Vulcan

Vulcan (バルカン), also translated as Barkan, is a forward or a defender of Saudi Arabia.

Description[]

He first appeared in World Youth Hen (1994) chapter 32, "The genius Owairan". Being 2.1 meters (6'8" feet) tall and weighing 120 kilograms, Vulcan was kept as a secret weapon for Saudi Arabia's offensive football. He uses the jersey #15.

Biography[]

Battle of World Youth arc[]

Chapter of the Asian Youth Championship

Vulcan is part of Saudi Arabia Youth. He is kept as a secret weapon however, and doesn't make his appearance during the 1st Asian preliminaries. Still, the team make it through this round, thanks to their defense, commanded by their captain Mark Owairan. During the 2nd preliminaries, Saudi Arabia is in the same group as Japan, China, Uzbekistan and UAE. Their first match is against Uzbekistan. They easily win 3-0.

Their second match is against Japan Youth. Saudi's defense manage to hold off Japan during most of the first half, and they even score the opening goal. However, after Japan equalizes, they decide to switch to their offensive soccer, and thus, Vulcan is put in. Right after getting in, Vulcan blows away Soda and even the giant Jito in an aerial fight, then nearly scores with a header, but it is cleared by Ishizaki. The first half ends 1-1.

During half-time, Vulcan tells his teammates that he promise to score 3 goals, one goal with the head, one with the right leg and one with the left leg, just like the genie granting 3 wishes. As the second half begins, Saudi gives the ball to Vulcan, who then fires his special shot, the Vulcan Cannon. Wakabayashi stops it however, and Tsubasa takes the deflected ball. Vulcan tries to stop Tsubasa, but the latter gets past him with a Right-Angle Feint following by a jump. Japan then scores the reversing goal with Hyuga's Raiju Shot.

After that, Japan's coach Minato Gamo gives some directives to the Japanese players, one of those being having Jito personally marks Vulcan, and from that point, Saudi is unable to send the ball to him. Hyuga eventually does another Raiju Shoot. Vulcan, unable to receive any pass, goes back and tries to stop the shot with his giant body, but even that isn't enough as he is pushed inside the goal along with the ball. Moreover, the shot does some damage to Vulcan, hindering his movements afterwards.

Despite that, during an attack that Owairan and the other Saudi players set up later, Vulcan is still able to shakes free from Jito, and as Owairan already lured Wakabayashi away, Vulcan does a header towards the empty goal. However, Aoi blocks the header, and Japan even manages to score an additional goal from the following counter. The match ends with Japan winning 4-1. Vulcan finds it infuriating as he couldn't fulfill his promise of scoring 3 goals, but Owairan tells him that the tournament isn't over, Saudi still have a chance to qualify.

Saudi Arabia proceeds to beat UAE Youth. Their last match in the group stage is against China, which is also the fight for the second place in the group. China puts up a good fight despite the absence of their ace Xiao Junguang, however, Saudi is the first one to score, and after that, they convert Vulcan into a defender, switching to a double stopper formation with Owairan and Vulcan. With that strategy, they manage to protect their lead, thus qualifying for the semifinals.

Saudi's opponent in the semifinals is South Korea. Vulcan manages to score the opening goal for Saudi in this match. After that, Saudi use their double stopper formation again, just like against China. However, South Korea decides to put their ace Cha In-cheon in, who, despite his injury, manages to blow Owairan away with his power and score the tying goal.

Later in the match, Cha's leg gets broken again. However, he still manages to send the ball to Lee Yong-un. Vulcan attempts to stop Lee, but the latter gets past with his technique. Vulcan then tries to prevent Lee from shooting with his body weight, but Lee strikes a Low Altitude Flying Overhead, scoring the reversing goal. The match ends after that, and Saudi Arabia is unable to take a top two spot to be qualified for the World Youth.

World Youth Tournament

Despite their loss in the Asian preliminaries, as Japan, the 1st place team becomes the host country of the World Youth instead of Burunga which is under a civil war, Saudi Arabia, which is in 3rd place, is advanced for the tournament.

Saudi is in the same group with Brazil, France and Cameroon. As they are facing the top teams, they lose against Brazil and France, and only manage a draw against Cameroon, and thus eliminated from the tournament.

Golden-23 arc[]

Vulcan and U-22 Saudi Arabia make it to the third round of the Asian Olympics preliminaries. For their first match of this round, they play at home against Japan. Japan is leading 1-0 after the first half, but during the second half, Ishizaki does an own goal, therefore the game ends in a tie.

Saudi lose to Australia in their next match, but manage to win the third match, against Vietnam.

As both teams have 4 points, and still have a small chance of qualifying for the Olympics, both Saudi and Japan are determined to win in their second confrontation. Again, Japan is the one taking the lead. Saudi begins to attack furiously after that. However, they are unsuccessful, and even let Shun Nitta score an additional goal for Japan. The game ends 2-0, thus eliminating Saudi from the tournament.

Still, as their captain Owairan promised, Saudi, playing with all their strength, put up a good fight against U-22 Australia. The match ends 1-1, which makes the situation in the group uncertain, as both Japan and Australia now have a chance to qualify.

Techniques[]

Aerial shots[]

Diving Header: Despite his giant size, he jumps lightly into the air and slams a high-flying ball toward the goal with an explosive header.
Jumping Header: Despite his giant size, he jumps lightly into the air and slams a high-flying ball toward the goal with an explosive header. He was able to defeat Wakabayashi in an aerial duel.

Ground shots[]

Vulcan Cannon: He puts his full weight behind the shot, giving it cannonball-like momentum and explosive force.

Trivia[]

His name, as well as his special shot, is a pun on vulcan cannon, a powerful gatling gun.
- His name is likely meant to be Barkan, an actual Western Asian name; however the aforementioned pun would not work if translated this way.