The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 88: A Quick Counter Attack! Can They Finally Score?!
"Listen, Hiroshi-kun. Later, I need you to drop a little bit deeper to get the ball first. Don’t wait in the middle, pick it up from behind."
"Um?" Hiroshi was taken aback slightly when he heard the instruction. "Would that mean the start of our attack will be a few seconds late?" He frowned. The others also looked at Kumiko questioningly.
It was in the middle of the huddle during the half break, and Kumiko laid the ground for the team’s offense in the second half. Still, the instruction was quite strange, especially since the team itself needed to chase a goal after this.
"Well, you will not drop back for nothing. In fact, you will switch your position with Usami-kun." Kumiko explained. This time, everyone was surprised, but some of the smarter ones, like Takaaki, caught what the girl wanted to say here.
"You mean, switch Hiroshi to let him initiate the attack, use Usami as a wall, and force Hiroshi to run? Will it work?" The glasses boy asked skeptically.
"This is the best we can do. I mean, you have seen the pressure that their midfielders gave, and Usami-kun cannot handle it all, right? He hadn’t been able to send even a single pass across the center field in the first half, you know?" The girl sighed helplessly.
Usami himself felt his face flushed in embarrassment as he squeaked, "I am so sorry!"
"No, that is definitely not your fault. It is just that their midfielders’ quality is good." Kumiko shook her head firmly before the boy could fall into another round of depression.
"However, this is exactly why we have to do it." She continued. "With Hiroshi-kun dropping back, he could get the ball from the goalkeeper immediately, and then he could set up an attack based on the current situation on the pitch. The only thing that has changed for him is that he has to cover more ground, so here is the question. Hiroshi-kun, are you ready to sweat a little bit more?"
Well, it was a far-fetched question. Based on the explanation, Hiroshi knew that he would sweat not just a little bit, but a lot more than in the first half. However, this was definitely better than staying passive on the front, just waiting and wandering aimlessly with no hope of getting the ball.
So, with a firm nod, he answered, "Sure!"
-0-
’Yeah, Shishida-senpai is right. I need to drop back to get a chance like this!’
Hiroshi grinned in exhilaration as he dribbled the ball forward at full speed. His head rose a little bit to glance at his surroundings, and when he found that no one was close enough to him, the boy sped up more.
"SHIT! COVER THE MIDDLE!"
"Ayase, hold him back! Don’t foul him!"
"Come back quickly! Move your ass!"
Sappotani’s players really showed what it meant to be the best team in this prefecture. Their discipline kicked in, as so many players ran frantically to go back to defense, wanting to catch Hiroshi before the boy could do anything that could damage them.
Within a second, Hiroshi was sandwiched. It didn’t look that much, at first glance, but in front of the boy, he had to face two players who tried to slow him down, while behind him, Hiroshi was chased by four more players. This usually meant a dead-end in the attack, especially considering he was only there with Usami.
’Yeah, as expected from them.’ Hiroshi also thought as he caught some movements out of the corner of his eyes. ’However, you are naïve if you think this is enough to stop me!’
With a quick glance at Usami, a connection was formed between those two. They didn’t even need to communicate out loud, just using that split second when their eyes met to initiate a quick tactic.
Hiroshi passed the ball, catching the defender in front of him off guard, and without hesitation, he hit the accelerator once again, speeding up one more time to overtake the boy in front of him.
"FUCK!" Ayase, the team’s current defensive midfielder, cursed as he was blown away by Hiroshi’s speed.
True enough, after this, the ball was sent quite nicely to the space in front of the boy. Usami was good enough to deliver such a through pass, and now, Hiroshi was one step clear in front with all the Sappotani players behind him, while the opponent’s goalkeeper was also quite far to sweep the ball away.
’Yes, fuck! This is my chance!’
Hiroshi grinned, not expecting that a simple one-two scenario would be enough to give him such a situation where he ran freely without any defender in front of him. If things went well, he would’ve faced the opponent’s goalkeeper in the next three seconds, and getting a goal from this scenario would definitely be an easy job for the boy.
’Yes! Here I come!’
However, before he could get the ball, Hiroshi felt a hand pulling him slightly, and with him still at full speed, this slight disturbance was enough to make him lose balance, tripping him scarily, with the boy falling with his shoulder hitting the ground first.
Brugh!
"Ouch! Fuck!" Hiroshi cursed before getting up quickly, eyes wandering to search for the referee. "Sensei, red!" He waved his hand so animatedly, complaining with no reservation here.
This was followed by the other players from both teams, as they all tried to appeal their case right now.
"Sensei, he is the last man standing! It is a guaranteed red card!" Makino spoke so loudly while pointing at Ayase.
"No, Sensei! This is his first ever foul in this game! Please, be lenient and give him a yellow!" Rin Mito basically begged at this point.
Ayase himself, the culprit behind the foul, just stood silently with both hands on his hips and head bowed quite deeply. He knew that he was guilty, but the boy didn’t dare to think of the punishment here.
True enough, after pondering for a moment while also dissolving the crowd in front of him, the referee finally took out the card from his pocket, and the worst-case scenario for Sappotani High was finally on the pitch.
A red card.
