Mao Suzuki then as he got infront of the penalty box made a shot. Taking shot from his right foot which also happened to be his strong foot, he performed a powerful long range shot.
His shot was even more powerful than Tatsuki’s. The ball as it left his foot instantly found it’s way at the back of the net after swiftly evading Shun’s reach.
Despite the power Mao put into the shot, Shun tried his best to save the ball nonetheless. However his effort were still proved to be futile as the ball still evaded his reach and found it’s way to the back of the net.
Scoring a fabulous goal from outside the box, Mao Suzuki gave his team the lead for the first time since the begining of the match.
And even though Shun was upset, unlike before, he immediately got up. He then walked towards the post and grabbed the ball, gesturing his teammates to start the match immediately without wasting any time.
Shun’s actions caught attention of few of his teammates. They all were impressed by Shun’s fighting spirit.
Hiro’s earlier praises and Shun’s present action coincided perfectly as they noticed the determined look on his face.
Taking the ball out of the net, Shun yelled, “Don’t mind. Don’t mind. We’ll get one back. Everyone return to your position.”
His words extremely encouraging and full of vigor, players in the field could only look at him with eyes full of respect.
Shun’s actions and words didn’t go unnoticed as the selecters outside the field caught a glimpse of Shun’s unwavering mentality.
“That kid has the potential quality to become leader as well.”
“Yeah! He’s a good seed. Mentality, tenaciousness, talent, he possesses all.”
Few selectors outside the field looked quite impressed. They were all praising Shun.
At that time, Hiro too approached the guy who cost them that goal. However he didn’t approach him to vent his anger. Instead he approached the guy to elevate him and cheer him up for that guy looked quite depressed.
“Don’t worry. It’s not your mistake. You were just pressured.” Softly spoke Hiro to the guy who cost them that goal as he tried to cheer him up.
“But it was because of me that we conceded this goal. I… Became nervous after seeing senior Tatsuki approaching.” Meekly spoke the guy.
His voice trembled as he spoke those words. Clearly he was quite regretful.
“Sorry… Hiro. You put so much… Trust in me… But I broke your trust.”
Clearly the guy was thinking that it was his fault that they conceded that goal. It was true that he was one of the reason why they conceded that goal just now. But he wasn’t entirely at fault either.
He did panic while making that clear. But it was also the job of Hiro and other few guys in the defence to stop Mao from moving forward.
“Don’t blame yourself anymore Kentaro. We too failed to stop Mao from moving the ball forward. It’s our fault too. So don’t put the entire blame on yourself.”
Saying such, Hiro tried to ease up his guilt.
Although Hiro’s words didn’t cheer him up completely, it still cleared some of his doubts as he finally lifted his head to look Hiro in the eyes.
Until now, due to guilt, he had been trying to avoid making eye contact with Hiro.
But as he lifted his head to look at Hiro, he found Hiro with a solemn look on his face. It didn’t seem like he was there to reprimand him. Hiro’s eyes displayed genuine worry.
Kentaro then mustered some courage, “I won’t get intimidated again Hiro. I’ll try my best not to drag the team down.”
Hearing kentaro’s response, Hiro slightly lifted the corner of his mouth as he revealed a gentle smile on his face. Satisfied with kentaro’s response, Hiro sincerely nodded his head, “That’s why I selected you Kentaro.”
After that Hiro rushed towards his position as he gave instructions to his teammates to cheer up and position themselves to resume the match.
This time Hiro’s team went on the offense. Despite playing in defensive midfield position, team 1’s play was still centered around Hiro.
Moving the ball upfield after getting past Kazuya, Hiro was now at the edge of the attacking third.
Just when moving the ball forward, he noticed the sight of Yutaka in the periphery of his vision.
Hiro then passed the ball to Yutaka and activated his skill perseverance simultaneously.
Yutaka quickly returned the pass as he performed one-two pass with Hiro. Hiro inturn performed a chop and once again returned the ball back to Yutaka.
Just like that those two evaded Mao Suzuki and one of the centre back of U-23 team.
Hiro then making us of his skill “Lightning Steps”, dashed towards the inside of the box.
Yutaka made a through ball to Hiro who was closing towards the post.
Passing the ball right between the leg of the only centre defender who was rushing towards Hiro, Yutaka showed why he possessed the talent passing expert.
Till this moment, despite his weak mentality, Yutaka had rarely made any wrong passes. Infact until now all of his passes have been so accurate.
Even the players of U-23 team couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing such. Afterall Yutaka’s anxious face was giving them the impression of him being a weak minded guy who would panic and make a lot of mistakes.
However contrary to their expectations Yutaka had rarely made any mistakes.
Even now, he had supplied a brilliant through ball to Hiro.
As clinical as ever, Hiro didn’t waste this godsend opportunity. Stretching his left leg, it seemed like Hiro was going to use his left leg to shoot the ball.
However instead of shooting with his left leg, he rolled his leg over the ball as he faked the shot. Instead he used his right foot to make the shot.
While most players only used chop to dribble the ball, Hiro used “Ronaldo Chop” to score the goal. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ
Misguiding the keeper, Hiro tricked the keeper and scored the goal.
At 79th minute of the game, once again Hiro’s team tied the game as Hiro completed a hattrick.
This content is taken from 𝘳.𝑐𝘰