Chapter 429 Kawasaki vs Kobe IV
Excitement flashed past Ryuji's eyes as he released the ball. The ball swerved dangerously as it glided toward the post.
However, the spark in his eyes didn't last long as Naoto managed to keep the ball away from the post. Stretching his fingers, Naoto dived in the direction of the ball.
If not for his quick reflexes, it might not have been possible to keep the ball away from the post. But since he reacted timely, he managed to land a touch on the ball. Which in turn changed the course of the ball, and due to this it missed its intended target.
And, instead struck the pole.
"Oh, what a strike from Nakamura! And an equally impressive save from Naoto. This game is living up to its billing."
The near miss heightened the drama on the field, and the crowd's energy surged. Especially the opposing supporters, many of them were on their toes. They were all ready to erupt. But the outcome left them disappointed instead.
Meanwhile, supporters of Kawasaki, roared enthusiastically as they cheered for Naoto for making that unbelievable save. If not for his efforts they might have already conceded a goal. So, it was only natural for them to cheer for him.
Naoto too after making that save, roared passionately.
But the danger was far from over. The opposing side still had an opportunity to score from the corner kick. Though the failure of their play left them disappointed, they didn't sulk for long. Instead, they quickly recomposed themselves and began to prepare for what was about to come.
Quickly, they gathered inside the box of the opposing team for the corner kick. Ayato rushed toward the corner to take the set piece.
As much impressive and crucial as Naoto's save was, he couldn't afford to celebrate for long. No sooner had he made that save than he had to prepare for another set of attacks. This however didn't discourage him the least. Instead, he appeared to be all fired up. After that save, his confidence received an astronomical boost. So, he immediately composed himself and began to shout commands.
"Everybody gather up, we don't have much time to lose," he shouted as he urged his teammates to prepare for what was about to come.
In no time, the penalty box of Kawasaki became extremely crowded as players from both teams gathered inside the box. Naoto's vision was rather limited due to the presence of such a large number of players.
Yet he still appeared to be rather confident.
Ayato then raised his hand, signaling to his teammate that he was about to deliver the ball. Contrary to everybody's expectation, he played a short pass to one of his teammate close to him. This action of him came as a surprise to not only the players of Kawasaki but for his own teammates as well.
It seemed as if it wasn't in accordance to what they have practiced in the training session. Judging by the expression of Tominaga, it seemed like he should be getting the ball.
But Hiro and his teammates had no time to worry. They had adapt, and they had to do it quick.
After receiving the pass, he tried to shoot. Or so he made it seem like. But instead he faked his shot and passed it back to Ayato. He was intentionally wasting time for Ayato to come onside.
Due to the sheer number of players present inside the box, it was rather difficult for the players to move freely. Even so, they had to obstruct Ayato.
So, Hiro rushed out to stop Ayato. However, Ayato easily beat him without breaking any sweat. Defending wasn't his forte, and he couldn't utilize the talents he possessed at the moment which led to him getting beaten.
Getting through him, Ayato then took his chance by firing the ball from a rather tight angle. Even so, he took his chances as he tried to curl the ball to the top right corner.
Naoto correctly predicted the trajectory of the ball. So, he jumped to the right, trying his hardest to make another save.
However, he still failed to save the ball like he did previously, despite predicting the direction of the ball correctly. But no one could blame him for it.
While trying to clear the ball away, Kazuki made an error. Though his intentions were genuine, he helped the opposing team instead.
"Goal!!"
"He must be really disappointed at himself. Instead of heading the ball away, he scored an own goal," commentators voice rang, criticizing Kazuki's error.
The crowd erupted euphorically as they celebrated the goal. The entire stadium buzzed with celebration while the players of the opposing team celebrated their goal like crazy. Considering the importance of the game, it could very well be a deciding factor.
Even though only 25 minutes had passed on the clock, and there was an entire game left to played, this goal was huge.
In games of such caliber, a single goal would often be the deciding factor. So, fans of Kawasaki were rather anxious about it. They were equally disappointed as well.
While the opposing players went on with their celebration, Kazuki covered his face. His mistake had costed his team a crucial goal. So, it was only natural for him to be disappointed.
Yet still none of his teammates criticized him or blamed him. Instead, they started consoling him. Everyone was aware that he was just unlucky.
Hiro on the other hand, he couldn't even bring himself to speak. Though everybody's focus was on Kazuki, the person involved in this disappointment. But to him, he was the one at fault.
If only he had managed to stop Ayato, this wouldn't have happened. He was aware of his weakness. But the way Ayato got past him, it made him realize how terrible his defending actually was.
Against youth teams, it had worked. But it was different scenario when it came to professional teams. He had to improve his defending.
After this encounter, he came to realize that he had to increase his defending stats too. Previously he had been so caught up in trying to improve as an attacker that he had completely negated his defending stat.
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