Beep!!!
The referee sounded his whistle as he witnessed the fall of Hiro.
That whistle acted as a trigger as no sooner had it resounded in the stadium than a huge uproar took place in the stadium. Appearing rather disappointed and frustrated, people started complaining in large numbers. And, a commotion took place in the stadium.
Simon had badly crashed against Hiro. Though it wasn't his intention to crash, nonetheless the fact remained true that he had crashed against Hiro.
And, no matter how one looked at it, the fact remained undeniable that it was foul.
"Take your card out, ref..."
"Diving, it's diving, ref..."
Supporters of both sides stood firm beside their team as they tried to defend their players. Nobody was willing to back down. And, soon a heated debate took place in the stands.
Players of both teams rushed toward the scene, each appearing extrely riled up. The importance of this opportunity was written visibly on the faces of the Japanese players. While at the sa ti, the opposing players weren't willing to hand over a penalty either.
What's a keeper supposed to do midway? Magically change direction to avoid making contact with the attacker? A collision was bound to take place in a close clash between a keeper and an attacker. So what's the fuss about it?
Grabbing his ankles as if he had been hurt badly, Hiro remained immobile on the ground, moaning in pain, "Argh..., Argh..."
He could audibly hear the conflict taking place around him. Yet, he couldn't afford to turn his head or stop his cries. His acting had to remain flawless for it to convince the referee to search his pockets.
"Are they trying to injure our teammate?"
"They're playing aggressively, ref"
"How's that a foul?"
"His faking his injury ref"
"It's a dive ref"
Players of both teams were putting a lot of pressure on the referee. Each pleading for the innocence of their teammates, a heated debate was taking place on the field. Yet, sohow no sort of physical resistance had taken place.
Simon himself was pleading his innocence alongside his teammates. He knew that he was in a pinch. Even if he pretended to act injured, there was almost a 90% chance that the decision wouldn't be in his favor.
He hadn't touched the ball. If only he'd have touched the ball, it wouldn't have co to this. And, the situation wouldn't be this ugly.
Penalty was guaranteed for sure. And, Simon being on the receiving end knew well about it.
Then why was he pleading so desperately if he knew that the odds were stacked against him? The answer however was rather simple— he wanted to avoid the card.
Penalty wasn't his concern. But, the card was.
Receiving a card at this point would be detrintal to his team. In the worst-case scenario, if he received a red card then the ga might as well be over even before the full-ti. Even a yellow card would greatly affect his team's morale.
Not only that, he'd have to play even more safely. And, who knows what kind of mistakes it would lead to if he started playing safely.
As a keeper, he had to play daringly. But, if he received a booking then he'd have to beco even more conscious of his actions. He'd lose the freedom to play daringly as he'd get shackled by the fear of receiving another card.
Thus, even though he couldn't change the decision of the referee, he'd have to sohow convince him not to book him.
But the worst-case scenario unfolded despite his relentless attempt to persuade the referee. Even after so much pleading, the referee still reached out for his pocket.
The supporters of the opposing team weren't happy to see this sight. Disgruntled, they were extrely furious at the referee for his decision.
Now one would expect the supporters of Japan to be happy about it. And they were happy; most of them were. But, few were still dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
"It should have been a straight red, ref..."
"Yeah, sent him off"
The card that the referee brought out wasn't to their liking. They wanted him to bring out a red card instead of a yellow card for the rough tackle on their star players.
However, Hiro was satisfied with the outco. It wasn't his intention to get him booked. All he wanted was to stir the emotions of the opposing players. But, his actions surprisingly yielded a great harvest.
'Should I stop pretending now?' he thought while still continuing his act.
The commotion around him wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. So, he was wondering when he could finally stop his act. After all, he wasn't a great actor to begin with. And, due to that, he feared getting found out if he continued this act incessantly.
Yutaka had remained by his side all along with his brows knitted into a frown. And, even he hadn't found out Hiro's acting.
Watching his friend writhing in agony, he was truly worried about him. And, the concern was evident on his darkened face. Literally, he was on the verge of tearing.
"Should we send our dical staff?" Manager Haruki asked, concernedly.
"Yes, let's send them. He really appears to be in quite a lot of pain"
Most of the coaching staff unanimously agreed with manager Haruki's suggestion. However, Kazan remained silent as usual.
After getting the approval of his coaching staff, Manager Haruki was about to send in the dical staff to treat Hiro. But, before he could speak, he was interrupted by Kazan, "No, let's wait..."
"But, why?" Manager Haruki couldn't help but feel perplexed by Kazan's disagreent.
Why would he want to risk the injury of such an important player? What if he's really injured?
"Don't you find it quite strange?" Kazan asked.
"What's so strange about it? What are you talking about?" Haruki couldn't understand the aning behind his question.
"He had a lot of opportunities to score. But, why did he decide to close in?" Kazan reasoned.
Now that he ntioned about it, he couldn't help but wonder. Sure, the shooting angle was sowhat tight for him. But, why did he decide to close in? After all his long-range shoots were equally impressive.
Just when he was contemplating, he saw Hiro rising on the field. If he was really injured, he wouldn't have gotten up, would he?
For so reason, upon seeing him stand up, he couldn't help but smile, "Just from where did you learn such flawless acting?"
Then after everybody dispersed, Hiro stood before the ball, preparing to take the penalty.
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