Chapter 352: A Dangerous Free Kick!
"I GET THIS!"
Even the cold wind bruising his face couldn’t stop the muscle from forming a smile on Kei Murakami’s face. He could feel it, could see everything clearly. The closest Hakodate Nishi’s center back had just been beaten by Jui Hata in the aerial duel, and the others weren’t truly ready to back that boy up.
Now, he was in a good position, not so directly in the middle of the penalty box to invite Higo’s presence on the back, but also not that close that any other Hakodate Nishi defenders could block him from this position.
’Is that why they are so fond of this tactic? Just three touches, and now I have already stood on the box, ready to score the goal. Damn, this is awesome!’ The grin on his face clearly showed his admiration for the approach that they used for the first time ever here, not expecting such a huge success to come this easily.
However, he got carried away here. He laughed for too long inside, not even noticing that someone had already pounced off the goal. The next thing he knew, before the boy could recoil his foot, he felt something hit his foot, and the next thing happened...
BRUGH!
"ARGH!" He lost his balance, tripping on the ground. "FOUL!" He cried in complaint. Unfortunately, the referee saw the whole process clearly, so let alone a penalty, Kei Murakami was lucky that he didn’t get a yellow for his diving trick.
"COUNTER! COUNTER!"
Higo got up immediately, exerting all of his strength on his shoulder before throwing the ball as strongly as he could. It moved so fast like a bullet, getting through the center circle in one go, where Kenji could receive it so easily. However, the boy also didn’t expect that before he could get in, someone flashed in front of him, snatching the ball straight away from his foot.
"SHIT!" Kenji cursed.
"I get this!" Taiga Nagai shouted, taking the ball before rushing with it to the front line. It was a scary scene to see such a giant player dribbling the ball forward at high speed. It was as if they all were looking for a bull charging at them, and their first instinct was to give way and not interfere.
As the team’s new defensive midfield, though, of course, Makino couldn’t let this get away. ’Such a tall player, his center of gravity should be easier to shake off, right?’ With that thought in mind, he put slight pressure on the boy’s hips, and in the next second...
Brugh!
FWEEE!
Silence followed for a moment as everyone tried to comprehend what was going on here. One minute since the second half began, and somehow, everything went so fast here. One moment, Kei Murakami was so close to scoring the goal, then Hakodate Nishi was so close to starting a dangerous counterattack, and then, the next thing everyone knew, the referee blew a whistle in Hannan University High’s favor in a good position.
They hadn’t even been able to blink before Makino’s complaint voice echoed throughout the pitch.
"No, Sensei! That’s just a normal charge! How could you give a foul like that?!" He even picked up the ball on the ground to show his innocence. Not that it could help him, of course, but that was the only thing the boy had in mind right now. "If such an easy contact results in a foul, the game wouldn’t be able to progress that far, you know?!"
The referee himself just twitched the corner of his lips speechlessly at Makino’s shameless defense here. "You know full well that it was not a normal contact. You pushed his back slightly, which would warrant a foul on any occasion. You are lucky that it didn’t happen in a more dangerous stage, or I would have handed you a yellow card immediately."
This was enough to shut Makino up, as the boy nodded stiffly before turning back to his team.
Meanwhile, all the Hannan University High players also helped Taiga Nagai get up from the ground immediately. One of them was Kei Murakami, as he just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Sorry, I missed the big chance that you created earlier..." He apologized.
"Don’t worry, Senpai. We know how abnormal their goalkeeper is." Matthew Edwards said reassuringly. "Just get ready to send the ball to the box, because this is going to be another big chance for us."
Some of the boys there nodded solemnly. They all knew that while the free-kick was still far from the goal, that didn’t prevent Kei Murakami from sending a long ball there. With their usual five-tall-players formation, there was no way this couldn’t get them anything.
"Come on! Get ready, everyone, I will send the ball there!"
"Heck, yeah!"
Soon enough, Hakodate Nishi’s penalty box was filled with so many players, blue-and-black jerseys mingling with the golden-orange ones. Of course, some clashes would be unavoidable in this position.
"Fuck! No need to push like that!"
"Hey, normal contact! Normal contact!"
"Fucking hell! Keep your elbow away from the play!"
The referee even had to interfere, warning both Kenji and Ritsu Onishi to keep everything clean. After making sure that the players there were ready, he finally blew the whistle, signalling the free-kick to run.
FWEEE!
With his right foot, Kei Murakami bent the ball into the box quite accurately. This time, to avoid Higo’s interference, the boy sent it close to the outside of the box. There, Jui Hata, Taiga Nagai, and Ritsu Onishi were battling for their lives to get a better position. Well, not that it was hard, since none of the Hakodate Nishi players were close to reaching their height.
BAM!
In the end, Jui Hata managed to get the ball there, heading it straight to the near post. From his height, Higo felt like he was watching a meteor falling straight to him. However, the boy was more than ready to anticipate the ball, knowing exactly where it would land.
"I get it!"
Thud!
He tipped the ball slightly with his finger, letting it deflect toward the flank. Normally, this was a good save that should be followed up with a clearance from anyone close to him. However, the one to do that seemed to miscalculate things here, as he didn’t expect Higo’s save to hit his knee at the most awkward moment, getting the ball to bounce back to their own goal.
