Free Web NovelChapter 293: The End of A Peaceful First Half
On the stand, particularly close to the front line where everyone could see the whole game clearly, a group of boys with white jackets, tightening their bodies as a wrap burrito, stood there, watching the game carefully. Those were the players from Shimizu Higashi, and while the teams who played right now were not that strong, at least, they were quite familiar with one of them here.
They had been doing this in silence since the game began. Most of them just observed the whole game, with some recording it for their social media update. That was why, when Mamoru Suzuki, their best player, suddenly spoke, his outrageous remark managed to snap everyone out of their thought.
"Wait, what do you mean by that, Mamoru?" Their left winger, Wataru, shook the boy’s shoulder quite violently. "Do you think that the fucking Naoya Takahashi is not that strong?! You remember what he did to you and Han-Gyeol-a a few months ago?!"
Park Han-Gyeol, the foreign striker from South Korea, twitched the corner of his lips when he heard this. Even though he had only been in this country for a few months, the boy had already had a little grasp of the language, and he could still understand what people around him said.
Kang Do-Jin also laughed his ass off when he heard this, starting to tease his friend relentlessly.
Mamoru himself didn’t really care about this jab. His eyes were still on the pitch as he continued, "While yes, Takahashi-san is a menace as a defender, but he is not that amazing in holding the ball. That’s why he doesn’t like sticking with the ball for too long. Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, since Toin Gakuen’s style is quite defensive, so he doesn’t have to do a lot. But now..." He let his voice trail behind.
"Now, he meets Hakodate Nishi, a team that is more defensive than them, huh?" Takagi, the team’s captain, nodded in understanding. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Yeah, he couldn’t play to his strong point anymore." Mamoru nodded solemnly. "Honestly, Takahashi-san will be the perfect fit for Hakodate Nishi. I mean, his defensive range is so wide, and with a team that likes the parking bus strategy, he could showcase his ability more, and Hakodate Nishi’s defense will also be impossible to penetrate. They are the perfect match, elevating each other like the perfect piece of a puzzle. If they are together... I can imagine they would reach the final so easily."
All of his teammates couldn’t help but shudder at that thought. They had already experienced the toughness of Hakodate’s wall, and while at the end of the day, they managed to snatch the game, it took a penalty for them to do that, and that was also blocked by Hakodate Nishi’s goalkeeper first before Mamoru managed to get the rebound. If somehow, Hakodate Nishi got another layer of defense in Naoya...
"That would be a nightmare for a striker like me, eh? Naoya Takahashi and Hakodate Nishi’s goalkeeper?" Park Han-Gyeol chuckled wryly.
Naoya himself didn’t know that he was the main topic of the conversation on the stand. Well, even if the boy knew, he wouldn’t be able to complain. Hell, if anything, he would nod in agreement, especially with the current situation he had to face.
’Fuck it! This is so annoying!’ He gritted his teeth, receiving another pass before having to send it back quickly since he caught another Hakodate Nishi’s player coming at him. ’How could they be everywhere?! Are they starting to target me?!’
Yeah, five minutes since they conceded a goal, Naoya finally realized this harsh truth. He was also so frustrated right now, since this was the first time the boy experienced this kind of subjugation. Usually, it would be him who did that, but now, karma seemed to be a bitch on him.
The others also figured this out, as even their striker, Genta Kojima, shouted, "Move back, Naoya! Let us do the rest!"
No matter how bitter the captain was, he knew that he had just become the burden here. So, he decided to stay a little bit far from the play, being the team’s last guardian to let the others attack at ease.
However, this still didn’t truly solve the problem of how to break through the iron wall in front of them. Somehow, Hakodate Nishi pulled back into their own area immediately, playing in a compact defense while moving so coordinately that they would never let any leak appear on their side.
Even without a player of Naoya’s caliber in their lineup, they still held their own ground quite well, which surprised a lot of teams here.
"Damn, their defense sure is quite disciplined, right?"
"But this is also because Toin Gakuen’s offense is not that good."
"Yeah, since their senior players retired, they are falling off a little bit."
"If they were us, how should we deal with this situation?"
Of course, all those whispers came from the players. After all, they understood a little bit more about the game compared to the normal audience. However, the home team’s supporters thought otherwise here. They started to grumble, while some even shouted more rude words toward the away team.
"Oh, fuck it! You cowards! Where were your guts before?!"
"Fuck, is this a national game?! Even a child can do better!"
"Fuck off Hakodate! Fuck off Hakodate!"
In their eyes, what Hakodate Nishi did, retreating further back after scoring the goal, was equivalent to cowardice. Of course, they would never complain when it was their team to do so. This was just the kind of hypocrisy that all the football fans in the world had toward their team.
However, all the Hakodate Nishi players didn’t really care about that. They still defended everything perfectly, and Higo himself didn’t really make a lot of saves today. In total, he had only done 4 so far, which was quite low compared to his usual number. Makino, Ishinori, and Jun were so focused on maintaining the discipline on the back that they never allowed any shot to go straight to the goal. freёweɓnovel.com
In the end, the first half passed by peacefully, and before anyone noticed, the referee finally blew the whistle, ending a quite uneventful first half with Hakodate Nishi leading one goal against the home team Toin Gakuen.
