Chapter 28: The match begins
After training relentlessly for the match against Karasuno elementary school, it was finally the day of the face off.
Even though it was a weekday, a lot of spectators showed up for the match between Karasuno elementary school and Ookami elementary school. The atmosphere around the stadium was extremely vibrant.
Most of the spectators were seen with their mobile phones and camera's in the stands. Newtubers were broadcasting the match in their channel while reporters were covering the match as well.
{Welcome to the round of 16 of the prefectural tournament. Today we have an interesting match between Ookami elementary school and Karasuno elementary school.}
{And estimating by the number of the people in the stands, it seems that a lot of people have shown up for the match between Karasuno elementary school and Ookami elementary school.}
The commentator announced.
"Okay boys for past few days we've been practicing really hard for this day. And it's finally the day of the face off."
"Unlike the previous times, today I won't tell you anything. You all have practiced really hard and I know that you'll give your everything today. So go out there and show them what you've got."
Coach Miura tried to raise the morale of the squad before sending them to the pitch.
{The players from both sides are making their way towards the pitch. So let's welcome them with loud cheers and applause.}
Woohoo!!
"K.a.r.a.s.u.n.o!!!"
"O.o.k.a.m.i!!"
The supporters from both sides began to chant the name of their respective teams. The supporters from both side showed no signs of slowing down as the cheers from both side only got more intense as time progressed. Non of the sides were showing signs of backing down.
The sky was crystal clear with no signs of rain clouds in the sky. The sun was shining brightly from early in the morning that day. And the day was extremely hot.
Under the scorching sun, as the players from both side made their way towards the pitch, the crowds burst out in cheers.
"Woah!! Are we in a world cup match?"
Kuro exclaimed in awe upon witnessing the large number of people in the stands.
The venue where the match between Karasuno elementary school and Ookami elementary school was taking place supported about 1500 spectators at a time. And today the stadium was almost houseful.
After making their way towards the pitch, both of the teams exchanged a friendly handshake. And the referee called out for the captain's of both of the teams for the toss.
From Ookami elementary school Endo stepped forward while from Karasuno elementary school Shoyo stepped forward.
"Heads or tails?"
The referee inquired.
"You can pick first."
Shoyo wanted Endo to pick first.
Endo reluctantly agreed to his proposal and thanked him for letting him pick first.
"Tails"
Endo exclaimed.
"Hahaha....., Are we having Pokémon battle right now?"
One of the young spectator from the stand started to make fun of Endo and Shoyo for their short height.
Endo and Shoyo both of them had a very short height as compared to other players in the field.
The referee then tossed the coin in the air. And as the coin landed on the ground, the outcome of the toss became known.
The coin landed on heads and Endo lost the toss. Shoyo decided to pick the side they wanted to play and Ookami elementary school was forced to start the kickoff.
Beep!!
{The match between Karasuno elementary school and Ookami elementary school has officially begun with the whistle of the referee.}
{Previously Ookami elementary school played in a 4-4-2 diamond formation but today they are changing their tactics and going for a 4-3-3 formation with Sato and Kuro as their winger and the starman Hiro as their centre forward.}
{However there's no change in the formation of Karasuno elementary school as they are playing in the same 4-3-2-1 formation as they did previously with Shoyo acting as their sole forward.}
The game kicked off with Hiro's pass to Sato. And as soon as he got the ball, Sato began to press forward. Shoyo quickly caught up to him making use of his explosive pace.
As Shoyo got closer to him, Sato quickly passed the ball backwards. However Shoyo didn't stop and continued to press towards the ball.
The defenders of Ookami elementary school continued to pass the ball between themselves and kept their positions.
Upon seeing the players of Ookami elementary school passing the ball in their own half, the offensive players of Karasuno elementary school stepped forward and began to press for the ball.
Karasuno elementary school were playing hyper pressing game from the start of the match. While Ookami elementary school were casually passing the ball between themselves.
Due to their hyper pressing strategy, the players of Karasuno elementary school were rapidly draining their stamina. However by doing so, they were constantly creating pressure on the players of Ookami elementary school.
Their strategy consisted both the advantage and disadvantage.
Due to the hyper pressing strategy of Karasuno elementary school, the players of Ookami elementary school started to make mistakes as they started to miss pass the ball.
The mistakes only intensified as time progressed. At 17th minute of the game due to the mistake of Kosei Otsuka, the defensive midfielder of Ookami elementary school, Shoyo caught a lose ball in the center half of the pitch.
As soon as he got the ball in his feet, he began to dribble the ball forward while making use of his lightning pace. It didn't take him more than few touches to showcase his skills.
While the defenders of Ookami elementary school blocked his shoot course. He surprised everybody in the stadium with his shot from outside the box.
He performed a powerful shot from outside the box targeting the top right corner of the Ookami elementary school's goalpost.
Nobody expected him to make that kind of shot. And if it weren't for Endo then they might have conceded a goal from that shot of Shoyo.
Due to his short stature, Endo ran a few steps first and then lunged towards the ball. Instead of lunging sideways, he changed his angle a little bit infront and jumped at about 160 degree.
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