As the match went on, there were moments when that thought suddenly crossed my mind.
······Is this real?
No, it really is like this.
The first goal, recorded as an own goal by the opponent, was like that, and after that too, scenes where luck followed us kept unfolding.
Even after the opening goal, the opponent dominated the match.
They were clearly a step faster than us, more threatening, and creating more decisive chances.
The problem was that luck kept siding with us.
For example... first of all, there was the goalpost.
Pwoooong-!
Pwaang-!
“Urgh...!”
Once from Theo Hernández’s mid-range shot, and once from Zlatan’s header.
Those two decisive shots hit the goalpost and saved us.
They were on trajectories that wouldn’t have been strange even if they had gone in after hitting the post, but they all bent oddly and failed to cross the goal line.
It was misfortune from the opponent’s perspective, and luck from ours.
It wasn’t just that.
Deflected passes kept strangely coming our way, and an opponent handling a kick suddenly slipped and fell.
That happened several times.
Above all, the most decisive thing was the red card.
“Aaaack-!”
It was around the 30th minute of the first half.
The ball bounced in midfield, and two players rushed for it at the same time... and there, the opposing midfielder was sent off with a straight red for a reckless tackle.
Honestly, it was hard to call this luck.
After all, the opponent’s studs-up tackle was a legitimate reason for a sending off, and more than anything, Senior Torreira, who had been on the receiving end of that tackle, was in agony.
But fortunately, Senior Torreira had been in quite a bit of pain but got back up quickly, and the opponent, down to ten men, showed their momentum dropping drastically, so...
I supposed you could say it was luck in the end.
“I told you this was a winnable game! Play easy!”
“We receive the Goddess’s blessing!”
...With the situation like this, even I found it a bit absurd.
Honestly, if you looked at the performance alone, it was hard to see this as a match we were winning.
Of course, soccer is a game where you have to score to win, but... still, it was clear that the opponent had been dominating the match.
But since we were leading the match 1-0... could Jiu really have something to do with it?
...I don’t even know what I’m thinking right now.
As if there’s really anything there...
Pwaang-!
...The moment I thought that, a misplaced pass hit the opponent’s body and rolled in front of me.
Now even I really don’t know.
*
Honestly, I did feel a bit uneasy. After one man was sent off, and the second half began.
The opponent substituted out a forward and brought on a defensive midfielder.
Their most threatening winger during the first half, Leão, went off, which meant the opponent had no choice but to drop their line and switch to a defensive posture.
Thanks to that, the initiative of the match had passed to us, but... somehow it didn’t feel like we had earned it through skill, which left me feeling uneasy.
Of course, that was an arrogant thought.
It wasn’t an unfair sending off but a legitimate one. That too was just part of the match.
Managing cards is also a skill, so it was actually strange to feel uneasy.
Even knowing that... the uneasiness strangely remained.
Why?
“Press them!”
“Push up, push up!”
Anyway.
Unlike me, who still couldn’t shake off my childishness, the seniors relentlessly targeted the wounded opponent.
To make the opponent, who had to run two legs’ worth more because they were missing one man, run three legs’ worth more, they circulated the ball and intentionally engaged in even rougher physical battles.
They harassed more, and bit harder.
Unable to give my best because of the inexplicable uneasiness, I couldn’t help but feel a pang in the corner of my chest watching those seniors.
No matter the situation, no matter the conditions.
Winning the match is a pro’s mentality...
I wondered if I was still far from becoming a real pro like the seniors.
That mindset emanating from the seniors was conveyed to me as well, and I tried to correct my thinking.
How could we attack the opponent who was missing one man more effectively? I began to dig into that relentlessly.
It wasn’t cowardly.
It was simply the desire for victory.
Pwaang-!
Around ten minutes into the second half.
I receive the ball in midfield.
I had dropped down slightly from my original position to receive the ball, and the moment I got it, a defender closed in.
Tatatat-!
Even if they’re down a man, the opponent is trailing by one point. So they couldn’t just sit back completely, which meant...
That we could draw out the defense as much as we wanted.
I deliberately waited for the defender to close in,
Pwaang-!
then passed to a nearby teammate and escaped from the space.
Pwaang-!
The return pass comes back.
The defender who had been chasing the ball closes in on me again.
Repeat.
Pwaang-
Pwaang-!
I may not know much else, but I’m quite talented at running away. Moving here and there exchanging short passes as if in training,
“─!”
When I judged that the opponent’s defensive line had been sufficiently drawn out,
Pwoooooong-!
I sent the pass forward without hesitation.
Swoooooosh-
In a situation where they were anxious because they were down a man, having pushed up to steal the ball, it was natural that they exposed empty space.
Seeing that space and threading a pass into it was very easy.
Pwaang-!
Checking that the pass was delivered to the left, I sprinted forward.
It was the same now. With one man missing, somewhere was bound to be empty. Finding my way into that space wasn’t difficult.
Tatatat-!
As I ran toward that empty space... I suddenly felt like I knew why I had felt uneasy.
Until the sending off, we had been struggling greatly.
The opponent had pressured us heavily, and we had suffered from it, and amidst all that, I had been worrying about how to reverse the momentum.
But after the match turned out like this, there was no need for such worries anymore.
Thanks to that... it had become less fun.
Pwaang-!
Senior Saponara’s cutback flowed toward the back of the box. It was the direction I was rushing into.
Resolving to take the cutback as a direct shot, I adjusted my strides.
It was a funny thought.
They say a newborn pup doesn’t fear a tiger... to think I’d have such childish thoughts, feeling it was less fun when the opponent had a weakness, when I should be overjoyed.
I know it’s funny too, but it’s just my honest feeling.
What can I do about feeling this way...
Pwoooooong-!
Matching my stride to the flowing ball, I struck it.
Aiming at the left goalpost, I focused on accuracy over power and curled it with the inside of my foot.
And that shot of mine...
Swoooooosh-
Thwack-!!
Was sucked into the corner of the goal.
And I was still cocky.
Unlike other times, I wasn’t all that happy.
*
I had to find the fun.
I couldn’t spend the remaining time meaninglessly.
New fun... as I wondered what that could be, I thought of childish revenge.
Pwaang-
I receive the ball on the right and turn.
The opponent’s fullback, Theo Hernández, blocks my path.
This was the player who had tormented our right flank terribly until the first half.
Therefore, it was now time to take revenge for the seniors.
I would torment him.
Tuk, tuk-
Dribbling in slowly, I gauged the opponent’s reaction.
A pure one-on-one.
With the opponent lacking one man, they didn’t have the leeway for cooperative defense. I concentrated all my nerves on my toes and the opponent’s movements as I slowly advanced.
Tuk, tuk-
The opponent flinched at every single touch of mine. It meant he reacted to every movement... players with excellent reflexes were usually like this.
If so, let’s use that against him.
Tuk-!
My rhythm, which had been touching the ball steadily, was momentarily disrupted. Because I had touched the ball a bit hard, it bounced ambiguously.
It was long.
The ball bounced long toward the opponent’s front, and the quick-reacting opponent couldn’t miss it.
Taaat-!
The opponent’s foot stretched out toward the ball.
The basics of defense is patience, but there aren’t many defenders who can hold back when the ball comes right in front of their eyes.
The opponent now was the same, and I snatched the bait I had thrown.
Tuk, tuk-!
Touching the ball with my left foot one timing faster than the opponent, I immediately pushed it forward with my right foot and broke past him.
He was a fast player, but having his timing stolen like this, he wouldn’t be able to catch up to me.
Tatatat-!
Having beaten the defender like that, I sprinted with the ball.
From here, direction was important.
If I simply ran in a straight line toward the corner flag, I’d obviously be caught quickly...
I had to go inside.
Even if defenders were waiting there.
Tatatat-!
I jammed my body to the left and ran with the ball.
He was so fast that the fullback I had beaten was already rushing at me, so I had to get my body in first.
If I blocked him with my body, there was no way to stop me except a foul.
As expected, he couldn’t touch me.
“Hoo, hoo-”
Exhaling my rising breath strongly, I didn’t stop dribbling and approached the box.
At the same time, I kept my gaze inside the box, observing the movements of my teammates and the reactions of the opponent’s defense.
Hmm... there wasn’t really anywhere to pass.
It was strange. With the opponent missing one man, somewhere was definitely bound to be empty, but there was no teammate finding their way into that space.
I didn’t know why, but I inevitably decided that I just had to try to see it through to the end myself.
Tatatat-!
Passing the corner of the box, I faced off with a defender.
Left or right.
I shook my upper body to confuse him.
He reacted to the movement overall, but I could see he reacted more strongly to the left.
It was probably because cutting inside toward the center was more threatening.
Because that was the direction where the shooting angle opened up more.
Pwaang-
Tatatat-!
So I cut to the right.
It was true that the shooting angle narrowed as I got closer to the goal line, but I figured it was fine as long as I got off a shot on target.
Because it wasn’t a situation where we desperately needed a goal.
When you’re winning, it’s this easy to manage the game.
Pwoooooong-!
I laid my right instep into the ball.
The shot was the same. Rather than trying to place it as best I could, I hit it with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude.
The funny thing is, when I hit it like this, sometimes a shot comes out that even I couldn’t have imagined.
Way sicker than when I aim and shoot.
Like a random box, you could say.
Swaaaaaish-
Thwack-!!
Jackpot.
I had definitely not aimed for it, but as if I had. The shot passed between the goalkeeper’s legs and shook the net.
Anyone watching would think I aimed and hit it.
“Waaaaah-!!”
“You punk, how did you aim for there from there!”
I had been misunderstood, but I kept my secret with an awkward smile.
*
“Beep, beep, beeeep-!”
Three whistles announced the end of the match.
The stadium had been quiet for a long time already, and in it, only we were noisy.
“We won!!”
“Bow to the Goddess of Victory!”
“The Goddess’s blessing has watched over us!”
“By the Goddess’s protection, we have won, I say!”
The seniors raised both arms toward our team’s stands and repeatedly bowed at the waist.
I watched that scene clicking my tongue... and then was immediately dragged away by the coach.
As always today, the time had come to stand in front of the cameras and become a robot.
“Congratulations on the victory!”
“Thank you.”
For some reason, it felt like there were more and more cameras as time went on.
I wanted to do the interview with my eyes closed, but then I’d be treated like a weirdo, right?
“You expected a very difficult match, but you achieved an unexpectedly complete victory. 3-0, did you expect this kind of scoreline?”
“Um... I didn’t know the exact score, but I was confident we could win.”
The reporter gave an exaggerated reaction to my answer.
These people’s specialty was blowing up trivial words into something huge, so I had to be careful.
“In what aspect did you have that confidence? Was your condition good during training? And the team atmosphere?”
At the reporter’s question, I scratched my neck for a moment, taking time to think once more.
But only one answer came to mind.
It was true that my condition had been fine and the team atmosphere had been good.
But what had given me confidence in victory...
“...I think it was largely because I believed the Goddess of Victory would take our side.”
“...The Goddess of Victory?”
At my answer, the reporter’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter.
“Haha! You got me there. I thought I’d be able to hear about countermeasures against AC Milan. Well, I’ll let that pass.”
...Hmm.
I had worked up the courage to answer honestly.
Well, at least one person would understand, so that was enough.
“If you have anything you want to say last, feel free. Please do.”
At the reporter’s final question, instead of agonizing, I spit out whatever came to mind.
I felt like I didn’t have to say it, but I felt like I had to say something to get out of this place quickly.
“Um... I hope next time we can face each other properly. Today, even though we won, it doesn’t feel like we won.”
Having answered like that, I escaped as if fleeing from the suffocating cameras, and I saw a man standing behind the cameras clapping for me.
I couldn’t tell why.