Only two people were very quiet.
Tobías stood in the middle of the River Plate line, his expression calm.
He did not look at the players provoking each other, but only lowered his head slightly, adjusting his wristbands.
On the other side, Paredes stood at the front of the Boca Juniors line, also not speaking.
His mind was still thinking about Europe.
Roma, Paris, Juve.
And that sentence from Riquelme: prioritize choosing a team where you can play as a stable starter.
He knew this match today was very important.
If he could suppress the River Plate midfield in the derby and play with dominance in front of the scouts from Europe, he would have more options.
He turned his head and took a look at Tobías in the River Plate line.
The River Plate midfielder.
A rising star recently suddenly packaged by River Plate.
Paredes had heard this name, but didn’t pay too much attention to it.
In his world, there were many opponents.
But there were not many midfielders of the same age who could truly go head-to-head with him.
Tobías also took a look at him.
Their gazes met briefly in the tunnel.
No provocation, no anger, just a very calm glance.
Giovanni leaned over to Tobías’s side and whispered: “See that?
That is Paredes.”
Tobías nodded: “I see him.”
“Don’t let him receive the ball comfortably today.”
“Yeah.”
“And don’t let them look down on our River Plate.”
Tobías looked toward the tunnel exit; the shouts of fans could already be heard outside.
“I won’t.”
The staff raised their hands, signaling for both sides to prepare to enter the field.
The light ahead brightened, and the color of the turf spread out from the end of the tunnel.
The refereeing team walked out first.
The players from River Plate and Boca Juniors followed.
Just at the moment Tobías stepped out of the player tunnel, the familiar mechanical sound rang in his mind.
[Detected that the host is about to participate in a high-level youth competition: River Plate U18 vs.
Boca Juniors U18.]
[Match chest mechanism has been activated.]
[Extra chest mission triggered.]
[Mission Requirement: In this match, during the head-to-head confrontation with Boca Juniors’ genius midfielder Paredes, your individual performance must not be at a disadvantage.]
[Complete the mission to unlock a Silver Chest.]
Before the whistle blew, the stands were already about to explode.
The River Plate fans were a sea of red and white, while the Boca Juniors fans were a sea of blue and yellow, separated by security and railings, but neither side stopped shouting.
“Cowards of Boca Juniors!
Get back to your port district!”
“Young masters of River Plate, just wait to cry today!”
“Giovanni will make your defenders crawl home!”
Curses, whistles, and drums mixed together, as if they wanted to flip over the youth team stadium.
This was no ordinary U18 match.
The two names River Plate and Boca Juniors, once put together, even if it were a twelve-year-old team, the sidelines could scream with the flavor of a first-team match.
A century of grudges, regardless of age.
On the sideline, River Plate head coach Gil stood in the technical area, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the center circle.
He saw Tobías.
Tobías was wearing the River Plate red and white jersey, standing in a position slightly behind the midfield.
One of the two defensive midfielders.
The other defensive midfielder was Gate.
Gate had a stronger physique and a larger range of motion, responsible for the hard clashes.
Tobías stood more steadily, like a nail, pinned to the most critical position in the River Plate midfield.
Giovanni turned back and shouted at Tobías: “Tobías!”
Tobías looked up.
Giovanni grinned: “Give me the ball!”
Tobías nodded: “Start running.”
The next second, the referee blew the opening whistle.
River Plate kicked off first!
Giovanni passed the ball back, and the River Plate midfield immediately spread out to both sides.
Boca Juniors’ front line pressed very fiercely; three players rushed up at the start, giving River Plate absolutely no chance to organize slowly.
“Go up!”
“Don’t let them turn!”
“Crush them!”
The Boca Juniors youth team coach shouted from the sidelines.
But River Plate didn’t come to play a friendly match either.
The ball was passed horizontally from the center back’s feet, through Gate, and then delivered in front of Tobías.
Tobías did not carry it much.
He stopped it with his right foot, looked up and scanned the field, then pushed the ball directly to Bebe on the right flank.
“Bebe!”
Giovanni immediately made a forward run.
Bebe was very fast, and the moment he received the ball, the Boca Juniors left back was already pressing up on him.
“Don’t let him pass!”
The Boca Juniors left back reached out to block his path, pushing his body outward.
But Bebe didn’t collide with him head-on; he flicked the ball with his foot and suddenly dribbled it half a step toward the baseline.
This move was very fast.
The Boca Juniors left back was half a beat slow to turn.
The River Plate fans in the stands immediately stood up.
“Go!”
“Bebe!
Beat him!”
Bebe rushed to the baseline, planted his left foot hard on the turf, and curled the ball toward the penalty area with his right foot.
A cross!
The football drew an arc and headed straight for the edge of the small penalty area.
Giovanni had already arrived.
He squeezed out from between two center backs, shouldering against them, his eyes fixed firmly on the incoming ball.
“It’s mine!” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Giovanni jumped high, smashing his forehead hard into the football.
At this moment, people on the River Plate bench had already stood up.
But the Boca Juniors goalkeeper reacted extremely quickly.
He almost sprang from the goal line, punching with both fists, rushing into the crowd before Giovanni could make solid contact with his header.
Bang!
The football was punched away.
Giovanni staggered a step after landing and roared at the goalkeeper: “You’re lucky!”
The Boca Juniors goalkeeper wasn’t intimidated either, pointing at him and retorting: “It’ll be mine next time too!”
In the stands, the Boca Juniors fans erupted instantly.
“Well done!”
“Knock that River Plate kid over!”
“That’s the real Boca Juniors!”
But the next second, all the noise suddenly died down a notch.
Because the cleared ball fell right to the feet of a blue and yellow number ten.
Paredes.
He stood in a position slightly to the right of the center circle; his body wasn’t tall, but he was very stable.
The football fell from high in the air, spinning, and the landing spot wasn’t comfortable.
Two River Plate players in the front court rushed over immediately.
“Rob him!”
“Don’t let him look up!”
Paredes didn’t panic; he just turned slightly sideways and gently cushioned the ball with the instep of his right foot.
The football seemed to be glued to him, obediently landing at his feet.
The first River Plate player stretched out a leg.
Paredes pulled the ball with the sole of his foot, sliding it away from the opponent’s toe.
The second River Plate player immediately filled the gap.
Paredes feinted with his shoulder to the left, but his body turned to the right.
A fake move; both River Plate players slowed down simultaneously.
Paredes slipped out from the gap.
“Wow!”
Several scouts from Europe on the sidelines lifted their heads simultaneously.
The Roma scout’s pen stopped, the Juve scout leaned forward, and the person from Paris narrowed their eyes directly.
This ball control, shielding, and shedding of the marker were too mature.
It didn’t look like an U18 player at all.
Paredes dribbled the ball forward two steps and looked up.
The two defensive lines of the River Plate midfield hadn’t fully settled into position.
Tobías and Gate stood on the defensive midfielder line, with another layer of central midfielders in front.
Normally, it would be very difficult to pierce through directly with this ball.
But Paredes didn’t hesitate; he stuck the inside of his right foot to the football, leaned back slightly, and sent out a long, ground-hugging pass directly.
The speed of the ball wasn’t violent, but it was extremely precise.
The football drilled through between two players on the first River Plate midfield line, then skimmed across the turf past Gate’s side, heading straight for the front of the Boca Juniors right winger.
Two midfield defensive lines were instantly pierced through!
/c/DRUNK_TL(remove space between)