Chapter 362 Japan u17 vs Argentina u17 VII
At once, after that announcement regarding player change, the stadium became extremely noisy. Many fans looked in the direction of Manager Haruki with eyes full of disbelief while many shot furious gazes at him and appeared rather furious at his decision.
Hauling disappointed curses at him, they expressed their dissatisfaction. But, manager Haruki pretended to not hear them as he kept a poker face turning deaf air to the slanders hauled towards him. "Based on the reaction from the crowd, I don't think they fancied the decision of coaching staff of the team Japan," the Commentator expressed his opinion, "Just what is the coaching staff of Japan thinking to achieve by making such a big decision?"
Similar to the furious crowd, Hiro was in no better position himself. Slowly making his way towards the sidelines, he fixed his eyes on the coaches, demanding an answer. But, apart from a few coaches almost every single one of them ignored him.
Still, he was utterly helpless. Apart from getting annoyed, he could do nothing. The medics were still running some tests on him, applying muscle-soothing spray, and massaging his feet, treating him with a superficial injury that wasn't even present there. Well, at least he wasn't rushed to the hospital and was allowed to observe the game from the field. In the field, both Claudio and Mateo were positioning themselves behind the ball while their teammates were gathered in the penalty box. Though the ball was quite far away from the post, still it was in a rather suitable position for a skilled free-kick taker with enough power to convert that spot-kick into a goal.
And, Claudio whose shot carried a rather heavy impact was the perfect person to take this freekick. But, Mateo being there was rather questioning. For sure, since he didn't possess much firepower, he wouldn't be the one to take the free-kick. And, if he was going to take the free-kick why would Claudio be there? Was he there for simply deceiving the opposing players or was he present there to act as a decoy?
None could tell why he was there. Then as the referee blew his whistle, both of them started running almost at the same time. Mateo was the man leading the run-up while Claudio was following from behind, maintaining a close distance from Mateo. Almost everybody who had come up together to set a wall to stop this impending attack upon witnessing this was sure that Mateo would simply roll over, acting as a decoy. Thus, everybody braced themselves to face Claudio who was running behind Mateo. Maybe the reason why they were doing such a bizarre run-up was to hide Claudio the main man so that the opposing players wouldn't be aware of his intentions. Just then as Mateo got close to the ball, he did something totally unexpected of him that stunned the opposing players— he struck the ball. In a state of panic, players of Japan jumped uncoordinatedly as they tried to block the ball that was heading their way or that's what they thought. But the reality was totally different. Mateo wasn't planning on shooting from there all along. He was just present there to confuse the opposing players and create an opportunity for the man who was going to make use of his firepower. Mateo simply chipped the ball so that Claudio who was following him could execute a brilliant volley. Bam!!
Tilting his body to exert maximum power, Claudio struck the levitating ball and shot it towards the opposing goalpost.