Match day came around quickly and as seen in prior years the coach of the B team wasn't present and Tantai would be obligated to coach the team from the bench. Both team sheets were released and as promised Yuga was going to be starting this time without a hitch, though his positioning was a bit too high up to benefit the team he was registered under the Attacking unit so it wasn't all that weird but it seemed to be more restrictive than anything. He was placed as a supporting striker, no matter how one put it he should be in a position that allows him to interact with the defence but he wouldn't be able to unless they conceded a corner or something.
Astrakhan Youth
Bench:
Nira Kizami 15
Jesse Hanju 21
Hangul Tada 33
Karma Tenjin 04
Lyon Cranel 06
Chrome Versa 01
Coach: Tensen Jabra
.....................Felix Gray(00)...............
Najjar Lee (01)...Juri Ahn (02)...Handa Ahn (03)...Kendo Hiyori (05)...
...............{C} Quinton Lance (10)..............
Mako Shotaro (08).....Daniel Sterling (12).....Kyojiro Kurabe (07)...
..........Zaza Kimura (09).....Genma Toro (11).........
..............................................................
............Yuga Kanon (10)....Julius Versa (17).........
.....Callum Ferval (20).....Lou Ji (12)......Xu Ron (07)........
..................{C} Pisu Yang (08).............
Mo Xu (02).......Ai Xu (03)........Ai Fei (05)......Hong Da (06)
.......................Bai Lee (01).................
Asura Youth
Bench:
Hyung Ji 00
Hunter King 16
Vergus Lict 11
Zhu Longwei 09
Coach: Li Tantai (stand-in) 04
The match would be hosted at a neutral stadium a ways off from the team Asura's Main stadium, though, while it wasn't official it was still technically a home match for Asura Youth, the only real bummer being it was a 2-hour drive which they were currently enduring to get there.
Yuga: [closing eyes and meditating in a corner seat at the back]
Vergus: I get you're the captain and all and I respect that Tantai but isn't making you our stand-in coach for the Winter Continental a bit much??
Tantai: Trust me there is no offence taken, besides the blatant disrespect it gives to other teams, it stops us from using our defensive formations that centre around me
Julius: That was kind of the point, defence is important and but our team ain't some damn turtle that hides behind its defences till it shows its head on the rare occasion, removing you was to prove that on a continental level
Vergus: and what about the other sta-... Never mind, I was about to ask a dumb question
Longwei: At least you stopped yourself this time
Yuga: Tell me about Astrakhan, I've heard quite a bit but that's all speculation... You guys have played them before already
Longwei: By the league standards they are average at best, there is only one player who is truly worthy of mention in the team as he brings out his team's full potential through his plays and tactics alone, that guy is Zaza Kimura, one of their 2 forwards
Yuga: And how does this guy compare to Gareth as a playmaker??
Longwei: that's the problem, he's not the playmaker, he is the one that decided the tactics that would bring out Their line-up's best abilities making them seem a lot better than they are
Yuga: If he's the tactician, and Daniel Sterling is the playmaker, then who is the Ace of Astrakhan Youth??
Longwei: Surprisingly, the Ace of Astrakhan that is supposed to rival me out there on the field, is their bench keeper, Chrome Versa... Julius' Older step-brother
Yuga: I haven't heard of anyone like that before, how good is he
Longwei: To put it simply, He starts every game for his country's youth team and doesn't need to attend practice, and yet thanks to him they always have the lowest goals conceded in their groups for the youth world cups and other such tournaments... Shooting at him is like shooting at an iron wall
Yuga: {opens eyes and they are glowing} (It seems I made the right choice pursuing football... Almost every team gives me this feeling) [grins widely] I'm going to make them sub him in today
Longwei: really?? (He gets excited quite easily by strong players, let's just hope he doesn't end up like the others who tried to challenge him)
Tantai: I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, before you can resolve to get Chrome subbed on you have to threaten the tactic set up by Zaza... You understand that right??
Yuga: Of course, I do, now that brings me to ask, I know Longwei is the best on this team sure... But who is the Ace of Asura Youth?? {Glow intensifies} The real ace I mean
Tantai: You don't need to meet that guy yet, he is off on injury anyway.
Yuga: (An ace got injured that easily and his team didn't??)
Tantai: before you start getting any funny ideas he got injured in the finals of the World Cup qualifiers against France's Main team and has been out of action for half a year since
Yuga: It doesn't matter when he got injured, when he's back he will probably end up like Gareth for a few months a player with a defect in his game, a person like that doesn't qualify to be Ace {eyes stop glowing} if you don't understand even that, you lot would be more disappointing than I first thought
Both teams were lined up in the tunnel and their bench and staff were in position on the field beforehand, they stepped out and went through the standard procedure before getting to their positions. Yuga scanned the field a few times before the whistle went off since Astrakhan won the coin toss and wanted to see how their players would move, he decided to contribute for now but not draw any attention to himself just yet so no glowing eyes for now.
Genma and Zaza exchanged passes before sending the ball back to Daniel, from there Asura began their Zonal press while Astrakhan just seemed to pass the ball around as they weren't able to get the ball to Quinton nor Daniel and they couldn't find a way to push for a counter, their attackers were either offside or marked to the point that a pass wouldn't go through.
The game went this way for barely a few minutes before Najjar Lee lost the ball to Yuga at the leftmost edge of the Astrakhan box 18. Yuga was about to move but stopped and rolled the ball back seemingly sending the ball out just for Mo Xu to cut in behind him and dribble the ball forward, as he did this Yuga kept his eyes mostly focused on Quinton, after making his pass Yuga ran back to his team's half of the field with his eyes glowing intensely.
Quinton: (the damn greenhorn doesn't even know what he's doing, looks like I was worried for nothing in the end) Now!!
Mo Xu Sent in a cross down the middle but both Julius and Luo Ji had two guys on them and Quinton intercepted the ball before beginning his dribble upfield, Quinton made a sharp through ball for Zaza down the left side which had an inhuman amount of space there, however, as soon as Zaza turned to follow through on his run Yuga intercepted the ball with a sliding challenge and sent the ball got upfield once more.
Pisu Yang got the ball at the penalty spot just behind Quinton and took his shot immediately towards the top right corner, his shot tore at the net securing the first goal for Asura Youth.
Quinton: (that greenhorn) We're switching plans early, initiate stage 2!!!
Both teams were lined up again but this time when Zaza got the ball he sent it straight back to the keeper and both strikers made their run. Yuga made a run for the goal and while running signalled for the defence to hold their current position. The keeper gave the ball to Quinton but when he turned all the options around him were cut off, Yuga and Julius were on both centre backs, Luo Ji was marking Daniel closely and the others were too far away to make effective crosses to, at least for his skill level.
Quinton: (again?? What the hell is this?? Why were they ready for that as well?? Why didn't the defence move when Zaza and Genma made their run??) Stage 3 !!!
Quinton immediately started sprinting down the middle of the pitch towards Daniel but Luo Jo's mark didn't flinch, he knew going after him was pointless since the target was Daniel anyway so he decided to stick to him, Quinton tried to stop and made a crossing motion and Luo Ji ran towards him seemingly to intercept the cross, Quinton then rolled the ball to the left to fake Luo Ji out but Immediately lost the ball to none other than Yuga who immediately set the Through ball for Luo Ji.
Quinton and Daniel both moved in to stop the high-speed midfielder but were shocked when he back-passed to Yuga once more who had at least 10 yards of space in every direction. Yuga scanned the pitch once more before setting the ball a few yards away, people tried running up to stop him but it was too late, the goalkeeper was on the left side of the goal and the only person standing between Yuga and the goal was Handa as the rest had to keep their mark, Handa had long since gone in for the sliding challenge and Yuga completed his fake shot and broke past Handa before dribbling the ball towards goal with an intense intent in his gaze... His eyes were glowing.
Quinton: S-Stop Him!!! We can't trail behind further!!!