"Gentlen, welco to the B-Team dressing room!"
The group of players eagerly crossed the threshold with great anticipation. However, their initial enthusiasm slowly dissolved into a mixture of surprise and disappointnt. The changing room was... small. The walls were a faded beige, and the room had a faint sll of damp, not exactly unpleasant, but definitely not the freshness you'd expect from a newly assembled facility.
In the right-hand corner, a worn wooden bench, which creaked at the slightest pressure, revealed that it probably wasn't a new piece. On the left-hand side, a row of old iron hangers dangled lazily, so with pieces of adhesive tape holding the frayed ends together.
Yet everything was clean. Every detail showed signs of quick and thoughtful maintenance, albeit limited by the short notice. The doors of the tal cupboards at the back showed scratches, perhaps marks of use from previous seasons, when that space still housed the belongings of staff and other workers at the CT. Now it was the temporary ho of the B-Team, and its new mbers looked around, a little disappointed.
The assistant coach, noticing the youngsters' initial reaction, shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, embarrassed.
"Well... maybe this isn't the changing room you were expecting," he began, his eyes dancing between the faces still staring at the small room. "The creation of B-Team was a bit of an... unexpected decision. We wanted to give you a space of your own, and this was the best we could do in the ti available."
An uncomfortable silence hung briefly in the air. Lucas exchanged a glance with Luiz Fernando, who seed on the verge of making a comnt to try to cheer the guys up, but held back.
The assistant coach observed the boys' reaction, let out a resigned sigh and, before anyone could express their dissatisfaction, smiled and opened the door at the back of the small changing room.
"Now, before you start moaning about the size of the space, I have another surprise."
As the door in question opened fully, the group was surprised to see four boys sitting in a makeshift circle in the middle of what appeared to be a kind of storeroom next to the changing room. On the floor, a deck of cards was distributed among them, and one of them - the most tired and dejected-looking — raised his head slowly when he realized the door had opened.
"Finally... I thought you were going to leave us locked up here forever, Alex." The boy said, throwing the cards down.
The technical assistant, now identified as Alex, laughed lightly. "Don't be dramatic, Denis. It was just a creative way of introducing the new staff. By the way, guys," he turned to the newcors, showing the group with a broad gesture. "these here are the veterans of our B-Team."
Then all four boys ca out of the closet and stood in front of Lucas and the others.
"The first one who looks like he's just got out of bed is Denis," introduced Alex.
Denis, a boy with ssy hair and an unshaven beard, rolled his eyes and nodded in a lazy greeting.
Alex then pointed to the second boy, who wore a cap and a pair of headphones around his neck, tapping lightly on the floor as if following the rhythm of an imaginary song.
"That's Miguel. He's our unofficial DJ, so if you hear loud music during breaks, you can bet it's his doing."
Miguel took out one of his headphones and gave the newcors a friendly smile. "Anything, just ask for a playlist. We try to keep the mood light here."
Next in line was a tall, slender young man with blond hair and an almost arrogant smile. He was leaning forward, his eyes shining with anticipation as he looked at the newcors, as if he were assessing them.
"And this is Artur. A natural striker, but also our king of bad jokes. Feel free to ignore him whenever he thinks he's funny."
Artur laughed, clearly not caring about the description. He held out his hand to Lucas, then to the other boys.
"We used to be on the A-team, so you'll have to respect us and take your places for now."
Finally, Alex pointed to the fourth mber of the group, a quieter boy with a serious expression.
"Finally, we have Loki, or at least that's what he always asks to be called," said Alex. "He's our nerd." Arthur, with his irreverent energy, nudged Loki, who until then had been silently observing the newcors.
"Hey, guys." Loki said.
"Don't go scaring the guys, Loki. They haven't even seen how we train. Or rather, how we don't train."
Loki sighed. "Don't listen to half of what those three say. They just want to intimidate you. We do train here, but we couldn't keep up with the A-Team and that's why we were relegated."
"Well, it looks like you've already been properly introduced to 'B-Team style'," he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the door. "Now, before we split up for training, how about a quick activity to break the ice?"
Lucas suddenly raised his hand, stopping Alex from continuing. "I have a question."
"What is it, Lucas Tanaka?"
"You said you're not our coach, but the assistant. If that's the case, where's our coach?"
Alex laughed and moved away from the door. An almost mischievous glint shone in his eyes before he finally decided to answer.
"Good question, Lucas Tanaka.... The head coach of Team-B is also the assistant coach of Team-A. He went to accompany the A-team in an important friendly match."
"Friendly?" Raphael asked.
Alex smiled confidently. "Yes, a friendly. By the way, if you're interested, you should know that we also have a friendly scheduled for the end of the week."
This statent not only captured the attention of the newcors, but also surprised the veterans, who were used to a routine without much excitent.
"Friendly for Team-B?" Denis stirred, adjusting his ssy hair as if suddenly awake. "It's a joke, right?"
Artur cast a look of false suspicion at Alex. "That's the part where you tell us our opponent is the A-Team, isn't it? Just to make sure we get destroyed in public."
Alex laughed, a relaxed laugh that echoed through the small space of the storeroom. "Not at all, Artur. This ti, it's an outside team. You're playing Liverpool's Under-18s. Didn't you want to get out of anonymity? This will be your chance to start getting recognized by other clubs too."
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