That little episode with Chiaki Yabu was a good intermission to heal Higo from his mental exhaustion. Unfortunately, the coach didn’t intend to let him truly take a break, because the moment he stepped into the locker room, his name was mentioned immediately.
"Higo, don’t take a shower first. Follow me for a moment."
The boy mentioned was taken aback for a second, even pointing his finger at himself. "Me?" He asked in confirmation.
"Yes, you." Kageyama-sensei nodded firmly. "As for the others, tidy up the room first. When we are back, I want to see everything is clean and neat, okay?"
"Yes, Sir!"
Well, Higo followed the coach happily, especially after he was exempted from the cleaning duty in the locker room. Still, he couldn’t help but feel curious here, glancing at the older man quietly. "So... Is there something I need to do, Sensei?" He asked cautiously.
The coach suddenly stopped walking. Higo didn’t notice that they had just arrived in front of a door. The man turned around, patting Higo’s shoulder firmly. "Listen, Higo, I don’t know if Shishida-san has been training you in this regard, but in this room, I need you to think twice about what you will say. Speak everything with clarity, don’t leave any provocative remark, and once again, think twice before speaking! Don’t get baited by their sweet words, okay?"
Higo couldn’t help but gulp, nodding secretly. At this point, he had a hunch about what he was about to do here. True enough, the moment the coach opened the door, some people had already been waiting for them, all with phones, cameras, and notes in their hands.
Somehow, Higo was dragged to join the press conference here.
"Sit with me, and remember what I said earlier," Kageyama-sensei whispered before taking a seat in the center of attention. Higo followed next, glancing around at the scene.
At least, there were about 15 people inside, with 12 sitting and three standing next to Kageyama-sensei. At first, Higo thought that the people there were the ones who were responsible for this little event.
After adjusting the microphone in front of him, the coach gave a nod at one who stood next to him, and the man turned to the audience and said, "Okay, the question can be asked right now. Please, raise your hand and be polite."
Twelve hands were up in the air instantly, and after the man pointed at one, a woman with blonde hair began to speak.
"Maria Zielińska from Flashscore Poland. First of all, congratulations on the win. However, South Korea dominated the game today, with them having 57% possession and 11 shots on target, including that one penalty missed at the end of the second half. What do you think is the key for your team’s win?"
Instead of answering, though, one of the people next to Kageyama-sensei suddenly stepped up first, repeating the question in Japanese. That was when the boy knew that one of them was the translator to help with the language barrier here.
"Discipline in following the instruction is always the key," Kageyama-sensei answered without even thinking. "The boys followed the instruction well, not following their ego or emotion even when they can show off their ability more on the pitch. They prioritize the team’s winning above anything else, and the tactic also works well. We put the opponent into the place where we want them to be, so even though you see 12 shots on target, you will never think that they are really that threatening for us."
The translator also worked hard here, repeating the man’s answer word for word in English.
The press conference went quite well for a moment, with the question all going to Kageyama-sensei. Higo just listened quietly, forgetting that he was also one whom people wanted to ask. The boy acted as an audience first before someone finally asked him a question.
"Jim Bradley from Goal.com. Higo, can I call you that?" He asked for a confirmation first. At the boy’s nod, the man continued, "Higo, you have never stepped onto the pitch in this tournament, and yet, the moment you came, you saved four penalties in total! One in the normal time to give your team a second life, and three to carry the team in the shootout. Are you the secret weapon that the team has been prepared to face this situation?"
Higo opened his mouth instantly, wanting to retort something like he was a better goalkeeper than Zion or something like that. However, the secret glance that Kageyama-sensei gave was enough to force him to hold back his intrusive thought.
’Yeah, I cannot say that in front of the media, right?’ He smiled wryly. "Actually, I don’t know if I am a secret weapon or not, but I have always been ready whenever the chance comes. I know that a backup goalkeeper doesn’t have that many chances to showcase their ability, so I cherish today’s game so well that it is probably why my performance is beyond anyone’s expectation."
He could see Kageyama-sensei’s shoulder sag a little, probably letting out a relieved sigh secretly. The answer was formal and didn’t give the media any chance to twist it, but still showed a little bit of his personality. It seemed that he passed the little test from the coach here.
The interview now shifted to him as the center of attention, and while it was a nerve-wracking experience, this was not the first time Higo dealt with the media. His experience getting swarmed all over the place in Hakodate was enough to let him handle this matter quite well.
He also answered everything in Japanese here. Even though the boy was capable enough to do it in English, since the coach didn’t do that, he wouldn’t cross the line here. No, doing that would be like a slap on the coach’s face, and that would put him into a bad position in the team.
Fortunately, this didn’t last that long. The press conference was only scheduled for fifteen minutes, and once the last question was thrown and they were allowed to leave the room, Higo couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh.
"Man, this is more tiring than playing for a full game, eh?"