2026-04-13, 04:46 AM - Word count:
For the first time, Sandro found himself coming to terms with the feeling of being relegated. It was a strange season, artificially short, and the level of performance not matching the results for CDT. With a new attacker joining up and the front 3 taking time to gel, the goal output dipped in the league and we found ourselves in an unexpected relegation battle while making another appearance in the cup final. Sandro had his best season since his team of the year performance in Krung Thep, and he was beginning to dominate defenders in the fashion he’d always dreamed of. Getting to terms with his team going down despite all of the progress was incredibly difficult for him.
He walked his normal path through Mexico City, he was past the stage of meeting awe-struck locals and they’d begun treating him as just another neighbor. The criminals steered clear of him knowing that the wrath of the CDT faithful was not worth whatever reward they could snatch from him, so he really had no worries treating the city as his own. The CDT cup is winners posters had begun to fade and tear off the walls, but the city still remembered and supported CDT through it all. They saw the players fighting for them even when results were going against them. They had earned a season of growing pains after their early success in the SSL.
Sandro reached the training pitch on foot, looking around at the super cars and private drivers, Sandro couldn’t help but feel ashamed to be seen in that level of vehicle after relegation, but he understood that his teammates may not feel the same way about all of it, and chose to give them some grace. Let everyone cope with the embarrassment of relegation on their own.
In training though, Sandro found himself being less forgiving. Pulling out of fewer duels, being more physical with headers, and calling out teammates for lapses in concentration. It wasn’t intentional, but it seems they’d molded a veteran in the process. Sandro not only wanted his teammates to see and react to his evolution on the pitch, but he wanted young players like Bloodstone and the Krung Thep youngsters who joined up in the preseason to understand what it takes to be the best. What it takes for the whole team to take the next step. Personally, there are steps that come beyond what he’d achieved. Individual awards and accolades. However, as a team, after winning the cup, only one higher level remained. That was winning the top division. With last season’s setback, they found themselves moving in the wrong direction. Sandro couldn’t and wouldn’t accept this.
Relegation blues are temporary, but the fire it forged in Sandro was permanent. He could just hope that fire was contagious for his teammates.
He walked his normal path through Mexico City, he was past the stage of meeting awe-struck locals and they’d begun treating him as just another neighbor. The criminals steered clear of him knowing that the wrath of the CDT faithful was not worth whatever reward they could snatch from him, so he really had no worries treating the city as his own. The CDT cup is winners posters had begun to fade and tear off the walls, but the city still remembered and supported CDT through it all. They saw the players fighting for them even when results were going against them. They had earned a season of growing pains after their early success in the SSL.
Sandro reached the training pitch on foot, looking around at the super cars and private drivers, Sandro couldn’t help but feel ashamed to be seen in that level of vehicle after relegation, but he understood that his teammates may not feel the same way about all of it, and chose to give them some grace. Let everyone cope with the embarrassment of relegation on their own.
In training though, Sandro found himself being less forgiving. Pulling out of fewer duels, being more physical with headers, and calling out teammates for lapses in concentration. It wasn’t intentional, but it seems they’d molded a veteran in the process. Sandro not only wanted his teammates to see and react to his evolution on the pitch, but he wanted young players like Bloodstone and the Krung Thep youngsters who joined up in the preseason to understand what it takes to be the best. What it takes for the whole team to take the next step. Personally, there are steps that come beyond what he’d achieved. Individual awards and accolades. However, as a team, after winning the cup, only one higher level remained. That was winning the top division. With last season’s setback, they found themselves moving in the wrong direction. Sandro couldn’t and wouldn’t accept this.
Relegation blues are temporary, but the fire it forged in Sandro was permanent. He could just hope that fire was contagious for his teammates.
![[Image: C75197-D1-9-E74-4-DC5-836-E-981-D75-A96413.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/nc8qJ0Nf/C75197-D1-9-E74-4-DC5-836-E-981-D75-A96413.png)
