Novel Full Chapter 404 He’s playing!
Chapter 404 He’s playing!
?”Isn’t that Hiro?”
“Where?”
Hiro’s entrance immediately caused an uproar in the stadium. Many looked at him with awe and surprise as he emerged out of the tunnel alongside the reserve players.
Kota’s frown lifted upon seeing Hiro. Replacing the previous frown, an ecstatic smile blossomed on his face.
He excitedly waved his hand as he cheered at the top of his voice, trying his hardest to get Hiro’s attention, “Big brother Hiro, best of luck”
At this moment, Hiro turned to look in his direction. Smiling, he waved back his hand as he responded to his cheers.
This gesture of Hiro made him even more ecstatic. His words reached him and he couldn’t be more happy about it.
It’s not that Hiro could hear him. But it was more like Hiro knew exactly where he’d be sitting. So, he addressed him based on the location of his seat, since originally it was him who had sent him the tickets.
“Hmph…, I told you all,” sweeping his gaze around him, Kota mumbled proudly.
At this moment the same people who until a moment ago were criticizing him wandered their eyes as they tried to avoid locking eyes with him.
They were guilty of their behavior and comments. And, he could see it vividly in their gestures. But he didn’t need their apology. Their guilt was enough to satiate him.
As much as it caused an uproar in the stadium, it created even more of an uproar outside the stadium. Even Hiro’s teammates weren’t aware of it let alone the general public.
“He’s making his debut today?”
“I thought that he was going outside”
“Wasn’t anybody aware of it?”
Players of the youth team discussed among themselves as they noticed the figure of Hiro on the projector screen. Right now all of them were gathered together to watch the match. There were quite a lot of new faces.
After that World Cup campaign, he helped his team to two consecutive league titles. While also managing to bag the title of the most valuable player of the tournament and top scorer of the tournament for both those years.
He had been nothing but sensational since his debut. And, he definitely left his mark on the league by bagging three consecutive league titles along with three consecutive player of the tournament and top scorer of the tournament.
Shun had already made his debut but he was out on a loan. And, among the previous prospects with whom he had shared his moments in the youth league, only two were remaining in the team. Others all had left the club to either advance in their career or the club had to let them go because their performance wasn’t satisfactory.
Surviving the ruthless selection of the fittest, Tatsuki Seko and Naoto Miyashiro managed to secure their spot in the team. Though Tatsuki had been poached by several other teams outside Japan, he rejected them all.
It’s not that he didn’t want to move overseas. But more like he was waiting for an offer from the top five leagues so he rejected them.
Mostly he had been approached by teams from the Scottish Premiership like Motherwell FC, Ross County FC, and teams from the Saudi league who offered him quite a lucrative salary.
“Seems like I’m no longer the star of the team,” Tatsuki cracked a joke while moving forward.
Though he was a starter for the team, he wasn’t starting today. Having played six matches without any rest, it was bound to happen sooner or later. And, right now he was accompanying Hiro to the reserve box.
“Says the one who’s the top scorer of the team,” Hiro responded sarcastically while still waving his hand at the stand.
Bagging 11 goals in 7 matches, right now he was the top scorer of their team and was only a goal behind the top scorer of the league. Their position in the league however wasn’t impressive as currently they were sitting in 7th position.
Losing one, drawing three, and winning three, their form wasn’t very impressive. Not to mention the injury of their Brazilian playmaker Ericson. His injury had put them in an even tighter spot.
And, Hiro was expected to fill in his shoes.
“So, he’s that fanboy whom he talked about previously?” looking in Kota’s direction, Hiro’s mother remarked to her husband who right now was seated by her side.
“Yeah, seems so.”
Obviously, he had invited his parents.
Then the two of them sat beside each other as they reached the substitution box. Aside from him and Naoto, he hardly knew anyone else on the team.
The crowd was still as energetic and excited as ever. Eventually, as the match kicked start, people focused their attention on the match and forgot about him. But occasionally, they’d still glance at the substitution box to see if he was coming in.
They just couldn’t hold their excitement of watching him play. Such was the anticipation in the stand today.
They were playing against Gamba Osaka who were a rather formidable team. Currently placed at the second place, they had not lost a single game yet. And, it didn’t seem like they were going to lose this game as well.
Formidable in both offense and defense, they were in charge of the game. Dominating the ball possession, they hardly made any mistakes.
Still, the stalemate continued despite their efforts to score.
As impressive as ever Naoto, made countless amazing saves to keep them in the game. But if it continued, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the opposing team scored a goal.
Even so, Naoto continued to make countless impressive saves.
But despite his best efforts to keep them in the game, he still ended up conceding a goal in the 42nd minute of the match. Then again, before he could even compose himself, he conceded yet another goal just minutes before the end of the first half.
Just like this, the first half ended up with them tailing behind the opposing team by 2 goals.