Chapter 289 Qualifier finals VI
While the deafening sounds of cheers kept on circulating within the stadium, Hiro who was lying on the ground slowly tried to lift his body with the help of his hands.
Looking back whilst still trying to get up, he found the ball inside the post.
Immediately his expression changed as his lips curled up into a smile. Just like a blooming flower, his whole face opened up as an intense feeling of joy assaulted him.
The opposing keeper however was making a devastated expression.
In similar fashion, the opposing players face had lost their lustre. Most of their eyes were frowning while some of their eyes were glowing with rage.
Clearly non of them were happy.
The scene in the substitution box of Japan was one that of extreme joy and celebration. With players and coaching staffs shouting and hugging each other, it was really a scene worth watching.
Immediately as soon as Hiro stood up, Yutaka and others threw themselves towards Hiro. Having no time to react, he could only shoulder their weight.
One after other, sweaty bodies of players collided as their celebratory chants reverberated all over the pitch.
With their eyes glistening with joy and their sweaty face a bit flustered, almost every single player of Japan let them lose as they celebrated their lead.
Within just 12th minute, Japan took the lead of the game. Thus everybody were extremely happy right now.
"That's the price for losing sight of Japan's young captain. You can never rest for even a second when there's this guy present on the field" Commentator was full of praise
Be it players of Japan or some people in the crowd, everybody be it knowingly or unknowingly had started relying on Hiro. When their team's on the losing end, they'll look at Hiro; expecting him to do something miraculous.
With him in the team, everybody could feel a sense of assurance. It was like having an insurance.
The celebration lasted for a while before players returned to their original position to kickstart the game once again.
And as Hiro returned to his position, he once again began to survey his surrounding.
With their eyes in distress, the aftershock of that goal was still lingering in the opposing team. While most of them had calmed down there were still few who seemingly looked dejected.
Specially their defender Kim Ji-hoon, he seemed the most disappointed. Probably he was still remembering about the moment when he had fallen down while chasing after Hiro.
That fall was quite embarrassing afterall. Not only he had failed to stop Hiro, his fall had even created an opportunity for Hiro to make that shot which imminently led to this goal.
One could say that that his failure to stop Hiro was one of the main reason behind them conceding this goal.
While surveying, Hiro could vividly feel the tension rising in the opposing team.
'The more you panic the more spaces will be created' Hiro mused inwardly, enjoying the evident tension rising in the opposing team.
Beep!!
The game then resumed again.
As the game started, the cheers of the spectators became even more louder. The sounds of drums once again filled the entire stadium while the fans continued to cheer for their team.
With only 12 minutes passed on the clock, the game was far from over. Thus although the opposing fans were disappointed about the previous goal, they hadn't fully lost their hope.
And right now they were fully supporting their players; encouraging them to bounce back.
As there's a saying fans are the twelve players of a team. With supportive fans, even an underdog team could perform more than their limit.
And right now those encouraging cheers was eliminating the distress within the hearts of Korean players while also raising their morale at the same time.
Despite earlier disappointment, right now opposing players were playing normally like how they played before the goal.
Their tactic was pretty much the same. Trying their utmost best to attract the opposing players towards them to create openings for them to exploit.
And Japanese players who had received a morale boost because of the previous goal was right now overflowing with energy. It was like they had gained another extra pair of legs.
At times they charged furiously while at times they slowed down their speed. It was like a game of cat and mouse.
The mouse being the ball while the cat being the players.
However the role of cat was ever changing. Sometimes Japanese players would turn into cat while at times Korean players would turn into cat.
For some while the game continued normally with both teams taking turns to attack each other. However neither of the team succeeded in scoring another goal.
South Korean players tried their utmost best to repay the disappointment. Specially Park Seung-gyu and Kim Il-sung, those two were like beast.
Those two had become extremely ferocious. Kim Il-sung was supplying crosses after crosses to his teams attacker while also retrieving the ball skillfully.
At the same time, every single one of Park Seung-gyu's shot were right on target. It was like he had gained an enlightenment.
If not for Shun and others, by now Hiro's team would have already conceded three goals.
However that didn't mean that Hiro and his team's attacker weren't doing their best. They weren't stepping back either.
If opponent team was shooting three shots at them, they were replying with four shots.
Now with the copied talent of Park Seung-gyu, Hiro's threat level had surged to a next level.
Afterall as long as he could enter the penalty box, he could spam that talent infinitely. There was just no stopping to Hiro.
Even so most of his shots were either getting saved by Lee Hae-won or deflected by Kim Ji-hoon.
It was neck and neck battle between the two teams.
Beep!!
All of a sudden in the 37th minute of the match, the referee sounded his whistle as he put an halt to the game.
At once commotion started to rise as players of both the team collided with each other. Immediately the once peaceful game took a chaotic turn as players began to argue with each other.
"What foul? How is that foul? I didn't even touch him" Ren one of the centre back of Japanese national u17 team started arguing with the referee.
Beside him a player was lying on the field while group of South Korean players and Japanese players had surrounded him.
His black eyes were filled with unsatisfaction while his voice was full of helplessness and rage. His plain looking face right now was full of disbelief and rage.
Earlier while trying to defend against Park Seung-gyu, Ren Tanaka had simply performed a simple tackle to steal the ball from Park Seung-gyu.
And he even managed to touch the ball. However at final moment Park Seung-gyu intentionally tripped on his legs and fell down; causing the referee to put an halt to game while also declaring a foul.
"So you can just kick someone and declare innocence? Is it so easy to fool the referee?" Park Ji-hye one of the attacking midfielder of opposing team, rebuked.
His sugar-coated words were filled with ridicule and flattery. And the way he said those words made it seem like each and every single one of his words were carefully selected to obtain a desirable outcome.
Clearly he was trying to manipulate the results by flattering the referee. At the same time he was also trying to agitate Ren Tanaka.
Hearing Park Ji-hye's words, Ren Tanaka who was trying to prove his innocence felt his eyes twitching as a gust of anger started to surface within his heart.
His eyes became extremely agitated while he clenched his fist. Sure enough he was about to do something totally idiotic.
However just when he was about to turn to Park Ji-hye, Hiro grabbed his arms and signalled him to calm down, "Shall we think with our head first?"
Mumbling such with a subtle smile on his face, Hiro advised Ren to quite down and subdue his anger.
Hiro's expression were telling something while his words were telling a different story.
And Ren Tanaka although a little block-headed clearly understood the meaning behind Hiro's words.
Thus despite his extreme urge to punch a hole in that face of Park Ji-hye, he wolfed his anger as he lossened his clenched fist.
After that Hiro stepped infront to appeal, "We agree with your decision ref. However the foul was unintentional and he's also sorry for his actions. So would you please consider giving only a warning?"
The referee who was about to take his cards out of his pocket earlier, calmed down as he heard Hiro's appeal.
Thus he let go of Ren Tanaka with only a warning.
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