Chapter 11: The Three Lions
Asuto sprinted while dribbling with the ball, jumping over a sliding tackle from Midorikawa then a shoulder charge from Sakuraba.
"Hiura!" Asuto called as he made a long pass to his right side, Hiura trapped the ball with his chest and started running near the sideline, while Asuto dashed towards the goal.
Asuto raised his hand, making a signal for Hiura to make a cross, and the later did so, Asuto turned and jumped, then did an Overhead kick.
Norika lunged at the direction of the shoot and dived, catching the ball solidly with both hands, before standing up.
"Nice Catch, Norika!" complimented Asuto as he stood up from the ground, cleaning a bit of dust.
Norika beamed in response and made a "V" sign with her index and middle fingers.
Then the Inazuma Japan members were alerted by a whistle sound coming from the bench, "Alright, time's up." Nikaidou called, gesturing for his team to gather up.
"That's enough for today, after you hit the showers, we have a meeting to discuss our first opponent, Germany." Nikaidou stated, the players just nodded, before being dismissed by the coach.
XxX
"Asuto, what's wrong ?" Mansaku's question alerted Asuto who was deep in thoughts as they were heading to the showers.
"You've been zoning out a lot recently." stated Hiura as they continued walking.
"It's nothing..." replied Asuto as he looked at the ground while walking, the FFI's main phase is beginning today and Japan's match is on the third day of the tournament and he didn't want his team to worry about him, he was the captain for god's sake, he was the one who was supposed to look after his team, not the other way around.
"If you say so." said Mansaku, not satisfied with the response but he didn't want to push it, Asuto would talk about it eventually but he needed space right now, Hiura was having the same thoughts as Mansaku.
"Your dad is alive, he is a pro football player." Yuriko's words repeated in her son's mind, why did she have to lie about it ? Why did she hide it from him until that time ? And why wasn't his dad there when his mother's death ? Many questions roamed in Asuto's mind, but no responses.
XxX
"You first opponent is Germany's time, The Blitz." Nikaidou begun the analyse with the team's name, you must know the first thing about your opponent after all.
Nikaidou then inserted a flash disk into the screen, it displayed an overall analyse on the team, with info like the captain, the coach, the most important players, the top scorer and the top assister...etc.
"So, they're an offensive team." Nosaka came to a conclusion, judging by their formation, and their many goals they score in a match.
"Yes, The Blitz keep the ball in their possession as much as they can, when they plan to attack, they use high speed passes between the three midfielders and the two wingers, which usually make the last pass for the striker, Maximilian." Nikaidou informed.
Nosaka nodded in response, trying to think of a counter plan.
"If so, then we shouldn't use any Liberos in the next match, we should play with three central defenders, It should be possible with Sakuraba-kun joining." Nosaka suggested.
Nikaidou nodded in agreement, "That's what I had in mind, I'll also use the newly arrived Midorikawa-kun with Ichihoshi as defensive midfielders."
"But coach," Sakanoue interrupted, "Isn't entering with new members a disadvantage for us ?"
"No, quite the opposite." Nikaidou retorted, "The opponents probably have no data on our new members, so starting with them is for the best."
Nikaidou then turned to look at the newest forwads, Kaname and Perseus, "That's why you two are going to start against Germany."
The two forwards in question looked startled, they weren't even in the first list which played the Asian Preliminaries, and now, they're going to be starters against one of the world's strongest team, Germany ? Surely, the coach isn't serious.
"We're counting on you, Kaname, Perseus!" said Asuto with a smile, it was all what the two needed to clear the confusion, it was true. They're going to start against Germany.
"Yes, Thank you very much!" Perseus was the one to reply.
Nikaidou nodded, "As for the three offensive midfielders, we'll play with two on the sides, and a game maker."
"And as a last note, Sakanoue, as you may already know, you can't play the next match because of your red card against Uzbekistan, and Nosaka, you'll enter in the match's second half because you recently recovered from an injury, understood ?"
Both boys nodded understandingly.
XxX
-17:30, London Stadium-
"Ladies and gentlemen, It's here! the Football Frontier International's opening match is here!" begun the commentator Brown.
"The host team, England will be represented by [The Three Lions] today against Argentina's team, [La Albiceleste]!" McBride stated.
The two teams' players entered the field in two lines, with the main referee in the front.
"Here are they! The Three Lions led by the captain and the goalkeeper, John Williams against La Albiceleste, led by the captain and the forward Leo Murillo!" exclaimed McBride.
Both national anthems were played, then the players did handshakes.
"Here's The Three Lions' formation!" said Brown.
1. John Williams (GK/Captain)
2. Steve Fletcher (CB/Vice Captain)
3. Aaryan Holmes (CB/Third Captain)
4. Regan Young (LB)
5. Edison Mason (RB)
6. Stefan Richards (DM)
7. Myles Reid (CM)
8. Austin Davidson (CM)
9. Felix Brooks (CF)
10. Steven Wright (AM)
11. Joey King (CF)
"Diamond 4-4-2 is a modern football formation focusing more defensively but also not forgetting the offense, with a good game maker like Steven Wright and two strikers of Felix Brooks and Joey King's quality, The Three Lions are guaranteed to score at least one goal per match, and with the three captains in the defense led by the main captain and the keeper John Williams, they finished many games without conceding a goal, It will be interesting how far will they go in this tournament on their country." commented McBride.
"Wise and logical analysis, Mr. McBride, and now we have La Albiceleste's formation with us!" said Brown.
1. Aquila Lopez (GK)
2. Ginebra Boni (CB)
3. Juantino Méndez (CB)
4. Bonifaco Mazzanti (DM)
5. Gonzalo Hernardez (CB)
6. Cristofer Napolitano (DM)
7. Gervasio Feimann (RM)
8. Sandro Rizzo (AM)
9. Miguel Acosta (CF)
10. Leo Murillo (CF/Captain)
11. Juan Domingo Juárez (LM)
"On the other hand, Argetina are the complete opposite of England," continued McBride, "They play the traditional and offensive South American football like Brazil, Uruguay and Chile, led by the captain Leo Murillo, It will be interesting to see how will they do against England's defence."
Both teams's players got in position, waiting for the referee's whistle to go.
"It will be England's kick-off" informed Brown, as Steven and Felix entered the center circle, the referee blew his whistle, and Steven passed for Felix.
Felix made a back pass for Joey, then England started circulating the ball slowly in their area, while Steven, Felix and Joey made their way for Argentina's zone, meanwhile, Argentina's two top forwards Leo and Miguel started putting pressure on England's defenders.
"That's right, come closer." thought England's captain John, as Leo and Miguel continued chasing the ball, which was currently in Aaryan's possession, who finally made a back pass for John, the keeper waited a bit until Leo and Miguel were close enough to him when he made a long pass for the front.
"A fine play by the captain John Williams!" complimented McBride, "He lured Argentina's forwards and midfielder then made the pass! A counter attack for England in the third minute, can they score ?"
Three players from [The Three Lions] led the counter attack against three defenders from [La Albiceleste, It was a good opportunity for the first goal.
The three English players scattered, in order to weaken the Argentinean defense, Steven who was dribbling continued in the center while the two forwards Joey and Felix took off for the sides, with Juantino and Ginebra following them, which left Argentina's last defender Gonazlo against England's game maker Steven alone.
"A golden chance for England! One-versus-one situation, If England scored from here it will make things much easier in the match!" Brown exclaimed in excitement.
Steven feinted for the right, Gonzalo followed him, so the British game maker tried a heel turn for the left but the Latino defender wasn't shaken and followed him.
"Tch, He's a tough one." thought Steven as he struggled to keep the ball against the perfect defense from his opponent.
XxX
"That defender is quite good." said Asuto from the crowd, sitting with the rest of Inazuma Japan's members.
"But that tactics from England, they didn't even use hissatsu tactics or a hissatsu technique and yet they reached Argentina's quickly." noted Nosaka, who was sitting next to Asuto.
XxX
Steven made a pass for the far left after he gave up on dribbling past Gonzalo, who seemed to have good agility despite his large build.
Felix rushed for the ball and picked it up, Ginebra still marking him, but he shaked him off with a "Flip Flap", which made him enter the penalty area.
But Felix panicked.
Gonzalo was standing between him and Steven.
"If I try to pass for Steven, he will interrupt it, If I try to shoot, he will block it, what's up with this aura ?"
Felix's hesitation allowed Ginebra to return in time and steal the ball then clear it.
"And it's cleared! Felix's hesitation costs [The Three Lions] a good scoring chance." said Brown.
Gervasio picks up the cleared ball and attacks on the right side, this time a chance for [La Albiceleste] to score, Regan made a sliding tackle but Gervasio passed for Sandro before that.
Sandro swinged his leg back, preparing to shoot on the first touch, but he hesitated when he felt the aura.
"If I shoot on the left, Steve will block it, If I try the right, Aaryan will block it, If go for the center, John will easily catch it, what do I do ?" Sandro panicked in his thoughts.
But before Sandro could make a decision, Stefan stole the ball with a sliding tackle, stopping Argentina's attack.
"Neither team is surrendering, this turned into a defensive match! what an unexpected development, Argentina's team is breaking the South American tradition and are playing defensively!"
"Defensively? Us ? Don't make me laugh." Leo spat in his thoughts as he rushed for Stefan who was getting up from the tackle, he caught up with him and stole the ball.
"Leo Murillo steals the ball back! can he break through England's defense ?"
Leo dribbled up with the ball, the defenders Steve and Aaryan seemed to stick with the keeper John, while the two side defenders were marking the other forwards.
"If you don't come, then I will!" shouted Leo as he sped up for the goal and entered the penalty area.
Leo swinged his arm on his left side, creating a round white energy zone around him, the ball begun to spin around and absorb the energy, Leo swinged his leg to shoot.
[Wind Cutter!]
"There is it! Leo Murillo's hissatsu, Wind Cutter!" exclaimed McBride.
Aaryan looked at Steve who nodded at him, Aaryan swinged his arms on his left side while Steve did on his right, the two gathered enough energy to summon a demonic gate.
[Hell Gate!]
The shoot collided with the demonic gate, its power reducing each second until the ball stopped spinning.
"T-They blocked it!" exclaimed Brown, "[The Three Lions]'s central defenders Aaryan and Steve successfully block [La Albiceleste]'s Leo Murillo's [Wind Cutter!]"
Aaryan made a long pass, then did a high five with Steve, celebrating their success, but the goalkeeper and captain John noticed something off.
Leo Murillo didn't look shocked, he kept a calm expression.
"But why ? We just blocked his hissatsu, does that mean he...?" John wondered in his thoughts.
Aaryan's long pass reached Austin, who passed for Myles, then passed to Steven, in a quick counter.
"It's the same situation as before! three against three, Felix and Joey separate for the sides followed by Ginebra and Juantino, which left Steven once again alone with Gonzalo!" exclaimed Brown.
"This time I won't run away!" The game maker exclaimed, speeding up for the penalty area.
[Echo Ball!]
Steven backflipped, causing a sound wave to envelope Gonzalo. The ball started bouncing around, creating screeching sounds inside the sound wave, distracting Gonzalo, causing Steven to dribble past him easily.
"H-He got past him! Steven is now free, can he score ?" Brown wondered in excitement.
Steven stomped his right foot, charging the ball with energy, which caused Argentina's keeper Aquila to rush for the ball, earning a smirk from Steven, who cancelled his hissatsu and dodged Aquila with the outside of his foot.
"It was just a feint...!" Aquila realized but too late, as Steven pushed the ball lightly enough to it to pass the goal line.
"G-GOAAAL! Ten minutes after the start, England's game maker Steven Wright dribbled past Gonzalo and the goalkeeper Aquila and scored the first goal! the first goal for Steven personally and England generally and for the tournament overall!"
The crowd's cheerings grew louder, celebrating the goal, while Steven celebrated with his teammates.
Leo Murillo looked at them from afar, then smirked. "You fools have no idea, I'll crush you."
XxX
"And the match's end, [The Three Lions] are forced with a draw against [La Albiceleste, 2-2!" stated Brown in surprise.
Leo Murillo's [Wind Cutter] was blocked in the beginning of the match, but he displayed a great performance after England's first goal from Steven, Leo broke [Hell's Gate] with his new hissatsu [Hurricane Cutter, which is an evolution of [Wind Cutter, after he broke [Hell's Gate] the shoot's path was redirected and took John off guarded and scored, making it 1-1 before the first half's end.
In the second half, Argentina were more fierce and attacking which caused an opening between Aaryan and Steve and Leo used his [Hurricane Cutter] which broke through John Williams's hissatsu, [Crimson Sphere, so the rest of the half England's defenders marked Leo tightly and prevented him from using it agai while John caught all the other members's shoots.
In the last moments of the match, England did a counter attack and Steve made a lob pass for Felix that went above Gonzalo and made Felix alone with the keeper, and he took Aquila by surprise by using [Blue Curve] which had an irregular path and scored, making the final score 2-2.
XxX
-23:00, A Field Near Japan's Dormitory-
Haizaki entered the field holding a ball, with a determined look on his face. late at the night, he was only thinking about one thing.
"I must come up with a stronger hissatsu shoot."
You might wonder why would Haizaki need a new hissatsu shoot when he already have three, right ?
Overhead Penguin is good, but just on Japan's level, he tried it against Red Bison's ace striker Baek Shi-Woo when they first met outside the Football Association's Headquarters, and the Korean striker matched its power without breaking a sweat, that duel repeated in Haizaki's mind.
Haizaki and Baeknjumped as soon as Asuto kicked the ball up, Haizaki noticed that Baek's leg is already engulfed with flames, he must've prepared his hissatsu quite early, both boys turned to do an overhead kick.
"Overhead Penguin!" Haizaki called his hissatsu's name as he struggled to overpower Baek's hissatsu, Red Break. but Haizaki noticed something.
"He isn't dueling seriously..." Haizaki realized in his thoughts.
"Baek, what are you doing!"
Red Bison's captain and midfielder Seok Min-Woo's voice interrupted their duel and caused them to cancel their hissatsu's and land.
"Tch." Haizaki clicked his tongue in annoyance, unpleased with that memory, although he surpassed Baek that time, he admitted that he could've lost in their first duel.
Perfect Penguin was a stronger and a complete version of Overhead Penguin, and he scored with it in the friendly against Malaysia and in the second Asian Preliminaries match against Saudi Arabia, but after watching the world-level, Haizaki ditched the idea of ever using Perfect Penguin in the FFI's main stage.
Lastly, Haizaki's Penguin the Devil. which he came up while he was training for South Korea's match to surpass Baek, and while he succeeded in doing so...
It wasn't complete.
And Haizaki himself didn't know until he was in the camp, along with Kira and Nishikage. trying to help the later complete his new catch hissatsu.
"Let's go, Haizaki!" called Kira as he was dribbling with the ball, Haizaki was running besides him and increased his speed.
Kira kicked the ball up then jumped, he kept kicking the ball then teleporting to it and kicking again, giving more energy for the ball with each kick.
[The Explosion!]
Nishikage raised his right arm, trying to summon thin blue energy lines, then held his arm in front of him, with the blue thin lines surrounding the ball and circling it, but the move was far from complete and it broke, but Kira made a rotating effect on the ball when he shot it making that the ball bounce back for Haizaki instead of stabbing the net.
Haizaki kicked the ball uo then knelt, putting a hand against the ground, summoning a demonic formula on the ground with six demonic penguins, then he jumped up to the ball with the six penguins following him.
[Penguin the Devil!]
"This time..." Nishikage muttered as he thought of a plan to strengthen the energy lines, he tried forcing more energy on the lines but keeping the lines in the same shape, stopping Haizaki's hissatsu perfectly.
"H-Hey, did you complete it ?" Kira asked in disbelief.
"No, but I am close now." Nishikage replied bluntly, "More importantly, Haizaki, did you notice...?" he asked.
"Yeah." Haizaki replied, "Penguin the Devil..."
"...Isn't complete."
Haizaki snapped awake from the memory on the realization, he and Nishikage noticed that the penguins that follows the ball ran away from the ball when clashing with the goalkeeper's hissatsu, thus, reducing its power, the reason why it scored against Red Bison's keeper Shin because his hissatsu [Fire Wall] couldn't hold on for enough time, while Nishikage's thin lines surrounded the ball and spun around it for enough time for the penguins to fly away.
Haizaki walked some steps in the field until he reached the center line, he outted the ball there and stepped back, turning for a goalpost.
"I must perfect this by tomorrow, the team needs its ace striker, and that will be none other than me!" With those words, Haizaki rushed for the ball, proceeding in training for his new hissatsu.
XxX
-Meanwhile, in another field near the dormitory.-
Inazuma Japan's other striker, Kira Hiroto stood at the sideline of the pitch, his head up, watching the clouds, it was a stormy night, the wind was a bit strong but there was no rain.
"I can't rely on [The Explosion] anymore, and I doubt that [God Break] will be enough..."
Kira took a ball from his bag and dropped it near his feet.
Then suddenly, lightning came. a brillant shock if white in the sky, forking silently to the ground, with the thunderous boom always calling its warning too late, the bolt lighted up the city briefly in the night.
"I think I have an idea..."
-Chapter's End-