The beautiful game - Remastered 01

Chapter 1 – A new beginning

“Good evening, Coach”.

“Good evening”, Dejan replied cheerfully as he strolled by one of the groundsmen.

Breathing in deeply, Dejan Kolorov, known to most people simple as Coach or the coach, inhaled the fresh, sweet-smelling air, filling his lungs and smiled. It was the start of a new season, anything once again felt possible, and he couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

Hobbling slowly up the old, cracked pathway, Dejan looked around, it was an almost perfect summer evening, the birds were chirping, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the surrounding trees. 

With each step he could feel his excitement building, as each one brought him closer to the old training ground, he had only been away for a few weeks, but to him, it had felt like a lifetime.

(See image 1.1)

For Dejan, football was his life and had been for as long as he could remember, he lived and breathed for the game and rarely thought about much else.

Spotted and signed up to his local team at the age of eight, everyone who had seen him play had earmarked him as a superstar of the future, even dubbing him the Serbian Pele.

He seemingly had the world at his feet, and it was a surprise to no one when at the age of eighteen, he got called up and capped for the national team, going on to make fourteen further appearances, scoring nine goals in the process.

But that was a long time ago, his playing days were now well and truly behind him, forever remembered as a tragic tale of unfulfilled talent as his career was cruelly snatched away from him by injury.

Forced to retire at twenty-one, led to depression, and with Dejan’s medication of choice being a bottle of vodka, it soon led to alcoholism. For five years, his life had spiralled out of control, as he went about hurting and pushing away everyone who cared about him.

Now aged thirty-two, and going on six years sober, Dejan was still slowly piecing his life back together. A big part of that was his role coaching a local football team, nicknamed the Tigers. 

Being a part of the game again was what he needed to stay on the straight and narrow, it gave his life purpose, and in truth had saved him. He no longer woke up in the morning and reached straight for the bottle to try and drown out the pain, these days he woke up with optimism, as each day he went about trying to make amends for all his past mistakes, determined to be a better person.

Stopping briefly, to place a discarded can of soda in the bin, Dejan looked over at the city in the distance. It was a fairly small city for the number of people who lived there, and not really remarkable in any way, except for when it came to football, women’s football to be specific.

With the local men’s league full of corruption and match-fixing, the local people had turned their attention to the women’s game. In the last five years, its popularity had grown exponentially, to a point where it was now watched weekly by thousands of paying spectators.

With the support, came the attention of the media, the girls in these teams were now household names and local celebrities, appearing in magazine articles, and constantly being asked to make public on local TV and radio stations.

The season as always would end with the cup final, where after a long season of battling it out to make the playoffs, the best four teams from the league would play each other for the opportunity to appear in the showpiece final match, where thousands of cheering spectators would turn out to cheer on their heroes.

Dejan’s goal was clear, train hard, work together as a team, and lift the cup.

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Entered the old building, long overdue some investment, the cracks in the walls showing the building's age, Dejan stopped to examine a picture hanging on the wall, it was the team photo from the start of last season. 

He smiled as he thought back, it had been a tough year with the team battling throughout. He couldn’t fault their effort, but with a lack of quality in the final third, the team had ultimately finished the season in a disappointing 6th position, missing out on the playoff once again.

After doing a few odd jobs and making a few phone calls in his office, Dejan headed outside for the start of training. The girls were already stretching and warming up as Dejan made his way towards Milos, who was waving and smiling at him.

Milos and Dejan made an odd couple, but having worked together for a few seasons now, they complimented each other well. 

The story of how they met was an unusual one, with Milos having just shown up one day at the training ground and asking if he could help out.

Taking pity on the boy, stood in front of him, wearing torn filthy rags, his incredibly thin frame, in serious need of a good meal, Dejan found him a job collecting the footballs from around the pitch, in return for a hot meal and a few dinars (the local currency).

Milos grateful for the opportunity, returned the next day and the one after that, and as Dejan continued to find him little jobs in return for something to eat, Milos soon became a permanent fixture of the place and a valued member of the coaching staff.

(See image 1.2)

Milos, who had grown up in a local orphanage, had never met his parents or ever experienced the feeling of being loved. kicked out at the age of sixteen, he'd found himself living on the streets, begging, and stealing just to stay alive. 

When he’d wandered into the Tiger’s training ground that day a few years back, he was expecting to be turned away, but instead, he had found the kindness of a stranger, a chance in life, and a home.

As time went on, Dejan started involving Milos in the training sessions, and to his surprise, he discovered that the skinny runt of a boy was an incredibly talented football player.

The way he struck the ball was so pure, generating a massive amount of power for someone of such small stature. But the boy didn’t just have power, he had the accuracy to go with it, seemingly able to fire shots into the top corner of the net from 30 yards out at will. Milos reminded him of himself at that age, in fact, with the right training, he could have been even better than he ever was.

Wanting to help the boy, Dejan made some calls, using some of his old contacts to arrange some trial sessions at a few professional clubs. Unfortunately, all the clubs came to the same verdict, Milos was a very technical, quick, and talented player with a deadly accurate shot, but at only 5 foot 4, he was just too short to play professionally.

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A month later

With the season underway, there was a real feeling of positivity surrounding the club. For the first time in their history, the Tigers had won all six of their opening games, and the local media were getting carried away, saying it might finally be their year.

Dejan, on the other hand, was staying grounded, he had heard it all before and knew the upcoming game that weekend was going to be their first true test. They were playing their fierce rivals the Wolves, the team that had won the league for the past four years in a row.

The away fixture was going to be extremely tough, The Wolves were sponsored by some local businesses, who pumped crazy amounts of money into the club, as a result, they could pay their player a much higher wage, compared to all the other mostly semi-professional teams in the league, meaning they could attract all the best players in the area.

Besides the mammoth task ahead of the team, Dejan also had a personal stake in the game. The Wolves were managed by his nemesis, Marko Mitic, an old teammate from back in the days when he was playing professionally.

In those days, they had both competed for the same position in the starting line-up, but it was clear to everyone that Dejan was the much more talented player.  

As time went by, Marko grew jealous of Dejan’s ability and natural talent, his rage building every time he watched him from the substitute bench or had to listen to the manager of the team heaping praise on the golden boy.  

The culmination of all his anger and frustration boiled over one day on the training pitch. The horrific tackle, which would forever live in the memory of anyone who witnessed it, ending Dejan’s career and forcing him to spend the next few months in the hospital.

In that one moment, Marko had taken everything from him, ruining his life, stealing his dream, and leaving him a permanent limp.

In the early days, the nightmares were a nightly occurrence, they were less common these days, But Dejan would still occasionally wake up in a cold sweat, seeing the image of Marko’s evil smiling face looking down at him, as lay on the ground clutching his shattered ankle.

Marko had gone on to have an average career, but without the necessary drive or talent, he retired early, investing his money into a local nightclub. But where he had been an average footballer, it turned out Marko was a natural when it came to business.

He now owned, a string of bars and clubs throughout the city and over the years, he had gained a reputation as a bit of a gangster and someone not to cross, the stories of corruption, bribery, and people disappearing frequently thrown around.

Marko was a busy man, but even with all his other commitments, he always made time for his team, the Wolves, and loved nothing more than to get one over on his old teammate Dejan.

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Stood on the side of the pitch Dejan and Milos watched as the girls trained, “Hey Coach, I really think we’re going to beat the Wolves this year”, Milos said smiling.

Dejan looked over and slowly nodded, “perhaps Milos, perhaps, but everything needs to be perfect, we need to fight for every ball and be rock solid in defence”.

“We’ll win, I just know it”, Milos replied enthusiastically, “we’ve been training the new formation all week, and even if we do concede a goal or two, we have Sonja”.

Without wanting to say it aloud, Dejan quietly shared Milos’ feeling of optimism. In the past few seasons, Marko and his team had always come out on top during their encounters and just loved to rub it in his face afterwards, but this year could be different, this year Dejan had a secret weapon, he had Sonja, the goal machine.

 From the moment she arrived, in the pre-season tryouts, she'd just oozed confidence, and from the moment they gave her a ball, everyone instantly knew they had found a superstar.

Sonja was quick, athletic and had an eye for goal, everything the team had been missing. On the downside, she wasn’t the most likeable of characters, in fact, she was a complete bitch, but that was something Dejan and the team could put up with, she was by far the best player in the team, perhaps the whole league.

If there had been any doubter to her ability, they had now well and truly been silenced. Sonja, playing as the Tigers main striker, had already racked up ten goals in the first six games, running rings around the opposition players and firing the Tigers to the top of the league, leaving the media raving about her performances.

“Woah, did you see that? She’s amazing”, Milos announced, after watching Sonja glide past four players and smash the ball into the back of the net.

Dejan allowed himself to smile. With Sonja looking so sharp and hungry, he for once, allowed himself to dream, perhaps, just perhaps, for the first time ever, his team might actually stand a chance this year.