The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 89: The Most Crucial Moment of the Game!

A red card.

It wasn’t often Sappotani got one, especially in the prefectural tournament. Hell, the last time their player was forced to suffer from that was a couple of years ago, and not a lot of people in the stands knew about that.

Now, for Hiroshi to be able to force Ayase, the defensive midfielder, to get a red card... That was definitely a huge moral boost for Hakodate Nishi’s team.

"Hell, yeah!" Makino jumped excitedly when he saw the red card was given.

"Good job, Hiro!" Fujinaga chest-bumped the boy with the same energy. "This is how you should do it!"

Everyone also took turns in slapping the boy’s head, as if blessing him with good luck after giving the team a huge advantage that couldn’t be replaced at all. It was strange to see players celebrating crazily when there was no goal on the pitch, but this was the effect brought by them having a one-player advantage against Sappotani.

Hell, they all even forgot that the foul earlier also nullified the chance for Hiroshi to tie the score. In their mind, getting a red card was at the same level as that.

Of course, that didn’t mean Sapporo Otani would become weak. No, even with ten players on the pitch, they were still an insanely good team. However, one less player meant they had to cover more ground, and with thirty minutes to go, sooner or later, their stamina would drop from this. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Everyone believed that there would be another chance in the future.

The situation on the stand also took a massive turn. Everyone went crazy, shouting left and right like they were in a street market. On one stand, all the supporters from the Sappotani team were booing Hiroshi for playing a trick, and on the other stand, while the number was far less significant, the group from Hakodate Nishi made it up with their loud noises.

Of course, the loudest one here was Hiroshi’s mother. Poor, sweet woman, she was on the verge of having a heart attack after seeing how violently her son flung away before.

"Shut the hell up, you bunch of cowards! You call ganging up like thugs sportsmanship? This is a disgrace—you’re dragging everything down with your dirty play. Your ancestors would be ashamed of what you’ve become! Come on! You wanna fight?!"

The woman had her face turned so white as she lost her breath in the barrage of insults here. Hell, even her northern accent slipped, showing how far she had lost control of herself right now.

Honestly, it was impressive, since she delivered the speech in one breath. She was still hyperventilating, and her speech didn’t do anything else as it was drowned in the noise here. However, those who were around her noticed, and they couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up here.

"Good job, Girl! That’s how you defend your son!"

"Ha! Those pampered city dudes would understand what it means to mess up with us Hakodate folks!"

"Come on! We might lose in number, but we are the loudest here!"

For a moment, a little war erupted in the stand, with supporters from both sides continuing to throw insults at each other. All the players on the pitch were so dumbfounded, especially when they saw their family members—their parents, even—showing off their nastiest arsenal from their dictionary here.

Hell, the referee even had to pause, communicating with his assistants to make sure that this wouldn’t affect the game too much. In the end, though, the decision was made that the game would be continued normally after this.

After the dust had settled, the game finally resumed with a free kick for Hakodate Nishi. With 10 players on the pitch, Sappotani’s formation also dropped back a little, knowing that they had to tighten their defense more.

Even though they were the better team, this approach was reasonable, as no one could guarantee what kind of new boost their opponent would receive with this new advantage. Also, they were still up by one goal, so they didn’t really need to do anything but defend right now.

Hiroshi still took the free kick, but with Yuwell Carlson dropping back to handle the air, all the threat was neutralized instantly. It was a waste of a chance, but nothing could be done here.

Then, slowly but surely, Hakodate Nishi started to push back, taking advantage of having one more player to put more pressure on the front.

With no natural defensive midfielder holding him back, Hiroshi also started to dance in the center, dragging all the opponent’s players with the gravity of his skill.

When his opponent tried to stall, he would overwhelm them with his speed.

When his opponent rushed, he would use the simplest feint to get through.

When he got two players as his markers, he would use a quick one-two pass to escape.

The game suddenly turned into a personal show for the boy, and no one was able to stop him.

Unfortunately, despite that, the goal still hadn’t come to Hakodate Nishi’s side yet. The duet of Rin Mito and Yuma Igari, mixed with more players mingling up in the back, was enough to prevent any harm from being done to them.

It also didn’t help that Hakodate Nishi was not a team with strong resources in offense. While Yuji and Kuroki were decent strikers, their level was not up to par with the strongest defenders in the prefecture, and this resulted in so many chances being blocked before they could enter the penalty box.

Kumiko also saw this, so she made a move quickly.

"Kazawa-kun, listen." She spoke, getting the attention of the only player on the bench. "After this, you are going to replace Hori-kun. When on offense, you have to cover the midfield and take more shots, but once the ball is getting stolen, you have to run more to cover that flank. Can you do that?"

Kazawa was stunned at the sudden order. He would usually only play when the team desperately needed defense. However, he didn’t question it for too long. Being trusted in this situation, he knew that there was only one proper answer here.

"Don’t worry, Shishida-senpai, consider the job done."