When the World Cup 91 cycle began and Larry Carricker reluctantly assumed the reins of the Solderan national football team, he was adamant that this would be his lone cycle as manager.
He was 58 years old when World Cup qualifying began. He felt managing a football team was a young person's game. The rigors of training sessions, lineup decisions, substitutions, and the like wore on him. The chance to be able to live a life more in his terms appealed to him. He recalled going into his son's room looking for homework typical of a third grader and instead seeing organic chemistry, particle physics and advanced composition textbooks and realizing how much of life he'd missed in the grind of football.
The decision to walk away was the right one. There was no amount of convincing anyone could have attempted that would get him to think otherwise. Being a sexagenarian manager of a football team was not something he wanted. He turned down multiple interview offers, even the ones that were a mere formality because various football associations wanted at least a show of another candidate. He was walking away and that was that.
On the surface, his final-ever match as manager of Soldera certainly didn't look the part of a match that might have convinced him to change his mind about retirement. Soldera were facing a 48th ranked HUElavia side with everything to play for. For starters, the Snakes controlled their own destiny. If they won the match against Los Armarillos, they would qualify for the knockout rounds of a major tournament for the first time since the Baptism of Fire one cycle earlier. For another, it would continue the ascension of Soldera from the depths of a country looking to establish its football program into one that could at least potentially contend for a berth in the proper.
However, when the final whistle sounded, HUElavia pulled off a comeback for the ages with striker Raul Nascimento Jardim netting both of his goals in the five-plus minutes of second half stoppage time, dealing Soldera a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat that sent the Snakes packing. Soldera drew first blood through captain Greg Irvine after he pinched up from his defensive midfielder position when he saw an opening in the HUElavian midfield. Los Armarillos goalkeeper Lucas Lettmann punched out a dangerous bid from striker Cayden Barkley, but the ball caromed to Irvine, who volleyed it without looking, or even thinking about where the ball was going. When he saw Los Armarillos supporters in the stands put their hands on their heads and Snakes fans jumping and cheering, he realized he'd just noted the goal to give Soldera an important-seeming 1-0 lead.
That warm feeling chilled quickly, however, as Irvine slipped and watched the veteran striker Ringo Honda easily run past and put a shot with pace on it that Snakes keeper George Rollings couldn't get to in time. In the 57th minute, the Snakes were level with HUElavia at 1-1 as visions of both teams sweating out the Group C table dancing in both teams' heads. Carricker would decide to make one substitution, sending the hulking striker Jordan Knox on for Marcus Peters in the hopes of getting some bulk and size on the front line. Lisa Allyson would take advantage of the height advantage by using Knox to screen Lettman and she fired a shot that seemingly gave Soldera all the momentum. They led it 2-1 with stoppage time looming.
Carricker felt he didn't need to make a substitution since Knox also made a critical defensive play in the 79th minute that thwarted a HUElavian attack. That decision would backfire in the second minute of stoppage as Nascimento drew the match level, drawing groans from the Solderan stands and visions of how to explain the two lost points in Carricker's mind. However, Nascimento wasn't done. His tally in the fifth minute of stoppage time, this one taking advantage of a devastated Irvine, helped snatch defeat and a potentially well-earned draw from the jaws of victory. It gave HUElavia the position as group runners up, not Soldera. It sent Los Armarillos through to the Round of 32. And it would end Carricker's career.
During the presser, Carricker would talk about lost opportunities, both to end the match in regulation and to keep HUElavia from stealing away all three points. He'd talk about the frustration of blowing a one-goal lead. He'd talk about losing points to teams ranked lower, even though the Snakes also had victories over more highly regarded sides. However, none of that played into his mind as he sat, staring at the floor in front of him in the coaches' locker room.
It's over, he thought. {i]It's really over[/i]. No more lineups. No more training sessions. He smiled for a moment. No more bullshit from Normie, as he knew little brother and national team technical director Norm Carricker was now fully responsible for the machinations of the national team. But Larry Carricker's smile faded away when he thought about the other things that would no longer be part of his life's journey.
The camaraderie with the assistants, both when he was one of them under Norm and when he was the one calling the shots. The rapport with the players. The feeling after signature victories like the 3-0 win in Branwyn over Drawkland. Like the 1-1 draw with Audioslavia that kept the Slaves in the chains of the Cup of Harmony. There were good things about walking away from an exhausting career in football, but there were also drawbacks.
What was worse than the sting of losing this match to HUElavia in THIS way? The finality of it all. The fact that after this loss, there would be no more matches to prepare for. Larry Carricker would go onto a life of relative ease as a colour commentator for Solderan Elite League matches. He would be able to do that gig a few times a week and still see his family. At least his family by blood.
HIs football family would be a different matter as some of his players would be scattered among the SEL teams and he'd only see a handful at any one time. He'd no longer be able to look at all of his "sons, daughters and children," so to speak at once. And that was worse than any loss for Lawrence Carricker.
. The fact that this picture keeps on getting referenced over and over is clearly a problem on the part of the creator who is way to proud of himself for what's really a relatively simple observation and operation. Like it's not that cool bro. 
