The opposing player felt confused. He couldn't tell the direction. It felt as if he was getting devoured by a layer of pitch-black darkness.
He glanced at the goalkeeper's eyes.
He couldn't even spot a radiance of warmth in those eyes. It felt like peeking into an endless void with nothing in sight.
His face was devoid of any emotions, and he seed awfully calm.
'What's with this guy?' The opposing player couldn't figure out what was going on inside the keeper's head.
However, he could tell one thing- he couldn't beat Shun.
Thus, he rolled his eyes around him in search of his teammates. Having advanced together, he didn't take long to find support.
Imdiately after he spotted support, he passed the ball.
Shun, however, had been waiting for this mont. Hence, imdiately after he noticed the pass, Shun changed his direction.
Upon receiving the pass, the opponent shot the ball.
The ball sailed straight to the post. However, Shun managed to deflect the shot. With his outstretched reach, he managed to stop the shot.
The ball, however, bounced forward.
The crowd rejoiced for a re mont. However, the smile on their face didn't last long. It faded almost imdiately after it ford.
After the deflection, the ball bounced before Braga's defender. However, it was imdiately stolen afterward while he tried to clear the ball away.
This ti, even Shun couldn't stop the shot.
"Goal..."
The stadium erupted in cheers as Sporting took the lead.
Devastated, Shun punched the ground. He had tried his best. Yet, he couldn't manage to save the goal. He felt furious at himself.
'Why? Why?' He questioned himself.
Just a few seasons earlier, he was regarded as one of the rising stars in Japanese football. But now, he felt like he was a shadow of his forr self.
Despite being outnumbered, he had managed to defend the post. However, he conceded nonetheless in the rebound. Just why wasn't he able to stop it?
Just why was his form deteriorating?
Shun couldn't understand why he was failing.
"I knew it. He wouldn't be able to save."
"Just what are we even hoping from him?"
"It's clear, he lacks experience."
"It would have been better if we had signed an experienced keeper."
The reaction of the crowd was rather extre. They pinned the bla on Shun, making him the scapegoat. To them, it felt more reasonable to bla one person than the entire team.
"For a mont, I got my hopes high for nothing."
Shun knew he was struggling. Perhaps, he had decided rashly. After experiencing the language barrier, he even reevaluated his decision to join the Portuguese club.
Having transferred in a hurry, he didn't heed the advice of his friends to learn the language beforehand. He hoped to learn the language as he played.
"We can talk with the ball," He said to the advice of learning the language beforehand.
However, only after experiencing the difficulties of the language barrier did he understand how important it was to learn the language.
Beep!
The ga ended with the referee's whistle.
After the referee's whistle, the players began to head inside. anwhile, most of the fans had already exited the pitch even before the full-ti whistle.
One could spot patches of vacant spots in the stadium. The opposing fans still lingered in the stadium. However, the fans of Braga had already left the venue.
Well, it was their 13th loss of the season.
Their tragedy had begun after the injury of their first-choice keeper. They couldn't even complain about the losses because the team played well, losing the match barely by a margin.
Pinning the bla on the young Asian keeper was the easiest route for them to cope with their losses. The young keeper also didn't seem to fight back. It made it even more convenient for them to pin the bla on him.
Without even speaking a word to Shun, the others began to retreat.
While collecting himself, Shun glanced at the scoreboard, "Sporting: 2 vs Braga: 1"
They had lost the ga by a goal again. The scoresheet stung his heart. He wasn't even bothered by the treatnt of those around him.
To him, the others were like flowing water, drifting past him.
Unbothered by the treatnt of his teammates, Shun glanced at the sky. Though his face appeared devoid of emotion, his eyes were rather moist.
He slowly closed his eyes as he began to rember his teammates from Kawasaki.
'Did I make a mistake coming here?'
For a while, he stood there on the pitch with his eyes closed. Then he slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the entrance of the tunnel.
His teammates were already exiting the pitch and it seed like nobody cared about him.
He could see their sunken expression. The aura of defeat lood all over them. The defeated look on their faces made him uncomfortable.
'Am I dragging the team back?' He couldn't help but doubt.
While exiting the pitch, Shun heard a familiar voice. Upon turning to find the person, he found the manager of the club waiting for him.
Frowning, he stood in the hallway.
From the looks of it, he appeared to be waiting for him.
Shun could tell about the reason he had been standing there. He didn't need to be reminded about the consequences he'd be facing after that disastrous performance earlier in the match.
The manager trod toward him.
"Let's talk," he said staring pitifully at him, placing his hand atop his shoulder.
Shun nodded and the two stepped aside.
"We are putting you on the transfer list," the manager said without beating around the bush.
Even though Shun was aware of his straightforward personality, he couldn't help but feel dejected hearing those words from him.
"I can bench you. But I doubt you'll be happy about it. So, we are loaning you with an option to buy. I'm sure you'll understand this decision, right?" the manager continued.
Shun could only nod his head. If the club had given up on him then there was only so much he could do. And as told by him, he wouldn't want to be put on the bench either.
He wanted to play.
Though he was glad that the club was willing to part ways with him, he couldn't help but feel
sad hearing their decision.
The club's decision ant that his performance at the club had been nothing but
unsatisfactory.
Even just thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel frustrated at himself. He didn't bla
the coaches. Neither did he bla his teammates.
The only one he blad was himself for not playing well.
Reviews
All reviews (0)