Chapter 393 Knockouts V

Chapter 393 Knockouts V

Beep!!!

The referee sounded his whistle as he witnessed the fall of Hiro.

That whistle acted as a trigger as no sooner had it resounded in the stadium than a huge uproar took place in the stadium. Appearing rather disappointed and frustrated, people started complaining in large numbers. And, a commotion took place in the stadium.

Simon had badly crashed against Hiro. Though it wasn't his intention to crash, nonetheless the fact remained true that he had crashed against Hiro.

And, no matter how one looked at it, the fact remained undeniable that it was foul.

"Take your card out, ref..."

"Diving, it's diving, ref..."

Supporters of both sides stood firm beside their team as they tried to defend their players. Nobody was willing to back down. And, soon a heated debate took place in the stands.

Players of both teams rushed toward the scene, each appearing extremely riled up. The importance of this opportunity was written visibly on the faces of the Japanese players. While at the same time, the opposing players weren't willing to hand over a penalty either.

What's a keeper supposed to do midway? Magically change direction to avoid making contact with the attacker? A collision was bound to take place in a close clash between a keeper and an attacker. So what's the fuss about it?

Grabbing his ankles as if he had been hurt badly, Hiro remained immobile on the ground, moaning in pain, "Argh..., Argh..."

He could audibly hear the conflict taking place around him. Yet, he couldn't afford to turn his head or stop his cries. His acting had to remain flawless for it to convince the referee to search his pockets.

"Are they trying to injure our teammate?"

"They're playing aggressively, ref"

"How's that a foul?"

"His faking his injury ref"

"It's a dive ref"

'Should I stop pretending now?' he thought while still continuing his act.

The commotion around him wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. So, he was wondering when he could finally stop his act. After all, he wasn't a great actor to begin with. And, due to that, he feared getting found out if he continued this act incessantly.

Yutaka had remained by his side all along with his brows knitted into a frown. And, even he hadn't found out Hiro's acting.

Watching his friend writhing in agony, he was truly worried about him. And, the concern was evident on his darkened face. Literally, he was on the verge of tearing.

"Should we send our medical staff?" Manager Haruki asked, concernedly.

"Yes, let's send them. He really appears to be in quite a lot of pain"

Most of the coaching staff unanimously agreed with manager Haruki's suggestion. However, Kazan remained silent as usual.

After getting the approval of his coaching staff, Manager Haruki was about to send in the medical staff to treat Hiro. But, before he could speak, he was interrupted by Kazan, "No, let's wait..."

"But, why?" Manager Haruki couldn't help but feel perplexed by Kazan's disagreement.

Why would he want to risk the injury of such an important player? What if he's really injured?

"Don't you find it quite strange?" Kazan asked.

"What's so strange about it? What are you talking about?" Haruki couldn't understand the meaning behind his question.

"He had a lot of opportunities to score. But, why did he decide to close in?" Kazan reasoned.

Now that he mentioned about it, he couldn't help but wonder. Sure, the shooting angle was somewhat tight for him. But, why did he decide to close in? After all his long-range shoots were equally impressive.

Just when he was contemplating, he saw Hiro rising on the field. If he was really injured, he wouldn't have gotten up, would he?

For some reason, upon seeing him stand up, he couldn't help but smile, "Just from where did you learn such flawless acting?"

Then after everybody dispersed, Hiro stood before the ball, preparing to take the penalty.