Chapter 5

"Good morning, Carlos. Rafael flicked the ball on his feet, hugged the football in his arms easily, and greeted the academy goalkeeper with a smile.

Carlos has been with River Plate for decades and loves his job because seeing these young players always gives him confidence in the club's future. Seeing Raphael, he smiled: "Raphael, you are the first one to come." ”

"I'm obviously the second, isn't it you the earliest?"

Carlos laughed, "I know you have a game this afternoon, will you play, Rafael?"

Rafael blinked: "It's up to the coach, but I guess putting me on the bench isn't a waste of resources? ”

Carlos smiled and nodded, and watched the teenager run energetically towards the locker room, a relieved smile on his face. This scene has often happened since Rafael returned from injury, Carlos still remembers the first time he saw Rafael, when he heard the movement of the training ground, he thought he was a thief, but he hurriedly looked and found that someone was training, it turned out that Rafael saw that there was no doorman, so he simply climbed over the wall and climbed in.

At that time, Carlos didn't recognize who this teenager was, and he was about to kick him out after scolding the other party, Rafael has been sincerely apologizing, and after showing his identity, Carlos knew that it was an oolong, and he couldn't cry or laugh, he had worked in River Plate for so many years, it was really rare to see such a diligent little player, and when he had nothing to do, he went to see the other party train, and the first time he went, Raphael was practicing juggling the ball.

At a glance he stood still, Rafael's movements were very natural and graceful, his body always maintained a stretched and coordinated posture, and the ball fell on his left instep very regularly, and was picked up and dropped again. After doing dozens of them, he changed the instep of his right foot, and it could be seen that the right foot was obviously not as flexible as his left foot, and the first foot was picked up, and he didn't panic, he hooked the ball with his right foot and took it back, and then then reversed, and then the left and right feet took turns to use, and the football was always up and down in front of him. That day, Raphael bounced the ball for nearly an hour.

The second time he went, Rafael was still practicing juggling the ball. Unlike the first time Carlos saw him juggling the ball, he used more parts to juggle the ball, no longer limited to catching the ball with the instep of his foot, but also started to use both sides of the inside and outside of his foot, and that morning, it was all the time for juggling training.

The third time I saw Raphael, he seemed to really enjoy practicing juggling the ball, and this time he was better than the last time he saw it, and he had already started to juggle the ball continuously with all parts of his body. The football is like a naughty but mischievous elf, on his head, feet, shoulders, back, chest, and big legs touching and jumping back and forth, but Carlos felt that strange feeling in his heart getting deeper and deeper, until Raphael noticed him, and then smiled and waved at him, while using his heel to pick up the ball that fell behind him to the front and touch the ball with his big leg again, he knew why every time the boy juggled the ball, he couldn't stagger his gaze.

It's so easy and natural, he never seems to be afraid that the ball will not be received, because his body is so relaxed that he can always use any part of the ball to keep the ball under control, Carlos can swear that even in the first team, there has never been a person who can spin the ball so casually and beautifully as Rafael. Others are juggling the ball, but what he is juggling is called art.

The ball is so good, it's not easy, Carlos sighed, but when he went for the fourth time, he found that Raphael was still juggling the ball, and he recovered the ball with both insteps at the beginning, was it preparing for circuit training? But he frowned after watching it for a while, Raphael only bumped more than thirty times before he lost control, the football jumped out, and his remedial action did not touch the football. Compared to before, the gap is too big.

But when he took a closer look, he realized that Rafael was actually juggling the ball with his eyes closed! With his eyes closed! Carlos is an old fan, and he even wanted to be a player when he was young, but in the end he had to give up because of his limited talent, and juggling the ball with his eyes closed is also a good way to exercise, but few people have tried it, because the requirements for strength are very precise, and the sense of the ball has extremely high requirements for body balance.

Carlos didn't dare to breathe, for fear of disturbing the boy. From the bumps at the beginning, to the gradual improvement later, Raphael's terrifying control was once again presented in his eyes.

It didn't take long for Carlos to watch the other party bounce the ball with his eyes closed for a week, and occasionally the ball was far away, and he hooked his calf and brought the ball back, if Carlos hadn't been staring at the other party's eyes, he almost suspected that he had secretly opened his eyes and saw it!

Carlos has been shocked to the point of numbness for a while, not only because the opponent is not like the ball and balance of the earthlings, but also because of his strong self-discipline. Raphael didn't tie any ribbons around his eyes, but when the ball was out of control, whether it was a desperate remedy to a final remedy that succeeded or failed, he never opened his eyes in the process, he didn't even tremble, and his upper and lower eyelids were almost glued together!

And as the boy was able to skillfully juggle the ball with his eyes closed, Carlos found that the other party had started a new trick again, and began to chant words while closing his eyes.

His lips squirmed quickly, his voice was almost inaudible, and Carlos had been wondering what he was doing since he had seen him once. When the other party's training was over, he couldn't help but ask, Rafael seemed a little embarrassed, and touched his nose: "I'm reciting the rules of FIFA football." ”

After all, Raphael comes from another plane, although there are football leagues on both sides, but there must be many differences in the specific rules and regulations, but most of the memories he inherited are interpersonal relationships and football training games, and it is too difficult for him to find out a specific professional system from it, so he simply took advantage of the time to recite the memory.

Carlos didn't know what he was thinking, but was simply shocked: "But with your eyes closed, you can still bounce the ball?!"

Raphael smiled: "It's good to get used to it." ”

He clearly didn't think it was a big deal.

What a monster, monster, Carlos lamented, despite the fact that he could not prove that he could become a top star, but Carlos wanted to believe that he was witnessing the growth of a monster and that one day, this blonde kid could become the next superstar to walk out of the riverplate.

At the end of the day, Carlos pulled out his notepad and marker: "I've decided to be your fan, come and sign me." ”

Raphael was a little surprised, but he soon laughed, and his face with baby fat looked very happy, he took the pen and paper in his hand, and signed his name very seriously: "Although you are not my first fan, this is my first autograph, Carlos, you have earned it, please keep it well, it will definitely appreciate in the future." ”

"I thought I was going to be your first fan, but who was your first fan? "Carlos likes Raphael's personality very much, and seeing his smile makes him feel really good all day.

"Of course it's my mom and dad," Raphael tilted his head, "it's the spot I've booked for them, not now, but soon." ”

Carlos laughed again, "Okay, okay, then you'll have to work harder." ”

"Of course!"

He was greeted by Raphael's energetic smile.

Rafael changed into his training clothes in the dressing room and came out with a football in his arms, and he doesn't practice juggling these days. Of course, this does not mean that juggling the ball is not necessary for him to practice, juggling the ball is an important method to improve the basic skills of football - that is, the ability to stop passing and shooting, and it is a basic skill that professional football players must master. Every professional player will spend at least ten minutes a day practicing juggling the ball, just to familiarize himself with the ball and maintain the sense of the ball, and Rafael will only spend more time on this, not less.

He doesn't bounce the ball on the training ground now because he has enough time to practice at home and he can use the time on the training ground for other training. For example, last month, he not only juggled the ball at home, but also spent a lot of time practicing on the training ground, because at that time he had just recovered from injury, he needed to do his best to make every part of his body fully familiar with football, so that the body remembered the feeling of touching the ball, and formed a kind of inertia, so that the body would naturally form a reaction at the moment of contact with the ball, so that he could make the next move faster and control the ball more effectively in the game.

He's still young, he doesn't have to rush too much, and getting a good foundation is the most important thing, so it took him more than a month to get used to the ball thoroughly, and now he just needs to keep it every day.

I don't know if it was through welfare, bringing his terrible ball sense from his previous life, Raphael felt more relaxed after getting acquainted with it.

After a little warm-up, Rafael began to work on physical endurance, and in the professional league, having a good body is a top priority.

When Raphael heard a familiar whistle, he looked up after concentrating on the sprint switchback, and sure enough, his friend Manuel was standing aside and winking at him.

"How do I feel that you're faster again? is it my delusion?" asked Manuel, tossing him a towel and mineral water.

"Do you want to compare?" Raphael said with a grin, taking the towel and wiping his sweat, and then taking another sip of water, panting a little.

Manuel looked him up and down, Raphael had exercised too much before, and his whole body was like being fished out of the water, his clothes and hair were already soaked, and his forehead was full of sweat, only his eyes were translucent, and his spirit was flying, which made people unable to take their eyes off, cough, this kid looked like a child half a year ago, and now he is really getting longer and longer...... He pushed him: "Whoever wants to compare with you, go take a shower and change clothes, it will be time later." ”

"Time flies. Rafael obediently walked to the locker room, since Manu knew that he would come to the training camp in advance, he stepped on the training ground fifteen minutes early every time, just for fear that he would overinvest in the time. Because from the coaching staff to the players, they basically come by stepping on the point, at most ten minutes in advance.

Once Raphael was very moved by this, and grabbed Manuel's hand affectionately: "You can train with me in the future, and you can start more training positions." ”

Manuel was shocked and flatly refused: "No one wants to trick me into getting up at five o'clock!

Raphael looked at him with disdain: "And yet you did not go to bed until five o'clock!"

Manuel hehehe As a talented forward who has made a name for himself in the youth team, coupled with his handsome appearance, he is still quite popular with girls, young people, self-control is inevitably a little worse. It is relatively open here, and it is completely different from the conservative relationship between men and women in the Ming Dynasty. So Raphael sometimes hits him very evilly: "You still have to be temperate, be careful when you are young, and grind the iron pestle into a needle!"

It's a pity that the foreign silver doesn't understand this stalk, and Raphael spreads his hands: "Maybe one day he will be a father." ”

Manu disagreed: "Then raise it, how about you come to be a godfather when the time comes?"

". Raphael gave him a slap in the eye, thinking really far.