Leo moved into the space ahead of Wigan's defensive line, finding his spot near the midfield circle, and Tiehi glanced across at him as he did.
"Going to need something extraordinary from you," the midfielder said while chuckling a bit, but it felt more like a nervous breath, and Leo noticed it and understood why.
To come so close, but now facing certain elimination, could generate such feelings in the hardest-willed individuals.
Leo nodded and looked around the pitch.
Most of the eyes he felt on him belonged to his own teammates, and for a moment, he was aware of how strange that was.
He was seventeen.
There were still men out here who had been playing professional football before he had started elementary school, but their looks made it look like he was on the opposite end of the spectrum.
He almost laughed and nearly did.
Is this what it feels like?, he thought.
When you can, and so they expect you to.
He filed it away.
There was more to think about.
