Chapter 343 Twelfth player
?Currently, while the opening match was about to commence, every player from team Japan had come together to enjoy the opening match and also to analyze their opponents.
Despite the cheerful sounds echoing from the speakers, the room was heavy with a grim atmosphere, evident from their expressions.
And the reason behind their darkened expression was the group allocation.
Grouped with teams like Argentina, Senegal, and Poland in Group D, also called the group of death, how could they relax and enjoy?
Argentina, the recent senior world champion with an extremely skilled squad, Senegal, a powerhouse team from Africa whose senior team had won the recent AFCON, and Poland whose youths are wreaking havoc in the European leagues.
Every single one of those teams is extremely formidable.
In fact, considering their situation, right now, they should be preparing for their matches instead of concerning themselves with a completely irrelevant match.
Yet to ease up their morale, manager Haruki had allowed them to watch the opening match. But by the looks of it, it seemed like it wasn't much effective.
"Has it started?" Hiro asked as he entered the room accompanied by Shun who appeared rather unhappy and irritated at the moment.
Well considering how much he had waited for Hiro, his bitter mood was quite justifiable.
"Yeah 7 minutes have passed" While everybody remained silent, Yutaka answered in a rather dispirited tone.
Yutaka's response however only got on Shun's nerves as his already bitter mood turned even more bitter after hearing his response.
Darting his cold gaze towards Hiro, he gritted his teeth expressing his unhappiness.
But Hiro who was standing right next to him, completely ignored him as he trod forward towards Yutaka without even glancing a single look at Shun.
Right now, the person at fault seemed oblivious while the victim was upset.
And Shun who was aware of Hiro's personality knew that he wouldn't get anything from becoming irritated at him. He'd only do himself harm.
Thus, he let go of his anger and joined the group.
"They're playing better than expected, aren't they?" Surprised by the play the Indonesian player had shown so far, Shun mumbled.
Many of them before the start of the match had assumed that the Indonesian team would play defensively because they were the underdogs.
But not only were they not playing defensively, they had generated a fair amount of chances and they were challenging the opposing team.
Currently, 20 minutes had already passed and Indonesian players were holding their ground without any sort of difficulty.
In fact, most of the time until now, they were the ones on the offense.
"You shouldn't underestimate the home team. After all, currently, they're playing with twelve players on the field" Hiro answered.
Shun was perplexed by Hiro's answer and asked in a confused tone, "Twelve players?"
'Does he mean that they've bought the referee?'
Many of his teammates who were listening to his remarks couldn't help but attribute the remark about the twelfth player to the referee.
'But until now, he hasn't made any controversial decision? Or did I miss something?'
Such doubts surfaced in the hearts of many of his teammates who were listening to his conversation with Shun.
Well most of them weren't at fault for thinking such, after all in modern football scandals regarding referees are quite common.
And a term about the referee being the twelfth player is quite popular as well.
Before anyone could let their imagination run wild, Hiro's answer left them feeling ashamed. He explained that supporters are often referred to as the twelfth player on the field, and having such an advantage, Indonesia is performing even better today.
It's a shame that in today's world, football seems to be more about sensationalism and drama than the beautiful game itself. Instead of celebrating the players and their talents, many people seem to thrive on scandals and defamatory stories.
And even these young players who have yet to explore the beauty of this sport are defiled by the negative agendas floating on the internet.
If some players perform exceptionally well there'll always be those envious of him defaming him, attributing his success to shady means.
Truly it's such a shame that those who know nothing about balling are acting as if they know everything about the sport, spreading false news and defiling the beauty of the game.
Just as they were conversing, suddenly the intensity of the match intensified as the Indonesian players ferociously charged forward after a failed attempt from the opposing team.
As the Indonesian players moved the ball upfield, players from Ecuador quickly fell back. Failing to stop their momentum would surely lead to a disaster.
The crowd became extremely excited as a hushed silence fell upon the stadium while watching the play taking place on the field.
Getting close to the defensive third of the opposing team, the Indonesian winger lobbed the ball toward the box where their team's striker was making his run.
There was almost close to no defender of the opposing team present inside the box. If not for the sole defender of the opposing team, it would be like getting a free shot.
Still, the Indonesian striker was outnumbered since the opposing team had two players inside the box while he had no teammates for support.
At this moment, he was required to produce results by himself. After all, right now he was the center of attention of thousands of eyes filled with expectation.
And if he missed this golden opportunity, he'd for sure disappoint those expectant eyes. Not only that, he'd also incur the wrath of those expectant eyes.
The weight of pressure on him was quite heavy.
Yet even that pressure couldn't bring him to his knees as he slotted the ball inside the post with a beautiful header.
At once, as the ball sailed inside the post, a crescendo of cheers erupted from the stadium as the supporters of the home team were overcome with joy.
In the 22nd minute of the match, the home team took the lead with a stunning header from their team's striker.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om