Chapter 27: First Training Session with FC Porto Juniors

Chapter 27: First Training Session with FC Porto Juniors

"Haven't seen you from around here," the black haired guy said to Jason in Portuguese after getting close enough to him to be heard clearly.

"Yeah, I just joined the team," Jason replied in Portuguese surprisingly.

One of the leagues he had played in his past life was the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A in Brazil, and Portuguese happened to be the most used language in Brazil, so he ended up learning the language.

"From the academy?" the black-haired asked curiously.

"Nah," Jason replied and flicked the ball upward before he started juggling it once again.

"Since you're the only other player I've seen around, do you mind if I train with you until the others arrive, I play for the Porto B team," the black-haired haired said to Jason as he watched Jason juggle the ball.

"Ok sure," Jason replied by sending a pass towards the guy as the guy being part of the Porto B team meant he was a member of the reserve team for the senior squad.

"I'm Fabio Viera by the way," the black-haired guy said as he received the pass and juggled it for a few seconds before sending it back at Jason, all while making sure the ball did not touch the ground.

"Fabio uh..." Jason muttered, wondering if he had heard the name before while placing his right leg where the ball was going to land, and flicked it upwards, trapped it on his chest before pushing it to his shoulder and using his shoulder to push the ball up enough that he could get his head under it.

"I'm Jason," he managed to introduce himself as well while juggling the ball with his head a few times before heading it back to Fabio.

With introductions out of the way, they both continued playing around with the ball between themselves until people started arriving at which point Fabio had left the training ground for the U-19 squad.

Jason had said a quick goodbye and had continued training without paying any attention to the new arrivals until he heard someone calling his name and turned to look at Mylo who was jogging towards him before sending the ball spinning quickly at Mylo who was still a bit far away.

Mylo was surprised at Jason suddenly sending the ball at him, but his body reacted appropriately, and he trapped the ball with his chest before juggling it on his knees a few times and then sending it back at Jason.

'Well, at least he's not weak in the knees after all that bedroom action,' Jason thought to himself after confirming checking Mylo's reaction and control of the ball with the pass he had sent at him and from Mylo's quick reaction and control of the ball before sending the ball accurately in his direction, Mylo checked all the boxes for a striker.

"Yes," Jason answered but didn't mention when or how he had learned the language.

"Why didn't you tell Rafael?" the head coach ended up asking out of curiosity.

"Because he never asked," Jason replied with an impassive look as he didn't understand how this had ended up being a topic for conversation.

"Oh... Ahem... "The coach cleared his throat when he realized that there was no point in asking more questions as it would feel like he was interrogating Jason instead of welcoming him to the team.

"Well lads, this here is Jason Bolu and he will be joining the team for now," the coach addressed the other members of the team as he faced the crowd of teenagers.

"Please welcome him and make him feel welcome as we here at FC Porto are a family," the head coach finished his address after which the rest of the team applauded for Jason as a welcome of sorts.

With introductions out of the way, the team went on to begin their training after the assistant coaches and trainers brought out the training equipment.

The training first started with drills that focused on the physical condition of the players and they included flexibility, agility, and stamina drills.

Jason made sure to listen to the trainer's instructions on how to complete the drills efficiently and gain the most effect from the drills after which he put those instructions to work immediately and did more drills than the required number.

After the physical drills, they moved on to the team drills which revolved around keeping the ball in control within the team, so they were divided into two sides and were made to pass the ball around within each team while keeping the ball away from the opposing team until they scored at the other end.

They could also only make two touches on the ball and were not allowed to do any fancy dribbles.

After the rules had been set, the young players sent the ball among themselves with quick and short passes while the opposing team chased after the ball, doing their best to gain the ball back.

They did this for a while until they were released by the head coaches and were allowed to go to do their own individual training to improve specific aspects of their play.

This went on until the training for the day was over after which Antonio Frasco told them to come early the next day as that was when he was going to be picking the players who would be in the starting line-up against Familicao the next day.