Ayumu Seko didn’t really do anything much here. The boy just made some small movements, like slapping the opponent’s elbow lightly, pushing his back, fighting knee to knee, and probably using his shoulder to put more force here. It might sound crazy, but he did everything so carefully, not putting too much strength so that the opponent wouldn’t fall or play any trick back against him.
As a result, Dryshliuk got so annoyed that he swung his long arm to the back to get rid of the buzzing fly around him, and Ayumu Seko used that timing to not only fall, but also drag the boy in front of him to the ground.
"ARGH!" Ayumu Seko groaned while also covering his nose dramatically. "Ref! He hit my nose!" He complained. Indeed, his nose was so red from getting slapped quite violently, and the most impressive thing was that it was genuine. The boy didn’t fake the pain at all here.
The referee also narrowed his eyes at Dryshliuk before giving a clear warning. "I get that you want to win the ball, but don’t use any big movement like that. This is your first warning, but if you use your hand to get in someone’s face again, I will not hesitate to give you a yellow card."
"Wait, what?!" The Ukrainian striker was so stunned that he didn’t have any time to complain. However, everything was so ridiculous here. He was the one who got bullied, and yet, he was also the one who got warned for excessive play?
He was so dumbfounded and couldn’t help but turn around, and when the boy saw the grin on Ayumu Seko’s face even when Japan’s defender had his nose swollen a little bit, he couldn’t help but shudder at that moment.
’Damn! He gets me to the bait he threw! I am such an idiot!’
Yeah, it didn’t take Einstein’s brain to help him figure out what Ayumu Seko wanted to do. Dryshliuk was so sure that right after this, he would face the same kind of harassment in every aerial duel, as the opponent would try to make sure that his team would change the scheme and avoid the aerial duel again.
The boy was also confused here. He didn’t expect that in Team Japan, which was infamous for their clean playing style, there would be a little devil like Ayumu Seko slipping inside. The team didn’t even have any intelligence about him, since Ayumu Seko himself had only played in the game against Senegal.
Still, that didn’t mean he would back down easily in this contest.
’Tch! If you think this is enough, you are so naïve!’ The boy sneered. ’Let’s see how long you can do this, Bastard!’
Then, in the next few minutes, the game turned into a cat-and-dog fight between Ayumu Seko and Dryshliuk. The former would use all of the small movements in his arsenal to annoy his opponent secretly, while the latter would also try to get closer to the referee when the incident happened, wanting to expose Ayumu Seko’s double-facedness in front of that man himself.
Somehow, this also made the game stagnant, as whenever they were in action, the referee had to blow the whistle here. However, in the end, Dryshliuk had to swallow the bitter pill, as he was the one who was punished with the yellow card first.
"Oh, come on!" He complained with his thick accent. "He really fools you with his innocent look! He is the devil himself! Look, he even tries to elbow my waist before!" He rolled his shirt up just to show the referee the trace of Ayumu Seko’s crime.
Unfortunately, his strong body somehow worked against him right now, as Ayumu Seko couldn’t even scratch the boy’s skin at all. No, everything was perfect, and the referee just shook his head, pointing at Ukraine’s side once again to signal that it was Japan’s ball.
"Come on, Kyrylo, don’t be too hasty." Supriaha patted him on his back. "If you are getting locked like this, try to leave the attack on me."
Dryshliuk could only sigh helplessly, knowing that indeed, he had no choice here. If he always got entangled with Ayumu Seko, he would waste more time, and anything could happen at the end of the game later.
’Tch! Fine, you win right now!’ He growled at Ayumu Seko annoyedly. ’Still, don’t think you can take a relief sigh! I will haunt you back later, I promise!’ He vowed inwardly.
Japan also didn’t stay idle. With Mamoru dropping back, Morita had more room to breathe in the midfield, and their combination skill also started creating chaos on the opponent’s side.
Hell, at some point, they did a quick one-two pass play three times in one sequence, emulating the scene from the infamous anime Captain Tsubasa where Tsubasa and Misaki got through the opponent’s side with this kind of a combination play.
It was just unfortunate that reality was not like an anime, and while the one-two pass might work to get through one or two defenders, Mamoru suffered from a harsh body charge before receiving another pass from Morita, breaking their combination instantly.
Fifteen minutes had passed since the start of the second half, and while some attacks managed to threaten the opponent, both sides were still stuck, not being able to put the ball on the back of the net.
Kageyama-sensei also started glancing at the bench, racking his brain on what kind of change he would need to make.
’Miyashiro hasn’t done well in this game, and putting Tagawa is essential to combat the opponent’s physicality on the front line. If I need to push further, taking off Saito could also be an option here. We might lose the flexibility in midfield, but Naoya can step up to take care of it. However, who else should I need to bring?’
However, before he could make any decision, something big suddenly happened on the pitch, one that made him widen his eyes in disbelief.
’Wait, what the fuck is going on here?!’