Chapter 6: Gothia Cup
~Days dissolve like mist, memories linger softly behind~
Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Today, Maxi and Isa are already 10 years old.
Much has happened in Maxi's life, mostly revolving around football and school.
Next year Maxi will need to choose his secondary school.
He has three options. One with 13 grades, one with 10 grades, and one with 9 grades.
He is currently still contemplating which school he should choose.
Let's start with school.
Maxi is currently in 4th grade and has straight A's. He is considered an excellent student.
As for Isa, she's doing well, thanks largely to Maxi's help, as they still sit next to each other.
Their bond has been unbreakable over the past few years.
They're like thread and needle, always working together.
Now, on to football.
Maxi switched to the position of attacking midfielder or shadow striker two years ago, with a strong offensive trend.
In these three years, Maxi has also been promoted to the U13 team.
Even more impressive, Maxi is one of the four standout youth players of his age.
The striker is young talent Kylian Mbappé.
The midfielder is, of course, Maxi.
The defender is young Dutch talent Matthijs de Ligt.
The goalkeeper is Gianluigi Donnarumma.
These are the top talents in each position.
Great things are expected from them. With their skills, it's almost certain they will play for top European clubs, provided they stay injury-free. However, frequent injuries could prevent them from reaching professional football.
That's the harsh reality of professional football. You can be the brightest young talent and still not make it professionally, while someone who was overlooked in their youth could become world-class.
Due to Maxi being one of these standout talents, he has received many offers from other youth academies, but he declined them all.
Though Maxi likes Bayern, it doesn't quite feel like home yet. But that's not why he declined the offers. He simply didn't want to leave his parents and Isa. Bayern's youth academy is top-notch anyway.
Recently, the youth football scene has been buzzing as the first meeting of the "four standout players" is approaching.
Mbappé, who recently moved to AS Monaco; de Ligt, who plays with Ajax Amsterdam; Donnarumma, who recently joined AC Milan; and Maximus Orion, who plays with FC Bayern München.
They will all meet at the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Gothia Cup is one of the largest youth tournaments in the world.
Teams from U10 to U19 participate.
In 2010, there were 1,600 teams and 20,000 players from over 80 countries—a staggering statistic.
The U13 division is attracting significant attention from scouts, as new rules, including offside, will be introduced. Scouts want to see how well the youth players adapt to these changes.
Maxi was thrilled just thinking about the Gothia Cup. This will be his first time participating, as Bayern and many other top clubs only start competing from U13 onwards.
Maxi aims to win the tournament, but it will be a challenging journey. He first needs to advance from the group stage, which will feature 4-6 teams. To progress, he needs to secure a top 2 finish, moving on to either the round of 64 or the round of 32, depending on the number of teams.
After that, he will need to win four more matches: the round of 16, the quarterfinal, the semifinal, and the final.
"Maxi, come down for lunch!" Sophie called from downstairs.
Maxi snapped out of his daydream about Gothenburg and ran downstairs.
He could already smell the delicious lasagna his mother had prepared.
"Thanks for the meal, Mom," Maxi said with a happy smile.
"Already excited about the Gothia Cup?" Carlos asked with a teasing grin.
"Yes, it's the biggest tournament I've ever participated in," Maxi said, almost laughing as he thought about the event.
After lunch, Maxi ran to a certain door and knocked three times. Soon, a beautiful middle-aged woman opened the door.
It was Angelika. They had moved in last year. They had previously lived four blocks away in a less affluent neighborhood, but Angelika's promotion at work made moving to the same building as Maxi the most cost-effective option.
"Hello, Maxi. Isa is already waiting in her room," Angelika greeted him with a smile. She liked this young man.
"Thanks, Angelika."
Maxi quickly ran to Isa's room and opened the door.
He found her playing on her Nintendo while lying on her bed.
She had received a Nintendo for Christmas last year and had been playing it non-stop since.
"Let's continue where we left off yesterday," Isa said with a happy smile.
"We're finally going to beat that boss," Maxi said through gritted teeth as he took out his Nintendo, thinking about the challenging boss.
Isa's expression darkened at the mention of the boss.
They motivated each other and grumbled about how difficult the boss was, but they had only just begun testing him.
Somehow, they managed to encourage themselves and began the battle with full energy.
"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Isa groaned in frustration. They just couldn't beat the boss, no matter what they tried.
"You're going to Sweden next week, right? Lucky you, your request for absence was approved," Isa said enviously. She was stuck in school for another week.
Maxi teased her about needing to go to school and soon left Isa's house.
When he got upstairs, he heard his mother on the phone.
"Bye, Caroline. See you at Easter in three weeks. Be careful," Sophie said as she hung up.
"Was that Aunt Caroline?" Maxi asked curiously.
"Yes. We'll be visiting them for Easter after the Gothia Cup," Sophie confirmed and shared the good news with her son.
"Yes! I can finally see Jamal again," Maxi exclaimed in excitement.
He could only see Jamal a few times a year, as he lived in Fulda 380km away from munich.
But that didn't stop Jamal from becoming Maxi's best friend.
They both often discussed recent football events on the phone.
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