Since then, Isagi has been passionate about soccer.
He asked his parents to send him to soccer lessons, and when there was a live soccer game on, he would sit and watch it on TV. He plays soccer all the time during his lunch break and after school. He made friends through soccer, and Isagi, who used to be a crybaby, became more and more active. Even so, his timid and quiet personality does not change. He never gets into fights with his friends and never disobeys his teachers. He is athletic, but not very good in his studies, a simple boy who loves to play soccer. Isagi has always been that mob character until one day, when he was 8 years old, something astounding happened. Through the TV, he met a player. It was the young Noel Noa, who scored goals without ever changing a single facial expression.
"So cool...!"
The player overtakes the enemy one after another and scores a goal without fail, Isagi can't take his eyes off of this otherworldly play. It was too amazing. He was so cool even in his post-win interview.
"You were fantastic again today! How do you feel looking back on the match? How did you feel about that super goal?"
"...Nothing special. I just did my job as usual."
He answered the somewhat excited interviewer indifferently.
"Don't get me wrong. It doesn't matter if it's a super goal or not. Every goal is a point. Soccer is a sport in which points are scored and I am in a position where I am expected to score goals. That's what I'm living for, so I just did what I had to do."
Noel Noa doesn't flash a single smile, but the interviewer's voice grows louder and louder with excitement.
"Ohh! Can I… take that as a declaration that you want to become the world's best striker and aim for the World Cup!?"
"...Winning isn't the only thing in soccer. Of course I want to win the World Cup, but I want to feel everything about soccer. Like for example..."
Isagi will never forget the line that follows until he dies.
"Instead of assisting my teammates to win by 1-0, it feels better to pull off a hat trick and lose 3-4. You can't sell that kind of emotion anywhere, can you?"
How thrilling! An electric shock ran through Isagi's body.
This person knows why I love soccer!
When he saw soccer for the first time. It wasn't just the feelings of "how cool" and "how awesome" it is that deeply moved him. More than that, he found it "beautiful." Soccer is a team game, 11 players against 11, and it is also an individual game. There are also the surrounding spectators, the stadium, the show and the battle for life. He wants to be that striker, the one at the center of it all.
I want to be a striker like Noel Noa...!
Noel Noa is trying to reach the top of the soccer world.
Me too...! I'm going to be just like Noel Noa!
It is said that the fastest way to improve not only in soccer but in other sports is to imitate the pros. Although no one taught him, Isagi imitated Noel Noa's every move. He watched his videos, analyzed them, and recorded them in a notebook.
He spent every day practicing, filling his mind with Noel Noa's soccer.
One day, I will represent Japan and score a goal in the World Cup Finals!
He aims to be Noel Noa.
When asked who he admires the most, he answers "Noel Noa," he writes on his self-introduction card, "My dream is to be the best striker in the world," and his request to Santa is a "World Cup Championship trophy".
Isagi became stronger and better. He was fearless in running into his opponents, as if he had never been a crybaby. In elementary school, he scored a goal beating five opponents in a row. In junior high school, he became known as the unbeatable striker in his hometown in Saitama.
I'm gonna be a striker like Noel Noa!)
That dream greatly changed Isagi.
After graduating from junior high school, he entered a local soccer powerhouse, Ichinan High School.