Harbinger Of Glory

....

Leo did the dishes afterwards while Vittoria moved to the couch.

When he came through to the living room, he found his way towards the other half of the L-shaped couch but only for a moment before Vittoria got up from where she was.

Without warning, she grabbed one of the pillows and moved towards Leo, immediately settling on him without question before she began to nestle more into him.

"Better?" he said with a chuckle.

Her hair moved against his chest as she nodded.

He began running his hand through it slowly as the apartment went quiet around them, but only for a short while before Vittoria looked up.

"I didn’t ask this, but how did you get up here?" she said.

"The key fob I gave you stopped working when I cancelled it after you left, and also I didn’t get a call to ask if I would ring you in."

Leo smiled and then poked her nose.

"A magician never reveals his methods," he said, but she pushed at his arm keen to know.

"Leo."

"Sorry."

"Tell me."

"Can’t."

She tried again.

Then once more, changing her approach each time, hoping she’d catch him out.

Leo only smiled, calmly batting every attempt away without giving anything up.

After a long, dramatic sigh, she admitted defeat and settled back into her spot on the sofa.

....

The following morning, Carlo’s ribs hurt as he laughed at the situation he’d just heard, only managing to keep running because slowly meant he’d have to restart the jog.

Leo ran beside him, shaking his at intervals while Carlo worked through everything he found amusing about the previous evening.

"We haven’t even seen Spalletti since we arrived," Carlo said, between breaths.

"You got here, had dinner, and went to Milan to see your girlfriend before you even saw your coach!"

While he spoke, Leo did his best to tune it all out.

"Respect though," Carlo said, and actually saluted while jogging.

"Genuinely. Respect."

As Carlo went on, Leo stuck his foot out slightly, trying to trip him, but the former skipped over it without breaking stride.

While this went on, the players ahead of them began to slow down, and Leo looked up to see why.

What he got was for an answer was a golf cart coming along the path that ran beside the training pitch with Spalletti in the passenger seat and Marco driving.

The players watched, some wondering how ridiculous it looked while others just laughed.

A moment later, the cart slowed and stopped while Spalletti looked at the assembled players from his seat, moving from face to face.

Then he spread his arms.

"Welcome back," he said, and his voice carried across the squad before a grin slowly showed on his face.

From his driver’s seat, Marco’s eyes searched the players before finding Leo and Carlo somewhere in the loose spread of players.

A small smile formed on his face as he met the eyes of the two, but then Spalletti made a small gesture and heeding that, Marco moved the cart forward along the path.

"Follow," Spalletti said, to the players generally, and turned to face forward.

The players fell in behind the cart without much thought, each player wanting to know what was next for them.

The coaches running the morning drills brought their sessions to a halt and headed over as well.

One by one, the players drifted across with them until the group was making its way toward the main pitch together.

When they arrived, Spalletti stepped off the cart and turned to face his players.

"Welcome back," he said.

"Again."

He looked around at the faces.

"It feels like a year has passed since we last met, but it’s only been a month."

A few players smiled as Spalletti approached them.

"We ended the last camp on a good note," he continued.

"That result against Ukraine took some of the weight that had been sitting on this programme for a while and moved it somewhere else. And I want to be clear about something."

"You are not here by accident. You are here because of ability. The players in front of me have been earning their places every week since the last camp, so I want you guys to treat each other with the deserved respect!"

After saying that, he nodded toward Marco.

"We too haven’t been lazy while you’ve been gone. Marco and I have been watching every one of you. Your club games, your performances, how you play under pressure, how you play when things aren’t going well.

We’ve been in the Rome office the last few days for exactly that reason, working through what we’ve seen and building on the ideas we’ve been developing since August."

"We also had to present a few changes to the main office that hopefully you’ll be seeing soon!"

The players nodded at his words, slowly taking it in before he continued speaking.

"Now, the session today will be in the afternoon. It’s still early, and your bodies are telling you that even if you won’t admit it."

He gestured loosely toward the accommodation building.

"Go and eat. Rest. Do what you want with the time, and I’ll see you on the pitch later."

The moment he finished, the players stood still for a second before they began to disperse.

While they did, Spalletti stepped forward before Leo had moved more than a couple of paces.

When he got near the latter, his hand came down on his shoulder.

"How are you?" Spalletti said. Leo nodded at the manager.

"I have been good," he said. "Ready, I think!"

Spalletti, hearing Leo’s words, nodded keenly.

"I’m glad you are. I’ve been watching you," he said.

"What you’re doing at that club," he continued and glanced briefly toward Carlo standing a few metres away.

"You and your friend there. It’s wonderful to say the least!"

"We’ve been working hard," Leo said as Spalletti nodded once and took his hand off Leo’s shoulder!

"I know," he said.

"Go and eat. We’ll talk more later."

Leo nodded and walked back as Carlo fell into step beside him, leaving Spalletti, who also turned and found Marco.

"Let’s also go, shall we?" he muttered before slipping right into the seat beside Marco on the cart!

....

Like always, the Coverciano morning slipped by quietly.

Some players caught up on sleep, others wandered through the common room or out across the grounds, trying to make use of the unexpected free time before the afternoon session.

When training finally came around, the squad gathered in the dressing room and changed into the federation kit before heading out together.

There, the coaching staff were already waiting.

One by one, GPS vests were fitted beneath the players’ shirts.

The staff moved efficiently from player to player, checking the monitors before sending them onto the pitch.

The purpose of the session became obvious within minutes.

There were no tactical boards, no shape work and no rehearsed patterns of play.

It was fitness and it was two relentless hours of it.

It started with running, acceleration drills and then repeated sprints.

It then moved on to recovery runs that barely felt like recovery.

The coaches drove every exercise while Spalletti remained nowhere to be seen.

By the time the whistle finally sounded, several players simply dropped where they were.

Leo lay flat on the grass, breathing steadily as he stared into the cloudless sky above Florence.

Around him, conversations came in short bursts between tired breaths.

Nobody seemed interested in getting up just yet.

A few moments later, footsteps crossed the pitch.

Spalletti.

He stopped in front of the scattered group, clasped his hands behind his back and looked around before speaking.

"Some of you," he said calmly, "are a little behind where I’d like you to be physically."

"We’ll fix that over the next few days while we prepare for Malta."

After that, his eyes swept across the group one last time.

"That’s all."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Several players watched him go before exchanging amused looks.

"That’s it?" someone muttered.

A few quiet laughs followed.

Back in his room, Leo headed straight for the shower.

The hot water eased the stiffness in his legs, but it couldn’t quite do the same for his right wrist.

By the time he had changed back into his tracksuit, it wasn’t painful, though he could still notice it.

He rolled it once before reaching for his phone and when he called, Vittoria answered almost immediately.

"How are you feeling?"

She sighed.

"Better."

"Medication?"

"Yes and before you say anything, yes, I’ve been drinking water."

"Good."

"I’m still not one hundred percent," she admitted, "but I’m better than yesterday."

"It’ll settle."

"I know."

There was a brief pause before she asked,

"How was training?"

Leo leaned back against the headboard.

"The coaches spent two hours trying to discover everyone’s physical limit."

"And?"

"I think they found mine."

Vittoria laughed at that before a knock interrupted them.

Leo glanced toward the door and then turned back towards the phone.

"Seems I have company. I’ll call you later."

"Okay."

"Get some rest."

"I will."

Leo got to his feet and moved towards the door, which opened to reveal Carlo waiting outside.

"Lunch?"

Leo grabbed his room key from the desk.

"Definitely."