Well, in the end, the solution didn’t come from the bench. No, it seemed that everyone forgot the players’ intelligence on the pitch. They were not as brainless as everyone always thought they were. Even though the process was indeed a little bit slower, they still managed to adapt to the situation quite well.
It was Koki Morita who initiated everything from the midfield. With the help of Mitsuki Saito, the two backbones in the midfield helped the team get out of the immense pressure from the South Korean team. They showed off their combination skills, even dragging some players nearby to join, so that they could create more space for Japan in the midfield.
This worked well, because the pressure suddenly got alleviated from the defensive line. South Korean players didn’t dare to push further, because Japan had already proven themselves that with a good combination pass between three or four players, they could get so easily out of that press.
No, they didn’t want to give Japan a chance to breach their defense.
So, in the end, they backed down a little bit, giving the opponent room to breathe while also locking down the backline so that no players could sneak in their side.
Miyashiro was the one who suffered the most here. The boy always relied on his superb positioning, but this time, with three central defenders on the South Korean side, no matter how good his hide-and-seek ability was, he would always get found out quicker than usual. Not only that, but it also didn’t help that he was basically smaller and slower than the opponent’s defenders.
The wingers also had a difficult time on both flanks. Somehow, both Lee Kang-In and Oh Se-Hun didn’t have any air of a superstar here, willing to track down deep into their own area and help the defense put pressure there. Not only that, South Korea’s defensive midfielder was always fast, closing down any route to advance further whenever both Nakamura and Kawabe thought they could sneak in.
So, right now, the game was in a stagnant state. While yes, Japan managed to get out of the opponent’s early pressure, they still couldn’t put the ball into the box. Meanwhile, South Korea was also the same. Even though they got closer a few times to the goal, none of their execution was good enough to become a threat.
The number of physical clashes also got reduced a lot here. In the end, both teams still knew that they had to fight for 90 minutes or even 120 minutes if necessary, so it was not good to waste their energy in the first half for nothing.
In the end, with both teams holding back a little more, the first half just ran quite slowly. Some shots were also made, but nothing went closer to the goal to pose a threat on the opponent’s side. Hell, Japan had 7 shots in total, while South Korea had 5 so far, and yet, none of them were on target, not enough to make the goalkeeper sweat.
FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!
After 45 minutes full of physical clashes that were also quite monotonous for the people around to watch, the referee finally blew the whistle, ending this painful first half with 0-0. No one truly gained an advantage over the other, and the real battle would only be determined in the second half.
"Okay, the first half doesn’t go as well as I want, but that is because the opponent fought back fiercely. Nothing there is your fault, so don’t blame yourself. You even adapted on your own without my instruction, so I will give you a hat off for that."
The moment the players heard Kageyama-sensei’s words, their shoulders dropped a little bit as they let out a relieved sigh secretly. It was always good that their effort and struggle were acknowledged by the head coach.
"Still, there are some points that we can do better in the second half. Nakamura-kun, sorry, but you are going to be out in the second half. Suzuki, get yourself ready; you will play from the start later."
The youngest boy in the group perked up immediately, giving the man a solemn nod. "Don’t worry, Sensei! Consider the job done!"
Nakamura himself just nodded helplessly, knowing that this was coming sooner or later. He didn’t do well, so he would get replaced. There was nothing wrong with it, and the boy had already accepted that fact.
"Their flank is quite tight with both full back and winger dropping back quite deep, but the pocket area here," The coach circled an area slightly closer to the flank but still close to the penalty box, right in front of the opponent’s defensive line. "Their full back often turned back late when our wingers are still there. So, Kawabe and Suzuki will be the bait, and Morita, Miyashiro, you will try to occupy the spot there and move the ball quickly to get a good space. If you have the chance, take it by yourself! Don’t be afraid to shoot the ball!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Sensei!" Miki Yamane suddenly raised his hand here.
"Yes, Yamane?"
"With Mamoru on the pitch, my side will be weaker. He will not be a great help for me to face Lee Kang-In and the full back there. What should I do?" He asked bluntly.
Mamoru was quite hurt when he heard his captain speak about him like that. However, the boy couldn’t deny that, unlike Nakamura, he was a true liability on the back. Hell, he didn’t even try, for God’s sake!
In return, though, Kageyama-sensei didn’t answer the question immediately. Instead, he drew some sort of a scheme on the board there, big enough to let the rest of the team see it. For a moment, no one really knew what he was trying to tell. However, after a few seconds, some eyes lit up instantly in realization.
"So, that’s it..." Some whispered with a little smirk on their face.
"Interesting..."
TAK!
As Kageyama-sensei put his pen on the table, he finally turned around at the players, asking a simple question. "So, you guys understand, right?"
"YES, SIR!" Even the slow-witted ones there nodded as the scheme was indeed easy to understand.
"Good! In the second half, we are going to try to suffocate them! Let’s not drag this game longer than necessary, and let’s silence our noisy neighbor!"