"So, have you had enough?" Kumiko asked the players in front of him. "Or are you still not satisfied after half-murdering the opponent’s players with all of your little tricks?"
It was the break before the second half of the extra time, and everyone was sitting and walking around the bench to relax their body. Just like the game against South Korea, they did it inside the pitch rather than in the locker room to not waste too much time.
Hearing the question from the girl, though, some of the boys looked at each other sheepishly. Well, at least, they had the decency to look sheepish, which meant they knew what they did was not right. The hot-tempered dudes like Tagawa or Kawabe even looked in all directions but her gaze, not wanting to look guilty.
Indeed, after the foul against Ito earlier, some of the boys were still not satisfied with the final decision from the referee, so they opted for some dirty tricks to annoy their opponent. From Tagawa, who was sneaking an elbow to his opponent’s ribs, to Kawabe, who tried to put his foot on his opponent’s landing spot during an aerial duel, Kumiko saw them pretty clearly, which was why they were slightly ashamed of themselves right now.
Yeah, slightly ashamed. Not for doing that, but for getting caught by the girl. They would still repeat the same action if they had a chance to do that. After all, their movement was still small and not dangerous enough to get the referee to blow the whistle against them.
Kumiko herself wasn’t angry about their action. She knew they were doing this to retaliate for their friend and to vent out their rage earlier. Still, she knew how to handle a bunch of angry teenagers like them.
"If you are satisfied with your little trick, I would like for us to go back to our original track. I don’t know about you guys, but I would rather win the game without going to a shootout. What do you think?"
Some of the boys, especially those attackers, perked up instantly, feeling like this was the time they should shine. Kumiko had to hold back the urge to laugh here, as it was so easy for her to gain their attention.
"Okay, first of all, their number 6 is the key." She encircled one player on her whiteboard. "He is always the key player for their defense, covering a wide range of space and always being the first one to help whenever we are trying to attack from any direction. So, I will ask two players here. Morita-san, Mamoru-kun, you are the two most technically gifted players on the team. How confident are you guys in beating him in a one-on-one battle?"
The two didn’t even need to look at each other. They might still think if it was any other task, but a one-on-one duel? Even if their opponent was the best defender in the world, they would still nod confidently, wanting to try just how far they could get against them. Now, Kumiko only asked about Senegal’s defensive midfielder who had been so exhausted after playing the game from the start?
"Don’t worry, Shishida-san, this is a piece of cake for me." Mamoru grinned confidently.
"The same here. Just get the ball to me, and I will kill him." Morita grunted while taking a big gulp from his bottle of water.
"Good. Then, our next offensive scheme will be like this. Listen carefully!" All the offensive players straightened their backs immediately. "Morita-san, Mamoru-san, you will take turns getting closer to him without the ball. Your main task is to attract his attention to you, so once you are close enough in his range, ask for the ball. If you can beat that number 6, their support defense will not come in time, and that is the chance for Kawabe-san or the others to take action."
"Miyashiro-san, you don’t need to hover aimlessly at the box. No, your sweet spot is the half-space on the right side, so make sure you are always ready on that spot. Tagawa-san’s task is to be the tank, but you are our assassin. You don’t need to appear too much, but your strike needs to be decisive!"
"Kawabe-san, you and Nakamura-san have been spreading your defensive line thin with your penetration from the flank, but I haven’t seen your cut inside from the beginning of the game. This should be your best chance to do that, so don’t hesitate!"
"Goke-san..."
"Makino-kun..."
"Sugawara-kun..."
Somehow, without anyone noticing, the girl had already talked to each player on the pitch about what they should do in the second half, and she did it so shortly, only taking two minutes of the break. Even the players themselves had their jaws dropped, so shocked at how Kumiko could detail everything so perfectly like this.
Still, the one who had the biggest reaction was Akiba-sensei. He stared at the girl with a complicated gaze, not knowing the student he always thought to be inexperienced would be such a monster in the command spot.
’Yeah, no wonder Kageyama-sensei asked her to take over, not me, eh? She sure has the aura of a big coach.’ He smiled bitterly.
Kumiko didn’t notice the change of gaze from her mentor. Instead, her eyes were still on the players, as she emphasized her point once again.
"We only have two tasks in the second half." Spoke the girl in a solemn tone. "We have to score a goal as quickly as possible without leaking anything on our defensive line. I don’t care how exhausted you are, but the moment the ball is getting snatched, I want you to run back to our territory as quickly as possible! Our defensive line has already been so thin; we need every single one of you to work together to protect it!"
"YES, MA’AM!"
At this point, everyone was so convinced about the girl’s arrangement that they didn’t even blink when they shouted that. It was as if the answer was the most natural thing to do in this moment.
Still, the girl was not that happy here. No, there was one thing that she was still worried about, as she glanced at the team’s goalkeeper.
’I have never seen Zion-kun facing any penalty other than today. Will he be ready to face the shootout?’