Ender's Football

Stanzel's words gave Ender a new idea.

The season is still going on, and the time he can squeeze out is not long. After staying at home in Uwensburg for an evening and a morning, he immediately returned to Leipzig by train.

After returning to the youth training center, Ander immediately went to the dormitory to look for Sieghard, but he walked around the dormitory area of ​​the youth training center, but he didn't see Sigurhard.

Ender thought about it and decided to go to the gym to have a look.

The supporting facilities of the Red Bull Youth Training Center are very complete, and the gym equipped for young players is no exception. In addition to traditional fitness equipment, there are also some wearable high-tech equipment in the fitness center to assist the players in training. There are also two baths in the inner room that can be used to relax muscles. One is cold and the other is hot. Usually, a physiotherapist will be arranged to guide the players to take alternate baths to relieve muscle fatigue and some other symptoms.

There is no training for these two days, so not many people are still in the base. When Ender walked into the gym, he was not surprised to find that there was no one there, only one window was half open, and the cold wind kept coming from nowhere. The room was filled with water, which brought down the temperature in the gym.

The whirring of the cold wind was also mixed with the sound of conversation.

Ender listened, and found that it was coming from the room with the bath, but he couldn't hear it clearly.So he walked a few more steps into the gym, and he didn't hear it until he was near the room where the bathing pool was.

It was the voice of two boys, one of whom was complaining.

"...It's just that he didn't play twice, and his agent rushed to find Mr. Albeck. Does he really think he is a superstar? Or does he think his agent can be like those big agents here? Reckless behavior? Can the club compromise by threatening a transfer?"

Ender recognized the voice.

It was the boy in the peaked cap, Louis, who taunted Sighard a month ago in a strange way, and finally played FIFA with Sighard in the living room—and lost the game.

But now, Louis' voice was much more cynical than it was then, and he seemed to be still fighting for the people around him.

"...Niklas, you are too timid and too good-tempered to be overwhelmed by him! Let me tell you, you are much better than that so-called 'genius' from Munich! He just has a good life. He became the captain of the national youth team after he was in a wealthy team, and now Bayern doesn't want him anymore..."

Well, at his word, Ender knew who the other boy was inside.

Niklas, Sieghard's rival in the U19s, has overtaken Sieghard's starting chances in two games in a row.

"Don't say that, Louis," Nicholas' voice was a little flustered, and he knew it was probably not a "hard stubble", "I think Sigerhard performed really well in the usual training...better than me... ...I don't know why Mr. Heyman chose me..."

"Don't be so cowardly, buddy!" Louis' tone sounded almost iron-clad, "Coach Heyman made you start and not let him start, there must be something wrong with him! You have to believe that you are much better than him! "

"But……"

Nichlos was about to say something, but was interrupted by Louis again heartbroken.

"Niclas! You are from Saxony! The one from West Germany is a highlander. If there is anything, we will definitely support you, brother! Now his agent is interfering with the coaching staff outside the field. Why are you so weak? What if the coaching staff of the next game really listened to his agent's nonsense and replaced you?"

Nichols said something later, but the voice was very small, and there was still water in their room, so Ender couldn't hear it clearly.

When he regained consciousness, he found that he was standing facing the open and leaking window.The cool wind hit him suddenly when he raised his head, making him sneeze involuntarily.

"Ah-"

"Who?"

The two people inside seemed to have heard the noise outside, and Louis immediately asked alertly.

Ender thought about it, but he didn't leave in a hurry. He even took another step towards the bathing room, ready to push the door.

A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder from behind.

"Don't go." A familiar voice said to him gently.

***

When Louis came out of the bath in his bathrobe, it was empty.

"Is it just a hallucination?"

Louis couldn't help muttering.

He looked up and scanned around the gym, and found that there was indeed no one here, and every window was tightly closed.

Louis thought for a while, pulled on his slippers indifferently, and returned to the pool.

Nicholas asked him nervously: "Did no one come back just now?"

"Who knows," Louis shrugged, "probably not—it's nothing, anyway, it's not us who rely on agents to put pressure on the coaching staff."

Nicholas lowered his head in despair again.

***

The window was closed by Sieghard.

"Why did you stop me, Sig?" Ender frowned, "They said that about you, I'm going to ask Louis why."

It was Sigurhard, who had just stood behind him and prevented him from approaching the room, the center of discussion between the two boys in the bath.

Of course Ander couldn't understand the two people (mainly Louis) sneering at his friends. No one knew the situation that day better than him. Sigurhard didn't take the initiative to ask Uncle Loel to find Albeck, did he? He only found out from Ender after the game.

"Taste this first," Sieghard said.

He didn't answer Ender's question immediately, but brought two cups of hot cocoa from the coffee table next to him.

At this moment, they had already left the gym and were sitting together on a bench at the corner of the first floor of the youth training center.

Here is a good location, the windows are closed tightly, and the heating temperature is just right, which dispels the cold without being too hot.Looking out from the curved glass at the corner, you can just see the training ground used by the Leipzig Red Bull first team.Now there are staff there just to sweep the snow and do some turf maintenance.

Ender took the hot cocoa from Sieghard's hand, and the aroma of chocolate quickly swirled around the mouth of the cup with the white mist, and passed into his nasal cavity, sweetly melting his restless heart.

"Thank you, brother," Ender said after calming down, "although I still don't understand why you won't let me go."

Sieghard sat down beside him, and they were so close that Ender could feel what seemed to be a source of heat against his left arm.

He also took a sip of the hot cocoa in his cup and said, "There's nothing to argue about. Some of what Louis said is true, but it's not very pleasant."

"How can you think of yourself like that!" Ender was immediately ignited by Sieghard's indifferent tone. He immediately turned his head and said angrily, "You are the best, remember, Sieg? Those who can't afford to lose will belittle themselves!"

Looking at the angry boy, Sieghard felt an indescribable turmoil in his heart.

"I..." He paused, organizing his words, "I—maybe I haven't reached Mr. Heyman's starting standard. Nichols can start because he's doing better than me, Mr. Heyman. I'm not surprised I chose him."

After going through the difficult beginning, he said the following words very smoothly, as if he had envisioned them in his mind long ago.

But Ender disagreed with him: "Sig, you are the best in terms of competition experience and saving skills. I have been watching your training. Everyone has watched it. Everyone has eyes. Know who That's the best one in training, isn't it?"

He is not blindly confident. Over the past month or so, Sieghard has shown a level of training that is obvious to all. People in the entire youth training center are quietly discussing this matter behind their backs. Even Nicholas himself thinks that he is not as good as Sieghard, otherwise he wouldn't be so unconfident that he didn't want to deny Sieghard's competitive level when he was whispering to Louis.

Ender thought about this matter from Sigerhard's perspective, and felt that if he put it on himself, he would be wronged to death.Worse than Mr. Tierner when he was benched the day his parents came to see the game - at least Mr. Tierner knew to give him an explanation!

Sieghard couldn't help but patted him on the shoulder.

"Actually... I am indeed inferior to Nicholas," he said softly. "Do you still remember the time when Uncle Loel went to find Mr. Albeck? I talked with him and Mr. Heyman." , I have a question now..."

"What?" Ender wondered.

He watched the U19 training several times, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with Sieghard now.

Sieghard took a deep breath.

Obviously, answering this question was difficult for Sieghard.In the past so many days, he has never mentioned it to anyone in the base except the coaching staff.

"I'm a little... It can be said that it's subconscious, I'm afraid of shooting."

He said softly, but what he said made Ender startled.

"Afraid...to shoot?" Ender didn't quite understand.

Sieghard lowered his head, his pale face melted into the black liquid in the cup, swirling slightly with the white bubbles.

"Yes," he said with difficulty, "because I had a broken bone... At that time, my teammate raised his leg to shoot and hit me, so every time I faced a striker, I would subconsciously hesitate and dodge..."

"But in training..." Ender had a hard time imagining what Sigurhard said.

"Nobody noticed it," Sieghard said, "but the coaching staff -- mainly the goalkeeping coach Mr. Rudel, they noticed it."

In fact, he concealed his plight very well. His goal line level is not bad, and he consciously reduced the number of shots in the training game, but he was pointed out by the experienced Rudel.

Every time he goes out, facing the high boots of the forwards, he always thinks of the heavy snow in Munich last year, and the feeling of chills all over his body when his bones were broken.

That feeling is not pain, but a powerlessness where everything is out of control, a despair where wings are snapped off and thrown off a cliff.

This mood is difficult to control. Sieghard has tried his best, but the memory in his mind cannot be completely erased. His fear makes both Coach Heyman and Mr. Albeck very worried.

"I never knew..." Ender was shocked by what Sighard said. He lived with Sighard for more than a month and left countless happy memories, but he never knew himself. My roommate has been in this situation on the court!

Sieghard shook his head at him: "Don't blame yourself, Ender, I thought I could handle it well."

"But I never knew it!"

Ender remembered the conversation with Stanzel yesterday. At that time, he was still aggrieved by Sighard for going to extra training alone for several days. It was Stanzel who encouraged him and asked him to take the initiative to ask, and said, "If Sighard needs You can help him with extra training."

Stanzel was damn right!Are you a fool? !Ender!

he thought to himself.

Sieghard didn't know that he would be so disappointed, he rubbed the child's head again: "It's nothing..."

"No! Of course there is something!" Ender retorted immediately, he stood up suddenly, put his hands on Sigurhard's shoulders, and looked at him with burning eyes, "You need more training, you need to get rid of this emotion I can train with you, I'm a striker, Seager!"

Sieghard didn't expect him to say this, he looked up at the boy in front of him, who was standing very close to him, his own reflection reflected in his dark eyes.

"Then let's just say that, I'll accompany you in additional training in the future!" Ender said firmly.