Chapter 91: Volume 1, - 91: For Now

Chapter 91: Volume 1, Chapter 91: For Now

Friday morning began in the dim light of the academy video-analysis room. Rayan sat in the front row facing a wall-mounted display screen, flanked by performance analyst André Falcão and head coach Nuno Marques. The room smelled faintly of air-conditioning and whiteboard ink.

Falcão held a remote control, tapping a button that brought up the first sequence from Thursday’s friendly.

"Errors first," Marques said. "If the setup is wrong, the good action won’t repeat."

The screen showed the fifty-ninth minute. The footage captured Rayan’s first touch after replacing Leandro Viana. On screen, Rayan stood square to Leandro Freitas’s pass, stopping the ball dead on the touchline. Tiago Amado stepped in shoulder-to-shoulder, knocked him off balance and poked the ball cleanly into André Loureiro’s path.

"Poor body orientation," Falcão noted, pausing the frame just as Tiago made contact. "You received flat-footed. At this level, a patient right-back will strip that every time."

Falcão skipped forward to a later second-half clip. Rayan had drifted towards the centre, received under pressure and immediately shifted the ball onto his stronger right foot without checking his shoulder. André Loureiro read the movement and dispossessed him cleanly.

"Right-foot dependence," Marques said. "You relied on what felt comfortable rather than what the space demanded."

Further clips showed a pass to Leandro identified too late and the transition where Rayan’s poor pressing angle left him chasing Tiago towards the corner.

"Now the productive actions," Falcão said, switching the playlist.

The screen shifted to Rayan’s adaptation later in the second half. The footage showed him checking back towards the ball before receiving, letting the pass travel across his body to execute a First-Touch Escape away from Tiago’s angle.

"Better here," Falcão said. "You checked your shoulder, saw Tiago coming and released to Namir before André closed the inside."

The analyst then loaded the seventy-second minute: Rayan receiving on the move, combining with Rodrigo Figueiredo, executing a quick, compact Body Feint to shift Tiago half a yard off balance, and drilling a crisp, early low delivery across the six-yard box for Gonçalo Matos to turn home.

"The assist was clean," Marques said. "One feint, half a yard, early cross."

Falcão advanced to the final minutes. Tiago overlapped into the left channel, but Rayan recognised the run early, followed him towards the box and slid across the passing lane to block the low cross.

"Better recovery," Falcão said. "You saw the runner before the pass."

Marques did not praise it further. The clip stayed useful because it showed the same lesson as the assist: early information gave Rayan time to act.

Falcão shut off the display, restoring the room’s overhead fluorescent lighting. Marques turned his chair slightly to face Rayan directly.

"The assist was good," Marques said. "Now repeat those decisions when you’re tired. Improve the contact preparation, use your left foot, track earlier and scan faster inside. Then do it again."

Marques paused, letting the demands settle before delivering the verdict.

"For now, you will train with the primary U17 group. That is not a promotion, and it is not permanent. It means you have earned the right to be tested at this tempo for another block of sessions."

Earlier in the year, Rayan would have heard the beginning of another rejection. Now he heard exactly what Marques had said: another block of sessions, nothing promised and another chance to prove useful.

"Understood, Coach," Rayan said.

"Good. Recovery session at ten, then gym work. Dismissed."

After leaving the video-analysis room, Rayan walked back to the quiet hallway near the U17 office before finding an empty bench in the recovery area. Sitting down, he closed his eyes and summoned the System interface. A translucent, smoked-black panel resolved smoothly before him.

[Available Attribute Points: 5.]

[Intermediate Skill Token: 1.]

Recalling the review. The physical loss to Tiago, the right-foot reliance under pressure, the central turnover, and the late defensive read, Rayan carefully directed four points into his foundational metrics.

[ATTRIBUTE ALLOCATION COMPLETE.]

[Ball Control: 43 → 44.]

[Passing: 46 → 47.]

[Composure: 39 → 40.]

[Defensive Awareness: 29 → 30.]

[Available Attribute Points: 1.]

[Overall: 49 → 50.]

He deliberately left the final Attribute Point untouched. Having a single point banked offered flexibility if a specific weakness flared during the upcoming U17 tactical drills.

Next, Rayan opened the skill interface to inspect the Intermediate Skill Library. A vast matrix of locked and available skill nodes shimmered across the panel, categorised by positional traits and tactical triggers.

[Intermediate Skill Token available.]

[Selection deferred.]

[Specific developmental context recommended.]

He closed the skill window without making a selection. Acquiring an intermediate technique without knowing his exact role in Marques’s tactical setup would be premature. The token remained securely stored in his inventory.

By Saturday afternoon, Rayan was back at his family’s apartment in Olivais. The warm weekend air drifted through the open balcony window as he sat at his small desk, reviewing his handwritten notebook from the match.

He pulled out his phone and typed a brief message to Bia:

Video review done. I’m staying with the primary U17 group for now.

He laid the phone flat on the desk. Bia was working on her summer design portfolio, so an immediate reply was unlikely. Nearly forty minutes passed before the screen lit up with her text:

Congratulations! ’For now’ is how they say hello at Sporting anyway. Don’t let Marques make you run extra laps for celebrating.

Rayan smiled faintly, setting the phone aside.

A moment later, Sofia knocked on his bedroom door and walked in carrying a basket of freshly folded laundry. She set it on the chest of drawers and leaned against the frame, looking at him with her usual practical gaze.

"You’re home early from the facility," she said. "Did they give you the schedule for next week?"

"Got it this morning," Rayan said, handing her a printed slip from his bag. "Morning sessions Monday through Thursday. Tactical video on Friday."

Sofia scanned the paper carefully, focusing on the practical details rather than the prestige of the U17 designation.

"Transport is the same bus route at six-thirty?" she asked.

"Yeah. Metro connection at Alameda if the academy shuttle is delayed."

"Do they give you lunch after training, or should I pack something?"

"Lunch is covered after the primary sessions. I just need breakfast before I leave."

Sofia nodded slowly, satisfied that the logistics were sound. "Good. Pack your bag the night before, eat before you go and don’t stay up late with those notebooks."

"I won’t."

She patted his shoulder once before heading out to the kitchen. "Rest your legs. You have a long week ahead."

Left alone in his room, Rayan turned back to his notebook. On a clean page, he listed the key technical points Marques had demanded from the video session: Contact preparation. Left-foot receiving under pressure. Central scanning speed. Defensive tracking angles.

Beside each item, in precise, dark ink, he wrote the same two words:

For now.