Chapter 74 Academy players
After declaring the equalising goal offside, the referee signalled every player to assume their positions, so that he could continue the match.
Before the continuation of the match, manager Nozomi decided to make some changes in his team. Ryuma who had robbed him of his goal and also costed his team an important goal, got substituted by manager Nozomi.
Upon getting substituted by manager Nozomi, Ryuma left the pitch with a bitter face. He wasn't happy about that substitution.
Even so, he didn't throw any tantrums. He simply walked outside the field without uttering a single word.
And thus after a player change from the reserve team, the game continued with a freekick from the opposition.
Upon getting awarded with a freekick because of the earlier offside, Shun played a short ball towards Takekazu.
With noone to defend against him, Takekazu began to move the ball forward. Kota who was supposed to be the replacement of Ryuma should've been the one to stop Takekazu from moving the ball forward.
But instead he had fallen back towards the position of Hiro.
Thus, instead of continuing to play with the same 4-2-1-3 formation, their formation had drastically changed into 4-2-2-2 formation because of the addition of Kota Yui.
Also because of the lack of a number 9 in their team, having noone to defend against, Takekazu who was supposed to be playing as a central defender moved towards the midfield position and started to play as a ball playing defensive midfielder, instead.
Despite moving forward towards the defensive midfield position, Takekazu continued to drop back towards his original position to fulfill his responsibility as a central defender whenever the opposition went offensive.
For the rest of the game, he continued to switch between defender and midfielder.
Because of the intrusion of Kota Yui, Hiro was forced to move forward to cover the vacant position of the striker. And thus he started to play as a number 9 instead for the rest of the match.
Even so because of Kota Yui's unwillingness to pass the ball towards him, he didn't get enough chances to score.
And thus, they ended up losing the game with the final score of 3:2 because of Kota Yui's selfishness and rash actions.
**** ****
Just as the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the game, Hiro who was running towards Kota Yui in hopes of getting a pass stopped his movement.
Out of exhaustion, most of the players in the field threw themselves on the ground and collapsed on the field.
Hiro too was somewhat tired from running all over the field. For the entirety of the match, he had made himself available for the pass by shaking off his mark.
But because of his teammates unwillingness to pass the ball, he didn't get much opportunity to score, despite covering the most distance in that match.
After losing a match on his first day at the club, he casted a glance at the field infront with somewhat tired expression.
With bodies of exhausted players lying atop the grassy green field, the pitch which was filled with the screams and yells of the players a moment ago was filled with the panting noises of the exhausted players instead.
While moving his eyes around the field, his eyes stopped at the picturesque scene of the molten sky filled with hues of orange, red and purple.
The sky was a canvas and the sun was the master painter wielding a brush of light.
Basking under the warm rays of the evening sun, he kept on staring at the dreamy scenery unfolding infront of his eyes. Lost in the soothing scenery, he totally forgot about the defeat he suffered a moment ago.
Just then while he was staring blankly at the sun setting in the horizon, Yuya walked towards him.
However he couldn't even feel his presence, until he heard his voice.
"If not for Ryuma and Kota, we would have won the match." Yuya's voice cracked a little as he vented his frustration.
Hearing his voice, he turned his head towards him. Noticing his red eyes and puffy face, he could tell that he was very sad about the loss they incurred a moment ago.
'May be he's scared. Since this match was the deciding factor to select the players for the next match, he's probably fearing that he won't get picked because of this match. But he has performed well. So if coach has noticed his performance, he wouldn't leave him on the bench for the next match.' He thought while staring at the worried face of Yuya.
"Don't take it to your heart Yuya. You've played really well today. You've played better than most of the players in the field today. So I'm sure you're gonna get picked for Sunday's friendly match." Hiro mumbled in a soft tone while trying to console him.
"It's not about me Hiro. We only lost today because of this so called academy players. Just because they've been playing for the club since childhood, they act as if they're the only talented players in the club." Yuya intoned sounding somewhat irritated.
"Academy players?" Hiro questioned with somewhat puzzled expression.
"Yeah!! They are the players who are training with the club since their childhood. And most of the players in this team are academy players. They've been playing for the club since they were 5 or 6. And they are always fearful of the outsi-"
"So you're not one of the academy players?" Hiro interrupted Yuya before he could finish his sentence.
"Yeah I passed the trial the previous year. And it has only been a little more than a year since I joined the club. At first they treated me the same as you as well. But since I couldn't make it to the starting team, they realised that I couldn't jeopardize their spot at the team. And only after that confirmation, they approached me." Yuya intoned.
"I see. So are there any other players here who are not academy players?" While trying to process the information shared by Yuya, Hiro paused for a while. He then again questioned him after a moment of pause.
"Shunta and I were the only ones who passed the previous trial. And I heard that in the trial before us only Shun managed to pass the trial. So I guess including you, we are the only players who joined the club from outside selection." Yuya exclaimed.
"I see. No wonder I never saw any of these players on the nationals." Hiro intoned while striking his chin.
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