Just like any big event, it always started with something small. In this case, it was Andrey Lunin, the opponent’s goalkeeper, who tried to play a long ball from his own territory. He did it quite hastily under Kawabe’s pressure, not even looking at his target at all.
BAM!
The long ball was not good. In fact, it flew so far from the closest players on Japan’s backline, going to the half-space area in the penalty box. While Supriaha tried to chase from behind, Ayumu Seko also put his body in line, leading one step faster to get the ball first.
The defender didn’t even find any difficulty here, just making sure that Supriaha would not sneak past him. He also kept his eyes on the ball, calculating where it would land. Once the ball fell, though, he glanced at Zion, finding the boy was ready to receive a back pass.
’Well, this is yours, Big Zee.’
Thud!
Ayumu Seko passed the ball shortly, letting the goalkeeper handle it.
However, that was when disaster struck.
Ayumu Seko used his non-dominant foot to pass back, making it a little bit short and forcing Zion to come forward. It was still okay, though, since this was still within the goalkeeper’s range. Just two steps forward, and he would be able to get the ball.
However, at the most important moment, Zion slipped.
No one knew what happened, whether something was wrong with his studs or he took a wrong step and got caught off guard, but one thing was sure here. Just two steps away from the ball, Zion slipped, and somehow, Supriaha managed to sneak in between the goalkeeper and Ayumu Seko.
He just intended to put pressure on Zion, wanting to get the ball back to Ukraine. The striker didn’t expect to get such an opportunity out of nowhere like this. Hell, he hadn’t had any chance to think about it, for God’s sake!
However, his instinct as a striker flared up in that moment. No thought was made in this moment, just a pure beastly instinct he honed for so many years after being a striker. The boy got the ball, shifted it to the left side for a moment to avoid Zion’s desperate attempt, and put it on the back of the net with a gentle push.
Thud!
"OH! A GOAL?!"
"Wait, what happened?!"
"That goalkeeper made a mistake! Damn!"
Even the supporters themselves were still confused, as everything happened too fast. However, Supriaha had already blitzed his way, running to the bench and hugging all the players there to celebrate the goal.
"FUCK! COME ON, UKRAINE!"
"WE ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE CHAMPION!"
"YES! YES! UKRAINE! UKRAINE! UKRAINE!"
The stands where all the Ukraine supporters watched the game went berserk immediately, with most of them having already taken their tops off and waving them like a flag. Cheers and laughter echoed, especially when the players also waved at them excitedly as if asking them to get louder.
After being down by an early goal from Japan at the beginning of the game, overtaking the score with only 30 minutes left for the opponent to fight back was definitely something to celebrate for here.
Meanwhile, on Japan’s side, the atmosphere was grim. The temperature dropped so low that the players were gathering around Zion, whose legs gave out beneath him, as his butt fell on the ground. Everyone was still in confusion and disbelief until they saw what made Zion slip in that moment.
"The ground in this spot sinks a little bit," Ito explained with an ashen expression. He tried to use his foot to put more sand, grass, grit, and whatever things around to fill up that sinking spot. "It is probably due to that number 15 kicking the grass in frustration before, and no one noticed it until Zee stumbled upon this. We are so unlucky..."
Even though the sinking ground was created by the opponent’s player, no one really thought this was some sort of conspiracy or a deliberate tactic from Ukraine’s side. No, it was just pure misfortune for Zion, as out of the big space in the penalty box, he had to step into that landmine in the most crucial situation.
Still, the explanation didn’t make them feel better. If anything, this made them feel more frustrated, since the two goals that Ukraine scored so far were cheap ones. The first came from the miscoordination between Miki Yamane and Zion, and the second one came from Zion, who got unlucky in his step.
"Fuck, this is a fucking joke!" Kawabe growled in frustration, wanting to kick the grass once again. It took a glare from Ito to stop him, as the captain had just fixed that spot. "I mean, are we really going to lose by two ridiculous goals like this?! Are you fucking kidding me?! We would be a laughing stock for this crumble!"
Well, he focused on the wrong thing, but Kawabe was right in this regard. If the game ended with this score, all the media outside would mock them for the greatest crumble in sports history, throwing away a lead with two ’ridiculous’ goals from the opponent.
Unfortunately, those two goals were valid, so there was nothing they could do about it right now.
Besides the goalkeeper, Ayumu Seko was also the one who felt the pain the most. He was the one who passed the ball back, and now, his head was haunted with so many ’what-if’ scenarios.
’I didn’t need to pass it back, right? If only I cleared the ball as far away as possible, the result would be different. No, even if I pass it back, if only I could be more accurate... Damn! This is my fucking fault!’ The boy clenched his fists so hard that they turned red in a second.
"Okay, shit, this is enough!" Morita finally stepped up, having had enough of this depressing atmosphere. Even though the captain armband was on Ito, that didn’t mean his words lost authority. "There are still 30 minutes to go, so we haven’t lost anything yet! We just need to chase the score again, no big deal! Don’t you guys remember our game against Senegal? If we could do it once in a worse situation, we can do it the second time today! Come on!"