Chapter 193 Deadly duo
Kein's messy black hair was dancing with the rustling evening breeze while he was looking at the direction where Hiro and his teammates were gathered.
There was a subtle smile on his face while he was musing at the scene taking place at a certain distance away from him.
"Didn't I tell you, he's special. With him in the team, even we'll find it difficult to win the game."
A voice echoed from behind him while he was musing at the sight he was looking currently.
"Yeah" murmuring such, he then nodded his head, "There's indeed something different about him Tatsuki."
Just by hearing the tone of the voice, Kein could instinctively tell that that voice belonged to Tatsuki without even looking back.
"We'll have to heavily guard him if we don't want to embarrass ourselves." Mumbled Tatsuki while looking at the direction of Hiro. And while he spoke those words, there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
Finally as the alloted 10 minutes ended, once again Kazan lifted the speaker and made the announcement, "Time's up. Now then shall we get into the position."
Upon hearing Kazan's announcement, players of both the team got into their respective positions as they prepared to initiate the match.
"Just like any normal match, the duration of the match will be 90 minutes. Any team who scores the most in those 90 minutes will be declared winner. May the best team win."
As Kazan said those words, the appointed referee of the match looked at his watch and blew the whistle.
Beep!!!
The game started in full swing with team 1's kickoff.
Opting for position play, Hiro's team were playing in a 4-1-2-3 formation with two attacking midfielders to maximise the output of every player present in the field.
Although Hiro wanted to play Yutaka in the wing position, he felt like he should let him play in his original position.
Making use of every single player present in the field, Hiro had carefully devised that formation while also taking the emotions of the players into consideration.
Afterall nobody would want to play in a position which they are not accustomed to play.
Playing short passes, Hiro's team tried to go on the offense right from the start.
And somehow playing with two attacking midfielders made it a lot easier for them to move the ball forward.
With both attacking midfielders being exceptional passers, everything went quite smoothly.
Even Hiro who wasn't familiar with Yutaka, found it quite easy to play alongside him. The two of them clicked instantly as soon as the match started.
"They're coordinating a lot better than my expectations." Kein mused.
At the 11th minute of the match, using his skill "Lightning Steps", Hiro broke through the midfield of the opposing team.
But even so, as if the opposing team was well prepared, their defence immediately blocked his route towards the goal.
Having his route blocked, Hiro had to forcefully stop his movement.
"Watch out for his dribbles and sprint." Shouted Naoto from the behind.
Their eyes completely focused at him, those two defenders who were blocking his path looked as sturdy as mountain.
And by no means did those two showed any weaknesses. Completely covering the spaces behind them by positioning them in better spot, they were in complete sync.
Even Hiro who was exceptionally good at finding gaps found it quite difficult to locate a gap to pass those two defenders infront.
Even so there wasn't even a hint of anxiousness in his face. His face as calm as ocean, he was vigorously rolling his eyes to look for an open space.
Instead of trying to break free through their clutches by using some fancy dribbles or lightning fast motions, Hiro casually walked towards the two defenders who were blocking his route to the goal.
As if Hiro was intentionally taunting both of those two defenders by gesturing "come and snatch the ball away from me", he was walking in their zone, carefree.
It wasn't Hiro's first time using such methods to get past players who looked immovable. Infact even back then he had used this method to get past some tricky defenders.
"Don't fall for his tricks." Shouted Tatsuki who was rushing back.
But it was too late, by the time his words reached the ears of those two defenders, both those defenders left their position and rushed towards Hiro.
Their veins bulging and their eyes bloodshot, clearly Hiro's taunt had worked on them.
As there's a saying, "The moment you get inside your opponents head is the moment you've gained an upper hand on them."
Similar to that saying, a while ago when those two defenders infront of him were calm, he found it very difficult to break through them.
But the moment they hastily left their position to rush towards him, Hiro located the space left behind by them because of their hastiness.
Performing few side steps, Hiro tried to trick those two defenders. However they still remained unfazed.
And as instructed by Tatsuki earlier before the start of the match, they tried to overpower Hiro using their physicality. Afterall it was the one of few aspect which Hiro was lacking as compared to the players of U-23 team.
Despite building muscles, Hiro's sturdiness was lacking compared to the older players.
Even so Hiro held his ground and continued to perform sidesteps.
Suddenly while performing sidesteps, just as Hiro rolled his right foot over the ball, he touched the ball with his heel while he tried to step-over the ball with his left foot.
Both those two defenders who were trying to snatch the ball away from Hiro were caught off-guard by Hiro's play.
And as Hiro hit the ball with his heel, it rolled behind him where Yutaka was rushing.
Yutaka inturn with minimum force chipped the ball above the heads of the two defenders infront.
And as those two defenders turned behind to chase after the ball, they found Hiro infront of their eyes.
Hitting the ball before it touched the ground, Hiro shot a powerful volley towards the goalpost.
Naoto tried his best to stop the incoming shot by stretching his body to his utmost limit.
Even so the ball avoided his reach as it found it's way to the back of the net.
"Goaaaaallllllll!!!"
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