After finishing his introduction, manager Makoto dismissed the players by commanding them to warm up and lossen up their body.
And as everybody started to scatter around, Tatsuki Seko, the fair-skinned skinny guy with a shredded muscular body approached Hiro.
“I could tell that you’ve got a rather robust muscular body.” With an amused expression on his face, Tatsuki commented while looking at him, up and down.
“Huh!!” Hiro was left dumbfounded by his sudden comments. .
He wasn’t expecting to hear such words instead of an introduction or greeting.
Since Hiro’s half sleeve jersey and short shocks could hardly conceal his bisceps and hamstring muscles, Sato who himself was somewhat like a gym freek couldn’t help but notice his physique.
“Ah!! Sorry about saying such all of a sudden without introducing myself first. I just couldn’t control myself after seeing such an extraordinary physique.” Apologised Tatsuki for his sudden random comments. “By the way I’m Tatsuki Seko. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Takahashi Hiro. Nice to meet you senior Tatsuki.” Hiro replied while bowing his head to show some respect to Tatsuki.
And while they were chatting, another player name Naoto Miyashiro, also the captain of the U-18 team joined them.
“He’s just obsessed with gym. So don’t mind him. By the way I’m Naoto Miyashiro, goalkeeper of the team.” Spoke Naoto while introducing himself.
Quickly turning his body towards Naoto, he then bowed his head and greeted Naoto, “Nice to meet you senior Naoto.”
While those two welcomed him with open arms, the same couldn’t be said about the rest of the players. Maintaining their distance while occasionally stealing a peek of Hiro, they were somewhat sceptical about his promotion from U-15 team at that age.
“Don’t mind them. They’ll open up to you eventually. They’re probably worried about your age and talent.” Spoke Naoto while reassuring him about the attitude of the rest of the players towards him.
However not every single one of those faces had a concerned expression. Some had a rather mocking expression while some simply didn’t give a shit about him.
“Right!! I’m curious about your ability as well. Aren’t you like too young to play in U-18 team? Can you even hold your ground against other guy’s who are like 4 or 5 years older than you?” Questioned Tatsuki out of sheer curiosity.
While conversing with each other, they were performing light warm ups exercises.
Just as they were conversing with each other, they heard the voice of manager Makoto.
“Everybody gather up.” Manager Makoto yelled.
Turning their attention towards Makoto, they then hurried towards the manager.
After everybody gathered around the manager, Makoto began to explain them about the training drills.
That day’s training was especially focused on shooting, finishing and passing.
And as he finished explaining about the training drills, he commenced the beginning of the morning training.
**** ****
For the first training drill, the coach made them perform receive and shoot training drill individually.
Placing 8 cones infront of the penalty arc, the players were required to make their run from half-line towards the cone and perform some high knees as fast as they could at the cone section.
And after passing through the cones, coach Kensuke supplied them with a cross from the flanks. And they were required to trap and shoot the ball towards the post. They could also simply perform one shot volley.
However the post wasn’t left open as there were few mannequins placed randomly infront of the post which were acting as the defender and also an obstacle between them and the goal. And the shooter was also required to score a goal against the first choice goalkeeper of U-18 team who was guarding the goalpost, which further increased the difficulty of the drill.
After almost every player finished their set of the drill, Hiro stepped forward for his turn. He was the last one to challenge the drill. Until his turn, the sole player who performed exceptionally well in that drill was Tatsuki Seko.
“Let’s see what you can do.” Mumbled Tatsuki Seko to himself under his breath while looking at Hiro with anticipation.
“So you’re the one mentioned by my brother.” Murmured a dark haired, lanky guy who was about 5 feet 8 inches tall. His face and eyes showed no malice or concern towards Hiro.
Positioning himself in a steady position, Hiro was preparing to launch himself while awaiting the whistle of the coach.
Beep!!
And as he heard the whistle, Hiro dashed towards the cone as fast as he can. Swiftly performing high knees and passing the cone, he rushed towards the goalpost.
Coach Kensuke then supplied him with the cross. The projectile of the cross was a little unpredictable because of the spin on the ball. However he still managed to trap the ball with his right leg.
And as the ball bounced off his feet, he performed a volley. The ball went like a missile towards the post.
Naoto, the keeper tried his best to save the ball and leaped towards the ball. However even with his long reach, he still couldn’t land a touch on the ball and ended up conceding the goal. It was the only fourth goal he conceded during that training drill.
The smile on the face of the players at the sidelines who were anticipating his fall quickly faded away and instead it was replaced with shock. Their eyes wide open and mouth agape, they were left speechless by his performance.
“Damn!! I never expected him to be this good.” With small bumps appearing all over his hands as if he was exposed to the cold wind, Hiro’s goal gave Tatsuki goosebumps.
Clap!! Clap!! Clap!!
Tatsuki, the centre forward and Kazuya, the defensive midfielder, both of them clapped their hands and applauded him after watching his brilliant goal.
Following their lead, other players started to clap their hands as well. And after witnessing his performance first-hand, they could no longer doubt Hiro’s abilities.
Hearing the thundering applause of the players, Hiro knew that his skills were recognised by those experienced players infront.
With the sides of their lips curling, Manager Makoto and coach Kensuke both were smiling while exchanging gazes with each other.
They could tell that the players of the U-18 had acknowledged Hiro’s talents.
Kenta Yui, the lanky black haired guy from earlier who was talking about Hiro was smiling as well. Unlike his younger brother Kota Yui who had an insecure personality, Kenta was different.
Kenta was open minded and had a professional mentality. Meaning he wasn’t the type of player who’d demean or insult the talented players.
Instead he was the type of player who’d try to get close to the talented players to learn from them. No matter if that player was younger or older than him. And that was one of the reason why he had made it so far into professional football.
There were also rumours that there were several J-2 clubs who were already showing interest in him because of his talents.
Although he wasn’t as talented as the prodigious player of the team. He didn’t let those things hold him back. And instead he pushed his limits and improved him rather than crying or acting jealous of the other’s talents.
And because of that unwavering mentality, nobody could doubt his hardwork and his willingness to learn.
Hiro then turned towards them and bowed his head. And after bowing his head, he ran towards them and joined them.
The training continued normally after that unbelievable performance from Hiro. The only difference was that after that first performance, almost everybody in the team started to get friendly with him and accepted him despite his young age.
Finally after few passing and shooting drills, the training came to an end with a past pace rondo.
Soaked in sweat, Hiro took off his jersey as the coach announced the end of the morning training.
The coach’s then ordered few of the players to pick the balls and sort the training equipments. After commanding such, they then headed out with the data they gathered during the training.
And as Hiro was preparing to head out, few of the players approached him.
“You’re definitely talented. No wonder the coach promoted you to the U-18 team despite being so young.” One of the player with brown hair praised Hiro for his earlier performance.
“Indeed!! At this pace you might debut even before us.” Another player joked.
“Now!! Now!! Now!! Don’t put such pressure on him. Remember he’s still only 12 years old.” Kazuya the defensive midfielder interrupted and reminded everyone of Hiro’s age. Being the most mature player in the team, he purposely defended Hiro.
The praises continued as other players made their way out of the pitch. However even after noticing his skills, there were still some players who were not happy about him joining the team.
Since their spot in the team was in danger, they looked extremely anxious. And thus until the last moment, they refused to exchange any words with him.