"Wait, me?!" Kumiko blinked her eyes while pointing at herself confusedly, not understanding what the hell was going on there.
In fact, it wasn’t just her. Almost all the people there also looked at Kageyama-sensei as if he had just gotten drunk or he was the one who got hit in the head earlier. After all, this decision was not only surprising, but also threw Kumiko into a pitfall in hindsight.
At the end of the day, Japan was still a country that always prioritized seniority. In this scenario, Akiba-sensei should take over the wrecked ship first, and if he was proven to be incapable of doing that, the other assistants were the ones who replaced him. Kumiko’s name should be at the bottom of the list, as she was just a newcomer in this team.
However, reality talked differently right now.
Instead of picking his assistant, Kageyama-sensei chose a girl who was 30 years younger than him and the rest of his staff to inherit the team until the end of the game. This definitely offended so many people on the bench, as they stared at the girl with an ugly expression.
Still, there was nothing Kumiko could do about it, not when Kageyama-sensei was escorted to the tunnel immediately so that they could restart the game. She couldn’t even ask for a clarification or a backup here, as right now, the girl was under the scrutiny of so many people.
Akiba-sensei hadn’t talked about anything yet, but he just crossed his arms with a big frown on his face. Even though Kageyama-sensei had already asked him to help Kumiko, there was no way in hell he would be willing to lower his head to a mere girl who had always been his student in the last couple of weeks.
Still, Kageyama-sensei’s words were absolute, and he didn’t dare to refuse them. In the end, the only thing he could do was to stay quiet and watch from afar, letting her do anything she wanted.
’At least, once she messed things up later, I can take it over and prove to everyone that the girl is not ready for this.’ He thought inwardly.
Kumiko didn’t know what her mentor was thinking right now, but she herself didn’t really care about that. No, with a new and massive pressure being put on her shoulders, the girl didn’t have any time to think of her deadbeat mentor’s opinion right now.
"Listen, Nagai-kun," She whispered to Taiga Nagai. "Once you enter the pitch, tell Sugawara-san and Makino-kun to prioritize the center. We don’t have any full back right now, so leave the flank to the others and make sure that you get all the routes to our goal shut. The aim is simple. Don’t let them cut inside or penetrate from the middle, and push them to go for a crossing."
"Sure. Don’t worry, Shishida-san." Nagai nodded without even asking a question here.
Even though the staff was unwilling to let the girl take control of the team, the players who had been listening to the discussion on the bench could acknowledge Kumiko’s brilliant mind. She was often ten steps faster than any other assistant in giving the coach advice, and whatever came from her mouth always became a brilliant tactic. There was no reason for the players not to trust her right now.
Soon, after Ito was escorted outside of the pitch, the game was finally about to continue. Senegal also replaced a new player here, as Amadou Sagna, their best player, was sent off by the referee earlier. The one who replaced that boy was a player with the jersey number 4, so it should be a defender.
’Are they trying to drag this game into the shootout?’ Kumiko frowned a little bit. ’Where do they get the confidence to beat us after we won on a shootout a few days ago against South Korea? Is it because of the gap in information? Is that enough to beat our confidence, though?’
The gap that she mentioned was the fact that Japan had already been in a shootout before, and Senegal knew exactly what to expect from their executioners. Compared to that, Japan was basically blind toward the Senegalese players other than Ibrahima Niane in the penalty spot, and it would be hard for the goalkeeper to predict.
This, indeed, could be an advantage for Senegal. However, on the other side of the coin, after winning their last game in a shootout, Japan’s confidence would be at its peak when they were going to face that scenario again, so it could backfire for Senegal later.
However, that was a matter for the later stage, when things didn’t change until the end of the game. For now, though, Kumiko was still thinking of a way to get through the opponent’s side and end the game in this extra time.
Still...
’No, this is not the best time to make a change.’ The girl shook her head quickly as her gaze shifted from her watch to the players on the pitch. ’Just four minutes before the first half is over, making a change right now will only distract them and slow down their movement. Let them just try on their own first, as long as the defense holds on, everything will be alright.’
Yeah, stuffing so many things in the middle of the game like this was definitely not a recommended action. So, Kumiko just let the boys wreak havoc on the Senegalese side, trying to get through their defensive line with brute force.
Overall, the next four minutes weren’t quite eventful. The only change on the pitch was that the players became more aggressive since that foul against Ito, with the number of fouls increasing so quickly that they had already reached the same number for the first half earlier.
However, Kumiko turned a blind eye to them. As long as they didn’t get a yellow card, she would even encourage them to use their physicality more. Hell, even the young and timid Mamoru dared to fight against the opponent’s tall defender for a good position, getting inspired by his teammates.
However, no change happened on the pitch, and in the end...
FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!
The referee finally blew the whistle three times in a row, signaling that the first half of this eventful extra time was finally over.