.
Everyone loved playing manager over a team they were not in control of. It was one of the joys of being a football fan.
Time passed by quickly as the fans argued and it was soon kickoff time.
With a sharp blast of the referee’s whistle the game kicked off with the Cameroon side starting the game in possession of the ball.
Soon enough the fans began cheering with more excitement as the game heated up with both sides beginning to make attacking moves, each one trying to get the first goal and take charge of the game, but soon the Nigerian fans began getting frustrated with the type of football their players were playing.
The team was set up to attack more, but the players weren’t connecting well and a lot of errant passes caused them to lose the ball quite a bit.
Even worse were the wingers who always tried to go it all alone whenever they received the ball and didn’t release the ball on time to the two forwards despite the forwards running into spaces and freeing themselves for the final pass.
Of course since they were doing well defensively, there was no need for the fans to get too annoyed as they believed that the game would soon turn in their favor, but all that changed in the thirty-sixth minute.
The Cameroon team had been knocking heavily on the Nigerian team’s goal for the last ten minutes and they had been especially helped by the two wide midfielders who kept losing the ball.
This time they finally got a good counter attacking chance when Anguissa stole the ball from Simon who was trying to use stepovers to get past him.
Quickly pushing the ball forward, he unleashed a pass to Toko Ekanbi on the right flank.
Receiving the ball and continuing to push forward, Toko Ekanbi squared up against Collins who slowly dropped back, not committing to a tackle and also slowing him down.
Toko Ekanbi could only play his game for so long before trying to dodge past him. Quickly flicking the ball to his left, Toko Ekanbi tried to cut infield, opening up the avenue to shoot or pass.
Initially intending to find a free teammate, he changed his mind when he saw the path between him and goal open.
Swinging his leg powerfully at the ball, he hit it at the goal, but the ball didn’t make it farther than a meter away when Collins’s leg appeared in the way to block the shot. He had recovered quick enough to stop the shot.
Bouncing off his leg, the ball bounced back out, evading Toko Ekanbi who tried to reach it, but just behind him was Anguissa who instantly put his foot through with it.
{Anguisssaaaaaaa!!!}