Chapter 291 Qualifier finals VIII
"Don't you think it's unfa...." Yutaka who was about to complain instantly became tongue-tied as he turned towards Hiro, noticing the maniacal smile on Hiro's face.
Immediately his furrowing brows knotted into frown while his hoarse voice lost it's texture. And his expression turned grim as he felt a shiver running down his spine.
Completely engrossed in his own thoughts, Hiro didn't even notice the fear stricken face of Yutaka. It was like right now, he was in totally different world.
And Yutaka who was terrified by Hiro's current appearance didn't even dare to speak a single word either. With a fear stricken face, he stood there paralysed at his place.
Unable to move his eyes away from Hiro, Yutaka stood there fixedly staring at Hiro with countless questions rising within his heart, 'What's wrong with Hiro? Why is he smiling so creepily at this moment?'
However the moment Hiro turned towards him and Yutaka met eyes with Hiro, he subconsciously retracted few steps as he desperately tried to roll his eyes away from Hiro.
But it was too late. Hiro had already seen him and noticed his frantic state. And the way he tried to look away made him seem even more suspicious. Just based on the clues present infront of his eyes, Hiro could tell that something was wrong with Yutaka without even needing Yutaka to speak.
However he wasn't aware that he was the culprit behind Yutaka's frantic state.
"Are you not feeling well?" Hiro asked with a confused look on his face.
Yutaka nervously shook his head before denying Hiro while stammering, "No.. no.. nothing's wrong with me."
Although Yutaka denied his claims, Hiro still couldn't help himself from inquiring Yutaka. Thus just for confirmation, Hiro insisted in a concerning tone while making a pitiful expression, "You sure??"
Whilst still trying to avoid looking Hiro in the eyes, he let out a nervous laughter as he answered, "Hah... Hah.. ha.. Yes yes.. I'm completely fine"
Hiro was very well aware that something was wrong with Yutaka. But seeing Yutaka's unwillingness to answer truthfully, Hiro didn't pursue the matter anymore either. Thus he decided to change the topic.
"If we want to win this match then we'd really need to change our tactic" his tone became somewhat deep as his expression turned solemn.
And although Yutaka was trying to avoid looking Hiro in the eye, he could still feel the change in Hiro's tone. Thus because of that change in Hiro's tone, he could no longer avoid looking at Hiro.
He then immediately turned towards Hiro. However the moment he turned towards Hiro, he found Hiro with a completely different expression.
Shrouded by a layer of cold aura, he was determinedly staring at Park Seung-gyu who was currently celebrating his goal.
Just by looking at him, he could tell that Hiro was dead serious about winning. Hiro was really acting unusual today.
While the celebration continued, Hiro gathered his teammates and began to share his tactics which he had thought of after taking every variables into account.
"I know it's sudden but we need to reform our tactics." Hiro spoke while sweeping his eyes all over his teammates who were gathered around him.
Just by listening to the tone of Hiro's voice, most of them could feel the severity behind those words.
After some moments of celebration, planning and grieving, the game which was now back to level where it had started, continued as players of both the team took their stance.
Beep!!
Just as referee blew his whistle, Nijichi kicked the ball back towards Hiro and initiated the kickoff.
At once most players of both the team started to scatter around the field. And as usual Park Seung-gyu who was the opposing team's sole striker, charged forward; pursuing the ball.
Making use of Yutaka's talents, Hiro easily got past the reach of Park Seung-gyu and their attacking midfielder Park Ji-hye.
Even Takeshi Ono who was playing as defensive midfielder moved upfield to support Hiro and Yutaka.
Maintaining a triangular formation, those three marched forward, tearing the formation of the opposing team.
However unlike Hiro and Yutaka, Takeshi was rather slow. He simply couldn't keep up with the pace of those two. Hence after moving forward a little bit, he didn't continue to march forward into the defensive line of the opposing team.
Although those three managed to get past the reach of their attackers and midfielders, they still couldn't manage to find an opportunity to get past the defensive line of the opposing team.
It was like an invisible wall was erected at the penalty box of the opposing team, preventing them from marching forward.
Just like them, the opposing team had also bolstered their tactics by making some changes in their tactics.
By sacrificing their dominance in midfield, they had created an almost impenetrable defence around their defensive third.
Kim Il-sung who was playing as defensive midfielder had moved even more deeper into the field. It was like he was a centre back instead of a defensive midfielder.
However just because he had moved deeper didn't mean that he had given up on his responsibility as defensive midfielder either.
He simply had changed his role to a libero similar to that of Kim Ji-hoon.
With two libero's in their team they had formed a four corner shape in their defensive and middle third.
The only draw back to this strategy was that they could no longer play attacking football like before.
If Kim Il-sung were to remain at his original position, they'd still have been able to execute the attacking gameplays more fluently.
However with Kim Il-sung moving down the field, they had improvise their gameplay. They were right now playing a hybrid gameplay of counter attacking and attacking gameplay.
Still Japanese players had the upper hand. With their extremely offensive tactics, although they were blocked at the defensive third of the opposing team most of the time, they were still retaining the position of the ball.
Infact they were completely dominating the position after that goal from Park Seung-gyu.
But as long as they can't produce results, does position even matters?
It's not like that position will win you the game. To win the game they'd need to score.
And that was the aspect they were lacking the most right now.
On the other hand, although the opposing team was getting less chances as compared to them, they were still making full use of their chances. Infact right now they were even more clinical than the Japanese team.
The morale of the team which had started to lower after that goal from Park Seung-gyu was already on the verge of hitting rock bottom too because of the inability to produce results.
The setbacks were causing the players morale to worsen. And players of Japan were right now starting to show signs of anxiousness too.
This was the mistake of strategising openly infront of the enemies. Earlier they had held an open tactical discussion.
So obviously the opposing team after witnessing their gathering would do the same as well.
With both team failing to score, the first half was about to end in draw. Even the referee had already added 2 minutes as extra time.
And even that extra minute was running dry. However right now the ball was with Japan and Yutaka was hogging the ball at a threatening spot.
Moving the ball at the attacking third, Yutaka was trying to break through the defensive line of the opposing team from the flanks.
At the same time, attackers of Japan were rushing towards the penalty box of the opposing team, expecting a cross from Yutaka.
Hiro was getting marked by both Park Ji-hye and Kim Il-sung at the same time while Nijichi was getting marked by Kim Ji-hoon.
With a player rushing towards Yutaka, it was unlikely that he'd be able to supply an accurate cross that could lead to a goal.
However right at this moment, Hiro made use of his skill Eagle Eye and spotted a gap in the defensive third.
The angle was quite tight but if he could shake his mark and use his skill Lightning Steps, something miraculous could be created.
It was a gamble. If he failed to shake off his mark, his whole plan would crumble. At worst they'd lose this opportunity and the first half of the game would end up in a draw.
Despite knowing the risk, Hiro decided to take the gamble. Making slight changes in his plan, Hiro first activated the skill Lightning Steps to lead the two players who were marking him away from the post.
Thus instead of moving towards Yutaka, he did the opposite by moving away from Yutaka towards the opposite flank.
Both Kim Il-sung and Park Ji-hye sensed danger as they saw Hiro moving all of a sudden. Thus both of them left their position and charged towards Hiro.
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