My system allows me to copy talents

Turning to look at the stands, overflowing with excited cheers, Mateo felt a familiar surge of excitement tinged with a bit of anxiousness. Then again, to relieve his anxiousness, he clutched his hand into a fist and inhaled a deep breath.

As he exhaled, his eyes glowed with an unusual sharpness.

Beep!!

The air crackled with the roars of the fans as the referee blew his whistle, announcing the start of the game.

Claudio passed the ball back to Mateo and dashed upfield.

Nijichi, their attacker, rushed for the ball, ignoring Claudio, who easily passed him. At the same time, Hiro rushed towards Claudio, attempting to block him on his way while everyone in the frontline dispersed to cover more distance and maximize their effectiveness.

Just as he was about to approach Claudio, Hiro however, hesitated. Being aware of Mateo's capabilities, it would be more effective to head towards Mateo than to block Claudio.

That is what he told himself. But that was merely a flimsy reason to appease his ego. The true reason he hesitated was pretty profound, and if expressed out loud, it would break his team— he just couldn't trust Nijichi to stop Mateo.

It's not like he hated Nijichi or anything personal, he couldn't put his trust in Nijichi. But truth be told, Nijichi's defense was shit and so was his patience. If Mateo gets past him, he won't even bother chasing him. That's why he couldn't put his trust in Nijichi.

But even so, he couldn't let Claudio to pass him. Thus, he hesitated for a while whether to rush towards Mateo or guard Claudio.

Then, amidst his hesitation, he looked behind. There Takeshi was standing guard, appearing rather sharp and intimidating.

Looking at that sturdy frame and piercing gaze of his, for some reason Hiro felt as if he could put his trust in him. Right at that moment, Takeshi also turned toward him, and their eyes met.

Gesturing to Takeshi to cover for him, Hiro signaled that he would be leaving Claudio under his care. Understanding his signals, Takeshi gave a light nod.

Up front, Mateo easily dribbled past Nijichi. And what he had feared the most happened as well, after getting beaten, Nijichi refused to give him a chase which allowed Mateo to operate even more freely.

Mateo then moved the ball upfield unimpeded, looking for gaps to exploit. However, his independence did not last long since Hiro eventually caught up with him and stopped him from continuing ahead.

Though Mateo was confident in his dribbling, he was also aware of Hiro's tenacity. Unlike Nijichi, Hiro wouldn't leave him alone even after getting past him.

Taking everything into consideration, he then came to a decision.

Moving forward with steady steps, he steeled his mind to face Hiro. Appearing as sharp as ever, Hiro too confronted him calmly.

As those two confronted one other, their focus peaked, and they engaged in a war of wits, each attempting to outwit the other. With each of them being an excellent dribbler and observer, both of them were trying to read each other.

For a while, the time froze as those two clashed.

Mateo's body swayed like a leaf in the wind as he dribbled quickly and precisely. Hiro, who appeared calm as water, remained with him, tracking his every move and stopping him from moving forward. It was truly a battle between geniuses.

And the excited audition, experiencing this clash firsthand were thoroughly enjoying this moment. Appearing rather tensed, they remained seated at their seats as they glued their eyes on those two geniuses who right now were trying to overpower each other.

Finally, a moment arrived when Mateo outsmarted Hiro. A moment barely enough to put some distance with him presented itself in front of Mateo as he finally managed to get the ball past Hiro.

The crowd went wild as they witnessed the deadlock being broken.

But even after being beaten, Hiro appeared as tenacious as ever as he quickly recovered and started to chase after Mateo.

It hadn't even been a minute and yet already the match had become such heated that the audience could hardly resist the surge of anticipation coursing through their veins. Right now, the whole stadium was buzzing with an aura of anticipation and excitement.

Sensing the presence of Hiro who was chasing after him, Mateo didn't keep hold of the ball for long and decided to let go of the ball.

Though he was initially planning to pass the ball to his team's wingers, he noticed a gap upfront where Claudio was making his run. Thus, he decided to take a gamble and lobbed the ball in front, above the head of the opposing players.

Lobbing the ball above the heads of the opposing players, he supplied a brilliant through-ball. But, now it all depended on Claudio.

At this moment, the managers of both teams were overcome with a tense feeling as both of them looked at the flying ball with their brows creased into a frown. Especially manager Haruki's time-worn wrinkles were as visible as ever.

Meanwhile, Japan's players seated in the substitute box glanced at the ball with anxious expressions on their faces, and many of them clasped their fists tightly.

Making use of his small but robust frame, just as Akutsu leaped toward the ball to make a clearance, Claudio gave him a light push which in turn imbalanced Akutsu. Claudio however was careful enough not to alert the referee into giving him a foul.

Feeling the push, Akutsu looked in the direction of the referee as he cried for a foul. But the referee simply turned a blind eye to his appeal almost as if he was ignoring him.

The ball then dropped right behind Akutsu, missing him barely by an inch.

Taking advantage of the moment, Claudio then fired a brilliant volley straight towards the post with the accuracy of a master archer.

Goaaaaaallllllllll!!!

At once the crowd erupted into a jubilant roar as they celebrated Claudio's goal. In less than a minute the Argentinian side took the lead.