<h4>Chapter 364 Japan u17 vs Argentina u17 IX</h4>


    And so did most of the Argentinian yers. They were hungry for a goal even in the veryst second of the match.


    It being thest set-piece of the game, almost every single opposing yer was rushing upfield to be part of this set-piece. And, with all those yers flocking in, the penalty box of the Japanese side was getting rather cramped.


    As if asking for permission to leave his post while ncing at the sidelines, the keeper of the opposing team looked at Diego, their coach.


    The moment Diego locked eyes with the keeper of his team, he immediately understood his intentions.


    Even though Diego liked such an attitude where his yers would thirst for the goal until the final moment of the match, today they had already won the game, and permitting him to move upfield was akin to disrespecting the opposing team.


    Thus, for such reason, he shook his head as he prevented the keeper of his team from moving upfield to participate in this final set-piece.


    As Mateo prepared to take the set-piece, he raised his right hand to signal that he was now going to deliver the ball. And, the moment Mateo struck the ball, his eyes glowed with an eerie sharpness.


    Kicking the ball with the inside of his feet, he lobbed the ball inside the box where countless yers werepeting for the ball. Pushing each other, each tried their best to win the ball.


    But the one who managed to win was Shun. Flying above the heads of every yer present in the box, his hand made contact with the ball as he punched the ball away, preventing another catastrophe from taking ce.


    Beep!!


    And as the ball went out of bounds, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the game. With a humiliating score of three to nothing, the Japan u17 team lost the game.


    No sooner had the final whistle rung, than a lot of disappointed fans started to exit the stadium. At the same time, upon hearing the final whistle, fans of the opposing side started to celebrate as they congratted their yers for their deserved victory and cheered them for disying such an amazing performance.


    The scene waspletely different than thest time when they had lost the game against Senegal.


    While Argentinian yers exchanged friendly gestures with each other to celebrate their victory, Japanese yers started copsing on the field appearing utterly defeated.


    Their face was gloomy, their eyes listless, for a moment it appeared as if their vitality was sucked out of them. Yet, not many of them appeared devastated or frustrated by the loss. Instead, it appeared as if they were relieved that the game had finally ended.


    Unable to see such miserable state of his yers, Manager Haruki rolled his eyes away from them. But as he rolled his eyes away, his eyes fell on the scoresheet.


    Staring at the scoresheet made his heart pain. Frowning, he whispered, "Where did it all go wrong?"


    There was pain in his voice and guilt hidden beneath his warm pupils.


    Then, he again rolled his eyes away towards the substitution box. At this moment, Manager Haruki and Hiro''s eyes met. But none uttered anything. And, no sooner had he identally locked eyes with Hiro, than he immediately jolted his gaze away from him.


    He knew where he had gone wrong. It was after substituting Hiro.


    In that split second, though he didn''t hear anything from Manager Haruki, Hiro could tell from the looks on his face that he felt really bad about this loss. Probably, he might have even been ming himself.


    Despite that, Hiro couldn''t bring himself to console his coach either. He couldn''t even bring himself to be sad about this loss.


    Ghosting the game when his team needed him the most just because ofck of some skills, at this moment he felt as if he wasn''t worthy to lead this team. A true ace would show up when his team needs him the most.


    But, today in such an important match he couldn''t help his team when they needed him the most. Sure, he had done everything he could. Sure, he could me others since they couldn''t capitalize on the opportunity he had created.


    However, by doing so, he would be running away. Those were all reasonable reasons to console himself and retreat into hisfort zone. But, if he did that he wouldn''t grow.


    If only he didn''t have to lose two of his skills, the oue of the game might have been different.


    Such thoughts did cross his mind on multiple asions. And, even now when the game hade to an end, it was crossing his mind again.


    "No, I can''t sit here idly," he mumbled determinedly as he shook his head, "It''s my loss. I have been defeated fairly today"


    Mumbling such, he stood up. His legs were wrapped in bandages. But, he wasn''t feeling any physical pain.


    Though they had been defeated, there was still something he needed to do right now. The game might have ended but his responsibility as the captain of this team hadn''te to an end.


    Being aware of the stat of most of his teammates, he couldn''t me them for the poor performance they had disyed at the end of the game. And, neither could he me them for feeling relieved.


    Apart from a few, most of their mentality was rather weak. There were even some whose mentality was on the same level as Yutaka. But, even Yutaka had started to change.


    And, the most prominent of them was still Shun. After that qualifying tournament, he had been growing exponentially which had left him wondering about Shun''s true potential.


    Since he still couldn''t see the potential of other yers, there was no way for him to know about their potential. In fact, during his observation of their growth, he had also found something quite shocking.


    Talent could be acquired. Though, he wasn''t sure what triggered it.


    While heading towards the direction of his teammates, suddenly Hiro came to an abrupt pause as he came against the scar-faced boy maestro of the opposing team.