Chapter 678: Debut worth remembering
Chapter 678: Debut worth remembering
Delicately trapping the ball in the bridge of his foot, Hiro struck the ball. The ball bounced fiercely and flung over him, making an arch over Hiro.
Yamada with his eyes widened followed the trajectory of the ball. He couldn't believe his eyes. Something that could only be seen in a fictional story, he was witnessing such an unbelievable skill taking place right before him.
Just how insane did one need to be to pull out such a skill in an actual game?
Even thinking about it was ridiculous. Yet here, Hiro was executing such an unbelievable play right before him.
Once again, he had faded into the shadow of Hiro's brilliance.
The ball fell right before Hiro after making an arch over him. Hiro's hazel eyes lit up with ominous sharpness as he locked his target.
At this moment, Hiro felt like the entire world had gone silent. He could even spot every detail of the falling ball. It was as if the world had slowed down for him.
Hiro was familiar with this feeling. Thus it didn't bug him much.
He was clear about what he had to do.
Glancing at the post, Hiro raised his other foot. The whole pressure shifted to the foot in the ground as he prepared to launch.
Slowly the ball descended and he connected perfectly. Upon striking, a distinct sound of leather colliding with something hard reverberated. Simultaneously, Hiro felt a soothing sensation emerging within him the moment he connected.
He wasn't strange to this feeling.
He occasionally felt this feeling every time he struck perfectly.
The ball glided to the post at a threatening pace evading the reach of the opposing defender standing in its way. The gap among them was narrow. But Hiro managed to send the ball between the gap.
Packed with immense power, the ball sailed unobstructed.
Lunin, the opposing goalkeeper stared at the ball with widened eyes. Panic was evident in his bulging eyes. He could instinctively sense the danger. Years of experience had taught him to detect a threatening shot from a blunder.
Taking a few steps, Lunin leaped toward the direction of the ball. To lessen the chances of scoring, he deliberately stepped forward to cut the trajectory of the ball midway. If he didn't cut its trajectory, he could tell that he wouldn't be able to save it.
Thousands of eyes converged on him at this moment. The spectators watched this scene holding their breath. Supporters of both teams appeared anxious and nobody was spared.
With his arms stretched, Lunin made a desperate attempt to stop the ball.
However, even with his arms stretched, the ball forced its way out of his palm. The ball grazed his gloves. Lunin felt the sheer power behind the ball firsthand.
Against Hiro's powerful volley, Lunin felt frail.
Even after attempting to stop the ball, he couldn't stop it.
Soon after the ball slipped past his fingers, he fell to the ground. Aware that he had failed to stop the ball, his expression appeared damp.
"Goal!"
He could audibly hear the excited roar of the crowd.
At this moment, the entire stadium was buzzing with excitement. The excited cheer of the Atletico supporters muffled the disappointed grunt of the Real fans.
Collecting himself, Lunin stared at his gloves. He could spot graze marks on his gloves. His gloves had become a little tattered from the earlier collision with the ball.
Then he slowly turned to look at Hiro who was being showered with praises. Hailed as a savior, Hiro was at the center of attention. The Atletico fans who appeared to be frantic were shouting at the top of their lungs, cheering on Hiro.
From all sides, he was cornered by his teammates.
With him scoring such a crucial goal, the atmosphere had changed. The previous gloom couldn't be spotted anywhere.
On the sideline, Simeone was rejoicing in this moment along with other members and the entire bench appeared riled up. Finally, after a long wait, they leveled the score. Just when it seemed as if they couldn't get back in the game, Hiro appeared before them with a glimmer of hope.
While everybody was celebrating, Federico, however, didn't appear excited.
His face seemed pale as if he had encountered something terrible. It had only been five minutes since he had stepped on the field and Hiro was already making an impact. If he continued like this, wouldn't his spot in the team be in jeopardy?
Federico could vividly feel himself getting pushed behind.
Yet still, he couldn't bring himself to even criticize. Even he couldn't help but admit that this goal was one of the most brilliant goals he had seen in his life.
If Hiro had scored a tap-in, perhaps he could have made an excuse. However, this goal was brilliant no matter where he looked at it. From every angle, this goal was one of the most brilliant ones he had ever witnessed.
"Just five minutes in his debut and he has already made an impact in the game. What an amazing way to announce his debut. Scoring a goal against the likes of Real Madrid, Hiro has made it clear that he is here to conquer Europe."
"It's a grand entrance for a grand individual!"
"Certainly, this goal will go out as a strong contender for Goal of the season."
The commentator was full of praise and he couldn't stop complimenting Hiro. Well, Hiro did score a goal against the mighty Real Madrid in his debut. So, the reaction of the commentator wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Even Yamada who had been beaten couldn't help but admire Hiro. With eyes full of admiration, he looked at Hiro who was being celebrated, "It's gonna be an interesting season, wouldn't it?"
Yamada could tell that the derby would get even tougher now that Hiro had joined the ranks. However, he didn't feel bothered by it. Rather he couldn't help but look forward to their
upcoming encounters.
"The words aren't wasted on you. No doubt, you'll be one of our nightmares in the coming days," Alonso revealed a self-depreciating smile as he stared at Hiro.Nôv(el)B\\jnn