While the players of the qualified teams spent their ti leisurely, the players of the third-placed teams found themselves locked in a fierce battle for survival.
With their tournant hopes hanging in the balance, each match beca a desperate bid to secure a coveted spot in the knockout stage.
Even for Hiro and his teammates, the stakes had never been higher since it was their only chance to salvage their journey.
Yet, even on the brink of elimination, they remained calm and composed as they tackled the obstacle with determination and confidence.
The match against Senegal proved to be a turning point for the Japanese side as they won all of their gas to qualify for the knockouts, finishing top of the league.
Alongside them, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela also qualified for the knockouts while Burkina Faso and the host Indonesia's journey ca to an end.
☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in a canvas of warm colors, a lone figure could be seen on the edge of a grassy pitch.
Twisting and turning, he moved along the intricately placed cones on the field. Alongside him, moved his silhouette and the ball. Even so, apart from him and his silhouette, no other entities could be seen on the field.
Perspiration dripped as he continued to move. Yet, despite appearing quite exhausted, he didn't stop moving. Instead, he beca even more fluid as he pushed him to his limits. The way he was moving made it seem as if he was trying to prove sothing or trying to surpass sothing.
Flawlessly avoiding those obstacles placed on the field, he continued to hone his skills. Then, after a while, he finally let go of the ball as he released it at the empty post at the end of the pitch.
And just as he let go of the ball, instead of collapsing on the field, he pushed himself to the sidelines without looking back.
Step!! Step!! Step!!
Accelerating toward the sideline, he took hold of his stopwatch. In the display of his stopwatch, numbers were changing continuously without any stop. Imdiately he then pressed its button to stop those changes.
5:17:19
Those were the numbers that flashed on his watch's screen. He took exactly 5 minutes, 17 seconds, and 19 microseconds to complete his drill.
Huff!! Huff!!
Staring at his screen, he continued to gasp heavily due to the intense drill he had perford right now which had left him utterly exhausted. Perspiration trickled down his face like rain as he remained stationary looking at his watch's screen.
So of those droplets of perspiration found their way to his eyes causing so irritation. He squeezed his eyelids to help soothe his pain. Then, he raised his hand to wipe his eyes.
Rubbing his hand against his eyes, he tried to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated on his wet face. After wiping his sweat, he then opened his eyes again.
Standing upright, he turned around to look at the ball. There were quite a lot of balls in that direction.
For sure, based on the sheer number of balls, it could be determined that it wasn't his only shot. Instead, it was a testant to the hours of hard work he had been putting in.
Staring fixedly at the post, he then murmured, "Hah..., I've improved...."
Both his breathing and heart had yet to stabilize. And, even now when he was faking his exhaustion, his heart was still pounding like crazy.
Just then while he was resting, another person made his way to the pitch.
"Alex"
Upon hearing the call, he jolted his gaze to look at the person who was calling him. That voice sounded extrely familiar to him. And, even though he could tell whom it belonged to, he still turned around to face him, nonetheless.
With a fair complexion and a stature that stood tall, he possessed finely grood blond locks that frad his face. Yet, it was a quality in his countenance, perhaps the pearl-like hue of his eyes, that bestowed upon him an air of innocence.
It was his teammate and one of his closest friends Simon Garcia, the backbone of the u17 Spanish team, the man responsible for the security of their post, the keeper of the team.
"Has your practice ended yet?" Simon asked as he walked toward Alex.
With tousled brown hair that frad his little tanned face, and deep thoughtful eyes that seed to hold the weight of the world, Alex had an aura of intensity tempered by a gentle kindness. While at the sa ti, his athletic build hinted at the hours spent honing his skills on and off the pitch.
Alex was one of the starting players of the Spanish u17 team. Blessed with incredible playmaking abilities, he was their number 10 and a midfielder with an innate ability to change the flow of the ga.
As Alex heard his friend's question, he shook his head.
That gesture of his however seed to annoy his friend as it made him furrow his brows before answering in a quite unhappy tone, "You practice-freak..., Just how much do you enjoy torturing your body?"
Alex however remained silent. And, it was one of the reasons why despite his skills he wasn't chosen as the captain of the team. He had a rather introverted personality and often he didn't talk much with anyone; be it his teammates or his coaches.
Familiar with Alex's personality, Simon too dropped his annoyance as he changed the topic of their conversation. Alex had always been a man of few words and he being one of his closest friends knew about it quite well.
"Do you know who we're playing against in the knockouts?" Simon questioned, sounding quite excited.
Dedicating himself to his training schedules, Alex rarely paid attention to such topics. Well, he'd get to know about it from his coaches nonetheless, so why should he bother looking up such things? That's what he believed.
Instead of getting distracted by such things, it'd be better to focus on yourself to improve, wouldn't it? And, due to such reasons, he rarely used his phone to look up the news.
Yet again, upon being faced with his friend's inquiry, he remained tongue-tied, utterly emotionless.
Just from his expression alone, Simon could tell that he wasn't aware of it. With a sigh, he then broke the news, "We're facing Japan"
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