Barcelona Heads to the US for Preseason Training!
Barcelona, the European champions, boarded a flight to the United States this afternoon.
They were set to prepare for the season through three weeks of preseason training, and during this period, they would tune their match sharpness through friendly matches against LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Juventus, Arsenal, and others...
The preseason training in the US proceeded as usual. Last year, I couldn't participate in the preseason due to the World Cup, but I guess there wasn't anything special about it. The one thing that stood out was that Yu-ri and I were still the youngest members on the preseason training roster.
Although some teammates from Barcelona B, like Suleime, had joined the training camp for a few months, since we had been promoted to the first team, we were older than them.
The training camp was conducted with players who had come up from Athletic and a few transfers, but since our team had clear starters, besides the players we had played with last year, there weren't any particularly skilled players.
Most of them were probably going to return to Athletic after the training camp to play in the season. At least Suleime, the core fullback of Athletic and a member of the Spanish youth national team, would definitely make it to the first team.
Well, even if she does, besides Ancelotti and Narcis who are currently playing both fullback positions, players who can start anywhere would have to start from the bench.
At least Narcis, born in 1988, is entering her thirties, so who knows what will happen.
But 88-born is already in her thirties... If her birthday has passed, she's thirty.
Thinking about Narcis's age, I realize anew that our squad has aged quite a bit.
Goalkeepers are not much affected by age, so even if we set them aside, among the current starting squad, only Arnal, Tiana, and Ancelotti are born in 1990.
The starting midfielder, Lorenza, is also born in 1990, but since her birthday is early, she's basically from the 80s. Especially the core of the attack, Albaria, born in 1987, and the starting midfielder Yelena, born in 1988, and the right winger Eloya, also born in 1988, are all approaching thirty. So, our squad that won the Champions this time has only about 3-4 years left to maintain peak form.
Even for Barcelona, it wasn't easy to meet this level of teammates, so I wanted to record at least one treble.
But achieving a treble wasn't easy. In my previous life, I had only managed two trebles despite winning five consecutive league titles and Champions Leagues.
And to achieve such a treble, the team's depth was the most important thing.
“So, even if you're a substitute, you know how important it is, Yu-ri?”
“Of course. How many times do I have to say it? ...You're not subtly mocking me for being a substitute, are you?”
“No, I was just worried that if you played as a starter last year but became a substitute this season, you'd be disappointed.”
“I won't. And I'll take the starting spot.”
“Against Albaria?”
“...It's tough, but I have to try. I'm a pro, after all.”
“Your mental state is definitely better than Kamila's.”
Thanks to the education I received from a young age, Yu-ri's professional mindset was impeccable.
But why did Kamila, who had been with me since we were even younger, have so little of it?
If Kamila had had half of Yu-ri's professional mindset or half of Bruna's passion for football, she wouldn't have gained so much weight.
That said, it wasn't like Kamila lacked passion for football. Bruna was so obsessed with it that even I had to do a double-take. In fact, among all the people I've met in both my previous and current lives, Bruna was probably the craziest about football.
Does Bruna's daily routine consist only of eating, sleeping, and football?
One day, when I asked why she lived with a ball, all the Brazilians had answered the same way, but among the Brazilians I'd met, there was no one as crazy as Bruna, which was honestly shocking.
Even when she first joined, she would lift while eating at the dormitory cafeteria, under the table.
Of course, at the time, she was so clumsy that the ball rolled around and the seniors or the supervisor had to stop her.
Maybe now, while focusing on eating, she could keep the ball from dropping even while eating.
“Huh? It's Bruna.”
“She's still not gone.”
After dinner and a walk with Yu-ri, on the way back. Right after eating, Bruna had gone out to lift with me, but she was still bouncing the ball.
“You're still doing it?”
“I have to train hard. I'm still not enough.”
The way Bruna said she was still not enough felt like the words “to become a starter” were missing.
Thinking about it, Bruna's passion for football had only grown stronger since last year, and it seemed like the candidate life wasn't satisfying her enough.
Well, the winger position was inherently difficult to hold as a starter, so I could understand Bruna's feelings to some extent.
Especially since Albaria, a Ballon d'Or winner, and Eloya, who had placed on the podium several times, were players Bruna couldn't easily surpass yet, she had no choice but to train this hard to become a starter.
“...Should I bounce the ball too?”
While muttering to herself, I picked up the ball rolling beside Bruna and looked at her.
“Ha-neul, I'm going to kick the ball first. Go in first.”
The setting sun illuminated Yu-ri rolling the ball with her foot. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me while rolling the ball.
People with passion were beautiful.
Youth... Am I too old?
I was just analyzing Bruna's actions, but seeing Yu-ri actually put it into practice made me feel like youth. Still, hanging out with the younger ones made me feel younger, but I guess the real kids couldn't keep up.
Honestly, just bouncing the ball wouldn't instantly improve my skill, so I didn't feel like joining in, but the sight of the kids burning with passion was nice to see.
“Then, I'll go in first. Train moderately and come back.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Yu-ri, let's do a few 1-on-1s.”
“Here? The floor isn't that great.”
“Hey, this is fine. You have to come to Brazil once, right?”
After the two of them finished talking, I entered the hotel and saw Kamila wandering around the hotel lobby.
“Kamila?”
“Oh, you're back?”
The midfielders' meal time seemed to have just ended.
“What are you doing here, wandering around?”
“W-well? Just... people watching?”
“Sigh...”
Even though it had only been a short time since eating, thinking about how Bruna had gone out to kick the ball right after eating or how Kamila had gained weight during vacation, it didn't sit well with me that Kamila was just people watching after eating.
“Tiana?”
“Tiana? She went to the weights.”
“...But you were people watching here?”
“Ah... W-well, I was waiting for you.”
“You're making excuses again. You're really hopeless.”
“Eh? W-wait!”
I grabbed Kamila's belly, and she had definitely lost a lot of weight, but it still felt soft. Of course, even if women in this world exercised a lot, their soft body types were maintained, but Kamila's softness had gone too far.
Feeling how soft it was made me want to keep touching it, so it wasn't my problem; it was definitely Kamila's.
“Look at that belly again.”
“Is this because I ate just now?”
“Look at my belly. It looks soft?”
I grabbed Kamila's hand, which was making excuses, and brought it to my belly. Kamila, who didn't want to hear the scolding, tried hard to pull her hand away, but when I rubbed it against her hand, she finally realized exactly how my belly was.
“How is it?”
“...Hard.”
“I just ate too, but it's different from you.”
“W-well, isn't this the difference between men and women?”
“More excuses. You're hopeless. You need me to make you exercise.”
Of course, this golden child only made excuses because she didn't want to exercise. Kamila really needed someone to manage her.
“Hey, bring your swimsuit and come to the pool.”
Since today wasn't a weights day, I couldn't do weights, and since I didn't want to run around during training and sweat again, the only remaining option was full-body exercise: swimming.
“N-now?”
Seeing Kamila's happy face when told to come to the pool, a sigh escaped me.
“It's not playing, it's going to exercise.”
“Yes!”
After getting the swimsuit from the accommodation and entering the pool area, the sight of Kamila wearing the frilly bikini from the beach came into view.
“Kamila!”
“Ha-neul! You're here?”
“You came to exercise, why are you wearing a bikini?”
“...I only had this swimsuit with me.”
“Sigh... I really can't live with you.”
Well, it looked nice, but it really wasn't appropriate for exercise. Since I couldn't buy a proper exercise swimsuit right then, I had no choice but to give up.
“I'll buy one for exercise on a day off later.”
“For exercise?”
“The one with the one-piece design.”
“That one, but swimming in this here might not be suitable, right?”
Following Kamila's gaze as I finished speaking, I realized there might be a problem. All the women in the hotel pool were wearing bikinis, and the men were dressed for fun with t-shirts and short swim trunks, so even I wearing a rash guard (by the way, in this world, men wearing rash guards on top was common. Even in Olympic games, male players wore them) felt a bit embarrassing.
“...Then, let's do it in this outfit. We'll keep going back and forth together. Okay?”
“Okay for now...”
Kamila trailed off as if something was uncomfortable. And after only a short time into swimming, I immediately understood why she gave that answer.
While people were floating around and playing, swimming was quite strenuous. People were blocking the way, and splashing water on others felt like a nuisance.
“I can't swim like this? Tsk, I should have gone to a real swimming pool, but this hotel pool isn't great.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Well, let's play a little and then go in.”
After all, moving in the water consumed a lot of energy, so it was still exercise. Plus, water fights would work the arms and core.
So, this wasn't because I wanted to play more childishly.
“Ha-neul! Stop! Stop! Ouch! Water got in my nose!”
Well, seeing Kamila enjoying herself made me feel a bit awkward.