"FOUL!"
"SENSEI, THAT’S A FUCKING RED!"
As everyone could expect, the moment Yuwell fell straight in front of the box, commotion erupted instantly on the pitch. All the players with the sky-blue jersey swarmed the referee immediately, not even caring that their behavior could be considered rude here.
Meanwhile, the bigger crowd on the stand also took action straight away. Boos coming all over the place, all directed at the boy who had just committed a heinous crime. Or... At least, in their eyes.
"Come on! Send that bastard off!"
"Just look at his face! He should be a former thug, right?! He doesn’t belong in the pitch!"
"Yeah, this is not a place a delinquent could do anything he wants! Send that boy off!"
Sano himself just stayed quiet on the back as he got protected by his other teammates. The boy himself had already accepted his fate, waiting for the referee to make a final judgement. It was as if the noises from the crowd were completely blocked from his ears; none of them was strong enough to get through his head.
On the stand, the four retired members of the team also shook their heads, somehow regretting the decision that the boy made.
"He panicked at the last second." Makino let out a helpless sigh. "He has done a great job, but somehow, Sano forgot that behind him, there is still Ishinori becoming his shadow. He thought that he was the last person before the goalkeeper, and he took that reckless action in a heartbeat. That was just a pure instinct from a defender, nothing that could be blamed on him."
"Still, getting a red card here would hurt the team a lot, you know?" Higo couldn’t help but feel worried. "Not only do we not have any backup center back, but this is still the 10th minute of the game. Defending against Sapporo Otani for 80 full minutes with one less player is the definition of a nightmare, I tell you what."
"Now, everything depends on the referee’s decision here." Kuroki bit his lips nervously, watching the referee discussing this matter with the linesman on the edge of the pitch. "Hopefully, they would show some leniency toward us."
Well, no one knew in which temple Kuroki prayed this morning, but somehow, his hope came true. In the end, the referee just showed a yellow card, arguing that Sano was not the last person in Hakodate Nishi’s defense.
Seeing that it was only yellow, the boy himself couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. Even though he was ready for the worst punishment, it would be a lie if Sano said that he was willing to be sent out straight away, especially since the game had just started today.
Now that he was still on the pitch, he would be able to do more for the team, which was enough to make the boy feel satisfied here.
’Yeah, at least, I can still contribute to the team...’ He thought inwardly.
Still, this made him a glaring weakness on the back, especially since he was facing Yuwell Carlson directly. The yellow card would definitely restrain his movement, and he had to be careful not to get the second yellow card later.
Unfortunately, Sapporo Otani also noticed this, and while they were not satisfied with the final decision, at least they had one big target they had to try killing for the rest of the game.
"Come on! Free kick!"
"Don’t leave any space behind! Just keep it tight!"
"Jun-senpai, I can still see the gap! Move closer to Kenji!"
Now, it was a free kick just one meter away from the box. The danger was still looming on Hakodate Nishi’s territory, and this free kick had a high percentage of creating trouble in their defense.
Right now, Sasuke Saito, the team’s goalkeeper, was still setting up the wall. In front of the ball, two players were ready. One with the jersey number 8, Kenji Harada, and the other was Yuwell Carlson himself. They seemed to discuss something, sometimes even glancing at the goal itself.
"Man, this is bad..." Higo muttered nervously, starting to get on edge. "A free kick this close, Yuwell could’ve just whacked it as powerfully as possible, and it would be a nightmare for the goalkeeper to stop it. Let’s just hope that Sasuke is a tough boy when facing this situation..."
Well, the scheme was exactly the same as Higo imagined. The moment the referee blew the whistle, Kenji Harada just rolled the ball lightly to get Yuwell a better angle, and before anyone could cover the space, the Swedish striker had already slammed the ball as hard as possible.
BAM!
Sasuke Saito couldn’t even try to stop it. He just froze on the spot, watching how the ball pierced the net so easily. Hell, the boy had a cold sweat right now, somehow believing that if he tried to touch it, he would get killed instantly.
In the end, he only had one reaction here.
’What the hell...’
And right after that, the referee blew the whistle, signalling that the goal was valid for Sapporo Otani.
"OH, YEAH!"
"COME ON!"
Yuwell ran toward the stand immediately, both arms spread apart as if he was trying to embrace the cheers. The others followed behind, jumping all over their captain enthusiastically. Basking under the cheers from the supporters, the tension they had on their shoulders since conceding a goal earlier finally ebbed away, and now, they could finally play a little bit more relaxed.
Of course, the same couldn’t be said for the Hakodate Nishi side. Sano just stood silently, probably wondering if he even made the right decision earlier. Sasuke Saito also fell on the ground, covering his face in shame for not being able to react.
In the end, it had to be the captain who stepped forward, as Hiroshi suddenly clapped as loudly as possible.
"Come on! Is this the attitude we should have?!" He roared. "It is just one goal, and the score is just back to tie again! We have already faced so much worse in the past; this is still not enough to bring us down! Come on, give me a better attitude here!"