Chapter 348 Japan u17 vs Poland u17 IV
?Sensing the threat, Shun slightly widened his steps as he tightened his muscles, and prepared himself to launch.
Jakub, while preparing to shoot, his leg muscles compressed like a coiled spring, building up the tension, gathering the firepower required to send the ball sailing toward the post.
The next moment as he struck the ball, the built-up tension on his leg got released on the ball which in turn sent the ball flying towards the post.
Bam!!
Cutting through the air, the ball sailed toward the post at an unbelievable speed, mesmerizing the eyes of many onlookers while at the same time sending chills to the supporters of the receiving side.
Unfazed by the incoming ball, Shun launched himself toward the ball. With his body stretched to its utmost limit, he bravely threw his body with only one thing on his mind— I'm going to save this ball no matter what.
As Shun went flying towards the ball, a silent hush fell on the stadium
Thud!!
A mixture of a collective sigh and excited roar tinged with a hint of relief echoed as Shun made a brilliant save, keeping the flow of the momentum from drifting away.
Disappointing the opposing fans, as Shun stood on his feet, he let out a loud passionate roar while beating his chest, "Yeah..."
Many of his teammates who were close to him, rushed toward him and joined him as they all tried to rile him up even more.
"That was a heck of a brilliant save from the Japanese keeper and you can see it in the eyes of the Japanese players, how much this save means to them. But I guess someone needs to remind them that they still have to prepare themselves for the corner" commented the commentator.
Exactly as mentioned by the referee, the threat hadn't been warded off, it had only been delayed for a while.
And right now, while the players of Japan were shouting at the field, expressing their excitement, players of the opposing team were rushing towards the penalty box, probably to catch the Japanese players unguarded by taking a quick corner.
"Everybody position yourself, it's not the time to celebrate" Akutsu yelled, sounding furious.
Only then did Shun and the others snap back to reality, realizing the threat that was headed their way. Immediately, they then began to scatter as they started to prepare themselves to face the corner kick that Patryk was going to deliver.
Compared to most Polish players, their side was like a group of middle school kids going up against high schoolers. And due to the height difference between most of the players, this situation was rather threatening for them.
As expected of the Polish players, before all of the Japanese players could even make it to the box, they took a quick corner.
With numerical and height advantage, the situation looked rather bleak for Team Japan.
But call it their cockiness or their confidence, whatever it be, instead of going for a cross, Patryk tried to score directly from the corner.
Maybe he had seen an opportunity because of the lack of coordination of the Japanese players or maybe he thought he could score a goal directly from the corner because of Shun's mispositioning.
The ball, as it sailed towards the post, Shun rushed towards the opposite pole where the ball was headed. Based on the trajectory of the ball, he could tell it was going for the top right corner.
Is he nuts?
Such thoughts ran amuck in the minds of many in the stadium as they glued their eyes on the ball with utmost anticipation and nervousness.
Still, most of them couldn't hide the excitement contained within their hearts as well.
After all, a goal directly from the corner rarely happens in football.
Throwing himself in the direction of the ball with his arms stretched, Shun made a desperate attempt to land a touch on the ball. However, even with his speed and flexibility, he still failed to land a touch on the ball as the ball simply glided past his hand.
At this moment, his pupils constricted with fear while he felt his heart sinking, in midair. He couldn't even follow the ball all the way.
"Ohhh...."
A collective cry full of disappointment echoed in the stadium as many people smacked their heads upon witnessing the ball missing the post barely by an inch and flying out of the field.
No sooner than he fell, Shun immediately turned his head towards the post to check on the goal. Thankfully, he didn't notice the ball inside the post which relieved him as he buried his face on the ground while exhaling a mouth full of turbid air, "Phew!!!"
Until a moment ago, his heart was racing. But now as he confirmed that he hadn't conceded a goal yet, his heartbeat started stabilizing.
Shun couldn't be more grateful while at the same time, Patryk couldn't be more frustrated.
Kicking the grass while bitterly clicking his tongue, he stormed towards his position.
His teammates, although seemed quite irritated remained silent as they all stormed towards their respective positions as well. It seemed that they had a lot to say in their mind but they simply couldn't bring themselves to voice their opinions.
The game then resumed with a goal-kick.
But their nightmares didn't come to an end. Instead, it got even more scary as the opposing players didn't give them any opportunity to catch their breath. Bombarding them with shots one after the other, the opposing team relentlessly pushed forward for a goal.
If not for Shun making saves one after the other by throwing his body on the field as if his body was made up of steel, they would have already conceded more than four goals even before halftime.
It's not that Hiro hadn't tried enough but the opposing players had thoroughly studied him and left him no space to operate.
More like they blocked all his pass-courses. They made it so that the ball wouldn't reach him in the first place.
Though, he did shake his mark quite often, none of his teammates could manage to connect the ball to him which made it extremely hard for him to demonstrate his skills.
Beep!!
Just like this, the first half came to an end with none of the sides managing to find the back of the net. Still one could hardly argue that the MVP of the first half was definitely, Shun.
"What an intense first half it was. Not only the Polish side are dominating the position, but they are giving no space for the star player of Japan to operate. If the coach of Japan doesn't come up with any strategy to counter, it's only a matter of time before their impregnable wall falls"
Read lat𝙚st chapters at fre(𝒆)webnovel.com Only