The referee finally blew his whistle, and the entire stadium seemed to inhale at once.
Izan took his first step, then the second, eyes fixed on the inside of the far post.
The Yokohama wall waited for the cue to spring into action.
Park Il-Kyu, in his goal, crouched low with his weight on his right foot, reading the strike before it even left the boot.
Izan met the ball cleanly.
It came off his foot with a sharp lift and a tight curve that caught the crowd's attention before it even cleared the wall.
They rose with it as it bent around the last defender's shoulder.
And from behind them, Park shuffled sideways, three quick steps, eyes locked on the ball.
He started to drop into a dive, but he never got there.
And then from behind him, the ball snapped into the top corner, ripping the net back so hard that the keeper froze mid-movement, one arm half-extended as if he still wasn't certain it had actually gone in.
