Chapter 201: Sealing the Deal!
The mont Sano stepped on the field, he took a deep breath, trying to keep his legs steady. He was one of the boys who cared the most about how people looked at him, and it wouldn’t be funny if they saw such a tough guy like him trembling to enter the pitch.
’No, I cannot do that. It would be too embarrassing, and Kumiko-senpai’s strategy will not work later. I have to keep this expression up.’ He muttered to himself.
Indeed, the tough, delinquent expression that he used to hate the most in the past seed to be transford by Kumiko into a deadly weapon here. Its use was just one thing, and that was as a deterrent to keep all the balls away from his direction, which would give his teammates an easier ti defending the other areas.
Of course, the boy was not that confident at first. After all, he was so used to being associated with those delinquents because of his face that he couldn’t perceive it as a positive thing. However, Kumiko said one thing in the past that changed his perspective about his look.
"You don’t need to hate your own face that much, Sano-kun. At the end of the day, people will always hate sothing about you, from your tone to even your family. Just use your tough deanor to scare the people who don’t deserve you. Those who like you will co no matter how good or bad you look."
This was definitely an eye-opener, and also the first ti soone said it to Sano directly like that. Sano wanted to be skeptical about it, but Kumiko’s genuine eyes were enough to lt him on the spot. At the end of the day, he finally tried to open up with the other football club mbers, and the reception he got was quite overwhelming, he could say.
"Damn, Brat! You’ve got it tough, huh?"
"Don’t worry, no one really cares about your look right now! Just go all out and scare the shit out of our opponent!"
"Co on, Sano! Just glare at them all, and they will run away from our path!"
They might still joke around about his scary deanor, but everyone here said that he could use it to their advantage. This was probably the first ti soone pointed out that this could be his trademark, and once Kumiko noticed how effective it was, she even put him as the team’s secret weapon.
Once again, this was the first ti he received such positivity, and Sano had been devoting himself to every possession to repay the team’s kindness in the future.
"Stop daydreaming and get ready, Sano!" Jun, who he was about to replace, suddenly patted his stiff shoulder gently. "Don’t worry, just follow Makino-senpai’s arrangent, and try not to be too nervous. Co on, you can do this!" The senpai slapped his back quite loudly, giving one more encouragent.
After taking one last deep breath, he finally went onto the pitch together with Takaaki, and the mont they were there, the atmosphere seed to drop several degrees once they knew that Sano was going to be on the pitch. So narrowed their eyes like hawks, while the others looked at him like they wanted to dissect his corpse alive.
No one really knew how big the boy was since he was always sitting on the bench, but once he got up, he looked like a giant in a fantasy movie, so big that he could crush anything in between. Coupled with his tough appearance, it was clear that the opponent’s players would avoid him from now on.
Well, true enough, he beca a gargoyle statue on the back. Whenever he approached the opponent, the ball would be passed away from him imdiately, with no one really wanting to ss with him.
The only one who was brave enough was Abraham Nori, but even though Sano was not the best defender on the team, he was still a big and strong boy, and coupled with the fact that he had just co with fresh stamina, there was no way his opponent could gain an advantage here.
This, coupled with the fact that Takaaki and Kazawa started to take more control of the midfield, added more security to the team. Now, they weren’t really worried about any unstoppable wave of attack, and they could just slow down the ga as much as they wanted here.
Higo also took a deep breath when he saw this. It had been about five minutes since a real threat was coming at him, and since then, all he had to do was to guide his teammates to the players and area where he thought would be dangerous. Other than that, he didn’t even touch the ball here, just shifting around to keep his position steady.
’Man, is this the life of the goalkeeper in a top club? It sure can be nice, huh?’ He couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
The opponent also started to get desperate. Hell, their goalkeeper even started to rush forward. Not that far to the frontline, but he had already reached the half line here, acting like another midfielder.
It was a risky move, since any lob could’ve sealed the ga for Hakodate Nishi. However, this was necessary to add more numbers on the frontline, giving more pressure on that side.
Still, ti was ticking by, and not a single threat could reach Higo’s side yet. In the end, even though it was still the 87th minute of the ga, the goalkeeper decided to join the crowd in a corner kick scenario. A little bit early, but if they didn’t score soon, they wouldn’t be able to tie the two goals they had conceded earlier.
Unfortunately, this was a double-edged sword, and this ti, the sword itself ca to hurt the team.
The corner kick’s quality itself was terrible, and it was cleared by Kazawa on the near post before anyone could touch it. Then, Hiroshi, the vocal point of the team’s counterattack tactic, managed to win the contest to get the ball, and even from behind the half line, the lob he sent from afar still glided in the air, going down so fast like a rocket before it hit the net.
Thud!
The mont the sound echoed throughout the pitch, the boy spread his arms wide, smiling widely as he knew one thing was sure here.
This goal sealed the deal, allowing his team to get through the semifinal of the tournant.
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