BACK IN JAPAN, KATAGIRI'S OFFICE...
THE 1ST STAGE OF THE J-LEAGUE WAS NOW OVER... AND LIKE GAMO SAID, HIS TEAM WAS THE "REAL DEAL"... AS IT ENDED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE OF THIS FIRST STAGE!
IT ALL STARTED WITH WAKASHIMAZU... HE WAS IN A TOUGH SPOT, WITH HIS INJURY TO THE RIGHT HAND, AND THE TEAM ALREADY DOING GOOD WITH SEIGO NARASAKI BEING THE REGULAR GOAL KEEPER... STILL, HE SHOWED PROWESSES IN TRAININGS USING ONLY HIS LEFT HAND... AND WAS GIVEN HIS CHANCE, AGAINST THE RED DIAMONDS.
ALL WAS GOING WELL FOR HIM, BUT GAMO, WHO SAW THE WINTERS NATIONALS, QUICKLY DISCOVERED THAT HIS INJURY WAS STILL HERE, INSTRUCTING HIS PLAYERS TO GO FOR THAT WEAKNESS.
KNOWING THIS, A PASS ON THE VERGE OF OFFSIDE WAS ALL EMERSON NEEDED TO SCORE. WAKASHIMAZU, AWARE OF EMERSON'S SHOOTING POWER, RIVALING WITH HYUGA KOJIRO, KNEW THAT USING HIS RIGHT HAND WOULD WORSEN HIS INJURIES AND MAKE HIM COMPLETELY MISS THE SECOND STAGE. AND OF COURSE, JUST HIS LEFT HAND WASN'T ENOUGH.
EVEN THOUGH WAKASHIMAZU'S LEFT HAND WASN'T INJURED BY EMERSON'S TERRIFIC SHOT, HE WAS STILL REPLACED BY SEIGO NARAZAKI, WHO HELD ON UNTIL THE END OF THE MATCH. AND SO THE RED DIAMONDS DEFEATED THEIR FIRST MEMBER OF THE GOLDEN AGE, 1-0.
TWO WEEKS LATER, THE RED DIAMONDS FACE GAMBA OSAKA, WHERE SODA EVENTUALLY BECAME A REGULAR RATHER QUICKLY.
OKANO HAS RUN THROUGH THE ENTIRE SIDE LINE IN ONE GO, AND IS SENDING A CENTERING IN FRONT OF THE GOAL WITHOUT A MOMENTS' DELAY!!
BUT NICE DEFENSE FROM GAMBA OSAKA! DEFENDER TSUNEYASU MIYAMOTO, EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T JUMP HIGH ENOUGH, HINDERED EMERSON ENOUGH TO LET THE KEEPER RYOTA TSUZUKI REPELL THE SHOT!
IT WAS A REALLY DANGEROUS ATTACK, AIMED AT THE HOLE LEFT BY SODA FROM THE GOLDEN AGE!! AND THE PINCH ISN'T OVER FOR GAMBA OSAKA! THE RED DIAMONDS STILL HAS THEIR CORNER KICK!
CORNER KICK FROM YUMIKURA! AH, BUT HE ISN'T SENDING IT TO THE FRONT OF THE GOAL, IT'S FURTHER BACK, TOWARDS...
AH, BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING!? AS SUGIMOTO IS REACHING THE BALL, HE'S SUDDENLY SLIPPING!?
AH, NO!! SUGIMOTO TAKASHI ONLY PRETENDED TO SLIP TO PROVOKE SODA'S TACKLE!! SUGIMOTO IS DODGING IT AND IS STARTING A BREAKTHROUGH IN THE PENALTY AREA!
AH, LOOKS LIKE SODA DIDN'T LIKE BEING TRICKED!! HE'S CHASING SUGIMOTO AND, AHH! HE'S TACKLING HIM...
BUT THIS IS WAY TOO RECKLESS!! SUGIMOTO IS BLOWN AWAY ALONG WITH THE BALL!!
AND THIS IS A RED CARD FOR SODA! AFTER ONLY TEN MINUTES IN THE MATCH, SODA HAS TO LEAVE!!
