Football: King of Penalty Area
Ch. 18 - German Youth League and Early Schools

At the end of the match, Junior Team Gelserkichen left with regret, while Team Yunior Leverkusen were satisfied with an opening that exceeded their expectations.

Raynaldi, who hat-tricked in his first game, also received full support and recognition from his team-mates. Despite Raynaldi's remarkable ability as a striker, he is still considered mediocre by most team-mates.

Because Raynaldi has a too noticeable weakness that his physical body is too weak and his rather poor header ability makes him look mediocre during training. But his performance in this first game made all his team-mates understand with Raynaldi's extraordinary ability to score goals.

In the next period, Raynaldi and his friends began a rampage in the German Youth League. Raynaldi used his ability to take empty positions within the penalty area to easily score more goals.

But with much experience he gained in semi-professional games in the German Youth League, Raynaldi also experienced a rapid increase in ball control ability, physical confrontation, and also his header began to improve.

At the same time with Mark as the last doorstop the team makes Team Yunior Leverkusen the team with the least number of goals conceded.

So SC's Yunior Leverkusen team that had not been seen the previous season to be the most incredible dark horse in the German Youth League!

In July and August, Team Yunior Leverkusen have played nine rounds of the competition, Team Yunior Leverkusen firmly at the top of the northern region of the German Youth League after sweeping all matches with 9 wins, 0 Links, and 0 losses.

At the same time, Raynaldi also showed an extraordinary achievement by scoring 19 goals in 9 matches that made him top the list of top scorers without rivals. Raynaldi scored 9 more goals than second place.

So in the German Youth League, the name Raynaldi also began to be famous as a new star. Even after the ninth game of the German Youth League, the, german football magazine Deutsch Sports published an article titled “der Jager”, which means the hunter in German with a photo of Raynaldi's goal celebration.

The nickname “der Jager” was given the famous magazine because of Raynaldi's style of play in the penalty box like a hunter who waits for ‘negligence’ his prey to drop him in one attack.

At the same time as Raynaldi's growing popularity, it also led to many other Bundesliga teams sending scouts to oversee the game. Even top-class teams in the German Bundesliga, such as Munich 1906 and Vfl Rhine-rhur also sent people to oversee Raynaldi's game.

This caused the alert of Leverkusen SC club, they immediately took action by asking Raynaldi not to contact the scouts of other clubs.

Raynaldi also did not show much dissatisfaction with the club's behaviour. He has a clear understanding of his career, and also he has a sense of gratitude for the club that has given him the opportunity to play in Europe and brought him all the way from Indonesia to Germany.

Raynaldi also intends to progress to the Leverkusen SC first team before going to the bigger team. Because, if he goes to that big team now, the chances of progressing to the first team will be much reduced, and Leverkusen SC who are a middle team in the Bundesliga is better for his career advancement.

Only by showing the best performances in the Bundesliga will he have the right to choose the team, Raynaldi was well aware of this so he decided to stay at Leverkusen SC for a few years to improve his career steadily.

But now Raynaldi has stopped thinking about his club problems, because there are other things he must attend and care about starting this September.

In September, Raynaldi's life in Germany brought some changes. In addition to its dormitories, training grounds, and club cafeterias, there are other places that need frequent visits. This place is a school.

According to the rules of FIFA and the German Football Federation, any player under the age of 17 must complete high school (SMA) education. The club has to arrange for young foreign players to study locally, of course this has to be paid for by the club. So Raynaldi also needs to report to the Realschule section in Leverkusen.

Saint John Eiswald Highschool, this is the name of the school where Raynaldi Indrasta will attend. This is a local high school in Leverkusen. You could say as a "partner" Leverkusen SC. When Leverkusen SC, recruit foreign players who are still under 17 years and need to arrange a place for them to learn. And so back then, the school that was arranged for them to follow, was all here.

Raynaldi Indrasta is the first Indonesian and Asian in the history of this school. This special status made Raynaldi get a lot of attention on the first day he entered campus.

A mysterious Asian boy from a distant land, this is the first impression of a classmate. In Europe, people do not know much about the countries that exist in Southeast Asia. For some reason in football and history, Germans are more familiar with Japan and South Korea in East Asia who already often have players passing by in the Bundesliga.

For Raynaldi, it is very easy to see German high school from his perspective, as most German schools are half-day, meaning that classes only last half a day, starting at eight and one or two in the afternoon is already the end of school time, but there are still those who are in school for services such as clubs and libraries, most children also choose to stay in school.

In addition, specialized students, including Raynaldi, do not have high academic requirements. Basically, they can leave school even before the time to go home to attend training on time after school. The requirements to arrive at school are not strict, provided that they complete the minimum hours of lessons such as at university and complete all the tasks and exams they have to pass.

"Are you a player from Leverkusen SC?”

“Where are you from? Are you from Indonesia? Does Bali have a beautiful beach?”

“Yes my God, I have never heard of Indonesians playing football in Europe!"

"Is Indonesia a country, where Rendang originated? I heard that Rendang tastes really good, huh?"

"I heard that there are primitive people there? And there are also many tribes that still live in forests and mountains?"

Due to the connection procedure between the club and the school. Raynaldi has also reported to attend school since May. Raynaldi can enter school on the first day of the new year. After a brief introduction on the day he entered, Raynaldi started the class. After class, Raynaldi who was a special transfer student, surrounded by many students and kept wondering, some of the student statements sounded a bit biased, but most were still very friendly.