After contemplating about the quest for a while, Hiro then shifted his attention towards his opponents.
And sure enough, they were playing in their usual 5-3-2 formation. After researching and analysing the tactics and gameplay of their opponents, they had found out that the opposing team mostly played in 5-3-2 formation with five defenders and rarely did they changed their formation.
Notoriously known for their impenetrable defence, Sagan Tosu U-18 were a team which specialised in defensive gameplay.
As there’s a saying, “If used properly defense is the best offense”
And sure enough Sagan Tosu U-18 whose playstyle was based on defense held that saying with great regards.
While analysing the position of the opposing players, Hiro’s eye suddenly froze at one place as he focused his attention on one particular player. 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚
“The adhesive of Sagan Tosu, Ryotaro Imamura” absentmindedly murmured Hiro as he focused his attention on one of the centre back of the opposing team.
Short messy black hair which was styled in a mullet, his eerie black eyes were unusually sharp and he looked extremely calm and composed. Exuding a concentrated cold aura around him, Ryotaro was standing at the middle of that five man defensive formation.
Already 18 years old, it was his last match with U-18 club. And rumours has it that he has already signed a pro contract with a team from Europe.
Despite being a member of National U-23 team, Hiro hadn’t met him previously when he played against National U-23 team because of the injury which Imamura had sustained back then.
Considering the importance of the game and also considering the fact that he was already aware of the identity of the most important player from the opposing team, one must wonder why Hiro hadn’t used his skill “Magic Vision” on Ryotaro Imamura even before the start of the match.
It wasn’t because Hiro had forgotten to use his skill or he was simply ignorant.
It was simply because he was cautious. He didn’t want to waste one of his skill so early in the match and regret it later.
He was cautious about the variations which might occur later in the match. That’s why he was preserving his skill until then.
While thinking about Ryotaro Imamura’s gameplay, Hiro’s eyes shone as he remembered about his threatening gameplay which reminded him of Liverpool’s ace defender Virgil Van Dijk.
Inhaling a deep breath, the referee then blew the whistle commencing the start of the match.
Beeeeeeeep!!!
Finally the much awaited game between the champions of east league and west league commenced.
And since Hiro’s team had won the coin toss, opposing team were starting the kickoff.
Calm and composed, the two forwards of the opposing team began to drop back after passing the ball back to their midfielder.
Just enough to maintain some pressure on the opposing team, Tatsuki calmly chased after the ball. His breathing stable and his steps rather small, Tatsuki was in no hurry to win the ball back.
Supporting Tatsuki, Hiro and other players who played offensively, they all positioned themselves around Tatsuki while Tatsuki was chasing after the ball.
The opposing team continued to play the ball inside their own half while trying to attract as many players from Kawasaki as they can, into their own half.
Hiro’s team who had studied their gameplay didn’t charge forward recklessly either. They weren’t going to be provoked just by that.
Hiro on the other hand was constantly trying to find gaps in the formation of the opposing team.
However from the beginning of the match, he was getting a bad vibe. Around him, he could feel the presence of three players.
As if they were intentionally trying to imprison him, they were deliberately keeping their distance from him while also limiting his interaction with the ball.
At first he wasn’t sure whether he was getting marked or not since he wasn’t getting man marked, however as time progressed he soon realised that he was indeed getting marked.
Sure enough, the opposing team had considered him the real threat.
Even so, he didn’t try to shake off his mark. Infact, he pretended as if he was struggling and wasn’t aware of the mark.
He simply wasn’t willing to act so early. He wanted to observe a little more before acting.
And as time progressed, he started to notice some pattern. He noticed that players of Sagan Tosu were spread apart from each other in a honeycomb like pattern.
They were neither too close to each other nor too far from each other.
Even after desperately searching for gaps in the formation of opposing team, Hiro hadn’t been able to find that many gaps as he could in his previous matches.
Occasionally he did find some gaps, however before he could even react, he was quickly surrounded by the players who were marking him from a distance.
Well even though he was pretending at first, he couldn’t deny the fact that it was rather hard to escape from the superficial human cage which the opposing team had prepared.
Finally at the 28th minute of the match, he broke from his marks. Pretending to struggle for so long, he finally found the opportunity he was waiting for.
Just when one of the opposing centre mid was going to pass the ball back to Ryotaro Imamura, Hiro sprinted from the blind spot of one of the opposing player who was marking him.
If it wasn’t for his skill “Lightning Steps”, he may not have been able to shake his mark. But since he had such an OP skill which could defy the logic, he swiftly shook his mark as he intercepted the pass.
Obviously the opposing players were aware of the fact that he could accelerate so fast in so little time. Still no matter how much they paid attention to him, there was bound to be a moment where they’d get distracted as well.
And Hiro took advantage of that momentary distraction of one of the players who was marking him.
Even after intercepting the pass, his pace wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
However just because one of the player lowered their guard didn’t mean other players lowered their guard as well.
Reacting quickly, Ryotaro Imamura to whom the pass was meant for, immediately rushed towards Hiro to snatch the ball.
𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ