章 7: Team Z vs Team X | Part 2

The game was restarted with another kickoff. Until the end of the first half, there were still 20 minutes, which was a lot of time. No one on Team Z was worried yet; they had a lot of time to turn around the score.

Isagi received the ball from Kuon again, and he redirected it to Dennis, who for the very first time had it at his feet. Dennis wasn't going to give it away; he could walk around and see how the opponents respond. The first line of opponents was three strikers, including Barou; they were pressing as the German expected.

Barou stood in front of him, "Why aren't you ahead? You are playing better than anyone else on that trash team. The strikers who don't attack are worthless." Only the German could hear what he was saying, and to be honest, he could explain the situation, but that would be a waste of precious time. So, the number 10 of team X got ignored; it's not like he gave it much thought. Shoei particularly didn't mind.

'Raichi, don't do something stupid again.' The white-haired boy was calmer than the previous time.

Slowly and slowly, Team Z was building up its playstyle, which was more dependent on the flanks. Raichi realized that if he wanted to create the chance for himself, he must pass it around to open up the space. Everyone tried to accomplish just that. Gurimu and Immamura got to play on their flanks, and they interacted with Chigiri and Bachira.

Every time those two wingers moved toward the goal or to the center of the box, Gurimu and Immamura would run up to the corners and either receive a pass in absolutely open space. Dennis was a genius for coming up with this strategy. Due to this, they had time to move the rest of the team for the crossing.

Kuon and Kunigami were the tallest of the bunch, and they were good for the crosses, and if the cross was unsuccessful, there was Dennis outside of the box waiting for his chance to strike.

"I'm crossing!" Those crosses were particularly welcome for team Z, since there was an equal chance for everyone to score. It's a good way to tame Jingo Raichi and their team's egotistical strikers. Imamura launched the cross at the closest bar and hoped for the best.

Swish!

The ball breezed through the air and landed on the white hair. Raichi previously burst out of the crowd and jumped to the ball; it was a slight tap from him, but it changed the direction of the football in their favor. He brandished his sharp teeth in midair and shouted, "Let's go! I told you fuckers!" He shouted as the ball went into the farthest post.

Everyone slapped him on the head or messed with his white hair, "Nice one, Raichi! You can play when you want, can't you?!" Even Dennis didn't hold back his congratulations. This was a fantastic goal and play that should be recognized.

"Let's do it again, boys; we can definitely do it!" Team Z returned to their half and waited for Team X to kick off the ball. "The other team will work harder to keep us from scoring; that guy has probably figured out our strategy by now." He will tell them to press on the flanks harder, so we have to think of something different.'

This battle was starting to resemble a professional football match rather than just a teenager's hustle. Barou was a beast; he carried an entire team on his shoulders. He played basically everywhere and got past everyone on Team Z. Dennis didn't have direct confrontation with him yet,

However, it was clear that both avoided taking risks next to each other. Barou, just like Dennis, considered him to be a dangerous footballer. 'Barou Shoei… Physically, he is a tank; he has speed and flexibility as well. He reminds me of Ibrahimovic.' There is no football fan who doesn't know Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

And Dennis is playing with a similar replica, even the ego of that guy was eagerly resembling Zlatan, which made it even funnier. Barou, though, couldn't draw any resemblance between pros and Dennis. He was still a mystery.

'He is going to the left!' The German, not wasting his time, changed the direction of his body and followed the number 10 of Team X. The latter, noticing this, did the chop and cut the direction, 'Fuck! Doing a chop with this kind of mass…' Dennis didn't expect this. There were numerous reports of injuries caused by chopping with a large body mass.

However, Barou didn't care; he looked just fine, and he continued the run in comfort. Dennis, on the other hand, was not out of the game; he pitted his core side against Barou and competed for ball possession. That's when the Japanese realized it was getting heated.

'This… foreigner is stronger than me.' Barou was trying with all his power just to remove Dennis from his back, but he could not, which wasn't weird. Dennis was tall and lean—definitely a guy who worked with heavy weights. 'His core strength is that of a professional athlete.'

Bump! There was a collision between the two that almost knocked the Japanese off balance. It was a little bit dirty move from Dennis, but he won the hustle and regained possession for his team. "Chigiri!" The German shouted before tossing the ball in an arch that ended at Chigiri's chest.

"Thanks, Dennis!" Chigiri, for the first time, received such a precise pass. It naturally landed on his chest before falling to his legs. The redhead had only seen these kinds of passes from Andrea Pirlo, and now he realized why Italian was so dangerous.

As he ran the line, in the corner of his eyes, Chigiri saw Isagi pointing at his legs. He made the pass to him: "Isagi, be careful!" He shouted in advance, seeing how Barou approached the blue-haired boy.

'Shit!' Isagi stopped moving and looked for the passes. Barou stood in front of him and literally said, "I am going to kill you." His red eyes stared deep into his soul. The dark-haired felt fear and got nervous instantly.

Barou's red eyes quickly drew nearer to Isagi as he attempted to nutmeg the man, whose legs were spread widely, but "People like you have nothing to do on the field." The animal-like guy told the number eleven,

"Wha-!" Isagi lost the ball. Barou moved quicker than his legs could act. 'Fuck! I lost it.'

Team X had the ball, and they launched a swift counterattack. "Isagi! Get your shit together, and return to defense!" His teammates yelled in response. He was to blame for the loss, so in an effort to atone for it, he pursued Barou.

Except for the number 10 in team X, no one was really reliant; Barou had to dribble his way through the field to reach the goal and score. However, he was more than willing to create chances for his teammates, for example, just like right now. This time they were more spread out on the field than before, so Barou had plenty of options. He didn't get less attention with the pass, but he could now use his full speed to get away.

'How is he so quick!' Thought the number 11 of team Z who was chasing the guy. Barou, along with power, had speed. What disadvantages did this guy have? Isagi could only ponder; as of now, he didn't know any.

Meanwhile, someone from team X called out to Barou for the pass, "Barou! I'm open!" and the opponent was very open indeed, 'Who is guarding him?! He is so open!' Isagi shouldn't have been the only one who noticed this; he hoped so. Barou did as he was asked, and swoosh! Dennis blitzed between the two and intercepted the pass before it could reach its destination. 'Holy shit! He got it!' Isagi's eyes could barely notice him at first because he was so quick. Nobody could catch up to the German as he ran through the completely defenseless territory. He even sliced through the last line of team X, their defense, and approached the goalkeeper.

The goalkeeper of the opponents ran out of the box, and it was too early to do that as German still hadn't entered the box yet. 'This goal is mine.' Dennis smiled as the tip of his boot just slightly bumped underneath the football, which flew in an arch, landing right into the goal. This tied the scores of two teams!

"Raichi! Try replicating this, you bum, but no, you can't! Because you don't even try to defend!" This was Dennis' attempt to bring out the full willingness to work for the team from the white-haired boy they had on the team, and he was successful.

"What did you say?! I could also do the same!" At Raichi's words, Dennis just raised his hand and made a gesture with his finger that it was all just talk. "Don't show me that bastard! I literally scored before you!"

The team celebrated the German's goal. The jealousy was still present, but they never hid it. It was natural for the striker to wish to score more goals, and it was unpleasant to have someone else score for you. The first half wasn't even finished yet, but they managed to tie the game. They weren't done with playing yet.

As Dennis got back to his half, Barou walked past him with the words, "Brace yourself, peasants." He got outright ignored by Dennis, who couldn't care less what the dude was saying, nonetheless, the message has been delivered.

Team X continued the match with more intent than previously, and Barou was trying really hard to score goals himself. It was apparent that the repetitive strategy was already getting to Team Z and the change was required. Dennis' had multiple, reddened spots in a spherical shape, those were the places Barou's shots were hit. 'It starts to burn…' The German was starting to feel the pain.

Isagi took notice of this before everyone else, the strategy was failing. Their momentum was down, and their attacks were becoming more aimless than before. Barou was already there in the box before they could cross, and nobody wished to go against him… 'We need Dennis in the attack!'

Only the monster could go up against the monster, and Isagi could only point at one man capable of countering Barou. The German already pushed off the Japanese, even knocking him off balance… He needs to change the strategy.

Bang! There was a loud noise coming from a very unsettling location for team Z. Barou and Dennis collided right in front of the box, and the number ten fell to the ground, which stunned even him. He continued by getting up in a second, but the whistle was blown and a free kick was set.

And of course, the one who was going to take it was Barou. Team Z was in a perilous situation because the freekick was directly in front of their goal. The first half was at its climax, Barou walked away 2 meters from the ball and waited for the whistle to be blown.

Raichi, Dennis, Iemon, and Kunigami stood at the front in a formation, creating a tall wall. Barou had to shoot, so the ball gets over the wall and doesn't hit them. He was under a lot of pressure, not because of all the trust teammates put in him but because the German was looking directly at him, not even at the ball. Let's say it was distracting. He looked like he was going to murder him…

'Barou Shoei…' Dennis had no doubt in his mind that the guy was just as good a free kicker as he was a finisher; his eyes were already revealing so much about him. They alone held the power. He was going to score this one.

Whistle!

Barou took the first slow step. His body was straight, and his expression held no expression. He breathed calmly and looked at the ball. Barou's left foot landed on the short artificial grass next to the football. His right foot moved as he had intended, and its side just barely made contact with the ball to produce a curved shot.

Whoosh!