Soon enough, all the players came out of the tunnel, getting ready for the second half. To everyone’s surprise, though, two players whom Kageyama-sensei talked to before, Sebastiano Esposito and Luca Pellegrini, also stood by on the sideline, waiting for the fourth referee to announce the substitution.
Those two wore the jersey numbers 17 and 20, warming up one last time before coming to the pitch later. Seeing this, Yuki Kobayashi, the team’s defender, couldn’t help but shake his head.
"I know Sensei said to get ready, but isn’t it a little bit too soon?" He asked no one here.
Well, the others might not say anything else, but they were definitely on the same frequency. They were probably expecting their opponent to put those players in at a different time, one probably around the 60th minute while the other was around the 70th minute. This was a standard configuration for a team to make a substitution.
Who would’ve thought that the young Gli Azzurri were not that patient here, putting their two best substitute players straight away before the kick-off for the second half.
"Well, it doesn’t matter whether they are in right now or later. If anything, that only means they are eager to tie the game as quickly as possible." Ito took over the conversation here. "The first five minutes are the most crucial part here. Don’t rush things up, and try to gain a foothold in this situation. Let’s establish a good wall first before doing anything else."
"Sure, sure!"
"Come on! We can win this game!"
This time, everyone turned around at the one who spoke that. There, Zion Suzuki just grinned mischievously, not even blinking at the stares he received from the others.
"Yeah, you have been bragging since the start that we are capable of winning this game, and this is probably the first time I believe your words, Zee." Sugawara snorted amusedly, ruffling the goalkeeper’s hair. "Yeah, come on! We can win this game!"
Now that a senior player like Sugawara even voiced this confidence, the sentiment spread quickly among the players. If before, they still had some reservations, thinking that they would never be good enough to beat Italy, this time, they started thinking that maybe... Just maybe, everything truly is possible here.
Soon enough, all the players were finally ready, with Miyashiro and Nakamura standing on the center line. Unlike in Hakodate Nishi, though, where kick-off was treated like a luxury due to their blitzkrieg attack, Japan didn’t have one here, so no tension could be seen on their players.
The referee also checked everything one last time, and when things were ready...
FWEEE!
The referee finally blew the whistle to start the game. Nakamura didn’t wait for too long, just passing the ball back to the backline. However, to his and everyone’s surprise, Italy suddenly pushed their defensive line further, wanting to put pressure on Japan’s territory.
Five people rushed immediately, all trying to push the ball to one player from Japan. The main target was none other than Naoya, who, among the midfielders, was definitely the weakest in holding the ball.
Poor boy, whenever the ball was coming at him, three players would surround him immediately, with one clashing onto him without hesitation. Even though so far, he hadn’t made any mistakes yet, his last three passes went off course, forcing his teammates to run further to pick it up before leaving the pitch.
Of course, Japan would never let their opponent do anything they wanted. It was Mitsuki Saito, the midfielder from Shonan Bellmare, who took action immediately. Not just for Naoya, but the boy moved with great mobility, always being close to anyone who held the ball. This was a way to help alleviate the problem for the ball handler, giving him a second option to pass the ball.
However, what made everyone in awe was that Mitsuki Saito was always on the move. When the ball was on the left, he could be seen there, opening space for the left back there. But when a second later, a pass crossed the right flank had been taken, he would also move immediately to the other flank without complaining, becoming another easy presence to pass for his teammates.
Not only him, but Zion also started exerting his dominance as the team’s eleventh outfield player. He always made himself available, receiving any pass when the backline got overwhelmed under the pressure that got closer to them.
Not only that, being the last person on their territory with no one to pass behind, his only choice was to send it forward, and the boy showed his quality as a good passer. He might not always be able to find a person forward, but his pass would always fall on the most threatening territory, giving his teammates like Morita, Nakamura, or Kawabe any chance to fight back in the middle.
The combination between those two, somehow, was an answer from the Japan team for Italy’s sudden aggression.
However, this was still far from being perfect.
"The pressure makes the defensive shape chaotic..." Makino, who sat on the bench, said solemnly.
"Yeah, before, they could still maintain their discipline, but now, their priority is to survive first under that crazy pressure. Once the ball is getting snatched, it would be hard to recover." Higo couldn’t help but nod here. Hell, even he himself could foresee the future without his clairvoyant ability.
True enough, it didn’t take five minutes before the first mistake was on the board.
It came from Zion, who took too long to send the ball from his position. In the end, Andrea Pinamonti managed to close the gap, threatening to snatch the ball from him. The goalkeeper could only release his possession abruptly, and Davide Fratessi, who was always hovering in the middle, caught the ball right outside of the penalty box.
His control was a little bit off since Zion’s pass was as high as his shoulder, but the boy managed to get a second touch here, sending the ball straight to Sebastiano Esposito, who was in an onside position.
The newcomer didn’t shy away from the opportunity. Without even waiting for anyone to close the space, he used his instep foot to send a perfect curl toward the far post.
BAM!