The journalists kept Shane pinned in the mixed zone for quite a while.
By the time he finally managed to extricate himself and return to the dressing room, the rest of the squad was already packing up to leave.
Simeone was also absent from the room.
Because the mixed zone interviews had run long, the official post-match press conference had been correspondingly delayed.
But this was Spain.
Punctuality? What was that?
It was practically a foreign concept.
Manuel Pellegrini had been sitting at the press conference table for quite some time before the journalists finally began trickling into the room.
"There is not much to say... the opposition fielded an exceptionally brilliant midfielder today. We had absolutely zero scouting data on him before kickoff, and he went on to create three goals. When your opponent carves you open like that three times in one match, what exactly are you supposed to do?"
Pellegrini shook his head with a bitter smile.
Having said his piece, he had no desire to linger in the room. He thanked the press and quickly departed.
Immediately following him was Atlético Madrid's manager, Diego Simeone.
Simeone's face was still flushed with adrenaline.
The moment he sat down, the room erupted into chaos.
Every journalist in the room was desperate to hurl questions at him.
And unsurprisingly, every single question revolved around Shane Carter.
"Diego, your number 29 was absolutely spectacular today. Can you tell us more about him?"
"To be completely honest with you, I do not know much more about him than you do. He only arrived at the club slightly over a week ago. Thank God the winter transfer window was open, otherwise we wouldn't have even been able to register him in time..."
Simeone offered a casual shrug.
He obviously knew far more than he was letting on.
But Simeone explicitly did not want to discuss Shane in depth.
He did not want the media hyper-focusing on a player who was not even eighteen years old yet.
Media attention inherently bred immense pressure, which could easily poison a young player's development.
Furthermore, Simeone was genuinely concerned about the secondary side effect of such an explosive debut: sudden, blinding fame.
He worried that transitioning overnight from an absolute nobody into a midfield prodigy obsessed over by all of Spain, Europe, and potentially the entire world might cause Shane to lose himself.
Simeone had seen that exact story play out far too many times.
"That is impossible, Diego. How can that be true? You are the manager. You made the decision to start him in your very first match in charge. If you don't know anything about him, why did you start him?"
"The reality is exactly as I stated. What I know is his ability, nothing more," Simeone countered smoothly. "I have eyes. I watched his performances in training, and based on what I saw, I decided to hand him a starting spot. Is that really so strange?"
"Then where was he before he joined Atlético Madrid?"
"I am not entirely sure of the details. I heard he spent some time with the Real Madrid U19s..."
Simeone casually kicked the ball down the road.
You won't get anything useful out of me anyway, he thought.
You want the juicy details?
Heh.
Go bother Real Madrid.
In fact, it would be perfect if you journalists dug up exactly why Real Madrid kicked him out.
During his playing days, Simeone had been the beating heart of Atlético Madrid.
So...
Causing massive headaches for Real Madrid was practically written into his DNA.
...
After concluding his press duties, Simeone returned to the dressing room.
He praised the squad's collective effort one last time before dismissing them to board the team bus waiting in La Rosaleda's parking lot.
But just as Shane was grabbing his duffel bag, Simeone asked him to stay behind for a moment.
"Shane. Excellent work today. It was a flawless debut."
"Thank you, boss." Shane felt a bit stiff, like a student being held back after class by the principal.
It was slightly uncomfortable.
"Let me tell you a quick story," Simeone began, leaning against a locker. "Compared to you, my professional debut was an absolute disaster. I came off the bench in the seventieth minute. I got repeatedly beaten off the dribble, and then I committed a foul inside our own penalty area, giving away a penalty that cost us the match..."
Simeone chuckled bitterly, shaking his head at the memory. "After the game, fans were leaning over the railings, screaming curses at me. The media wrote that I lacked the basic ability to play professional football. They genuinely suggested I go find work as a cowboy on a ranch..."
"In my second match, I got another opportunity. That time, I played brilliantly. I even scored a goal..."
Simeone held up a single finger.
"And do you know what those exact same newspapers wrote the next morning? They called me the shining hope of the Argentine midfield. They said I was the future pillar of the national team."
Simeone shrugged his broad shoulders.
"Do you see my point? That is the media. Within the span of a single week, their evaluation of the exact same player swung from one violent extreme to the other."
"Shane, this was only the first match of your career. You have a very long road ahead of you. Because you played well today, the press will elevate you to the status of a god tomorrow. But the moment you have a bad game, if you open those same newspapers, I guarantee you they will tear you to pieces and drag your name through the mud. That is the reality of this business. I need you to understand that. Do not take the media's praise to heart."
"I understand, boss," Shane said earnestly.
Simeone patted him heavily on the shoulder. "As long as you understand. Remember, maintaining a stable, grounded mindset is the absolute foundation for consistent performances at the professional level."
With that, Simeone led Shane out to the parking lot.
Once everyone was on board the bus, Simeone officially announced that the squad would have the next day off.
The bus erupted into cheers.
True to his word, Falcao immediately extended the barbecue invitation to the rest of the squad.
Atlético Madrid boasted a large contingent of South American players, and the dietary and social habits of the native Spanish players were quite similar anyway—culturally, Spain and South America were deeply intertwined.
...
While the Atlético squad was traveling back to Madrid, the Spanish sports media machine was going into overdrive.
[American Prodigy Delivers Hat-Trick of Assists! Simeone Era Begins with a Bang!]
[3-0 Away Victory! Atlético's Teenage Midfield Maestro Orchestrates Masterclass!]
[Who is Shane Carter? Real Madrid Academy Castoff Becomes Atlético's Savior!]
The news cycle mutated rapidly.
Several investigative journalists immediately descended upon the Real Madrid academy.
It did not take long for them to unearth the explosive truth: Shane Carter had been subjected to racist abuse by the grandson of a former Real Madrid president. In response, Shane had violently assaulted the grandson, leading to his immediate expulsion from the academy.
That story instantly detonated across Spain.
"...According to our sources, during the Matchday 18 clash between Málaga and Atlético Madrid, Diego Simeone shocked everyone by starting a seventeen-year-old American midfielder. In his professional debut, the teenager provided three assists, guiding Atlético to a dominant 3-0 away win..."
"...What makes these three brilliant assists even more fascinating is the player's background. It is reported that Shane Carter was recently a member of the Real Madrid U19s, but was summarily expelled following a violent physical altercation triggered by racist remarks made by the grandson of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz..."
In a matter of hours...
The headline [Former Real Madrid President's Grandson Accused of Racism] completely eclipsed the hype surrounding Shane's actual performance.
Some outlets harshly condemned Real Madrid's handling of the situation.
Others lamented that Real Madrid had foolishly discarded a midfield prodigy with generational potential...
The inferno burned so brightly that during the post-match press conference following Real Madrid's victory over Racing Santander, manager José Mourinho was bombarded with questions about Shane Carter.
The problem was...
Mourinho had literally never heard the name Shane Carter in his life.
He had, however, seen the highlight reel of the three assists.
And truthfully?
If Carter was still in the Real Madrid youth system, and Mourinho had discovered he possessed that kind of passing range and vision?
He would have called the kid up to the first team immediately.
Not as a starter, obviously—the Real Madrid starting eleven was packed with established global superstars like Mesut Özil and Xabi Alonso.
But as a wildcard substitute to unlock stubborn defenses? Absolutely.
But thinking about that now was useless. The kid belonged to Atlético Madrid.
"Real Madrid stands unequivocally against all forms of racism. I manage the best squad in the world, and the best players in the world dream of playing here. I wish the young man the best of luck," Mourinho stated flatly, refusing to be dragged into the drama.
Internally, however, club president Florentino Pérez was absolutely furious.
An incident the club had successfully swept under the rug was now front-page news across the globe.
Real Madrid immediately issued a formal, strongly-worded public statement condemning racism in all its forms.
And quietly, behind closed doors...
Lorenzo Sanz's grandson was unceremoniously expelled from the academy...
Of course, none of that had any bearing on Shane.
The next day was a designated rest day.
But Shane showed up at the training ground anyway.
He spent the morning practicing long-range shooting.
He was a player who spent an immense amount of time analyzing his own game.
He knew he possessed elite ball control and passing.
But his match experience was still incredibly raw.
More importantly...
He currently possessed almost zero direct goal-scoring threat.
His finishing technique was simply not La Liga caliber.
If he could develop a lethal strike from distance...
A midfielder who could pass, dribble, and shoot would become exponentially more dangerous.
...
Simeone had genuinely worried that a 17-year-old kid might get carried away by the deafening hype surrounding his debut.
But when a staff member informed him...
That Shane had voluntarily arrived at the training ground on his day off...
Simeone's concerns evaporated completely.
He stood by the window of his office, looking out over the pristine grass pitches.
It was still half an hour before the scheduled start of training, yet Shane was already out there.
He was practicing shooting from distance.
Under Simeone's watchful gaze...
Shane continuously fired shot after shot toward the empty net...
"He knows exactly what he needs," Simeone said quietly to Germán Burgos, who was standing beside him.
"Can you imagine being seventeen? If I was seventeen, got my first La Liga start, and dropped three assists, I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep for three days straight. How the hell is this kid so calm?"
Germán shrugged his massive shoulders. "I told you from day one. He really is a genius."
...
Atlético Madrid's next fixture was a home match against Villarreal.
Theoretically, the Yellow Submarine was a formidable opponent.
After all, they had finished fourth in La Liga the previous season, securing a spot in the Champions League.
However, this season...
The "strong" team from the previous campaign had violently collapsed into sixteenth place in the league table.
They had accumulated a measly nineteen points.
Only two points separated them from Racing Santander in the relegation zone.
One slip-up...
And they could plummet directly into the bottom three.
This was a tragically common occurrence for mid-table La Liga clubs that qualified for the Champions League.
The vast majority simply did not possess the financial resources to build a massive squad capable of fighting on two fronts. Unlike Real Madrid or Barcelona, they could not rely on superstars like Kaká or Gonzalo Higuaín to come off the bench.
Consequently, when a mid-table side overachieved and reached the Champions League, the brutal fixture congestion of the following season often dragged them straight toward the relegation dogfight.
It was entirely possible to go from the Champions League to the Segunda División in consecutive seasons.
Because of this nightmare scenario...
Villarreal's recently appointed manager, José Molina, was under suffocating pressure.
If he could not find a way to drag the club out of the relegation mire quickly...
The Villarreal board would inevitably sack him too.
Fortunately...
Villarreal had already been eliminated in the Champions League group stage.
Now, they could focus entirely on La Liga.
Molina could dedicate all his energy to grinding out points in the league.
Traveling to the Vicente Calderón to face Atlético Madrid...
Molina harbored absolutely zero ambition to play expansive football.
He had thoroughly analyzed Atlético's recent victory over Málaga.
He knew a team experiencing the "new manager bounce" would be exceptionally dangerous.
Especially on their home turf. If Villarreal pushed men forward to attack...
The resulting counter-attacks would be completely lethal.
When the two teams finally emerged from the players' tunnel...
Molina's gaze instantly locked onto Shane Carter.
"That is him... that is Carter..."
His assistant coach murmured beside him.
Molina gave a tight nod.
Based on his analysis of the previous match, the American's ability to play defense-splitting passes was terrifying.
Especially his timing and pinpoint accuracy on long-range counter-attacks during transitional phases.
Meanwhile, Villarreal...
Having lost Santi Cazorla to Málaga over the summer...
Were currently operating without a genuine midfield playmaker.
This season, whenever they had tried to push high and control games, the results had been disastrous.
They were far better off sitting deep and playing on the counter.
Therefore...
For this specific match...
Molina's tactical blueprint was incredibly simple.
Villarreal was going to park the bus in Madrid.
They would aggressively compress the space between the lines.
You like to pass the ball, do you? You like to hit killer through balls?
Fine. I won't give you an inch of space to breathe.
Let's see you pass the ball around the perimeter for ninety minutes and try to break us down.
For Villarreal, escaping the Calderón with a clean sheet, even if it only meant a single point, could prove absolutely vital to their survival in the top flight.
Shane walked out onto the pitch alongside the rest of the starting eleven.
This was his first official appearance at the Vicente Calderón.
The home supporters offered him an incredibly warm welcome.
"And a massive welcome to our number 29..."
"CARRRRRRTEERRRRR!!"
The Atlético faithful roared his name, a wall of sound crashing down from the stands.
His masterclass against Málaga had completely won them over.
And clearly, it had won over the coaching staff as well.
Now...
Shane starting the match was no longer considered a shock.
After all, unless forced by injury or fatigue, no manager in world football would ever bench a midfield engine who had just orchestrated three goals in a single game.
More PS = More Chapters!