Chapter 344 A time together with the team
The home team's joy however was short-lived as within the next six minutes after scoring their first goal of the match, the away side responded with a magnificent goal and silenced the raging fans burning with passion.
Instantly a hushed silence fell upon the entire stadium while the away side celebrated their goal, completely disregarding the feelings of the home fans.
While the fans of the home team continued to express their grief, the players of Japan began to present their side of the judgment for conceding this goal.
"They shouldn't have left him open"
"How could they fail to stop one player with three defenders?"
At this moment while most of the players were complaining about the mistakes of the Indonesian players, acting as if they were omniscient, Shun's words left them utterly speechless, "Then why don't you all try ganging up on Hiro"
Saying so, he swept his gaze across them. But every single one of them avoided his gaze. Sure enough, they were all bark and no bite.
'Why is he mentioning my name?' Hiro thought as he heard Shun's remarks, clearly unhappy with having his name mentioned.
"Hmph..., So much for acting as if they're better" Shun snorted, sneering at their omniscient attitude.
Right after conceding that equalizing goal, the players of the home team regained their composure as they pushed for a second goal that could give them the lead.
Supported by countless home fans, none of them dared to slack off as they all gave their very best to meet the expectations set by their fans.
For the rest of the time, they capitalized on almost every opportunity that came knocking on their door and attacked ferociously, not giving the opposing team a single moment to rest.
But even so, the opposing side persisted and resisted their flurry of attack.
Contrary to everybody's expectations, the Indonesian side was dominating the Ecuadorian side. More so, after that second goal, their whole team had become united and their performance had soared to the next level.
Still though, even after countless tries, the home team failed to score another goal. The same was true for the away team. They couldn't score any goals either.
And just like this, a thrilling first half came to an end.
No sooner had the whistle to announce the end of the first half had rung, than a collective gasp echoed in the room housing the players of Japan.
"Damn! It was such a thrilling first half"
"Right, especially after that goal from Obando, it was like the game had entered the next level"
The scene in the room was completely different than what it was before the start of the game. Filled with the opinions of players, the once grim and tense ambiance in the room was starting to liven up.
Seated at a certain distance away from the players, Manager Haruki revealed a satiated smirk as he felt extremely relieved by the change taking place in front of him.
From the moment, the players found out about the group allocation, the morale of the squad had been quite low which had been concerning.
But now, finally, when the morale of the squad was showing signs of recovery, he couldn't help but feel relieved.
For the past few months, the matter regarding the player's low morale had truly been worrying him. And thinking about the solution to improve this situation had been draining him out mentally.
'If not for the Indonesian players performing so well, they might still be sulking. But now that they have witnessed that even the team they thought of as an underdog could demonstrate such a brilliant performance, it will surely boost their confidence
Feeling grateful towards the Indonesian team, manager Haruki credited the change in the mood of his team's locker room to the Indonesian players.
Subconsciously at this moment, he had even started to pray for the home team's victory.
After a short break, as players from both teams began to walk out of the aisle, once again everybody's attention was drawn towards the screen.
"Guys, it's about to start"
Until a while ago, it was still noisy but now that the second half was about to commence, a hushed silence fell upon the room as everybody shifted their attention towards the screen.
Beep!!
As the whistle of the referee resounded, the clock started ticking again and the life returned in the stadium alongside the movement of the players and cheers of the fans.
Both the teams seemed equally ferocious as neither of the sides was willing to back down. Surely, something must have happened in the locker room.
Just by looking at the performance of the players on the field, one could figure out that something must have taken place in that short break.
Under the crescendo of cheers, both sides attacked each other and tried to take the lead. But even so, none of the sides managed to score that goal that could give them the lead.
Even until the 80th minute, the scoreboard remained the same with no changes; Indonesia U17-1 vs Ecuador U17-1.
With only ten minutes remaining on the clock for the end of the second half, both the team became extremely desperate for that second goal which would grant them precious 3 points and a head start in the tournament.
But at a moment like this, players are likely to make mistakes.
And that's what happened as well. One of the Ecuadorian players made a slight error as he let the opposing player steal the ball from him.
Witnessing this moment on the screen, many of Hiro's teammates became extremely excited as most of them subconsciously clutched their hands.
The closer the Indonesian player got to the post, the more their eyes grew anxious. As if his scoring that goal would mean something to them, they placed their hopes on him.
But Alas!! He blew it away.
Both their hopes and his team's victory at the same time.
Beep!!
The match came to an end as the opposing keeper saved the last-minute attempt of the Indonesian player.
At once, a disappointed sigh echoed in the room as players expressed their dissatisfaction.
"Ohhhhh!!!!"
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