The Dreamers
'Record'
That face..
The face that had been in Hiro's mind for so many years.
...
Hiro still saw her standing in the distance greeting him. "Daichi..?" In Hiro's heart.
Yes, this person before him was Daichi Furuoka. His old rival from the time he was at Zekka Academy. That's where they met, and there was the beginning of it all.
After years of not seeing each other. Hiro and Daichi meet again. They are not facing off as opponents, but as teammates in the Japan senior national team.
...
From afar, Daichi seemed to approach Hiro who was still at the side of the field, his gaze blank.
"So..., your name is still Hiro, right?" Daichi said as he stood close to Hiro.
Hiro did not answer. He just focused on stretching while staring into the middle of the field.
Daichi smiled as he watched Hiro ignore him. "Hmmpphh, it seems like you haven't learned to be an adult yet."
...
After trying to ignore Daichi, Hiro finally replied to Daichi. Hiro did not want Daichi to continue being around him just because he ignored him. "What do you mean talk like that?" Ask Hiro.
Daichi smiled again. This time he also stared at the field like Hiro. "At the end of the day, we are both Japanese players. Both are football players." After he finished saying this, Daichi turned his head back and looked towards Hiro's eyes. "So, you can't think of me as an enemy. You should still consider me your partner."
Hiro flinched. What Daichi had just said made Hiro doubt whether the one talking to him was the Daichi he was referring to.
...
Hiro finished his stretch and asked, "You're this, Daichi.. Fukuoka right? you were with me at Zekka football academy."
"Yes, right. Why are you asking?" Daichi.
"T-No, there's no interest. Sorry I forgot your name, hehe." Though Hiro remembered very well with his name, it was just that Hiro was doubtful about his nature.
...
...
And as previously announced, minutes later the head coach of the Japanese national team, Hajime Yamamoto, arrived at the training ground.
Hiro, along with 23 other players including Daichi, gathered in the middle of the field to conduct brief talks and introductions for several players who just debuted on the national team call like Hiro.
...
"Today, we are reunited. The 24 best players from Japan will play for Japan" Hajime said. "We have less than two weeks to play Chile at Saitama Stadium. After 4 days, we will be back against another American continental team, Honduras, in Tokyo." Hajime.
...
Today's training began.
...
Hiro has talked a lot and met with other players. Hiro increases connectivity and friendship with them so as not to stiff when playing together. All the players know and talk a lot about Hiro, except Daichi.
...
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Week pass...
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Gradual exercise begins to increase.
...
With a short time, Hajime will not be able to form a team chemistry perfectly. Any form of training that Hajime is currently implementing focuses on their first opponent, Chile.
...
"Please pay attention to everyone!" Hajime shouted from the sidelines. All the players who were training pulled over.
"Three more days, precisely on March 28, we will face one of the few strong teams in the world. Chile cannot be seen with one eye. We have to be serious about this match. Victory must be a sure thing!"
Hajime began to give instructions and tactics of the game that he will use when against Chile later. Also seen the name of the first 11 players who will be revealed in the game.
All players who will compete in the game appear to be senior players and players who are often called the national team as well as experienced in international matches. This means there will be no Hiro name during the game against Chile.
In the national team, Daichi will wear the number 10, while Hiro gets the number 21. This has shown indirectly that Hiro is not the first choice for Hajime in the Japan squad.
...
When Hiro was stretching his legs and taking off his wet jersey after training this afternoon, he saw Daichi deliberately walking past him who was sitting waiting for his turn to bathe in the corridor seat.
As it passed, Daichi said loudly and clearly in Hiro's ear, "Duh, it seems that I am still number one huh. Be patient, your turn to play will come, just hope I get injured."
Although Daichi's tone of speech sounded flat, but the meaning was still sharp. Hiro could only remain silent until Daichi was already far away from him. It turned out that Daichi was still the same Daichi he had known when he was at the Academy.
"He thinks I can't go beyond it? who sets my limits? Had to wait for his injury so I could play?? Huh.., we'll see." Mumbled Hiro who was alone in the corridor.
...
And the time came. 28 March.
Japan vs Chile, Saitama Stadium, Saitama City.
The stadium is full of 40,000 spectators singing yel-yel for the Japanese national team. "Oooooo-o.... Nippon..! nippon, nippon, nipponn..! "
...
Although not played from the beginning by the coach, Hiro still creeps to feel the atmosphere of the stadium that he has never felt before, which is given support when playing for his country.
...
At exactly 20:00, Japanese and Chilean players had prepared in the middle of the field after they finished singing their respective national anthems. It was seen Daichi was a player who held the armband on his arm. He will be the center of the game from Japan. But unfortunately.., the Chilean national team knows about it.
During the match, Daichi was unable to move freely as he normally would. Every time he holds the ball, there are always two players who control him. Even though it has moved from the middle to the right, from right to left, it is still difficult.
Still lucky, the Japanese national team can win even though it must be hard. A 1-0 win over Chile on the night, making FIFA points Japan added, but unfortunately still not able to shift the position of the country above it.
Despite the win, the supporters present at the Stadium seemed dissatisfied with the way their national team played. Many spectators left the stadium since the 75th minute of the match.
But Hajime gave a different view on the outcome of this match. During an interview after the match, Hajime told reporters that the match was not a true benchmark of national team ability. Hajime also said that he was still concocting the right formula for the next big event, namely the Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers.
Hiro and the other players also cannot cover their sadness because they have not been able to perform better than today.
"It's a pity that I haven't been able to play this time..," Hiro said in his heart. But there is a sense of pleasure in Hiro after seeing the game Daichi can not talk much on the field.
...
As scheduled, after Chile, Japan will play Honduras. A country whose incident is a team that will be easily defeated by Hajime Yamamoto's forces. Therefore, Hajime decided to overhaul the line-up of players who would play against Honduras.
...
...
Three days later, all national team players returned to focus on training from sunrise to sunset.
The day before the Honduran game, Hajime walked to the center of the field with his arms crossed in the chest. All the players who were training this afternoon turned their heads towards him. "That's enough for today, prepare yourself for tomorrow." Hajime.
All players stopped their activities, including Hiro. His breath gasped as he ran to the sidelines to grab a bottle of water.
There is a motivation that makes Hiro impatient to see the game tomorrow.
"I have to show my best on the pitch! I have to be better than him!" Inner Hiro while staring intently at Daichi who was standing in the other corner of the field.
The sweat that flows from each of Hiro's workouts will be proud to know that the source of his springs comes from Hiro's beliefs during this time. Hiro needs Hajime to see him play. Hiro wants Hajime to know that backing himself up in the previous game was not the right decision.