263 Pride
As the match resumed with the goalkick of opposing team, Nijichi who was drenched in sweat sprinted towards the opposing defender to whom their keeper had played the ball.
At the same time, Hiro too sneakily dashed forward after scouting the area around him.
Seeing Hiro rushing forward, three of the opposing players who were marking Hiro, their heart skipped a beat as their facial expression turned pale.
Despite being heavily watched, Hiro had escaped their encirclement from their blind spot right when they changed their focus to the ball.
They had been gravely warned by their captain to stop Hiro if not atleast restrict his movements.
But now as those three witnessed Hiro rustling past them, they couldn't help but look at Hiro with eyes full of terror.
After this mistake, no matter the result, they were surely going to get reprimanded by both their coach and their captain.
With slight delay, they then immediately started to chase after Hiro.
Running with those tired legs, to them it felt like trying to run while under the presence of leg weights.
Each and every step felt so heavy, yet they gritted their teeth and persevered. Relentlessly chasing after Hiro, those three were determined to correct their mistake.
However the instant they were about to catch up to Hiro, Hiro swayed his body and changed his direction.
Running in straight path was already difficult for them but now as they tried to change their direction midway, two among those three players felt a sharp excruciating pain rising while changing their direction.
Immediately they halted their movement as both of them collapsed on the floor almost at the same time.
They were suffering from muscle cramps.
As those two collapsed on the floor, they let out agonising cry, "Arghhhh" while holding their legs.
Their loud cries, immediately caught the attention of the players, referee, commentator and spectator present in the stands.
Immediately the opposing player with the ball kicked the ball out of the pitch upon seeing his teammates lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Beep!!
"Ah!! Two players of Saudi Arabia have collapsed almost at the same time. And by the looks of it, it seems like both of them have cramped their legs. And because of their sudden collapse the referee has halted the game" commentator expressed his pity towards those two players who were letting out agonising cry in the field.
That third player who was chasing after Hiro, eased his muscles as he paused his movement. Immediately he squatted down and heaved a sigh of relief, "Phew!!!!"
Although he was aware of the situation of his teammates, he couldn't afford to care about them. Afterall his situation was no better than their's.
He was aware of his limits. And most importantly he was aware of his conditions. Even so, he knew that he couldn't afford to collapse like his teammates.
Their team had already used three of their substitution meaning they had only two more substitution left.
Now if he were to lie down and ask for help, situation of his team would become even more dire. Thus out of concern for his team, he endured his pain.
Quite a lot of people felt extremely sympathetic about the condition of those two players lying on the field.
"Poor boys, they had been tailing after Hiro for so long without any rest. Their coach should probably take them out now"
"They've done all they can do. However it's quite mysterious that despite running more than any other player in the field Hiro still looks more lively than the rest"
While most players were expressing their concerns, one of the spectator casually cracked a joke at this moment, "Perhaps he has drunk some kind of elixir which gives him unlimited stamina"
As he made such comments, a lot of head turned towards his direction, glaring coldly at him; shooting gaze full of disdain.
How could this person afford to joke at this moment? Doesn't he have any ounce of humanity in him?
At this moment, while most players were using this moment to rest their tired body, Hiro was racking his mind, 'I have already used Fireball Shot to it's maximum. However I still have one more use of lightning step and eagle eye. Although it has been a little hard to break through their defence, if I combine my skill eagle eye and lightning steps, may be I can create a chance'
As he thought of using both his skills to create an opportunity, his eyes flickered with a sharp light.
At this moment, those two injured players were carried out of the pitch on stretchers. Replacing those two injured players, two new players entered the pitch from Saudi's side.
Manager Haruki too took advantage of this opportunity and substituted two of his players.
Tired and worn out Honda was substituted for speedy Kaminari and consequently Yutaka was substituted for Kuma.
Denji Kaminari was about 172 cm tall with straight black hair and black eyes. His nose and mouth were a bit pointy, making it seem like a fox.
On the other hand Kuma was quite jacked. His face shape was a bit squarish while his eyes were quite small as compared to his face.
And unlike Yutaka, Kuma was a box to box midfielder. And Kaminari's main weapon was his speed.
Aside from his stamina and speed, both his crosses and finishing were pretty decent.
The game then resumed again with Japan's throw-in. Kaminari played it short as he threw the ball towards Nijichi who had positioned himself close to him.
Nijichi was immediately surrounded by opposing players.
Upon getting surrounded, he first tried to break through. However there were simply too many opposing players and all of them were simply unyielding.
Even so Nijichi tried his very best. Afterall he was the starter of team Japan and also an ace striker of his club. And moreover he was extremely prideful.
If Hiro can do it, why can't he?
Thus he tried to force his way through the barrage of players present infront of him who were all determined to stop him on his tracks.
Unlike Hiro, Nijichi's dribbling was rather practical instead of eye appealing. His dribbles relied on his speed and reflexes instead of some fancy footworks.
Nijichi with his simple yet effective dribbling managed to dribble past about three of the opposing players.
However because of that risk which he took, he now found himself cornered at the corner.
Surrounded by opposing players, he had no place left to run except forward.
However right when he thought that he had no choice, he noticed Hiro sprinting towards him.
Although he was getting chased by opposing players, Hiro was his only hope.
If he could somehow pass the ball to Hiro, he could break free from that encirclement.
However he started to hesitate because of his pride. Passing ball to Hiro at this moment meant he wasn't capable of breaking through the defense of the opposing team all by himself.
It was like announcing the world that he could only display his potential by relying on Hiro.
His hesitation was caught by the players of Saudi. And thus, they immediately charged towards him.
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