Somehow, Oleksiy Khakhlvoy managed to sneak into the penalty box to receive the cutback. It was a perfect scenario for them to score the goal, and honestly, the number 8 boy only needed to push the ball to the far post, especially considering Zion didn’t have the focus on him right now.
However, the moment he swung his leg...
BAM!
Naoya launched a sliding tackle straight in front of him, and while they didn’t clash against each other directly, the shot was still blocked here, flying high still in the penalty box.
"WHAT?!" The Ukrainian midfielder widened his eyes in shock. He didn’t know that he was already on Kumiko’s radar, and there was no way he would be able to launch his favorite long shot easily.
However, that didn’t mean the threat was over. No, the ball was still flying inside the penalty box, and both Supriaha and Dryshliuk were waiting for its fall. They occupied a great position there, and it would be impossible for either Ito or Makino to kick them out without committing a foul.
"Be careful, Makino! Don’t rush things up!" Ito shouted while still having his eyes in the air, a bead of sweat rolling on his forehead as he was still fighting against Dryshliuk.
Ironically, he was the one who reminded his teammate, but it was also Ito who lost the duel here.
BAM!
Once again, he was suppressed in the aerial duel, and this time, the boy didn’t have any time to play a trick. Dryshliuk managed to head the ball, and while it was still not straight to the goal, he aimed at the six-yard box, the most crowded place in this situation. There, Ukraine had Supriaha and Tsitaishvili fighting for the rebound against the other Japan defenders.
Zion also made a move, eyeing the ball in the air while also calculating everything inside his head. However, the moment he jumped to pluck the ball there...
Brugh!
The boy felt like he had just met a brick wall, getting thrown by the hard collision. He still didn’t know what was going on, but the next thing the goalkeeper saw was that Tsitaishvili didn’t even have any difficulty getting the ball without him being on guard, and the Ukrainian winger just put it on the back of the net casually.
Thud!
"OH! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
"Damn! The ball is in! The ball is in!"
"No, Japan’s goalkeeper is falling! It should be a foul!"
For a moment, debate fell among the people in the crowd, wondering whether it was a goal or not. They couldn’t see everything clearly, though, just finding a second ago that the ball crossed the line of Japan’s goal. With this as their only information, they switched their attention to the referee, wondering what kind of decision the man would make.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the USA referee didn’t even blink. He blew the whistle while pointing at the center line, indicating that the goal was valid. Seeing this, Zion was the first to get up, complaining at the referee immediately.
"No, couldn’t you see how they were pushing me inside the six-yard box? That’s my territory, I should be protected there!" The boy rushed toward the referee, ignoring Ukraine’s players who were celebrating wildly on the sideline.
Indeed, the six-yard box was always the goalkeeper’s area. No matter how light the touch was, as long as a contact was made there, the referee would always lean toward the goalkeeper’s side. However, it wasn’t the case this time, since the referee just pointed at the spot where Zion fell earlier. Or... To be more exact, he pointed at the culprit who made the boy fall in that incident.
"Just look behind you." He said shortly.
Zion was confused for a second, just to have his face turn pale at the boy who was still on the ground. It was none other than Miki Yamane himself, as the boy still covered his face in shame while also lying on the ground.
At that moment, the scene was recreated inside his head, as realization finally hit him hard.
’So, that means I paid all my attention to the ball, and Yamane-san is also doing the same. In the end, we both didn’t notice each other’s presence, colliding with each other, and gave that number 7 an easy way to tie the game. Damn, it! This is so fucking ridiculous!’
At this point, everyone from Team Japan seemed to figure out what was going on here, and the complaints they had in their throat could only be swallowed back inside. They even felt their knees buckle one by one, getting so frustrated that the lead they earned so hard would be tied with such a sloppy goal like this.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it. The boys just watched all the Ukrainian players hugging each other on the bench, and in the end, it was Makino who came to Miki Yamane to console the boy.
"Come on, Yamane-san, this is not the end of the world. You have done so much for our team; no one will blame you for this tiny mistake." He said, offering a hand to help the boy get up from the ground.
"Yes, Yamane! So, what if we concede a goal? This is not the first time in this tournament, right? At worst, Miyashiro and the others just need to work harder!" This time, Ito joined Makino, forcing Yamane to get up from the ground. "Come on! Show some character!"
Miki Yamane nodded quietly, but it was clear that the goal affected his mood right now. It wasn’t like this was purely his mistake. Hell, if anything, half the blame lay on Zion as well, as the boy also didn’t pay attention to his position. Still, that didn’t mean he could forgive himself immediately for that goal.
"Come on, Yamane-san, don’t think too much about it!" Makino patted the boy’s back firmly. "We still have a lot of time here, so let’s make sure that we don’t show any leaks again after this!"