Another 110: The zone

THE PASS WAS FOR HYUGA, BUT AFTER TRAPPING THE BALL, HE'S IMMEDIATELY MARKED BY TSUBASA, WHO STAYED BEHIND!!

Perfect! I wouldn't have it any other way...

AND THAT'S THE SECOND CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THEM!! BUT IF TSUBASA USED TECHNIQUE TO GET PAST HYUGA, THE LATTER ON THE OTHER HAND, IS GOING FORCIBLY!!


AND THIS TIME, HYUGA IS GETTING PAST TSUBASA!! WHAT CAN A HAWK DO TO STOP A TIGER? OF COURSE HE'LL BE CHEWED!!


STILL, TSUBASA BOUGHT ENOUGH TIME FOR ISHIZAKI TO SWITCH TO THE CENTER... BUT AGAIN, HYUGA IS GOING FORCIBLY, BLOWING HIM AWAY WITH HIS STRAIGHT LINE DRIBBLE!! THE MONKEY WAS EATEN AS WELL!!

Mukyaa~!!

WITH ABSOLUTELY NO OPPOSITION LEFT IN FRONT OF HIM EXCEPT FOR THE KEEPER MORISAKI, HYUGA IS UNLEASHING HIS TIGER SHOT!!


AAAAND IT'S IN!! THE KEEPER MORISAKI IS DUMBFOUNDED, HE DIDN'T EVEN REACT!!

Wh... What...

AFTER 13 MINUTES OF A HEATED STALEMATE, HYUGA KOJIRO IS THE FIRST TO SCORE FOR TOHO ACADEMY!! THE MATCH IS FAR FROM OVER HOWEVER, AS NANKATSU ALREADY CAME BACK FROM BEING 1 GOAL BEHIND!!


I wouldn't even have bothered to get past that monkey... But...

Even though I won, my leg was still numb... I endured it, but I had to make sure I was close enough,
otherwise my shot would've missed the mark...

Good judgement... I lost a good shooting chance because my leg was numb from that clash against
Tsubasa... But shaking off a player in that state... He's impressive...

NANKATSU IS SLOWLY CIRCULATING THE BALL... WERE THEY SCARED BY HYUGA'S TIGER SHOT? ANYWAY THEY AREN'T SHOWING ANY INTENTION TO ATTACK RIGHT NOW... MAYBE THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND A WEAKNESS IN TOHO'S FORMATION...

No good... My leg is still numb, I won't be able to attack like this...

In that case... I'm leaving it to you, Izawa!

TSUBASA AND IZAWA ARE SWITCHING THEIR POSITIONS! IS IZAWA GOING TO LEAD THE ATTACK AGAIN FOR NANKATSU?


AH, INDEED, DRIBBLE BREAKTHROUGH FROM IZAWA!! HE'S GETTING PAST TOHO'S DEFENSIVE MID FIELDER, KISUGI AND TAKI ARE MARKED, BUT LONG SHOTS ARE ONE OF HIS FAVOURED ATTACK PATTERNS, THAT ALLOWED HIM TO SCORE AGAINST KUNIMI!

Sorry, but after Matsuyama and Tsubasa, I'm good to go against long shots!

AHH, BUT WHAT'S THIS? AFTER A SHOOTING MOTION, IZAWA IS TURNING AROUND AND SENDING THE BALL BEHIND HIM ON THE SIDE!!

Wha...?

OH, AND IT'S THE CAPTAIN, ISHIZAKI, WHO OVERLAPPED, WHO IS TAKING THE SHOT!! THAT'S A NICE SET-UP FROM IZAWA!! HE WAS SHUTETSU'S MAIN PLAYMAKER AFTER ALL!! IS THE MONKEY SHOT GOING TO GIVE THE TYING GOAL TO NANKATSU?

St... Stop with the monkey thing already!

NO! EXCELLENT REACTION FROM THE KEEPER WAKASHIMAZU, HE WAS STILL SURPRISED BY IZAWA'S BRILLIANT ATTACK SET UP AND CONCEDES ANOTHER CORNER! IT'S LIKE IZAWA HAD EYES BEHIND HIS BACK!


Well, there's no doubt about it now, that player, Izawa, is "in the zone". If a player is underperforming,
people will say he's in a "slump"... But if it's the opposite, if he's doing better than usual naturally...

You say he's "in the zone". Goal keepers will make successive reflex saves... Strikers will always be on
target... And playmakers like him will have some kind of "out of body field of vision"... Like they're seeing above the field...

NANKATSU IS MORE CAUTIOUS FOR THEIR CORNER KICK THIS TIME!! TAKASUGI DIDN'T OVERLAP, IZAWA IS STAYING IN THE BACK, AND TAKI ISN'T SENDING IT TO THE PENALTY AREA, BUT TO TSUBASA!


BUT SAWADA EXPECTED IT THIS TIME! HE'S INTERCEPTING TAKI'S LOW CENTERING TO TSUBASA!! IT'S TOHO'S BALL NOW!!

Nice, Takeshi!! Just what I needed!

Takeshi!! On the left!! Attack on the left side!!
Uh? Okay... If coach Kira says so!