Chapter 266 Flames of determination
Hiro's words run amuck inside his head, making him forget about the joy of victory he was feeling a moment ago.
Lost in deep thoughts, he couldn't even bring himself to deny Hiro's words. Afterall the words spewed out of Hiro's mouth were all true facts and no matter how much he wanted to deny them, he couldn't.
Hiro's words were like quicksand, gradually dragging him inside.
Whirlpool of thoughts started to appear inside his head as he kept thinking, 'It totally makes sense. We've barely qualified for the worldcup. Our struggle only begins now'
Finally he realised how much of an ignorant he had been. He and his other teammates were blinded by their superficial victory.
Their hardship hadn't finished. Infact it had only started.
As realisation dawned upon him, he finally opened his mouth, "Then what will we do Hiro? Should we start preparing right away?"
His voice a little deeper than usual contained a glint of understanding. Shun genuinely wanted to tackle the aforementioned problem by Hiro.
Shun's genuine intentions touched Hiro. He felt like his words weren't wasted in vain. Thus Hiro slightly lifted the corner of his lips and eased his tensed brows.
Hiro then softened his tone a little while letting out a subtle chuckle, "Haha.. For now let them enjoy. They've all earned this victory. But we need to increase our effort after celebrating for a while"
Having such conversations, two of them then continued to converse for a long time while their teammates continued their celebration.
Totally unaware of the conversation taking place right under their nose, players of Japan u17 national team freely celebrated their victory by having a feast without any worries.
But one thing changed after that conversation- Shun's vision broadened.
The night quickly passed and as the first ray of the sun broke through the sky and illuminated the east horizon, dawn arrived.
At this time while most players of Japan remained asleep, a silhouette of a person could be seen moving in the field.
Huff!! Huff!!
His face a little sweaty, his cheeks a bit flushed and his breathing a little hurried, right now this person was running around a field.
His black hair was dangling as he moved along the field. Although his face looked a bit tired, his eyes were glowing with determination.
All of a sudden, as a light flashed past his eyes, he increased his pace.
Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!
Panting heavily, he halted his movement all of a sudden. He then slightly crooked his back as he placed both his hands atop his knees inturn resting his upper body.
At this moment, a voice echoed, "Quite fancy seeing you here so early in the morning"
The voice a bit cheerful contained a hint of sarcasm.
He wanted to answer yet he couldn't because of his breathing. He couldn't stop gasping for breath. His heart was pounding, he could even hear his heartbeat.
For a while, he continued gasping. Finally as his breathing stabilised a little, he spoke with great difficulty, "I... I never... Huff!! realised that... Huff!! my stamina was so bad Huff!!"
As soon as he finished answering, followed by a cheerful voice, a burst of laughter echoed around him, "Hahaha.... That's why I kept on telling you to increase your stamina. Although you don't require to run much, stamina still comes in handy even for you"
He then slowly lifted his upper body and straightened his back. And as he looked infront of him, a figure of a person reflected in his black pupils.
Black hair, brown eyes and sharp nose, his face looked really attractive similar to that of a magazine model.
"Just how do you manage to run everyday Hiro?" He spoke while locking eyes with Hiro.
Although his breathing had stabilised to a great extent, a mixture of emotions such as surprise and reverence could be seen on his face.
Faced with his question, Hiro rolled his eyes away from him before rolling them back to him again, "You too know it Shun"
Saying such, Hiro finished his ambiguous answer with a smile.
Shun who was still gasping for breath found it hard to comprehend. Thus he displayed a perplexed expression.
'How would I know?' He thought while looking at Hiro with a question above his head.
As Hiro lowered his body to put on his cleats, he mumbled casually, "Practice Shun. The more you practice the better you become"
It wasn't a mystery to the people present around Hiro that Hiro took practices very seriously.
Most of the time he'd arrive early before everybody and leave late. And even when there wasn't any practice session organised by the team, he'd practice by himself.
He was like a training maniac who loved torturing his body. And most people in his club had already started calling him by that nickname behind his back.
Like who'd even want to torture their body when they're not required to?
There's a saying that goes by, "Hardwork beats talent". But what if talented people work hard too?
Then will it be possible for any normal people to catch up to them? The answer to that question is yes.
Although some people are born innately talented. As long as one keep up his dedication and doesn't sway away from his path whilst still working hard, even a normal person with average talent can outperform a talented person.
Talent will find it's way to you as long as you remain disciplined and work hard.
Even in football, most of the time talented players only stay at limelight for a while, while hardworking players remain at the limelight for the long run.
There are countless people who strive to become professional. Wouldn't there be many talented players among them?
But not many of those talent can overcome the temptation of procrastination and greed. And only those who remain consistent till the end find themselves in the spotlight.
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