Chapter 216 Ultimate Showdown VI
Beeeeeeeep!!!
Just like that, the first half came to an end with the opposing team equalising the score at the nick of time in the first half.
Sulking their head, most players of Kawasaki slowly made their way towards the tunnel while frowning as they heard the sound of referee's whistle.
Their lips tightly shut and their eyes looking quite dull, nobody spoke a single word while walking towards the tunnel.
Sure enough it was evident from their reactions that it wasn't the outcome they were hoping for. And also since it happened just few seconds before the end of the first half, quite a lot of players were feeling regretful right now.
"Why couldn't I hold back for some more seconds?"
"Why did I lose my guard at the last moment?"
"If only I reacted fast, I could have prevented that goal"
Such were the questions players of Kawasaki were asking to themselves.
On the other hand, players of Sagan Tosu who were walking infront of them had completely different reaction. Since it hadn't been that long since they scored that equalising goal, happiness and joy from a moment ago could still be seen in the faces of Sagan Tosu's players.
Their eyes brimming with joy and their faces showcasing bright smiles, they were quite loud while making their way towards the tunnel.
"Nice goal Kosuke"
"We knew we could trust senior Ryotaro"
"If we continue this momentum, may be we can even win the match"
"We just have to keep marking their captain and this game is as good as ours"
Basking in the glory of the goal which they scored just a moment ago, they were totally drunk in their achievements.
They were drunk in that short moment of happiness to the point that they were acting like they had already won the game.
Completely ignoring the presence of players of Kawasaki, they were even blatantly slandering the players of Kawasaki right in their faces.
Even the loud noise coming from the stands were not able to completely mask their voices right now.
May be it was a tactic to provoke the players of Kawasaki or may be they really didn't care, who knows what their reason was. But one thing was certain, players of Sagan Tosu were quite satisfied about the outcome.
Well why wouldn't they be satisfied? Afterall against that dominating team of Kawasaki, they had managed to hold their ground and play on equal terms.
While even most of their fans were anticipating their defeats, they had managed to keep Kawasaki at the bay.
Even Tatsuki who was normally short-tempered was being tolerant and had kept his mouth shut right now despite hearing the taunts of the opposing players.
Right now he couldn't care less about the taunts of the opponents. He had a much larger issue on his hands.
Being the striker of his team, he hadn't managed to score even a single goal till now. And to make matter even worst, he had wasted more than 3 precious passes from Hiro.
Each and every single one of them near the penalty box.
Unlike Hiro, he wasn't even getting marked by three players. Neither was he denied of opportunities. Infact he had plenty of chances to score in the first half.
It's just that he failed to convert the chances he was presented with. While most of his shot were denied by either the opposing defenders or keeper, many of his shots lacked accuracy today.
However what Tatsuki hadn't realised yet was that his accuracy wasn't off but his accuracy was deliberately made off by the opposing players.
Deliberately forcing him to shoot, defenders of Sagan Tosu were actually manipulating him to shoot from bad angles which was causing his shot to go astray.
Just like that with a bitter mood, players of Kawasaki made their way towards the locker room without speaking a single word.
And as they got to their locker room, everybody threw themselves on their respective seats.
Some put towel atop their face to cover their faces while some went into a trance like state, almost everybody in locker room of Kawasaki looked quite dejected.
After few seconds of their arrival in the locker room, manager Makoto accompanied by few other coaching staffs appeared in the locker room as well.
Entering the room, manager Makoto swept his gaze across the entire room, checking the condition of his players.
As he observed his players, he felt a bit happy and proud of his players. The reason why he felt that way despite seeing the dejected state of his players was because despite drawing the game, his players weren't satisfied with merely drawing the game.
He could feel the strong desire of his players to win the game.
However it wasn't the time to act happy or proud right now. He had to alleviate the mood of his players.
Being the manager of the team, it was his responsibility to uplift the mood of his players. Even though he could feel their strong desire to win the game, he couldn't allow them to act dejected just because they had drawn the game until now.
Thus, he briskly cleared his throat as he spoke, "Why are you all acting like you've lost the match?"
His voice despite being a little hoarse was still loud and clear.
Hearing the voice of manager Makoto, players who had put towel on their faces dropped the towel as they turned their attention towards their manager.
Dressed in a completely black outfit which comprised of puffer jacket, wollen sweater and casual cotton pants, his neck was covered with Kawasaki's muffler.
While speaking or breathing, white mist was coming out from his mouth just like an angry beast blowing steam from it's mouth and nose.
Faced with manager Makoto's question, everybody remained silent until Hiro opened his mouth.
He had noticed manager Makoto before anybody else.
"Because we are not satisfied with the outcome. We wanted to continue to dominate the game"
His words sounding very energetic, everybody could feel the energy contained in his words.
While Hiro spoke those words, he wasn't speaking on impulse. Infact he stayed silent most of the time when somebody asked such questions.
However today he decided to act because he wanted to help manager Makoto to uplift the mood in the locker room.
Plus he was also the captain of the team. If not him, who else would dare to speak at such times?
"Yeah we are not satisfied with this outcome. We know that we were the dominant team" spoke Akihiro as he spilled the frustration within him.
"That's right, we should be winning. We hadn't prepared restlessly to just draw the game."
Soon other players joined in as well.
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