TOHO IS BACK IN POSESSION, AFTER CIRCULATING THE BALL IN THE BACK, IT'S FINALLY REACHING THEIR PLAYMAKER SAWADA, BUT...
BUT IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOING TO BE MARKED BY TSUBASA! IT'S TRUE THAT IF TOHO'S HOTLINE, THE SAWADA-HYUGA COMBINATION CAN'T CONNECT, HYUGA WON'T BE ABLE TO SHOOT!
AH, BUT THERE WERE IN FACT TWO PLAYERS MARKING SAWADA! FOCUSED ON TSUBASA, SAWADA DIDN'T NOTICE IZAWA BEHIND HIM, WHO IS TAKING THE BALL FROM HIM!! SAWADA FELL FOR NANKATSU'S TRAP, DESPITE HIS SKILLS, THE LITTLE TECHNICIAN IS STILL NAIVE COMPARED TO THE EXPERIENCE OF IZAWA, A VETERAN OF THE WINTER'S NATIONALS, AND TSUBASA, PLAYING IN SAO PAULO'S YOUTH SECTION!
LOOKS LIKE IZAWA IS LEADING THE ATTACK! WHILE TSUBASA IS NANKATSU'S DEDICATED PLAYMAKER, IZAWA ALSO LAUNCHED CRITICAL ATTACKS ALL ALONG THIS TOURNAMENT!! 4 GOALS AND 3 ASSISTS IS DEFINITELY A GOOD RECORD FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS A DEFENSIVE MID FIELDER POSITION!
IN FRONT OF HIM, KISUGI IS HEAVILY MARKED... AHH, BUT TAKI, USUALLY ON THE SIDE LINE, IS JOINING THE CENTER, IN A SPACE LEFT OPEN BY TOHO'S DEFENSE!!
IT'S A LONG, HIGH BALL, BEHIND TOHO'S DEFENSE LINE... AND TOHO'S DEFENDERS, CONFUSED BY TAKI'S SUDDEN CHANGE IN POSITION, ARE LATE TO MARK HIM!! HE'S RUNNING PAST THEM, ON THE VERGE OF THE OFFSIDE!
BUT NO GOOD! WAKASHIMAZU, COMING OUT OF HIS GOAL, IS REAPING THE BALL FROM TAKI'S FEET WITH A LOW CIRCULAR KICK!! THE MOTION WAS SO SMOOTH THAT TAKI CONTINUED TO RUN EVEN THOUGH THE BALL WASN'T IN FRONT OF HIM ANYMORE!!
AND THAT KARATE KICK WASN'T JUST FOR SHOW! NOT ONLY WAKASHIMAZU PREVENTED NANKATSU FROM SCORING, THAT ALSO ALLOWED HIM TO PASS THE BALL TO TOHO'S RIGHT SIDEBACK!
OH, AND TOHO'S RIGHT SIDEBACK IS IMMEDIATELY OVERLAPPING! IT'S TRUE THAT NANKATSU ISN'T OFFERING MUCH RESISTANCE HERE!
AH, BUT THIS DANGEROUS ATTACK IS STOPPED BY NANKATSU'S CAPTAIN ISHIZAKI, WHO IS TAKING THE BALL FORCIBLY!
Well, only in the J3, but still...
AND ISHIZAKI IS IMMEDIATELY SENDING IT TO THEIR PLAYMAKER TSUBASA!!
TOHO, ON THE OFFENSE JUST A MOMENT EARLIER, NEGLECTED TSUBASA'S MARKING, AND AFTER TRAPPING THE BALL, HE'S ALREADY IN SHOOTING POSITION!!
DRIVE SHOT FROM TSUBASA! GOING OVER THE PLAYERS ON THE FIELD, TSUBASA CAN SHOOT AND IGNORE OBSTACLES!!
AHHH, BUT AFTER MORISAKI, WAKASHIMAZU IS THE SECOND KEEPER WHO MANAGED TO STOP THE DRIVE SHOT!! JUST LIKE HIM, HE'S STILL CONCEDING A CORNER!!
TAKI IS SHOOTING THE CORNER KICK!! NANKATSU HAS SOME GOOD JUMPERS...
AND THIS IS INDEED A HIGH BALL!!
BUT WAKASHIMAZU FORESAW THIS!! AND HE'S CATCHING THE BALL BEFORE IT CAN EVEN REACH TAKASUGI OR IZAWA!!
AHH! AND AS SOON AS WAKASHIMAZU IS LANDING, HE'S DROPPING THE BALL AND DRIBBLES AWAY FROM TOHO'S PENALTY AREA!!
AH, BUT AFTER ATTRACTING NANKATSU'S PLAYERS WITH HIS SURPRISING OVERLAP, WAKASHIMAZU IS JUST SENDING THE BALL FORWARD! THIS IS FOR...