3 Chapter 03 : VS Toho II - Take the Control of the Game
- Right before the second half kick-off -
Far on the supporter stand, A man with black glasses sits in the middle of the crowds, waiting for the second half to begin. He is Munemasa Katagiri, probably the most important person in Japanese football right now.
Munemasa Katagiri has a lot of experience in Japanese football. He is a former player for the Japanese National Team. He played for almost ten years, won the Asian Cup two times in 1992 and 2000, was part of the history when they went to the World Cup for the first time in their history in 1998, and led the team in 2002 when Japan was the host with the South Korean before he was forced to retire due to the ACL injury.
However, he couldn't go far away from the football world. In 2006, he created a football agency for Japanese players who want to play abroad. In ten years, his agency managed to send almost thirty Japanese players abroad and led them to successful careers, like Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda.
And because of his achievement, the Japanese Football Association (JFA) trusted him for the position of Japan's youth team, assisting the head coach of Japan U-17, Akira Nishino, to scout players for the World Cup U-17 in the next two months.
With all of his achievements, Katagiri is not a man who gets surprised easily by young talent. After all, it is easy for them to play one or two good games. Improving their performance is the most important thing for the young players.
That is why he is very impressed with Tsubasa Ozora who won the National Tournament back-to-back with the not very special Nankatsu team. He even believes that no one of the same age as Tsubasa in Japan could handle him right now and it is best if the Nankatsu's captain goes abroad and gains more experience.
However, he has a feeling that the young Musashi player with the number 24 will prove him wrong. He came from the bench together with their star player, Jun Misugi, right before the second half begin. It is the first time for Katagiri to see him play, as usual, only Misugi came from the bench in the second half.
Much to his surprise, the boy wears the captain ban that usually goes to Misugi, and he didn't see any ruckus from the other players. That means, all of them trusted this boy better than Misugi, and it definitely piques his interest.
And his interest rose astronomically when right after the kick-off, right after the boy had the ball, he shot it from his own area straight to Wakashimazu's net. If he had to guess, he shot it from almost 75 meters, and the ball didn't even lose its power before it slammed the net.
It suddenly reminds Katagiri of David Beckham's goal against Wimbledon in 1996. The boy did almost the same thing as the England prince, and he even had a similar celebration, spreading his arms to the supporter stands, as if he wanted to ask the supporter's approval.
Katagiri smirked.
'Well, this is interesting. Let's see what he can do next.'
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It is already thirty minutes since the second half begins, and Kojiro Hyuga didn't have a good time at all.
Even though he has already scored three goals in the first half, he couldn't stay calm as he knows Misugi would make it difficult for them to hold the lead. However, what he didn't count is the presence of player number 24, the glasses boy, Riku Takahashi.
The boy plays a unique role. When Musashi didn't have the ball, Riku will join the two center-backs and formed three center-backs formation, allowing the wing-back to pressure Toho's wing easier. However, when they have the ball, Riku will move forward to the midfield position, creating a link with Misugi who plays as the attacking midfielder, and become the first person to initiate the counterattack.
Hyuga had to admit that Riku Takahashi is a very talented player. In defense, he will always be one step forward, reading and intercepting almost all of the balls that come to Hyuga. He also has speed and strength that can be compared or even better than Hyuga.
Riku is also an observant player. Hyuga knows this right after their third confrontation when Riku for the third time forced him to move to the left side and use his weaker foot. Riku blatantly left those sides open for Hyuga to roam, just for the Musashi captain to chase him down and force him to give up the ball.
However, what irritates Hyuga the most is how Riku managed to defend without giving any fouls for Toho, just like a moment ago.
Hyuga managed to escape from Riku's defense and was three steps ahead of him. Sawada who saw his movement passes the ball through two midfielders and straight to Hyuga's right foot, his strongest foot. When he took a glance and saw no one blocking his path, he raised his right foot in an attempt to take a shoot.
However, he forgets about Riku's presence. Without anyone noticing, Musashi's new captain sprinted from behind with an unbelievable speed and tackled the ball from behind, causing Hyuga to fall from an unbalanced form.
"PENALTY!!"
Hyuga shouted right after he fell down, raising his hand and asking for a penalty. However, the referee shook his head, signaling that it was the ball that Riku tackled before.
Hyuga is fuming. It is the fourth confrontation between him and Riku that ended up with no foul. But he didn't have any time to think about it as Riku has already stood on the ground and chased for the ball. And the moment he got the ball, he slammed it directly toward the left flank area where Minoru is running, followed by Toho's wingback, Hiroshi Imai.
"Nice pass, Captain!"
"Don't think you can get away from me easily!"
Imai tried to disturb Minoru's run by pressuring the winger shoulder by shoulder. However, Minoru showed his experience by being able to keep his calm even when he is under pressure. And when the ball lands on the ground, instead of controlling it, he sends the ball back to the middle, confusing Imai for a second.
'What is he trying to do?'
And a second later, he knows the answer to his question as he saw Misugi charge in at his full speed, threatening Toho's defense.
"It is Misugi!"
"Stop him!"
"Close the distance!"
Both Toho center-backs, Kiyoshi Furuta and Tsuneo Takashima run at the same time, trying to stop Misugi from getting the ball. However, Misugi showed his brilliant vision and incredible technique by sending the ball to the right flank without even controlling it first, finding Shinji who is running like a horse without anyone to stop him.
"REFEREE! OFFSIDE!"
Both Furuta and Takashima raised their hands, asking for the offside to the referee. However, seeing the assistant referee didn't raise the flag on the sideline, they know they fucked up.
"Shit!"
"Wakashimazu-san!"
Because of the high-line defense they demonstrated before, their right wing-back, Katsuji Kawabe is five steps behind Shinji right now, and nobody but Wakashimazu could stop him right now.
And just like everyone expects from a sweeper goalkeeper like Wakashimazu, the long-haired goalkeeper didn't hesitate for a second before he charged forward in Shinji's direction, trying to stop Shinji from shooting the ball.
"I will stop you now!"
Shinji who is still three steps behind the ball is starting to panic when he sees Wakashimazu running in his direction. So, right after the ball was in front of him, he kicked it as strong as possible, hoping it would find the net miraculously.
But the moment he shot the ball, Wakashimazu showed his incredible reflex by extending his right arm upward, punching it to change its direction. And a second later,
*Clank!*
It hit the crossbar! A corner kick for Musashi!
There is silence for a moment in the stadium before all the fans in the audience as they just saw the amazing counterattack from Musashi.
"OOOH!"
"A Crossbar!"
"Damn! Did you see that?!"
"Yeah! It only took four touches from four different players to create that much chaos!"
"The next attack would be more dangerous!"
"Come on, Musashi!"
In the middle of the crowd, the man with the dark glasses nodded his head repeatedly, satisfied with what he just saw earlier.
From Riku's solid tackle to Hyuga to his long pass to the left flank and back to the middle to Misugi just for him to send the ball toward the opposite direction and destroy Toho's defense, everything is orchestrated beautifully by Musashi players.
And Katagiri knows who is the mastermind behind their counterattack, the duo midfielder who just comes from the bench, Misugi and Riku.
'Their trust in the glasses boy and Misugi-kun is really baffling me. I cannot imagine how those two wingers started running even before the ball went in their direction. That play alone tells me this is not the first time they play with the glasses boy. I need to investigate this later.'
A moment later, six players from Musashi are already gathered in Toho's penalty box, ready for the corner kick from Misugi. However, Riku who stood up the most in the last play is not there. Instead, he is standing outside the box on the opposite side of the corner, a strange position in the corner kick.
All Toho players tried to ignore him, justifying his position as he would try to stop the counterattack if the corner kick failed. However, they all are proven wrong as when Misugi kicked the ball, its route was a bit far from the penalty box, and it went straight to Riku's direction on the opposite wing side.
"SOMEONE, STOP HIM!"
Hyuga shouted, ordering anyone who was near Riku to get the ball first. However, Riku did what they all didn't expect. Instead of controlling the ball, he slammed it with a first-time volley kick, and it created a beautiful curve before the ball slammed into the net without Wakashimazu able to stop it.
*SLAM!*
All the players in the penalty box snapped their heads from the ball to Riku several times, their mouths gaping wide in shock. And yet, all Riku did is clenched his fist in the air, roaring in celebration.
"COME ON!!!"
Musashi Middle School 2 – 3 Toho Academy
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Author note :
Riku's goal is inspired by Phillipe Mexes's direct volley when he played for AC Milan. If you are curious enough, just search for it in Youtube. Thank you! :)
Zeta Faes
