For a player, especially a forward, the benefits of being two-footed are immense.
A player with no weak foot can always handle the ball better on the field. Whether it's the left or right foot, they can complete complex movements of the same level. Whether it's dribbling, passing, or shooting, it will make it harder for opponents to defend against. Because both of his feet are the same, you can't, as with most players, just focus your defense on their dominant foot.
The existence of a weak foot is essentially determined by the innate structure of the neuromuscular system. The dominant foot, including the hand, is bound to the nervous system. For a right-footed player, the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the density of synaptic connections on the left side of the body is 25%~30% lower. These differences lead to an increased difficulty in training the left foot. The same is true for left-footed players.
To overcome the problem of a weak foot is an extremely difficult matter. Even professional players, under the guidance of professional trainers, cannot overcome it. As self-disciplined as C-Ronaldo is, decades of training have not been able to make his left foot as flexible as his right.
Tendou had read a news report before his transmigration. As of August 2019, C-Ronaldo had scored a total of 373 goals with his right foot, and only 91 with his left. This data did not include his national team goals or headers. It shows that postnatal effort can hardly make up for an innate two-footedness.
For Tendou to be able to train his left foot so quickly was simply incredible. Because he possessed the Six Eyes, which could help him perfectly control every part of his body. This allowed Tendou to achieve twice the result with half the effort in his daily left-foot training.
However, to fully train to be innately two-footed was still impossible. He could only train to the point of being latently two-footed, probably at a level stronger than Messi's. In an intense match, he would still subconsciously use his dominant foot instead of his weak foot.
But I digress.
...
Returning to the match.
The score was 3:1. This left Team C with no way out. Karasu once again joined forces with Reo and Nagi to attack Team A's defensive line. But after a short while, Reo's high pass to Nagi was cleared by the tallest high school student, Ishikari Yukio.
Rin and Karasu instantly rushed towards the ball's landing spot, crashing into each other in a fierce struggle.
But then.
Swoosh!
Tendou, like a shooting star, burst out from between the two of them, leading the ball in a meteor-like charge towards Team C's defensive line. Gagamaru reacted quickly, meeting him with a flying tackle.
And then...
"Ah~"
A miserable cry was heard on the field, but it was not Tendou's. His body only staggered for a few steps before he regained his balance and continued to charge towards the opponent's penalty area, leaving Gagamaru rolling on the ground clutching his right leg. The wild boy clearly had not expected Tendou to be so hard. This tackle was like hitting a steel plate, so painful that he was grimacing.
BAM!
This time, Tendou switched to shooting with his left foot. The goalkeeper once again made a save attempt but pounced at empty air. The ball crashed into the net from the other side.
Clearly, Ego had to upgrade the goalkeeper again after this match. At the very least, he had to implant the data of Tendou's left foot into the Blue Lock Man's database. Otherwise, if Tendou always shot with his left foot, the goalkeeper would always be pouncing at air.
4:1!
If this were an official match, this score would basically be the end of it. But this was Blue Lock; the condition for victory was to score 5 goals. So, in theory, Team C's chances of winning were higher than in an official match. But theory is, after all, just theory.
A few minutes later, Rin received a pass from Tendou and, in one go, ended the match with a powerful shot.
Looking back at the entire match, except for the goal scored by Karasu, the threat posed by Team C was very limited. Because the Big Data Statistics had already loaded the data of Karasu entering the Flow state. After that goal, just as Tendou had said, Karasu never got another chance.
And Tendou.
What he had gained in these matches was only the experience of being a libero.
"If Tendou keeps playing as a libero, the remaining matches will be unwatchable," Anri said, being conservative.
Ego felt that if Tendou kept playing like this, in the remaining matches, Team A would most likely shut out their opponents. Tendou's own level had already reached Loki's. It was a professional level. And yet he was leaning towards the direction of the football emperor, Beckenbauer, playing as a libero.
For the forwards of Blue Lock, this was a nightmare-like existence.
Calculating based on Team A's average match time of 30 minutes in these two games, no one could make any waves in front of Tendou. Only in a 90-minute match, when Tendou gets tired and his stamina is in crisis, would there be a chance. But before he gets tired, who knows what the score will be?
"Keep it as it is. If they can score against a Tendou like this, it will prove their potential even more," Ego said, after thinking it over and over. He still didn't communicate with Tendou to ask him to go easy or anything.
The original intention of Blue Lock was to cultivate a world-class striker. If the others couldn't defeat Tendou, then they could only be absorbed by Tendou as nutrients.
...
On the other side.
Isagi's dormitory.
He, along with Hiori and Nanase, had watched the entire match.
"Karasu... he also entered Flow."
"Yeah."
Isagi felt a sense of urgency. His advantage was entering the Flow state 3 times, which made his ceiling higher than anyone else's besides Tendou's. This was his advantage in being selected for the 11-man starting lineup.
But Karasu's Flow made Isagi feel a sense of crisis. If Karasu could do it, then the others might be able to as well. After all, besides the goalkeeper and the top six, for the 11-man starting lineup, there were only 4 spots left. He didn't need all of them; if just 4 more people emerged, then he, Isagi, would be in danger.
Hiori felt he was worrying too much. Flow was not a state that was so easy to enter. So far, the only ones who clearly knew about the realm of Flow were the few people related to Tendou and Isagi. The others still didn't know of its existence. Rin also knew, but he couldn't enter it either. One could imagine just how difficult it was to enter Flow.
...
"Hey, Reo. Football... it really is interesting."
"Yeah."
The match was over. Reo and Nagi, who were familiar with each other, gathered together. Nagi's expression was very calm, looking as if he hadn't changed from when they first met. But Reo, who was familiar with him, knew that Nagi's fighting spirit was now higher than ever before.
Once upon a time, Reo had thought that he was different from the others. Even if he left Blue Lock, he could still go back to inherit a 700 billion yen corporation.
But really... that kind of thing is so boring.
"Nagi, the thing we want is here."
"Yeah." Nagi nodded very seriously.
Finally, they all watched Tendou's departing back.
"I will definitely defeat him!"
...
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