Chapter 24 – Between the Lines
Two days before the match, training felt different.
Not harder. Just... heavier.
The drills ran the same. The players looked the same. But beneath every movement was pressure. The kind that doesn’t come from a coach’s whistle, but from the knowledge that the scoreboard was coming.
Thiago felt it in his calves, in the way he stretched deeper during warmups. In the way the ball seemed to stick to his foot more than it had earlier in the week—not because he was more technical, but because he was more awake.
More focused.
Eneas didn’t say much that morning, just paced behind the lines and scribbled on his clipboard. Nando was in his usual spot on the wing opposite Thiago. They didn’t exchange words. But there were more collisions during drills, more shoulder bumps.
By the end of the full-pitch session, both of them were slick with sweat and tension.
And neither had spoken a word.
In the locker room, Thiago sat with his back to the wall and scrolled through his phone.
One message stood out.
Camila:Clara saw your training clip. She says your legs look skinnier on camera.