99 End of Friendly Match
For Niji’s foul against Seiya, the referee awarded their team a freekick.
The spot at where they were awarded the freekick was quite far from the goalpost. Infact the freekick spot was near the centre circle.
“It’s okay guys. It’s not a big deal. So let’s not make a fuss about the foul. Plus look at the spot where they’re awarded the freekick. It’s like more than 40 yards away from our goalpost. And to score a goal from that spot they’d probably need Roberto Carlos. And do any of you see Roberto Carlos in that team. Well I don’t see any. So fret not guys.” Saying such Satoru tried to encourage his teammates and raise their morale.
“Yeah! He’s right guys. Let’s not get worked up over a single foul.” Kuroda added while clapping his hands.
“Yeah!!” Chris who had been sulking because of the earlier goal and Haruto’s challenge, parroted enthusiastically after listening to the motivating words of Satoru.
While the players of Chiba Middle School were talking such looking all motivated, the scene at the other side was quite different.
Seiya was arguing with other players, fighting over the freekick.
“It was me who won the freekick. So it should be me who should take the freekick.” Seiya exasperated while holding the ball.
Yuya and the other tried to snatch the ball away from him, but he wasn’t willing to listen to them. He was adamant on being the freekick taker.
“Look the coach has already decided the set-piece taker before the game. So it’s better you give up the ball.” Yuya intoned while trying to snatch the ball away from him.
Hirato and some other players were playing the role of the spectators. Without taking anyone’s side, they were simply observing Seiya and others fighting over the freekick.
Hiro who was the appointed set-piece taker was keeping his mouth shut and silently observing Seiya getting worked up over a freekick.
“What are those idiots doing? I had already announced the set-piece taker before match. So why are they fighting over set-piece at this moment.” Manager Nozomi exasperated while putting his hands atop his head.
He was already upset by Seiya’s action earlier, when he decided to ignore Hiro and dribble the ball all by himself. But looking at his actions at that moment, he was literally on the verge of erupting.
Noticing them fighting over the set-piece, while wasting time, Ryu shouted furiously, “Team Kawasaki!! What are you doing? Don’t hog onto the ball for long. I’ll charge you all with time wasting and give you yellow cards.”
Listening to the furious roar of the referee, Shun who was the captain of the team ran towards them to control the situation.
“Seiya!! Just give up. Look!! The coach is glaring at you. And I’m sure you know the meaning behind that gaze of his.” Shun spoke while pointing towards manager Nozomi, reminding him of the consequences he’d have to face later.
With his eyes wide open, manager Nozomi was staring at Seiya coldly from outside the pitch. He looked really pissed.
Although they couldn’t see his face properly from that distance, Seiya could still feel coach Nozomi’s penetrating gazes on him. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝒎
“Tch- Fine!! Take it.” Clicking his tongue, Seiya finally let go of the ball, disappointed.
Yuya then picked up the ball and handed it to Hiro who was standing right behind him with a dumbfounded look on his face.
And as he was about to leave, Yuya spoke, “Show them what you can do Hiro.”
“Umm” Hiro nodded his head and took the ball from him.
And as he placed the ball at the spot marked by the referee, Hiro retracted few steps behind.
After retracting about seven steps, he paused and let out a deep breath. He then looked at the ball and post infront.
A wall of five tall players from Chiba Middle School stood infront of him and the post.
Except two defenders, all his teammates were gathered at the opponents penalty box.
‘System activate Roberto Carlos’s freekick’ He spoke to himself.
[Roberto Carlos’s freekick activated]
Beep!!
And as Ryu blew his whistle, Hiro ran towards the ball. He then hit the ball with inside of his right foot.
The wall of players jumped up to block the ball. However the ball flew just above their head and headed straight towards the goalpost.
“What the??” Chris cussed while turning his head behind towards the goalpost.
“…..” Coach Tanaka with his mouth agape and pupil’s enlarged, looked at the ball totally shocked.
Due to the spin on the ball, the ball curved along the way.
Even Satoru wasn’t prepared for that freekick. At most he had expected Hiro to pass the ball to his teammates at the penalty box. But Hiro’s powerful freekick caught him totally off-guard.
Even so he tried to stop the ball from finding it’s way inside the net. Satoru then dived towards the direction of the ball.
But still he couldn’t manage to land a touch on the ball. The ball effortlessly found its way inside the net.
Neither the opposing teammates nor his own teammates could believe their eyes. Even after the ball touched the net, nobody made any sound for a while.
Finally after few seconds, his teammates burst in jeers.
“Gooooaaaaallllllll”
The players of Kawasaki Frontale U-15 team yelled ecstatically.
Jumping and running, they began to celebrate Hiro’s unbelievable goal.
Coach Tanaka’s face turned pale all of a sudden after witnessing that unbelievable goal of Hiro.
“What just happened?” He mumbled as he turned his head towards Coach Nozomi.
And as he turned his gaze towards coach Nozomi in shock, he found coach Nozomi looking at him with a sly smile on his face.
Witnessing manager Nozomi’s sly smile, Tanaka’s face tightened. He then gnashed his teeth and squeezed out some word from his mouth, “That sly old fox”
**** ****
After scoring a goal at the 31st minute of the match. Hiro’s team played even more aggressively at the second half after making few substitutions and scored four more goals in the second half.
Seiya was substituted because of his earlier misconduct and disobedience.
Thus, the game ended with Hiro’s team victory with an overwhelming score of 6:0.
At that 6:0 victory over Chiba Middle School, Hiro scored 4 goals and assisted a goal to Yugo. Hirato recorded two assists himself, one for Hiro and one for Sho. And Hidetaka and Yuya recorded an assist each for themselves as well.
And thus the game finally came to an end.
While coach Tanaka was gritting his teeth and grieving his team’s loss, manager Nozomi was flying over the cloud after securing such an overwhelming victory over the team to whom they conceded three goal previously.