General
"And Italy makes a change in the 56th minute, bringing on Brighton star Richard Grayson for his first game with Italy. Let's hope that he can change the tide of the game for Italy"
Said the Italian commentator (imagine it is in Italian)
Dick ran onto the field. He was put in his natural striker position, but was told to be slightly lower down the field than usual. Dick reached the ball in the midfield and quickly passed it to De Rossi to get the game started again.
Since Spain was one goal up, they held themselves back a bit more. Their strikers came running up the field, and their midfielders also came up slightly, but they held a tighter structure. However, one thing that Dick noticed was that he was being mostly ignored, and that…that just made him smile. Dick hadn't been ignored by defenders in a long time, so seeing the freedom it offered felt like chains had been taken off his feet and that he could run once again. And run he did.
Dick ran down a bit, dragging Diego Costa with him slightly. He then made eye contact with De Rossi, who had the ball again, and tilted his head back and tapped his chest. De Rossi nodded, and that was all Dick needed. Dick took a stutter step forward, pretending to run, which made Costa also run forward, only for Dick to stop on the spot and run back into the open space that move had just created. Dick chested the ball up, as he felt someone start to bump him on the back to try and get him off balance. The ball was about to drop down when Dick kicked the ball up and behind him, and then elbowed the hand grabbing him and using that motion to spin him around and bring the ball down with a silky touch.
Dick looked back and saw that he had just done that to Iniesta, who was now fast on his heels. Dick ignored the crazy feeling that was coursing through his body as he locked in and started sprinting down the right-hand side with as much pace as he could. Dick was constantly looking around, seeing if he could spot any openings. Nacho came running towards Dick, who just responded by faking right, before Ronaldo chopped to the left, leaving Nacho frozen as Dick ran closer to the box.
Just as he reached the box, Piqué came and tried to block him, but Dick just started doing rapid fakes, scissors, and other dribbles. He then pulled off the Ronaldo Nozario pendulu dribble, where he moved his entire body in his scissors before tapping the ball left, causing Piqué to open his legs to try and block it, before Dick pulled it back and tapped it through his legs. Dick ran past Piqué and was now facing de Gea, who was rushing out of the goal, trying to get the ball.
Dick pretended to shoot, causing De Gea to stutter slightly in his movement and lean his body to the left, falling down on one hand. Dick then chipped the ball and saw it float over de Gea's outstretched arm and fly into the net.
Dick went crazy, he grabbed his badge and started sprinting towards the corner flag, shaking the hand holding the badge before jumping up and punching the air. Dick then landed and spread his arms apart and did his classic celebration, tilting his head back and absorbing the thousands and thousands of Italian fans watching the game, all yelling their hearts out. Dick was then mobbed by his teammates, who all started shouting compliments at him in Italian.
"Signore e signori, avete appena assistito alla storia: Riccardo è diventato il più giovane marcatore di sempre per l'Italia, a soli 16 anni! Ha battuto un record che resisteva dal 1958, e lo ha fatto proprio nel suo debutto contro la Spagna! Il futuro del calcio italiano è luminoso!"
(Folks, you've just seen history. Riccardo has become the youngest ever goal scorer for Italy at the age of 16! He has beaten a record that has been held since 1958, and it was in his debut against Spain! The future of Italian football is bright!
Dick and the Italian team rushed back to their positions with some pep in their step, with every one of them feeling more motivated to perform on an even higher level. The game started again, and Dick immediately sprinted off after the ball. He kept himself on his side of the attacking half but made sure to keep pressure on each Spanish player who had the ball.
Around 20 minutes of the game flew by with both teams trying to build up some attacking pressure, but it mostly fizzled out before anything could come from it. Dick had a couple of great chances, but de Gea was playing like a demon after getting scored on. Immoble was then subbed in on the 78th minute, and surprisingly, Immoble and Dick made a dangerous duo. Dick often crossed the ball in and gave Immoble some great chances to finish, but Immoble just wasn't capitalising on the chances he was given.
There were now 10 minutes left of the game, and Dick had a golden chance. He had received the ball by the midfield line and had quickly passed the ball over Koke, and right into the running path of Immoble before sprinting up the pitch himself. Immoble spotted Dick and stopped on the spot, drawing in Carvajal and Pique before passing the ball back to Dick, who had run right into the middle. Dick spotted a gap right where Piqué should have been, and without any hesitation, he smashed it from around 27 yards out. The ball flew up before flying past De Gea's hands, before going right into the top right corner.
Dick ran towards the corner before sliding on his knees. He spread his arms out as he slid before jumping up and punching his fist in the direction of the crowd. The crowd itself was screaming their hearts out, everyone screaming, throwing beer around, swinging scarves and hugging strangers. Immoble was the first to reach Dick, as he jumped his back and screamed into the crowd as well. That's when the team all reached them, all jumping around them.
The rest of the game went on with nothing remarkable happening, and after 12 more minutes of play, Italy was mostly defensive. The game finished, and Dick quickly walked towards Iniesta and started speaking Spanish with him, and said
"Hola, señor Iniesta. ¿Podríamos intercambiar camisetas? Usted es uno de mis jugadores favoritos de todos los tiempos. Gran parte de mi forma de driblar se basa en cómo juega usted"
("Hey, Mr Iniesta. Could we swap shirts? You are one of my favourite players ever, a lot of my dribbling is based on how you play")
Iniesta gave a tired smile before nodding and saying.
"Gracias, con gusto. Jugaste muy bien hoy, tienes un futuro brillante por delante. Estoy deseando ver cómo creces como jugador."
(Thank you, I'd be happy to. You played really well today. You have a bright future ahead of you. I look forward to seeing how you grow.
Iniesta then took off his shirt, revealing his white undershirt. Dick smiled as he took off his own shirt, revealing his insanely toned body. His abs had abs, and if someone looked closely, they'd see Iniesta's eyebrows raise as he saw this and all of the cameras zoomed in on him. Dick gave him his shirt and took Iniesta's before saying his thanks and heading towards the locker room.
When Dick walked shirtless into the changing room, he got a bunch of woos, and the guys were all clapping, mostly because of how well Dick had performed, but also just because they were poking fun at him a little bit for 'showing off'. Dick laughed before bowing a couple of times.
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General pov
It was now the next day, and Dick was scrolling through his Instagram after he had posted some photos from the game the day before. One photo was him chipping de Gea, another of him celebrating his goal doing his celebration and the last was him shirtless holding the Iniesta shirt. What surprised him the most was that after the game yesterday, he had close to 800,000 followers, which was nearly double what he had before. There were also a bunch of comments on his photo, and one was even from Iniesta congratulating him for breaking the record.
After that, Dick and the Italian team flew on the 7th of October to North Macedonia for the match. The game went great for Italy, with them winning 4-1. Dick scored 1 and assisted 1 after he came on at halftime. He also contributed to the last goal, as he was tackled and given a penalty in the last 5 minutes, which De Rossi managed to convert into a goal.
With the end of the game, Italy stayed in first place on the table, with 9 points to Spain's 6, something that was wildly celebrated by the squad. When they returned to Italy, they went to a fancy restaurant and indulged themselves on Italian food. What also happened was that news agencies around Italy gave him a new nickname, "Il Fenomeno Azzurro". Dick was quite happy with the nickname, but there was a small part of him that felt it was too soon and that the Italians were too quick to compare him to Ronaldo Nozario. But Dick didn't have enough time to think about that because on the 10th of October, he flew back to England ready to continue his championship run with Brighton.
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General Pov
A couple of days passed, with Brighton beating Preston 3-0 on the 14th of October, Dick managed to score a brace before being subbed off at half-time. He was no longer just being pressed by multiple opponents; now it was also like how people would do the hack-a-Shaq during Shaq's peak. He was being kicked, pulled and just tackled to hell, but he was okay with it for him; it just made him feel like he was a strong enough target. However, the Management was less enthusiastic as they started talking about giving him less time on the field.
Dick mentioned that he was okay with being taken off earlier to avoid injuries and just general fatigue, but if the game was close, he still wanted to play. Overall, Dick had been flying high, and he felt nothing could bring him down.
A couple of days later, Brighton faced Wolves away for their 12th championship match, and they beat Wolves away 1-0. Dick had a slow game; he was a part of the buildup for the only goal, but overall, he couldn't add any stats to his growing stat sheet. But he didn't mind; the game just showed him where he could improve. But with their win, Brighton was unbeaten in their championship run, so they were by far the first in the league. In other news, Teen Vogue had contacted Mendes for a photoshoot while 443 had contacted him for an interview. So he had a busy schedule ahead of him.
On the 19th of October, Dick went to the Teen Vogue studio and was quickly told to go change into some different clothes. All throughout the day, he would change outfits, changing from an Italian tracksuit to a suit and tie, before they settled on some light grey ripped jeans and a black t-shirt that was tight in all the right spots, with a blue Nightwing logo on the chest. Dick held a football under his arms and had a classic cocky grin on his face. All in all, Dick looked good, no, he looked great. And it was all thanks to the one nerd who worked at Teen Vogue, who almost fainted when Dick walked in and practically demanded that he wear the shirt.
Then on the 20th, Dick did the 442 interview; the interviewer was very nice and made some small talk before they started. He then asked the first question.
"Richard, you're only 16 but already scoring for Italy. How did football start for you — street games, academies, or something else?"
Dick smiled a bit, as if he was looking back at a fond memory.
"Great question, uhh yeah, I started playing at around 4 in the US, where I lived with my parents. I mostly played at home in my free time and in school with my friends. Then, when I was 12, my dad and I moved to England, where I played in a club and for my school, and that's about it"
"Who did you look up to as a kid? Any strikers or teams you idolised?"
"Oh man, that's a difficult question; there are just so many players that inspired my style of play. I mean, just to list a few, it would be Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Nozario, Messi for sure, Ronaldo, Maldini, Pelé, and Zidane"
"That's a long list of people *chuckles* but it makes sense, those are some of the greatest players to live. Another question I have is, you're still technically school age. How do you balance lessons, friends, and playing in front of thousands?"
"Yeah, I mean it's tough to balance all those things, but I just keep on fighting, you know. I love football, it's honestly the reason I live and breathe *laughs* but I just stay determined, and knowing that my dad would be mad if I don't finish high school is also a motivator"
"Hahahaha, yeah, I can imagine he would be quite mad. Now, what do you do when you're not on the pitch? Gaming, music, something totally different?"
"Music is for sure what I do the most, I've even recently started to learn how to play the guitar. Other than music, I definitely game a lot too. I've recently started playing Dark Souls 3."
"And to finish it off, Brighton fans call you a 'wonderkid,' Italians are calling you 'il fenomeno.' Do you feel pressure, or do you thrive on it?"
"I for sure thrive on it; it pushes me to be better and train more"
"Thank you, Richard, for doing this interview"
"It was my honour"
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The magazine and the interview were sent out on the 21st of October, and sales rocketed, especially after Dick posted the cover on his Instagram story with him holding it and hitting the thinker pose as a joke. His comment section had been taken over by teenage girls, and even older women, weirdly enough. But Dick was calm about it; he instead spent the rest of the day with Rebecca before they went out for some lunch. However, what they didn't notice was that on the way back, a paparazzi spotted them kissing.
Which soon was on the pages of every social media and sleazy magazine in England, even going around the world for many football fans.