Football: King of Penalty Area
Ch. 03 - Germany and Trial

February 20, 2007, Cologne, Germany.

It has been about three days since Raynaldi and his family came to Germany. They currently live in the home of Anita's distant cousin who is of Indonesian-German descent named Leona Schmidt. Leona's mother was the youngest sister of Raynaldi's grandfather, so they were still arguably blood relatives.

“Anita, this really surprised me. I didn't expect that my little niece would be able to attract Leverkusen SC.” talent scouts Leona has a carefree nature considering she is only 22 years old.

“Actually I also did not expect that there would be an incident like this. Honestly, I still felt strange when I heard their evaluation of Ray.”'s abilities Anita shook her head as she recalled that day.

“Iya, after all who would think a scout on vacation instead found a child who he thought was talented in football.” Leona nodded slowly.

Moments later the door opened, and a boy in dirty clothes holding a soccer ball entered the dining room. “Good morning, mom, Aunt Leona.” The boy was none other than Raynaldi.

“Little boy, did you call me earlier? I told you to call me Brother Leona!” Leona pretended to be angry and started to pull Raynaldi's cheek.

“M-m-sorry, bi-ah-maksyud kuu Kaaak Leeonuaa.” Raynaldi whose cheek was played Leona replied indistinctly.

“Hm... hm..it's good that you know..” Leona snorted and smiled proudly.

“Haish... You two this..” Anita shook her head when she saw the behavior of the two of them.

“Ray, won't you have a test tomorrow? You better rest well today, and don't play too much football.” Anita advises Ray.

“Good, mom. I'll go take a shower first.” Raynaldi rushed to the bathroom to clean his body full of dust and sweat..

. . . . .

21 February 2007, Haberland Stadium, Leverkusen, Germany.

Raynaldi and his family set out from Cologne, about 15 km from Leverkusen. This distance is not too far away and given the somewhat lengthened German traffic the trip only takes less than half an hour.

Raynaldi is currently at Leverkusen SC's youth stadium, Haberland Stadium. Nearby there are also three others who will take part in the trials to join Leverkusen SC youth teams.

Shortly afterwards, Andre Thomas entered the stadium along with two others. “Everything, my name is Andre Thomas, Chief Talent Seeker Leverkusen SC. And with me are Timo Mayer and Tony Wener who are the head coach and assistant coach respectively from Leverkusen SC.” youth team Andre introduced himself and two others.

“Now, you will follow the selection of Leverkusen SC junior team. Each of you will be included in the junior team according to your respective position, the junior team song will be divided into two sides, namely the red team and the black team. I hope you can show your best skills here.” Andre explained the trial in brief.

After that there were 18 other children who entered the stadium in Leverkusen SC uniforms, they were none other than Leverkusen SC Youth members who competed in the German Youth Championship. After a while the explanation was finally divided into two according to the direction of Timo Mayer and Tony Wener.

Actually the Black Team defended by Raynaldi, most of the members are residents of the Leverkusen SC Youth bench so you could say the composition of Black Team players is weaker than the Red Team. But considering this was just a youth team, the distance was definitely not too much.

After setting the position and strategy of the game for each team, Andre who became the referee in this trial game blew the whistle sign of the start of the Leverkusen SC Youth trial match.

Raynaldi kicked the kick-off ball then started moving forward. The Black Team calmly played the rhythm of the ball as requested by the coach, the ball moved forward slowly with good control and passing from the Black Team midfielder. After the ball was hanging around in midfield for a few minutes, Victor Ogbona who saw Raynaldi running position sent a breakthrough pass into the Red Team penalty box.

Raynaldi saw the ball coming towards him, stopped the ball with a touch of his left foot and then shifted it to the right slowly and passed the Red Team's last defender. Without a doubt Raynaldi ran into the box and faced one-on-one with the Red Team goalkeeper.

After looking at the goal position for a while, Raynaldi kicked the ball calmly into the far corner of the goal. The Red Team goalkeeper tried to grab the ball but unfortunately he was a step late, and the ball slowly rolled into the goal.

Raynaldi who saw the ball go into the goal immediately jumped and shouted happily. “Goooaal” Raynaldi ran into a corner of the pitch before being dropped by his team-mates.

“Great golf Ray.” Victor Ogbona congratulated Raynaldi with a smile and showed off his white teeth that contrasted sharply with his skin color.

“Thank you Victor. Your feed is also amazing.” Raynaldi embraced his team-mates while celebrating their goal.

After the Black Team celebration was over, the match continued with kick-off from the Red Team. This time it was the Red Team's turn to have the ball, they used short passes to mess up the Black Team's defence. No need to wait long, the ball managed to reach the Black Team penalty box, but unfortunately the Red Team attacker was too rushed and his kick soared high above the crossbar.

After that no chances came up, either from Black Team or Red Team and the first half match ended with a 1-0 lead while Black Team.

“Andre, the person you brought this time around is quite interesting. Although, his technical and physical abilities do not stand out too much but his ability to convert chances into goals is truly remarkable.” Timo Mayer commented on Raynaldi's performance.

“Timo, haven't I said it before? He reminds me of Fillipe.” Andre answered Timo Mayer's comments with pride.

“Well, at first I couldn't believe it when you said it. After all as a retired footballer and a coach, I know that someone like Fillipe Nesta is an anomaly in the world of football.” Timo Mayer sighed softly.

“I know how you feel, after all Fillipe always looks mediocre outside the official match. He has no advantage in anything other than his ability to shoot and score.” Andre has played for the same club as Fillipe Nesta.

“Alright, enough nostalgia. Let's continue this trial match.” Tony Wener stopped the conversation between the two of them and reminded them to continue the test match.

Timo and Andre ended up just chuckling and calling the players to continue the trial match.

When the second half had just started, Raynaldi again got a chance in the penalty box. He calmly outwits the opponent's centre-back and opens the space to the right of the box, then kicks the ball hard.

The unprepared Red Team goalkeeper Raynaldi was late to action and failed to stop his shot. The score eventually changed 2-0 to Black Team advantage, the match continued with mutual attack between the two teams, but the final score remained unchanged.