The game day finally arrived.
They were going to play at 3 in the evening, when the sun had already started to descend from the sky. The temperature was also at its best, sending a chilly gust to every corner of the city.
Today, they would play in Bydgoszcz Stadium. It was a small venue with a capacity of around 20,000 people, quite suitable for a group stage like this where the number of supporters was not that much.
This was the home of a mediocre team in this country, a team called Zawisza Bydgoszcz. Just like usual, the pronunciation was enough to give a headache to everyone other than the locals here. Still, this was indeed a small team, as they weren’t even in the main league anymore. No, they were in the second division, and that was also a little bit of a stretch since they were constantly battling against relegation to the third division.
Well, at least they had a nice stadium that was suitable for a game like this, so no one really complained about the lack of big team presence there.
The Japan team arrived one hour before the game began. It was important to come early, since they needed to adapt to the atmosphere as quickly as possible. Unlike Italy, who should’ve been used to the atmosphere in Europe, this was the first time the Japan team stepped into this land, and they were quite nervous here.
Well, at least, most of them... Other than Higo, whose eyes were so red it looked like he had a Sharingan from the Naruto series. Even Kumiko couldn’t help but feel worried when she saw her friend’s state.
"Are you okay? Should I tell the coach that you are sick?" She asked quietly.
"No, don’t worry, I am okay." Higo tried to smile while also sending a subtle glare to Naoya. The boy, to his credit, also noticed his current state and looked a little bit guilty. "This is nothing. Also, I will only be a bench player today, so this shouldn’t bring any problem to the team."
Even though Kumiko was still skeptical, in the end, she just nodded along, knowing that he was right. Still... "I will keep my eyes on you. If I see you unfit to even sit on the bench, I will tell Kageyama-sensei immediately about it, okay?"
Higo’s expression softened as he nodded. "Okay, thank you for the concern, Kumiko-chan."
Soon enough, he had already found himself accompanying Zion in his warm-up session. The dark-skinned boy was still as energetic as ever, jumping around like a child who was about to go on a school trip.
Honestly, sometimes, Higo found it was hard to believe that he lost to a boy like this.
"Come on, Zion! Save your energy a little bit, no need to be that agitated!" Higo called out. "Your opponent hasn’t even arrived yet, so be a little bit patient! If you are getting tired before the game begins, don’t blame me for stealing your spot!"
The boy tensed immediately at the last part, because he knew full well that Higo was capable of doing that. "No, no, no! You cannot do that! I will not allow you to get through me! I will warm up twice as hard as before to make the coach believe that I am the best here!"
Seeing that his teasing only got the complete opposite effect, Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching as he fell into speechlessness here. The boy sure was the embodiment of an ADHD kid here, and it was so fortunate that he worked as an athlete to burn all the massive energy inside him, or the boy would create chaos everywhere.
Before he could say anything, though, commotion started to erupt from the tunnel. When Higo glanced around, he saw a bunch of guys with the blue jacket coming, some still wearing earphones while the rest looked quite sleepy.
Even without any introduction, the boy knew exactly who the group was. "Oi, Zion! We need to go back; our opponent has already arrived!" He called his friend.
The rest of the team also went back immediately, giving time for the opponent team to do their warm-up. Still, some of them stayed on the pitch a little bit longer, wanting to observe their opponent closely.
To his surprise, though, Zion was also the same here, having already put his attention on his opponent. The goofiness was gone from his eyes, being replaced with the seriousness that would only make people gulp in nervousness.
This was probably what Higo admired about Zion. He was always friendly and energetic all the time, but when it mattered the most, the boy would be the most serious person on the pitch, burning his potential to keep the team’s defense safe and sound.
"So, they are going to be our opponent, huh? The tall one should be Andrea Pinamonti, one whom Sensei asked to keep an eye on." The boy muttered lowly, but not low enough for Higo to overhear it. "What do you think, Higo-san? Are they as intimidating as you originally thought?"
Higo raised one of his eyebrows lightly, not expecting the boy to ask that question. However, he still treated this seriously, glancing at the opponent for a moment. This might be because Higo himself didn’t know the big difference between the two countries in the football world, but honestly, he didn’t feel intimidated here.
While yes, Andrea Pinamonti had a huge presence, honestly, the boy felt like Yuwell Carlson was scarier. Then, the rest of the players also didn’t strike fear into his heart, not when they just walked and did their own thing without any communication, as if they were a bunch of strangers to each other.
So, in the end, Higo just shook his head, saying, "No, they are quite normal. It wouldn’t be strange if somehow we can steal a win against them."
Such an outrageous word; if the others heard that, they would definitely smack his head straight away. However, Zion just grinned so wide that Higo was afraid the boy would hurt his own facial muscles before laughter escaped from his mouth.
"Ha! I like the way you are thinking, Higo-san! Indeed, they are not as intimidating as we thought they would be. Come on, the rest need to hear about it! Maybe they will be less shaken in fear and start thinking more about how to win this game!"