Chapter 305 Qualifier finals XXII
Upon witnessing Hiro's actions, Kim Il-sung's eyes constricted as panic took hold of him. The composure of his face changed as it lost it's lustre and became pale as paper.
He had tried every possible methods to bring Hiro down. He even went as far as to foul him. But what was the outcome?
He still managed to connect the ball.
Why was he so tenacious? Why couldn't he simply fall down? Just why??
Such thoughts appeared one after other in his head as Kim Il-sung cried out as he felt his heart bleed upon experiencing Hiro's tenacity.
Having done everything in his power, right now he couldn't do anything anymore; he was totally helpless.
Despite catching the glimpse of Kim Il-sung dragging Hiro down, the referee didn't put a halt to the game, instead he signalled for an advantage as he allowed the game to continue without any stop.
All of a sudden the already intense game became even more intense as a climax like scene unfolded in the pitch.
The audience who were already on their toes, their heart started pounding faster as they felt their blood boiling. Their eyes which was fixated at the ball showed different complicated emotions such as anxiousness, desperation, anticipation, fear and many more.
Thud!!
Hiro fell down hard on the ground. But he had already done what he could do. Now it was all upto his teammate.
However even so, he wasn't planning to sit back and rest. Thus no sooner than he collided against the ground, he tried to regain his composure as he stood up with great difficulty and once again was about to give a chase to the ball.
The ball flew straight towards the box where Nijichi and few other opposing players had positioned themselves.
Their keeper Lee Hae-won immediately made his decision upon seeing the incoming ball. He then left his position and rushed forward to defend the incoming ball.
Although the path of the ball seemed a bit erratic, however in reality it wasn't erratic at all. Infact even in that desperate moment, Hiro had meticulously struck the ball with great precision so that it could find it's way to Nijichi while avoiding the opposing players and even their keeper.
However that didn't mean that the ball would fall right infront of Nijichi. If he wanted that ball then he'd have to push himself like Hiro had pushed himself.
He'd have to jump a bit higher than his normal jump or he'd have to rack his mind to get the ball by himself.
As much as it was a plan, it was also a gamble. And oftentimes Hiro hated taking gamble. He wanted to be the one who could decide the outcome— he wanted to be in control of his actions.
But this time the situation had forced him to make this gamble.
Despite making timely decision, Lee Hae-won still needed some time to get to the ball. Thus to shorten the time he needed to get to the ball, after sprinting for a while, he leapt from the ground while extending his arms towards the ball, trying to punch the ball while making use of his momentum.
The ball was meant for him. And Nijichi was aware of the fact. However if he messed his timing, he was bound to meet with failure.
Thus without wasting any time, Nijichi too leapt from the ground as he jumped towards the ball.
Park Ji-hoon and another defender who was tailing him also leapt from the ground, trying to obstruct him and get to the ball before him.
Right now in that penalty box, four figures were hovering in the air, competing for the ball. Each and every single one of them, extremely desperate and tenacious. Simply no one was willing to let go.
Three with the intentions of clearing the ball while one with the intention of slotting the ball. Not only was this a physical battle, it was also a battle of wills.
Theoretically speaking the keeper should be the one to have an advantage when it came to aerial reach. But because of the distance, even that advantage of keeper was nullified.
One could say that it was anybody's ball at this moment.
The anxious eyes of few of the supporters perked up as their pupils started to enlarge and sparks of joy flashed in their eyes. At the same time, few thousand eyes lost their glow as their pupils started shrinking and their eyes darkened with horror.
In all those thousands of eyes, one image reflected right now — the image of Tominaga Nijichi beating all those three who were competing against him.
Beating all those three opposing players to reach to the ball, Nijichi headed the ball towards the post.
Lee Hae-won's eyes constricted as panic surged within his heart. Mid-air his face contorted as he became extremely frantic.
The worst possible outcome he could have imagined was unfolding right infront of his eyes and he could do nothing about it.
Before he could snap out of this nightmare, he collided against Nijichi.
Bam!!
Just as Nijichi fell on the ground, a loud deafening sound of cheers erupted and shook every nook and canny of this massive stadium which hosted more than 30 thousand spectators at once.
As those euphoric fans jumped and hugged each other out of joy, the stands of the stadium vibrated like a mini earthquake was striking the stadium.
However not all those fans looked joyous. There were quite a lot who were wailing and frustrated as well.
Still the sound of the cheers far outweighed the sound of wails.
"Gooooaaaaallllllll!!!!!"
"Goooaallll!! Goooaallll!! Gooooaaaaallllllll!!! A truly spectacular goal at a truly spectacular timing. They simply couldn't hope for a better outcome than this at this stage" The commentator's visage was full of excitement as his ecstatic voice rung in the stadium.
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