#if you’re American Nile is one of your biggest USWNT stars

[victimhood]

On Nicolò di Genova within the TOG FC universe:

Because I’ve received a few questions on Nichi within The Beautiful Game universe and typed up replies I’m going to put them here for my own reference! 

TL;DR is that I’m not sure most of my readers realize how important Nichi is as a player unless you know about Italian football, but if you know Italian football, I think you would have instantly clocked that Nicky = center back = defender = catenaccio master = 100% Italian darling  = he is everyone’s son in Italy

I think I might have told several readers I had a chapter lined up for the Joe/Nicky backstory, but on second thought I have too much content to compress it into 1 chapter, so I’m going to queue it as a related work after I finish the main fic.

Nicky I would say is a Jordan Henderson type of captain--his main strength is consistency and dependability, working to clean up messes in the background, and consistency goes a very long way in a playing career. The fact that he's national team captain and club captain also speaks to the regard that other players and his managers have for him--he's basically the "heart" of a team and he has that ability to inspire/drive his teammates to do better. He is extremely loved by his country and fans of his club as well. Consistency, dependability, heart--I think these are some of the most wonderful attributes for a football player.

I reflected on my fic and realized I make a lot of broad assumptions that my readers can fill in the gaps which is only possible if you've been steeped in football culture your whole life. The way football works, there are certain types of players get more "glory" than others. The ones who score goals get the most hype. Most often, these are the forwards, wingers. Attacking midfielders get more attention than defensive midfielders. Full backs get more attention than center backs. Nicky is a center back. Some of my personal favorite players are defensive midfielders and while they don't have the kind of insane popularity, the fans who love them truly LOVE them in a terrifyingly undying manner. What is important to note is that Italian football is special because they've always been proud of their defensive play, and they treasure good defenders in particular, more than the rest of the world. As such, Nicky being Italian and a defender (center back) makes him a huge player in Italy. For Nicky to do Italy proud, in the most classically Italian manner, he couldn't have been in any other role than in defense.

In this story, Nicky's just one of those low key players--but he also actively chooses to opt out of the social media circus, which makes his online footprint even smaller. He doesn't have insta, twitter etc, so he doesn't have Booker/Lykon/Yusuf's level of fan engagement. Fan engagement is a huge thing in profit-driven football, since it sells merchandise. However, amongst journalists, managers, players, people who know their stuff--everyone respects Nicky for the traits he embodies.

+ here’s a bonus section on the Joe/Nicky backstory + how Cesare (Nichi’s dog, a rottweiler) came into their lives

Because I love dogs I have thought about how Cesare comes into their lives in this fic. In fact, it was originally supposed to be part of a single chapter on Nichi and Yusuf's backstory, but based on my fic planning, I might turn that backstory into a whole separate work because it's gonna take more words than a single chapter can accommodate. 

The summary of Yusuf and Nichi's backstory is that Joe was transferred to Inter Milan in Jan 2020, and Nichi reaches out to him to make peace (bc they fought in the player's tunnel a year before--enough to earn them both match bans). Because they're both young players they're not that well-off yet, and Nichi invites Joe to crash at his apartment while looking for his own place to save on hotel money. Unfortunately...this is Jan 2020 yeah? Joe, a young, immature footballer, doesn't put that much effort in finding his own place thinking he can take all the time in the world...and then the corona crisis happens. WHOOPS now he is stuck with Nichi 24/7 in a full lockdown--they can't even go out of the house except for essentials. (This is where Nichi starts joking about getting a dog so they have an excuse to go outside for a walk). 

One thing leads to another and...Joe and Nichi start sleeping together....but when lockdown restrictions are lifted, Joe moves out to cope with his complicated feelings and Nichi pretty much gets a dog to cope with his sadness of Joe moving out. Turns out these doofuses still love each other and like...yeah the separate house thing is just for show, for the parents, to pretend they are functioning adult individuals who are NOT very gay for each other oh no no no they're just friends...just bros...chilling 6 feet apart bc corona (and no homo). 

So the other thing about Cesare is that...Nichi got him as a puppy, and due to on/off corona restrictions Cesare just...wasn't very well socialized as a puppy--his main interactions are with Nichi and Yusuf, and puppy!Cesare has seen how happy Nichi gets when Yusuf comes over and catches on very well that Yusuf is Special to his Owner and becomes very very very very very protective of Yusuf as a result. Cesare has been kicked out of various puppy schools bc he is a v misunderstood dog unfortunately.

#tog fc #tog: the beautiful game #the old guard #kaysanova #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #tog fc spoilers #one thing about my fic that i really strive for is #the player that has your nationality in the fic you would be so immensely proud of in very specific ways #like if you’re Italian you would be proud of Nicky bc he’s a catenaccio heir #if you’re French you love the Booker Zidane comparisons #if you’re Ukrainian you love that Andy repped Shakhtar I hope #if you’re American Nile is one of your biggest USWNT stars #now on the question of Yusuf being Dutch #*cue evil laughter* #look I can see from 1000 miles away what’s coming up in the fic bc this is also my fic #but I have always wondered if any of my readers ever suspected #I have already named the big clue #I will say no more #except if you’re Dutch you MUST know