General POV
Dick stood in the tunnel, soaking wet and drying his hair with a towel given to him by someone from the Brighton staff. A Sky Sports interviewer stood in front of him, reading through a small list, before turning to his cameraman and nodding. Dick stopped drying his hair, raked his hand through it before dropping the towel around his neck and smiling at the man in front of him.
The man smiled back and raised his mic before asking.
"Richard, after a hard-fought battle with Barnsley, you've come away with 3 points and a hat-trick for yourself, including a stunning bicycle kick from 31 yards. At only 16 years old, has it all settled in?"
Dick smirked before shaking his head slightly and saying.
"Honestly? Not really. I mean, my heart is still racing *chuckles* But no, it was a wonderful match and Barnsley really gave us a run for our money and showed us where we were going wrong, so we'll only improve from this game, I think. But yeah, a hat-trick is always nice and that bicycle kick, I mean…doing it while playing a game is entirely different from when I was doing it just messing around with my mates."
"Hahahaha, of course, of course. After you scored your third goal, you put your finger to your lips and said 'keep quiet, ' and even after your first goal, you did a very Michael Jordan-esque shrug. Were these celebrations aimed at the people who have been criticising you these past few days?"
Dick gave a half-shrug, a smirk still present on his face, before he said
"Look, people are always going to talk. That's just football. I don't mind criticism; it just makes me want to play even harder. But sometimes, instead of talking back, you let your football do the talking. Tonight was just me giving my reply to everyone talking badly"
"And reply to them you did, three goals: a scissor kick volley from the edge of the box, a solo run, goalie fake out, and then a Bicycle kick that people are already calling a Zlatan against England 2012 recreation, what do you think about that?"
Dick let out a short laugh before saying.
"Yeah, I mean, hearing you list them all out makes it seem insane! But, yeah, being compared to Zlatan is awesome, I mean, he is a legend of the game, so his being mentioned in the same breath as me is crazy to me. I'm just starting my career, and I know I've got a long way to go until I reach the same level as him"
"Thank you for your time, Richard. Have a good night"
"Thank you, you as well"
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General Pov
Dick had put all his stuff away and was walking out of the stadium when he heard a high-pitched voice yell out for him.
"DICK!!!"
He turned around, and the first thing he spotted was the sight of bouncing orange hair rushing towards him. Dick's smile broadened before dropping his bag and opening his arms to catch the girl jumping into his arms before spinning them around and giving her a kiss. He laughed and said
"Did you like watching the game?"
"Yeah, it was exhilarating. And you were so good! That third goal was simply amazing!"
Dick laughed again before giving her another kiss and then hugging her while saying.
"Well, knowing that you were watching, I had to play on my best level"
Rebecca giggled before wrapping her arms around his left arm. She leaned on him as they walked to meet his dad by the car. As they approached the door, she quickly split away from him, making him look down at her in a bit of surprise. He then sighed and said
"Seriously, still? Why don't you want to be seen with me?"
"It's not that, Dick, seriously… It's just, I don't want to be a part of the gossip of the month during school, you know? It's seriously not you, you have to know that"
Dick sighed and said
"I know it, doesn't mean I like it"
She stopped him and grabbed his hand, looked deep in his bright blue eyes and said
"I really appreciate you not making a big deal out of it, it's just…not something I'm ready for"
Dick grumbled a bit, looked away before nodding and saying.
"It's okay, babe, I get it"
They split apart again, and Rebecca walked out first, reaching the car before sending Dick a message telling him to walk out now, but to be prepared. Dick walked out, slightly confused, only to be blinded by so many flashes that he felt his eyes melting out of his skull. He put on his best smile, ignoring all the questions that were being thrown at him. The security guards at the stadium created a path for him, which he used to jump into the car, which his dad had pulled up closer to the exit to ensure a speedy getaway, as per Rebecca's advice.
After driving around for a bit, they got to Dicks house and started to cook some dinner. After eating, they watched some TV before his dad went to sleep. Dick and Rebecca kept watching TV and cuddled for a bit as they waited for her mom or dad to come pick her up. They were making out when a knock rang out from the door, causing them to practically jump apart and smooth themselves down so they wouldn't look too messy.
Dick opened the door and saw Rebecca's dad, who was a shorter man, only around 5'8, he had that middle-aged office dad build, but a kind smile on his face. He was a Brighton local, so he cried when he heard his daughter and Dick started dating. He rushed Dick and gave him a massive hug, shouting.
"DICKIE!! What a game, lad! You were magnetic, mate! God, it was wonderful to watch!"
Dick laughed as the older man slapped him on the shoulder a bit before talking with Dick for 8 minutes or so about the game and what Brighton should do to improve, the man obviously thinking he was an expert on the topic. But due to Dicks kind nature he only smiled and nodded along to Patrick's advice.
Dick then gave Rebecca a hug and a small kiss before she left to go home. Dick stared at the door for a couple of moments, just thinking about his relationship with Rebecca and its future, before he shook his head, deciding to ignore the slightly more depressing thoughts that entered his mind.
After all, that could wait…right?
—------------------------------------------------------
After the game, the internet once again exploded. Dick and Mendes took advantage of that and posted an Instagram post which included some photos from the game, with 1 being a still shot of Dick floating in the air and doing his bicycle kick, which got a lot of likes.
As always, his comment section was mostly filled with positive comments such as
@mattymoney: Bro, you played your heart out, lad, what a fucking game!
@Footbal4eva: Nah, that's wild, bro just carried 10 men on his back for almost 70 minutes, someone get him to a chiropractor
However, the most surprising comment came from the one person the goal was being compared to
@iamzlatanibrahimovic: Well done, Zlatan approves.
After that message, Dick was on cloud nine; he went through his exercises on autopilot with a goofy grin plastered on his face. He got home, sweaty as sin, and saw his dad in the living room, drinking a Birra Moretti while in disbelief. He heard his son come in through the door and say hello to him.
Dick took a shower, put on some grey sweatpants and a white tank top, before he made himself some scrambled eggs. He was about to sit down and eat his food when all of a sudden he heard a knock on his door. He sighed as he stood up and walked to the door.
He opened it up and saw that familiar bush of orange hair rush in through the door to give him a hug. He laughed as he put his arms around her, before he looked down at her and asked.
"Becca, what brings you here? I thought you were going to be busy studying today?"
"Well, I was studying at home and then I thought to myself, 'hmm, I have this hot, buff and intelligent boyfriend not that far from me, why don't I just study with him?' so I took the tube and came over"
Dick laughed as he closed the door, before giving her a kiss, which they held for just a second too long, as they then heard the *ehem* from Dicks dad coming from the living room. They split apart with a grin as Dick then led her to the kitchen so they could sit by the dinner table. And so they spent a while studying, doing some boring stuff while Dick messed around and occasionally would help her with some questions she didn't know before they were interrupted by Mendes calling Dick.
Dick answered the phone and went to his bedroom for a little privacy. He was in there for 15 minutes before he left, looking shocked. His dad and Rebecca both noticed something was up, so his dad quickly asked.
"Richard, what's wrong?"
While rushing over to put his hand on Dicks shoulder and moving his face so that they would look at each other, while his girlfriend sat at the table looking at them, slightly worried.
"Um…that was Mendes, he uhh. He shared some big news"
"Well, spill it Dickie, you're making me nervous"
Dick looked up at his dad and said
"Well, he said that…the Italian football federation called, and they want me to play for them against Spain in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers!!!!!"
"Non ci posso credere! Mamma mia!!!"
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6th October 2016
The 2 weeks passed, and Brighton only had 2 championship games in that time, one game against Reading, which ended 2-2 with Dick assisting two. And the other game against Sheffield Wednesday, which they won 4-0 with Dick scoring and assisting 1 before then being subbed off. Yet that wasn't what the news had been covering, no, what the news had been covering was that Dick had declared himself for Italy and was even heading there to play against Spain as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier.
However, Dick had put all that behind him; he didn't need those thoughts as a distraction right now. No, what he needed was to focus and stay focused even when sitting on the bench. He wasn't sure if he would be getting any play time today, but so far, the squad had been more than welcoming. He had met many of his Italian heroes, and Buffon had even mentioned how happy he was to see how well he was doing in England, which literally caused his heart to jump out of his chest.
Right now, he was in the changing room putting on his Italian national kit, with the number 22. The new manager then came in and started speaking in Italian, going through their plans and strategies before they had to get ready to start. As the squad was leaving the room, he stopped Dick and said
"Se vedo l'opportunità oggi, giocherai. Tutto chiaro?"
(If I see the opportunity today, you will get playing time. Is that okay?)
"Si, mister"
(yes, coach)
"Bueno"
He then smacked Dicks cheek before they headed out onto the benches. The players then came out of the tunnel and did the normal procedures before the game started. The game started off slow, both teams building up confidence as well as warming up and testing each other's readiness. While most of the subs talked amongst themselves, Dick was laser-focused on the game, and what he didn't notice was the manager seeing that.
The first half of the game went by with nothing exciting happening. The main team went into the changing rooms for the halftime strategy changes, while the subs went out to keep themselves warm.
Dick had been there for the first part of the strategy talk, but then decided to warm up after the manager gave him a kind of nod. So he was currently practising his shooting, and he was consistently hitting the top bins and just generally impressive and hard to hit shots outside of the box. The cameras were loving it, with them filming every part of it, and even some commentators from the Italian side making some jokes about it.
The game continued after 15 minutes with Dick still sitting on the bench, something that he hadn't done since his first game for Brighton. Then it happened. In the 55th minute, Spain managed to score a goal from open play. It was simply a mistake from the Italian defence, where they let Vitolo run inside and score. The Italian manager shook his head before he looked at the field once more and nodded. He grabbed his assistant coach and whispered something to him, and the assistant manager then came rushing over to Dick and said
"It's your time, Riccardo. Finish your warm-up and go speak to the coach"
Dick shot up and started doing his short warm-up, just something simple to loosen his joints and warm up the muscles. Dick jogged back, took off his bib, saw the green number 22 light up on the sub board, and the coach then came up to him and said
"Listen, you play your football in England and it works, okay. But here, we focus on building up, we do things together as a team…However, I've seen your skill, and there is a reason I called you up. Show me how you can influence the team, and how you can fit in with Gli Azzuri…Can you do that?"
Dick took a deep breath, seeing Pellè running towards him, dead tired. He then felt a buzz through his body as he exhaled and said
"I can do that, and more"
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Hey guys, sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger but I just had to build up a little suspense. Anyway, this chapter you'll see why Dick and his gf will break up soon. they just don't have the same values and that will result in a little bit of heartbreak for your MC which will make him go on demon timing hehehe. Anyway, hope you enjoy and come back soon to see Dick beat the breaks off of Spain lmao