I am practicing in Tokyo

Chapter 67 Decisive Battle 2

During the halftime break, the Aomori Yamada locker room was completely silent. When the goalkeeper saw that no one was talking, he had no choice but to speak first.

"Coach, I couldn't sleep last night. Let's replace the second goalkeeper. His performance will definitely be better than mine now."

The starting position that was originally obtained through crazy involution has now become a hot potato. The second goalkeeper glared at him and was about to ask whether the opponent was polite or not, but the coach started talking.

"In the first 30 minutes of the second half, we continued to defend intensively in front of the goal. After exhausting their physical energy, we equalized the score in the last 15 minutes and kicked off overtime."

This is not what the coach said randomly. Aomori Yamada's team is first-rate, and the coach's level is naturally not bad. At the end of the first half, he observed that the midfielder and backfielder of Hachioji High School obviously couldn't run.

From the information collected before the game, he guessed the two related shortcomings of a weak substitute lineup and a lack of rotation of players.

You can't run anymore, how can you compete with me on the same stage?

Aomori Yamada, who had achieved good results in previous years, had a bye in the sixth round and went directly to the fifth round. Moreover, the rotation of players is more reasonable than that of Hachioji High School, so the physical fitness is better preserved. If he can't compete with others with physical strength, he has to think.

Here's some strategy.

At the beginning of the second half, Aomori Yamada still put up a dense defensive formation. Fujii tried a few long-range shots, but the effect was not as good as the first half. Hachioji High School, which had always maintained a high pressure, the physical fitness of his teammates was gradually exhausted. If not

Victory is right in front of us and we simply cannot hold on.

Seeing that the offense was unable to open up the situation, and already leading by two goals, Fujii decided to let his teammates retreat to the midfield and backcourt. There was no need to take the risk and score an extra goal. It was better to defend the score than to let others counterattack to get back.

But just as he was directing his teammates to retreat, Shibazaki Takeshi, who had been holding back for the first half, suddenly exerted his strength, caught the Hachioji High School player's mistake in stopping the ball during the short pass, decisively stepped in to steal, and dribbled the ball across the midfield, attracting enough attention.

After paying more attention, he hit the team's No. 7 winger with a long pass.

The unmarked No. 7 winger had enough time to catch the ball and adjust, and took off from the edge of the penalty area. By the time Ryunosuke reacted, the football had already flown into the side of the goal.

"2 to 1, Aomori Yamada came back. Now there are sixteen minutes left in the game, and the outcome is once again full of suspense."

Sergio in the live broadcast room explained something, and Matsuki Antaro next to him didn't say anything. He was obviously not satisfied with the defense of the Hachioji High School team.

"Don't be discouraged, we are still ahead."

Seeing that his teammates nearby were blaming themselves, Fujii offered comfort. However, not long after he finished speaking, the Hachioji High School team scored another goal from a tactical corner kick created by Aomori Yamada within a few minutes of the restart.

The goal was scored by Takeshi Shibasaki. He grabbed the leaked ball outside the penalty area. Fujii was marking the No. 7 winger who had just scored, and there was no way to stop his lob.

"The referee signaled 2 minutes of stoppage time. Adding to the current time, there are still 6 minutes left before the game will enter 30 minutes of overtime. If it is still a draw, it will enter a penalty shootout."

Sergio explained objectively, while Matsuki Antaro just kept shaking his head, covering his forehead, with a mask of pain on his face.

Can't run anymore?

After Fujii lost the ball this time, he looked around and found that even Suhara was out of breath. After a series of hard battles, everyone was too tired and had given everything they had. Although he had a strong body brought by Golden Finger,

In fact, the quality is a bit lacking. Several failed long-range shots at the beginning of the second half were also due to this reason.

The cheers in the stands continued one after another. For most campus players, participating in such a campus sports competition may be the most brilliant moment in life. Those spectators were students when they were students, and they all put themselves into the players on the field.

, all of them would travel thousands of miles to watch student games where the level is far inferior to that of professional teams.

"Qiyuan, wait and rush into the penalty area. I'll pass the ball to you. It's up to you."

He patted Suhara, who was gasping for breath. Although he was nominally the younger brother he accepted with two signature balls, it was just a joke. At the critical moment, he wanted to borrow the strength of his companions.

"Leave it to me."

Suhara showed a rare resolute expression, wiped the sweat from his cheeks, and the dragon's assistant threw the ball to Fujii's tree.

While the hand-thrown ball was still in mid-air, Fujii was surrounded by three defensive players, clearly trying to lock him down.

Fujii jumped up high and stopped the football with his chest. Shibazaki Yue immediately came up to steal the ball, but he turned around and missed the ball. The next opponent's defender made a tackle with his foot and easily lifted the ball over his head, avoiding the tackle.

The defender bypassed the last defender.

And all this took less than 3 seconds.

"God descends to earth! No. 13 Fujii Shu passed three people in three seconds and dribbled the ball straight into the opponent's backcourt."

Matsuki Antaro instantly took off his mask of pain, stared at the commentary screen in the live broadcast room with his face flushed, and clenched his hands.

Suhara started a few seconds earlier than Fujii, but Fujii, who started later, quickly overtook him and broke through from the wing in a brilliant way. The eyes of the whole audience were fixed on the red jersey, like a shooting star.

The long dark night brings a shock that is difficult to describe in words.

After rushing to the opponent's backcourt, two defenders gathered near Fujii. Instead of forcing his way through, he faked a shot and passed the ball to the feet of Suhara, who had just caught up.

Consider this ball my farewell gift to you.

Fujii knew that Suhara's performance would definitely lead to professional teams looking for him. After he joined the team, after just half a year of adjustment, Suhara's level has almost reached the threshold of LV3. I don't think our Suhara classmate will be able to join the team again.

You can't even seize a shooting opportunity that's close to an empty goal, right?

Coming!

Look at me! Shoot!

Suhara received the ball, and the first touch of the ball was just right. It stopped just inside the penalty area. He raised his leg and volleyed hard, and the football flew straight away.

Think of beauty!

Aomori Yamada's goalkeeper had long noticed this kid who dived into the backcourt. He could still see through this simple tactic of passing from the side, and he was well prepared to dive in and send the ball high and out of bounds.

I am truly yours, as expected of you, Suhara-san.

Fujii shook his head. Although he had a 100% chance of winning even if it went into overtime, Suhara just knew that he could score a goal with a lob into the blind corner, but he insisted on posing and volleying vigorously. Now he has become a sinner for the ages.

"I'll take the corner kick."

He took the initiative to pass the substituted football, but because the opponent's goalkeeper pushed the ball over the baseline, Hachioji High School had a valuable corner kick opportunity.

At this time, no one had time to laugh at Suhara. There was less than half a minute left in the game. If another corner kick attack failed, overtime would be certain.

Putting the football in the bottom corner, Fujii took a few steps back and closed his eyes. In his memory, it seemed that a player scored a goal directly from a corner kick.

Give it a try.

He came to his senses and started to move.

(End of chapter)