Underdog

07. INVITATION AND COMPETITION

24th November 2020

"WAIT WHAT?!"

"Every team has been invited to a week long camp in Wales, meant to help reduce hate between the teams and their fans." Franco informed me, I clearly hadn't reacted too well but I was just shocked that we'd be invited to an event like this.

Training had improve significantly over the past two days, Ealing and the Italian team working so well together, providing one another with competition and challenging each other to be the best they could. I'd woken up a little later, after spending a while on FaceTime with Alun, when I joined Franco downstairs after breakfast, he'd told me the news about our upcoming trip to Wales and we were now discussing the details of the event.

All six teams would spend a week completing skill, team building, technique and safety sessions at the welsh national training facilities. Social media was going to play a big role in showing the outside world how 'well' the teams got on behind the scenes.

"Small problem, well two small problems..."Franco hesitated, worried about how I'd respond to these issues, "It's in six days and I can't attend the event. My family need me back home for a week so I would like you to step in as head coach when you're there!" My jaw dropped, completely in shock at not only the short amount of time we had to make this team like half decent but also the fact I'd be taking them myself. It wasn't up for debate though, as assistant coach, I was required to step in during times like this especially as Marius and some of the other coaches had commitments to other clubs in Italy during the week.

"It's fine, I can handle this Franco!" He nodded, reassuring me I could before leading me into the meeting hall to address the team who were waiting for our arrival.

They didn't seem too impressed with what they were told...and I honestly couldn't blame them. We were just getting the hang of the daily routine, skills were improving quickly and they were starting to cooperate a lot more, they didn't need this disrupting the effective training regime they were following. Heading out to training fairly quickly, to avoid questions, we made our way through the three main sessions with only minor distractions due to some players struggling with the idea of being thrown in front of the more successful teams in less than a week. It wasn't fear, but nerves were running through the group, they were proud of what they'd achieved in the two weeks we'd been here, yet they knew it still wasn't near the stage they needed to reach to be in with a chance of beating the other five countries. Next week would be a reality check and they had to remain composed and focused, otherwise all of our hard work so far would be going to waste.

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30th November 2020

The week went by way too fast and I soon found myself sitting on the floor of the airport in Rome, between Monty and Stephen, opposite Luca and Johan, waiting for our flight to Cardiff to be called. Everyone was dressed in full 'uniform', looking almost identical to one another, although many put their own twist on the plain tracksuit and matching trainers. Even I was dressed in the branded tracksuit bottoms and the head coach jacket I'd been gifted by Franco, with my initials printed on it, just below the badge.

"You ready for this Efa?" Nodding, I snuggled slightly into Monty's side, the two of us got on really well and he acted like a protective older brother, although this was pretty similar with most the boys in the squad. Stephen looked nervous and excited, his leg shaking slightly as he listened to music to relax himself. I grabbed the younger boys hand, rubbing my thumb over the back of it slightly to help him calm his nerves, although it helped me massively.