Soon enough, the players from both teams finally came out of the tunnel. They were all ready to start the second half, wanting so badly to secure one final ticket five days later.
From Japan’s side, Yuta Goke, the defensive midfielder with the number 16, could be seen warming up on the sideline. Mitsuki Saito was back on the bench already, having put his jacket on and sat tightly there.
Meanwhile, on France’s side, two players were ready to come. Those were Yacine Adli and Lenny Pintor, two more attacking players, to replace Enzo Loiodice and Nabil Alioui, who hadn’t done well in the first half. Their intention was clear. They wanted to overwhelm Japan’s defense with more creative players in their territory.
Still, on Japan’s side, the players weren’t that surprised or afraid about it. If anything, they all let out a deep sigh, glancing at the bench in a complicated mood. "Damn, Kumiko-san’s analysis is sharp as hell. Is her brain a fucking computer or what?"
Yeah, this move had already been within Kumiko’s prediction, and she had also set a plan to deal with it.
’Nabil Alioui has only gotten 2 key passes so far, sending 3 crosses that go straight to Zion. His productivity is suppressed by Kawabe-kun pretty well, but that means he will be replaced. The biggest probability here is Yacine Adli, an attacking midfielder. His main task is probably to split our defense, standing between Naoya-kun and Goke-kun to split the defense there, and in return, Amine Gouiri will move slightly to the half-space area. His first touch and dribble are good, but he is a ball-hogger. Naoya-kun, your task is simple. Make sure he doesn’t have any room to breathe, let alone getting through our box."
Then, she also explained about Lenny Pintor, a midfielder who had better mobility in the central area. He was like Mitsuki Saito, the unsung hero for the team. Not a lot of people would notice his role, but his presence would always be there, hovering around the most dangerous place for Japan.
For that, Kumiko had another instruction.
"His combination play with the others is strong, so don’t hesitate! Always be decisive! One moment of hesitation, and you will see the ball get past you!"
Well, the way she said it made everything sound simple, but the players knew that the task was harder to do on the pitch. Still, at least, this gave them an idea of what kind of players the newcomers were and how they should face it in the second half.
With Kumiko’s instruction, they managed to start the second half quite smoothly. Even though France’s new players were eager to show off and make an impact, Makino and the others were able to block their way to the penalty box.
It also turned out that Yacine Adli was quite easy to handle. Even though his dribbling was troublesome, he alone couldn’t break through Japan’s territory so easily. So, what if he managed to get one or two players? The third player would always come quickly, snatching the ball before that boy could do anything else.
If anything, it was Lenny Pintor who was the most troublesome part here.
Just like what Kumiko said, the boy was always in the most dangerous spot, and he took action so quickly, either passing the ball quickly or even dribbling it by himself. One second the defenders lost concentration, they would’ve seen the ball entering the most threatening spot already.
Just in the first five minutes, France managed to send two threatening attacks, and all started with Lenny Pintor’s movement.
In the first one, Nagai’s hesitation to press forward allowed Pintor to get a space, and he shot directly the moment he entered the penalty box. It was fortunate that the shot itself went straight to Zion, so even if the power was decent, the goalkeeper managed to block it into the sky.
Then, the second one came from the combination play between Pintor and Amine Gouiri, getting all the attention from Japan’s defense. It freed Yacine Adli in the half-space area, but the boy’s execution still went wide as he couldn’t stay calm when he saw Zion rushing in his direction.
Still, overall, everything was under Japan’s control. Even though their possession was still low, they managed to deflect any attack coming to their territory easily, preventing the opponent, who was infamous for their sharp offensive line, from getting anything from their side.
Of course, Japan didn’t just stay quiet on the back. No, even though it was rare, they still used their transitional attack to remind the opponent how dangerous they were.
In the 54th minute, Miki Yamae sent a long ball that Dan-Axel Zagadou misjudged, letting Miyashiro get it without any guard around. It was fortunate that Miyashiro was not the best at speed, and it was easy for Boubacar Kamara to chase from the back.
Then, in the 60th minute, Japan had a free kick a little bit far from the penalty box with a difficult angle to shoot, still slightly closer to the flank side. However, instead of crossing it, Morita became ambitious, using his superb technique to send a sharp curve that went straight to the goal. Once again, though, the attack failed to meet the back of the net, just hitting the crossbar quite loudly.
Time passed by slowly, but as more attempts failed, France’s front line also started to get anxious. They didn’t notice it at first, but their tempo also started to become more chaotic. In the last couple of minutes, they always rushed things up, which only ended in the ball going back to Zion for another goal kick.
Their frustration also made them lower their guard. When they tried to build another attack from the backline, Evan Ndicka’s back pass to Dan-Axel Zagadou was a little bit too short, and Miki Yamane, who was putting pressure subtly from the back, had his eyes shining brightly at this moment.
’They are making a blunder!’