Matsuyama Tenshi

Matsuyama Tenshi (松山天使) is a professional football player who currently plays as a midfielder for Real Zafiro of Spain and the Japan national team.

After good performances in Hyogo National Qualifiers by Hikari Gakuen in 2018, he was invited to participate in Project Blue Lock where he was initially part of Team Z-2 . Still in the project, Matsu ensured his permanence, advancing through the First, Second and Third selections, reaching the Second Phase of the Project, with the creation of the Neo Egoist League reality show, where he played alongside FC Barcha's U-20, until he received and accept Real Zafiro's proposal.

His main goal is to inspire people through what he loves to do.

## Appearance

Matsu is a tall boy with a balanced physique, who has dark indigo semi-rounded eyes and a serene gaze. His skin is slightly pale and his hair is short, grayish, with a messy appearance, as it is somewhat spiky, but has some waves. He has the habit of using some type of bandage as an accessory to play, mainly a nasal dilator. He also wears a muscle compressor on his left arm. At first there is no apparent reason, maybe it's a lucky charm or something merely aesthetic.

### Clothes

**Blue Lock:** At Blue Lock, Matsu wears the standard-issued body suit (black with blue-gray stripes) and tracksuit. During the first selection, he wore the specific jersey of Team Z-2 with #15, consisting of a blue vest with black bars near the sleeves. Already in the second and third selection, he stayed with #115 and wore the Red uniform of Team Red, and the uniform of Team C. Finally, during the NEL he wore the FC Barcha Purple, Black and Yellow uniform with the number 11, which became his main number.

**Real Zafiro:** At Real Zafiro, Matsu wore jersey #11 and wears the official blue kit with dark stripes and the white away kit.

**Japan National Team:** In the Japanese national team, Matsu wears the traditional uniform of the Blue Samurai and has #15 as his main number. Although he uses #11 when he has the opportunity.

**Casual Clothes:** Casually, Matsu prefers warm clothes that are looser and more comfortable. His main style involves wearing a predominantly white hoodie or sweater, but with black sleeves (or some dark shade of blue and indigo), as well as a long rope cord with the pendant of an angel's wing, which references his name and also to feathers, as a symbology of writing/drawing material. The pants follow the same style, being a wide sweatshirt that is a little tighter around the ankles, also in black and with white side details. And for sneakers he uses air jordans following the color of the set. [Under development]

## Personality

Matsu is a reserved guy, who spends most of his time observing things from afar in the company of his Sketchbook. He is someone very calm and patient, who hates fights and illogical discussions. Due to this cautious demeanor, he is considered a great listener and is often turned to by friends for advice. But behind that serene air, there is a somewhat anxious boy who always wants to be in control of the situation.

Also, although he is introverted, he can be very laid back and even talkative - albeit soft spoken - with his friends. Especially if he is excited about some subject and discovery, wanting to share and explain things. He is also considered a complete nerd who lives by doing research and analyzing everything and everyone. In his mind, formulating this database helps him with situations on the field and also with ideas for characters in his stories.

## Abilities

### Archetype

* **Tempo Setter:** Players who control the pace of the match through their intelligence, vision, technical refinement and passing distribution. They are also known as *Maestros*, as they are primarily responsible for organizing the team's actions by choosing the area of ​​the field where ball possession will be maintained, and especially the speed of build-up and offensive transition plays. Due to a certain freedom of positioning to perform this function, the name *Roaming Playmaker* is also used to define the archetype.

Matsu is a calm and analytical player who uses his *Metavision* to keep control of his team's actions. Always on the lookout for options that will get his team to score goals, and with a detailed mental database of players and strategies on-pitch, he uses his mastery of passing and ball control to gracefully float down the field, passing his opponents elegantly, like someone walking and "in a suit".

In tactical terms, he plays freely through the midfield sector and tends to drop back to get the ball to start the team's moves. With his intelligence, he leads the team's offensive transition, dictating the pace of the game, choosing when to speed up or slow down plays. As a result, he is often one of the main playmakers on his team, getting involved in many assist situations and key passes.

Due to his physical type and low speed, Matsu used to be a *Centre-Forward* who acted as a *Target Man*, receiving long passes and protecting the ball while waiting for his teammates to approach. Because of this, he has a certain ease of playing with his back to the goal, risking many effect plays, with heel passes or turning his body.

* Blue Lock
* Currently

### Skills

**Professional Football Technique:** Matsu became one of the pillars of Real Zafiro's new team project in Spain. And he stands out for his technical quality and way of thinking the game, making him one of the most promising young midfielders playing in Europe. Since arriving at the team, he has been the season's assist leader, with a very high pass accuracy rate. In addition to drawing attention from other European leagues, there are rumors that FC Barcha and even Royal Madrid would be interested in having the player.

* **Coach's words:** I know I'm a young coach, but with my experience as a professional player, I can say that Matsu is the player that every type of coach or player would want to have. He is a very intelligent, calm and creative boy, who works magic on the pitch. In a special way, with this genius, he manages to make the game easier for everyone around him. No wonder he has so much affection from the fans and the press has been comparing him with brilliant and cerebral midfielders who played here in Spain. Ah, as if these characteristics were not enough, he is a physically strong player, with a height above the average of what we usually have here in Spain, which allows for an even more unique way for him to play. And I'm sure that if he continues on this path, he'll have a career with many titles, and I hope it's here with us.

**Game Vision:** Matsu is an analytical player who stands out for his ability to read the match, being able not only to detect information at a high update rate, but also to predict plays based on the movement of everyone on the pitch. Due to his other weapons, he uses this vision both to organize the team's actions and to create enchanting plays with his passes that often overshadow his teammate's goal.

* **Database Analyst:** Matsu has exaggerated study habits that apply to everything he sets out to do. Entering Blue Lock and having access to a huge amount of stats, graphs and information about other players took it to another level. He has shown great memory capacity, becoming a walking database to the point where Anri jokes that if at any point he is eliminated from the competition, she would call him to be her analyst. In addition to helping in pre-game meetings, the information obtained by him is constantly used to improve his *strategic reading and decision making*. Matsu is always the last to leave the meeting room, as he repeatedly spends time analyzing past games and always has his sketchbook taking notes.

* **Metavision:** Matsu's Game Vision starts with his ***Spatial Awareness***, He has a high *Vision Acuity of 2.0*, as well as well-developed peripheral vision that naturally allows him to have a better understanding of the pitch, location and distances of the players in the field. And it is completed with his ***Play Prediction*** ability, which allows him to make mental simulations of players' movements on the field, based on previous information, intuition and their body positioning. Resulting in passing distribution plays in future positioning.

* **La Pausa:** The manifestation of Matsu's vision of the game can be presented by his *La Pausa* technique. While many players exploit speed in all their actions, Matsu leads through patience. He knows exactly when to hold the ball waiting for the "pieces on the board" to move, and when to make a quick move with precise one-touch passes, becoming a very difficult player to mark, for doing so moves that always break the pace of the opponent, confusing them whether they should keep running or go to him to steal the ball, without him having to run. It's like time runs at a different speed in his mind.

* **Maestro:** Matsu is the typical player known for *"not running, but making the ball run"*, and to overcome this deficit of intensity runs in his game, he started to use his vision of the game even without possession of the ball, coordinating his team's plays through verbal and gestural instructions, becoming a true Maestro on the field.

**Expert Ball Control:** Matsu combines his strong physical stature and long body reach with his ease of playing with both right and left foot. Although he doesn't consider his ambidexterity to be perfect, he often switches the ball from one foot to the other while carrying the ball, as well as finding passing and shooting opportunities, making it difficult to mark and increasing his range of options to create offensive opportunities, even under pressure.

* **Shielding:** Utilizing his expert ball control and strong build, Matsu often plays physical contact plays using his body and legs to protect the ball and spin past the opposition.

* **Long Legs Driving:** Matsu confuses and surprises his opponents because of the **long reach** of his legs. On several plays where the ball seemed to slip out of his control, he quickly recovered by stretching his legs and collecting the ball again. In addition, due to his long legs and strong physique, when he is not in possession of the ball, Matsu compensates for his low speed with long strides.

* **Sole Roll Specialist:** Matsu's characteristic dribbling, where he rolls the ball diagonally from one foot to the other, using the supporting foot as a shield between the ball and the opponent. Thus, he increases the chances of clearing the move by escaping his opponent, or even receiving fouls. As well as using this to get past his opponents, Matsu also uses it as a setup move for quick shots and passes with his weak foot.

* **La Boba:** A feint that uses the sole of the foot, confusing opponents as to which way the player will attempt to proceed.

* **La Croqueta:** a dribble which functions shifting the ball quickly from one foot to the other, before using the second foot to power you away from the defender.

* **Marseille Turn**: Matsu stops the ball with the sole of his foot, shielding the ball from his opponent, before performing a roulette to turn past them.

* **Nutmeg:** Utilizing his La Pausa technique to break the momentum of opposing defenders, Matsu is able to dish out fancy nutmegs on his opponents.

* **La Pelopina:** Dribbling characterized by making a turn orbiting the opponent to leave the marking with the ball on the other side

* **Pull Push Fake Pass:** While progressing with the ball, Matsu stomps with the sole of his foot and threatens to roll the ball backwards, as if he is going to leave it to a teammate, but he quickly stops the roll and advances the ball, breaking the opponent's rhythm.

* **Grav-Field Sombrero:** After catching an overhead pass, while under pressure, Matsu subtly controls the ball with the outside of his foot, before tapping where the ball slowly rises, letting the marker pass under it. After that he dominates with his chest and performs a pass without dropping the ball. The technique's name references the slowing effect the ball has as he just throws it vertically upwards while standing still.

**Key-Fancy Passes:** Matsu is a passing-oriented player, who even when playing in a deeper midfield position, looks for spaces by progressing with the ball to perform a perfect assist. Managing to make passes even in plays where his back is to the opponent, without much space.

* **Roulette Pass:** In some situations where Matsu uses the Marseille Turn dribble, he uses the last touch of the dribble to perform a fancy fast pass.

* **Backheels Pass:** In several situations, Matsu uses quick touches involving both feet to perform sophisticated passes, such as back-heel passes, or passes where he steps on the ball with the sole of one foot, and without taking his foot out of that position, hits with the inside of the other foot for a quick pass.

* **(Inverted) Elastico Pass:** Matsu drags the ball with the inside or outside of his foot until he makes a sudden change of direction, performing a short pass without taking his foot off the ball. Sometimes he manages to make the pass pass between the opponent's legs.

* **Air-Heel Pass:** In situations where the ball comes towards him from above, Matsu lets the ball go over his head and performs high passes with his heel.

* **The Moon Laces:** Matsu optimized his direct passes, to the point where he managed to do this by applying a volley on the ball, with or without a backspin for combing the ball

* **Disguise Passes:** Using his vision, calm and control, he manages to hide his passing intention in plays where due by his look and body position, it looks like the pass will be for one player, but it's actually for another.

* **Through Balls:** Matsu developed the vision and assertiveness needed to attempt riskier passes even more often. Through Passes are usually vertical passes where Matsu finds an opening between at least two opponents, so that a teammate, through positioning and running, will be able to break through the opposing defensive line, being in a privileged position facing the goal. Matsu is able to do this by applying backspin or lobbing to facilitate his teammates' first touch.

* **Galactic Pass:** With all his elegance, seeming to do something simple, Matsu performs a high long pass, capable of crossing the entire field. He does this to find free teammates in vertical runs, or even to reverse the ball to the other wing of the field. Due to the beauty of the pass that attracts everyone's attention in the stadium, it was nicknamed the Galactic Pass. Whenever he finds space for this, he performs the trivela pass, using the outside of the foot.

* **Pass Shot:** Matsu is not a player known for his finishing, but because he has an offensive orientation, he is often involved in shooting situations. His signature kick is something he calls a "Pass Shot", a pass straight into the goal where the ball appears to have been placed calmly. He has also used this by pretending to throw a pass to a teammate inside the area, leaving players confused about his true intention in the move, whether he wanted to pass or kick the ball.

**Flow State (Complete):** Flow, as described by Ego, is the state of "total immersion" or "being in the zone." It is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

Matsu has an unconscious motivation to prove that creating plays is more interesting than just scoring a goal. That's why he uses his Metavision, Dribbling and Passing in the most elegant way he can to completely steal the striker's shine. When in a state of Flow, he stops saving his stamina and starts to progress with the ball more intensely to perform these types of plays, even opting to score the goal himself.

## Etymology

* The name **Matsuyama** (松山) means "Pine Mountain" and can be separated into **Matsu** (松) that in addition to pine, it can mean "to wait". And **Yama** (山) which means mountain. But **Matsu** it is also an expression that means "waiting for the divinity that returns from the heavens", due to a legend that says that the gods climb a pine tree to gain access to their Celestial Kingdom.
* The name **Tenshi** (天使) means "Angel, Emperor". Being the union of Heaven (天) (**Ten**) and Messenger, Bearer, Errand (使) (**Shi**). Just as it is a variation of "Tensai" (Genie of the Heavens).
* **Matsuyama Tenshi** can therefore be interpreted as **"The genius who leads from the top**" or "**The genius who leads with patience**".

## Quotes

* “Interesting, that gave me an idea.”
* “Mmm...Time to change the pace.”
* Sometimes I ask myself why I retreat, when my focus is on scoring goals just like you. It's for moments like this, if I'm not here, the ball will never reach the attack.
* "I've been thinking... passes are the evolved form of kicking, they're much more classy and affectionate with the ball."
* I want to prove to Ego that football is not just a result, but an art. My objective will be to steal the shine of all the strikers with my plays, even if I'm not the one to score in the end.
* Ok ok...Time for [Hero, Villain, Mentor, Others] archetype
* “Shhh, you're just a side characters in my story” (Flow State)

## Trivia

* Matsu has conflicts between his artistic and analytical side. Because of that, he didn't think of any fantastic names for his soccer skills. It annoys him a bit, but he never comes to a conclusion about it.
* He started playing football at the age of 10.
* His zodiac sign is Pisces.
* His hometown is Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture).
* His favorite color is Indigo.
* His character color/aura is Black and White/Silver. [Not yet decided, but possibly in a more "cosmic" aspect to reference the style of play through space-time]
* His foot size is 30 cm.
* His dominant leg is his right foot. But he has good rates with the left too.
* His blood type is O.
* His 'favorite body part' is the thighs.
* His favorite players are "Xavi", "Iniesta "and "Toni Kroos". [This should be updated as we better configure adaptation of this alternate universe]
* His favorite food is teppanyaki (salmon) and Oreo Milkshake.
* His favorite things to do that don't involve football are Writing and Drawing.
* His favorite animal is the Owl, for being a serene and mystical creature. He also likes Wolves and White Tigers a lot.
* His favorite season is autumn because it is a silent season with cool winds.
* His favorite school subjects are Art, Science and P.E and his least favorite subjects are Politics and Economics.
* He spends his holidays binge-watching/reading.
* In addition to football, he is interested in pursuing an artistic and academic career.
* If he ever got 100 million yen (~$739,000) he will keep a part and would use the other to finance his art projects.
* On his last day on Earth He would like to play soccer with his childhood friends and have his favorite Milkshake.
* He is happy when he wins books, sweets and manages to inspire others.
* His favorite movie is Arrival.
* His favorite manga is the The Tales of Eria, a manga he is developing.
* His ideal type of a girl is someone who understands him, is kind, and has dreams/goals similar to his.
* He feels sad when his creative processes are interrupted.
* He considers his strengths to be his caution, creativity and desire to inspire others. While your weakness is overthinking.
* His friends usually highlight his analytical ability and memory.
* The sports press has already compared his style of play to the legendary midfield trio of FC Barcha from the 2010s, such as Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta for his way of thinking about the game. Other honorable mentions were for his class, elegance and creativity, compared to number 10s like Ronaldinho and Zidane. [This should be updated as we better configure adaptation of this alternate universe]

## Gallery

JP Volume XX.pngVolume Cover XXBlue Lock Player IconMatsu Hikari Gakuen Team.pngHikari Gakuen Football uniformMatsu Team Z-2.pngTeam Z-2 UniformMatsu Team Red Uniform.pngTeam Red UniformMatsu Barcha Uniform.pngNEL FC Barcha UniformMatsu Real Zafiro Uniform.pngReal Zafiro UniformMatsu Japanese National Team.pngJapanese National TeamMatsuyama Tenshi Profile using Blue Lock Museum Player Profiles (Etros.art Edit)