章 8: Team Z vs Team X | Part 3
The four players who created the wall jumped simultaneously; they all shielded their crotches or faces and braced for the impact that never came. The ball went over their heads, creating a breeze of air that caressed their hair. They cursed in their minds, as now the only one who could possibly stop the ball was the goalkeeper.
Gagamaru saw this and jumped in time to reach the ball, which was going to the farthest bar instead of the close one. Barou tricked them into thinking it was going there, but the ball curved in time to change direction. Gagamaru was still elastic and managed to make the jump; the tips of his fingers touched the football and averted its direction a little.
Everyone watched as the sphere spun and hit the bar. 'Yes!' Isagi exclaimed. The ball landed near the goalkeeper on the white line. The latter was going to pick it up, but the still spinning ball wasn't done yet; it went along the white line further from him. 'F*ck!' The opponents ran to the ball.
Isagi's mark hit his shoulder on the way, which was the only reason he was alerted. He tried to stop the advance, 'How could I let this guy slip away from me!' The number eleven jumped, attempting to tackle in front of the ball and not letting the goal happen. Bang! It hit his feet, and the ball went flying out. Igarashi added even more and shot the ball out of the box!
"Isagi!" Dennis jumped on the guy, surprising him. Did he do something bad? "You are a fucking savior!" Apparently no. The German was praising him for his excellent play, just like everyone else. The defenders messed with his hair, giving him all the good compliments they could muster.
"That was the best thing in the game so far!" The team was getting that adrenaline rush they so desperately craved.
Unbeknownst to himself, Isagi was experiencing emotions that he had never felt before, despite the fact that he was a striker. Was it confidence? It was similar but much greater as if he could do everything on the field and nobody else seemed to be as good as he imagined them to be. 'I want more.' Isagi had the resolve to tell himself.
Not noticing the previous tiredness in his legs, the soreness disappeared instantly, and the number eleven utilized his legs to the max. He ran into the middle of the field before everyone else, even Wataru. Nobody cared anymore about their energy; it was the last few minutes before the first half was going to end.
Team Z started intensely pressing against their opponents, making it harder for them to make simple passes on their own half. 'What the fuck! They are everywhere!' One of the players on Team X watched as Isagi approached him like a ferocious beast. He turned around to see someone else from his team, 'Even there?!' Meguru Bachira was guarding that one.
It's safe to say that Team X was having a tough time. The initiator of this maneuver by their opponents was Isagi Yoichi.
'Isagi, you are a beast!' Dennis commented internally while he watched the number eleven chase the opponent he picked. Isagi went after the ball, making attempt after attempt to steal it from team X. He wasn't successful, but the pressure on the opponent was enormous. This continued after that guy gave up.
He fired the ball into their half, and while it was still in the air, beginning to fall, players from both teams gathered at a location where it was expected to land. Dennis flew in the air alongside Barou and competed with him on the header. "Rahhh!"
Against each other, they were fearless athletic freaks; only they dared to jump and compete for the ball. However, Dennis was still a head above the guy when in the air; his vertical leap was greater than Barou's. Everyone could only watch and mutter, contemplating if the German was Superman or a human being.
Barou, who considered himself the king on the field, was currently overshadowed by the German, and the only thing he could do was wait for the second half. The rage was rising in his heart, and his face, even though he wasn't showing it, was boiling from anger.
"Raichi! Don't stop; keep pushing!" Dennis shouted at the blond haired hot head, who responded with, "I know this better than you!" Raichi could still keep going, and the opponents were already on their last breath as they tried to keep up with him.
"Isagi!" Raichi rolled the football to the blue-haired boy, who continued instead of him. From above, on the screen, the entire team Z, except for the goalkeeper, was moving up the field. The number eleven's vision was scanning an entire field.
His eyes could capture most of the moves produced by his teammates; at the moment, Isagi could see everything happening on the field, which made things easier for his team. Bachira entered the box from the right flank. There was a very thin space leading to Bachira, but Isagi was ready to take the risk.
Bachira smiled. Isagi was the perfect teammate to play with; he made the correct pass at the correct time. Every opponent was thinking the same: 'How the hell did he pass there?!' This was Isagi's other weapon, which he showed for the first time.
Tackle! Someone from team X tried to get the ball out of bounds in the slide, but Bachira just jumped with his entire body, taking the ball with him on the top of his right foot. 'This is it, and the goal is open in front of me…' Bachira wanted to strike the ball, but something was telling him not to. The little hair on his back stood, and it was like a pointer. His eyes looked back to see Kunigami out of the box, ready to split the sea in half.
The monster in him wanted to give the ball to their ginger-headed teammate… Bachira agreed and tossed the ball in an arch to deliver the pass with certainty. The opponents came to a halt when they realized the ball had traveled in a different direction than they had anticipated. "Everyone! Cover up!"
"Yeah, yeah, too late for you guys…" Kunigami muttered as he prepared his left foot for the strongest shot of his football career. The blood gushed into his veins as the ginger-headed man felt strength in them. The ground vibrated as his foot touched the grass, and opponents braced their faces as the second leg touched the ball.
The ball deformed for a moment, and shock waves traveled on its surface. It looked like a comet, and its speed was its biggest similarity. The football burst next to Kunigami's teammates and enemies before going into the net without any obstacles. The goalkeeper had absolutely no reaction beforehand... He shuddered. "The shot was too powerful... I could react…"
Team X was still recovering from its initial shock as Kunigami jumped in the air and yelled, "Hell yeah!" Meanwhile, team Z swarmed the ginger-head but was unable to knock him down to the ground due to his strength.
"No way, you just launched a cannon, dude!"
"Haha, this is awesome, Kunigami!"
"We are winning!"
The stats were in their favor; Team Z was leading with 3 goals, while Team X had 2. Five goals in total for this half, which is an amazing amount of goals for a single half. With the blow of the whistle, this first half was concluded, and the teams went to the locker rooms to rest.
"This was so intense!" Gurimu slumped on the wooden seat as he had little to no energy left after playing 45 minutes. The most frustrating aspect of the game was that it was still not over; their energy was running out, and there were still 45 minutes to go.
Dennis took a seat, "The next half will be much worse; Barou won't give up just like that; nobody will, in his place. Due to this, we need to switch strategies; everyone is in agreement with that, right?"
What he saw in the last few minutes was chaos, which was more controlled than it was at the beginning. Their last push was against their will, and nobody cared about their positions anymore. So he'll have to come up with better positions for each player now that he knows what they can do.
For example, Kuon was useless even though they depended on him with those crosses; he didn't score any, which is weird. It was instead the defensive players who scored more, him, Kunigami, and Raichi.
"This is what we'll do, Isagi; you remain in the same place. Your passing is indeed great, but be more confident. Bachira and Chigiri, your plays at the flanks were also good; keep doing the same, however, shoot more after you receive the pass and move." Dennis had nothing against those three, as their play today was the core of their team.
He continued, "Kuon, you will come down to the middle field and play more in defense. Basically, we will be playing 4-4-2 with Isagi being the attacking midfielder, while both Chigiri and Bachira will open up on the flanks but move towards the center to shoot or give the pass."
Dennis was planning to play counter-attacking football. By changing this formation in the second half, they had strengthened their defensive line and made it solid, while opening up more areas for future attacks where players could later flock in. Bachira and Chigiri were also a speedy duo; their quick legs would be perfect for the counterattacks.
"That's… very nice. Did you think a lot about this?" Wataru was speechless at Dennis' quick thinking, coming up with a strategy that actually made sense considering their abilities. Was this European-level football?
Dennis shook his head, "The previous one was just bullcrap if I'm being honest, so I had thought about changing it later after seeing what you are capable of in the match." His words caused some to laugh and some to gasp; Raichi, for example, got angry out of nowhere.
"I told you! You should've made me a striker. I scored the goal first, while you guys were doing nothing at all!" No one had any idea why he was yelling in the closed room; they could hear even the slightest of whispers…
Kunigami stood up, "Oi, did you forget you aren't the only one who scored today?" True, he and Dennis also scored today alongside Raichi; the hot-headed guy had to agree, their goals were fantastic! However, the positions, in the beginning, made no sense.
"Alright, those goals were actually good…"
Dennis also responded to Raichi's rambling, "I understand, Raichi… but! You also have to understand me; I had absolutely no idea what you could do at that moment. That's why I chose that random formation and strategy. Don't you agree that it did work out in the end?"
Bachira put the wet towel on Raichi's shoulders, "Nyahaha, Raichi! You scored an amazing goal anyway, why are you angry about it?"
"Don't put your towel on me!" Raichi threw the wet piece of cloth, which smelled terrible, away. "I'm not angry about that; I'm angry because we could've done better if not for that shitty formation that we thought of!"
Everyone went silent. He still hasn't realized it, has he? Wataru took a glance at Dennis, who just shook his head. If they performed their duties, there was nothing improper with the formation. It worked well after they started doing their assigned duties, and honestly, they did darn well without knowing the opponent.
"Raichi, you should understand that if you started playing the same way you did for the later game, we'd be winning this game already."
"Huh?! How am I at fault no-" Raichi looked around to see everyone else staring at him and nodding at Kuon's comment. He sighed, "Uh, fuck you guys."
… … …
"Barou?! How are we going to play the next round."
Team X gathered around their leader as they asked them. This scenery eagerly resembled the nobles gathering around the monarch, the king, to ask what they were going to do. The king had an answer,
"You… are all going to give me the pass…whenever I tell you." He wasn't even looking at his teammates while saying this.
'I'm going to crush you… Dennis Kemp.'
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