Soon enough, the treatment was finally over, and with him being bandaged on half of his face, Ito finally went back to the pitch, getting ready to continue. The moment he stepped on the pitch, the boy received a round of applause from all over the stadium, with the southern part where the Japanese fans stood being the loudest there.
"YES! That’s our captain!"
"Come on, Ito! You are a samurai, show them how tough you are!"
"This is not over! Come back stronger, Ito!"
The captain just nodded subtly in acknowledgement before putting his focus back on the game. Still, the action had to wait here, because his team had a chance to score right now. The one who would execute the ball was Koki Morita himself, the best taker in the team.
Just like in the last shootout against South Korea, the boy just put the ball on the white spot calmly, not even getting bothered by the boos from the stand in front of him. The midfielder treated everything like this was his everyday life, even having a little smirk while waiting for the referee to blow the whistle.
Honestly, Higo started to believe that the man truly had the nerve of steel here.
FWEEE!
The moment the referee blew the whistle, Morita also made his move. He wasn’t the mischievous type in this situation, not trying to stutter or tease the goalkeeper. The boy was the type who did everything cleanly, not giving the opponent any chance to react.
He just waited until the goalkeeper shifted his center of gravity, and once the boy knew where his opponent was going to jump, he aimed in the opposite direction.
BAM!
Just as simple as that.
"FUCK, MORITA! That’s a fucking cold execution!"
"Come on! 1-0!"
Everyone jumped around Morita as the boy himself just hugged his teammates around. No excessive celebration here, since the goal just came from a penalty. However, the boy didn’t forget to greet his bleeding captain, giving the center back a little hug on the way back to the team’s territory.
Still, even though he didn’t show a high level of excitement, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the team. Based on the wide grin on everyone’s face, it was clear that their spirit was at its peak. Well, how could it be, since this was basically the most ideal situation for Japan.
Their team could be described by a lot of things, but defensive discipline was definitely their biggest trait in this tournament. They had only conceded two goals so far, and one came from a mistake on the back while the other was an unfortunate own goal.
None of them were an open play that was designed by the opponent’s head coach, as Japan would always be able to neutralize that kind of a threat. Coupled with the fact that Senegal was not a team that was famous for their initiative to attack, everything seemed to be in favor for Japan to defend this lead.
Well, at least, that was the most ideal state for them to be.
Unfortunately, things didn’t always go as planned on the pitch. While yes, Senegal started to push forward, giving more space for all the Japan players to create a threat in the midfield, their intensity was still the same here, using their physicality to suppress their opponent. Then, after ten minutes of prying, their first chance of the game finally arrived.
After stripping the ball from Naoya’s possession, their midfielder number 20, Amadou Cisse, sent a through ball toward the half-space area on the left side, aiming straight at the number 7 and Senegal’s most dangerous player, Amadou Sagna.
Thud!
"YES, CISSE! That’s the pass!"
The placement was good, and the angle was also decent enough for Sagna to lean slightly toward the goal and curl the ball with his right foot. However, the boy also saw one of his teammates coming from behind, so instead of taking it by himself, he decided not to be selfish and cut the ball there.
Unfortunately, though, this was proven to be less effective.
Even though the pass was far from Zion’s reach, someone came first to get the ball. It was Ayumu Seko, as the defender had been keeping an eye on everyone’s sneak attack like this. Before anyone could touch the ball, he extended his left foot far, swinging it hard to clear the ball as far away as possible.
BAM!
"OH! Almost!"
All the Senegalese supporters around clutched their heads here. Even though it looked simple, this was the first time their team had been so close to the opponent’s goal. Seeing that Zion was completely out of position, and they only needed a simple tap-in to score the goal, and yet they didn’t get the goal they wanted, some people felt pity for the team.
Ayumu Seko himself just got up quickly, high-fiving Ito and Zion straight away. "Don’t just focus on the ball. Keep your eyes on the surroundings, and don’t lean too much toward the ball holder. One cut back, and you are screwed." He reminded Zion quietly.
"Yes, yes, Senpai, I get it!" Zion nodded frantically. Unlike Ito, who was always calm on the back, Ayumu Seko was a fierce presence there, enough to instill fear in the boy.
Still, the last attack was definitely a wake-up call that the team needed. They had been dominating possession since the beginning of the game, for almost 30 minutes so far, that they relaxed their defensive discipline a little bit. That was why Amadou Sagna managed to sneak into the half-space area so easily, receiving the ball there.
This was like a warning signal that the opponent threw, basically saying, ’Get ready, we are coming for your blood!’
It was also enough to make Team Japan rearrange their priority again. Now, instead of forcing their way for another goal, they tried to maintain their possession while also moving back little by little, trying to stabilize the tempo.
Seeing that the game went in the direction that he wanted, Kageyama-sensei also couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh from the bench.
’Yeah, this is it.’ He clenched his fists secretly. ’No need to go too far, but control the tempo carefully. Let’s bag the first half before thinking about anything else later.’