Chapter Five: A Defeat Worth Sixty-One Percent

Seabridge trailed one-nil at halftime. Lin was allowed into the dressing room but remained beside the door. “Kovac does not step again,” Harold said at the tactics board. “Vidal follows their ten. Bello stays high for the counter.” Those three instructions dismantled the entire combination chain. Lin looked at Veer. “We concede again if we do that.” Harold turned. “Who invited the video clerk?” “I did,” Veer said. The room fell quiet. Lin approached the board without drawing an elaborate route. “Keep Kovac stepping. Vidal guards the door behind him, not a man. Put Reed on at the highest point on the right. Their left back already believes every Seabridge attack goes through Bello.” “Without Serra, the ball never gets there,” Veer said.