After one day off, the boys also began to prepare for the final. Well, not everyone, as some guys were not allowed to go to full training. Those who always ran all around the pitch like Kawabe, Miki Yamane, and Mamoru were forced to do a light training, as the team’s coach didn’t want to burden them too much before the final.
However, for the others, everything was normal. In fact, those guys who were forced to do the light training even complained, wanting to join the ’real’ training with the others.
This was what a final brought to the team. No matter how bad the players were, they couldn’t stay indifferent in this event. Even if they didn’t have any chance to play, they would still try to contribute something for the team.
However, their training session was also far from being peaceful.
Some journalists started to surround their base camp, recording so many things while also trying to get some players to say one word or two. This couldn’t be helped, since only two teams remained in this tournament, and everyone would be attracted to those two best and last-standing teams here.
Still, that didn’t mean it didn’t annoy the coach.
"We cannot do this, Akiba-kun," Kageyama-sensei growled angrily. "The boys cannot even concentrate at their fullest anymore! This is a big distraction! We need to issue a closed-training session as quickly as possible!" He said so decisively.
Unfortunately, Akiba-sensei just rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "For this final, we cannot ask for a fully closed training session. FIFA has ensured that the journalists wouldn’t bother us, but they demand that some coverage is still provided by us, so our hands are tied right now."
Kageyama-sensei took a deep breath immediately, trying to control his temper from exploding on the spot. "Fuck FIFA! That corrupt institution always thinks of how to make money, never considers the reality on the field! Ensuring that those hungry wolves wouldn’t bother us?! Who the hell do they think they are?!"
This was a valid complaint, as the journalists really came so close to the pitch and always threw a question or two whenever some players came. It was okay if this was done at the end of the training, but sometimes, even before Morita took a corner kick, someone would try to sneak a word there.
This was enough to drive the boys and everyone on the team batty.
"Well, at least, the good news is that we are not the only ones suffering here. I heard the number of people who want to watch Ukraine’s training session is twice as big as ours." Akiba-sensei chuckled nervously.
Still, this didn’t reassure the head coach. "No, for a game as big as a final, we cannot rely on the opponent failing to be at their 100 percent. We ourselves have to be at our very best in that game to ensure that we grab the fate in our hands, so let’s think of a way to avoid more distraction."
Unfortunately, reality seemed to like to slap the coach on the face. The wave from the journalists hadn’t over yet, and the next problem had already come. So many rumors flooded the team, linking almost every single main player to a team in Europe.
Kawabe was being linked to Leganes from Spain.
Miyashiro was being linked to Gent from Belgium.
Mamoru was being linked to Augsburg from Germany.
Even Zion himself was told that a Dutch club called Fortuna Sittard was calling him.
Every single piece of news became more outrageous than the last, as if they wanted to paint an image that all the main players here were big enough for so many teams in Europe to take interest in them. Of course, this was enough to distract the boys from their usual training session, as this was related to their future career.
The worst part, though, was that while the rumor was wild, none of it was true. The players had called their agents and clubs so many times in the last two days, and yet, none of them truly received any call from those so-called interested clubs.
"Fuck it! What the hell is going on?!" Kawabe’s shout could be heard echoing all over the hotel. "Leganes? Venezia? And even Charlton Athletic?! They said three teams are interested in me, and yet none of them are calling you?!"
"I told you, Kawabe-kun! Everything is the media’s ploy to create a big wave! Don’t believe in them so easily!" The one on the other side of the call, probably his agent, replied with a tired tone.
"I don’t care about it! Even a rumor should’ve come from something, right?! There is no way you can make it up out of nothing! Tell me, did you hide something from me?!"
"I told you I don’t know anything about it! You call someone from Urawa as well, and you will also get the same answer! Stop bothering me with your stupid question, you ungrateful brat!"
Beep~ Beep~ Beep~
"Wait! Hello?! Hello?!" Kawabe didn’t think that his agent would be bold enough to shut the call abruptly. However, he couldn’t do anything about it, so in the end, the boy just slammed his phone on his bed. "Fuck it! What the hell is going on?!"
He was not the only one who suffered from this. Even Naoya was the same, as he was still waiting for a confirmation from his agent about whether the interest from some European clubs in him was real or not.
"Don’t think too much about it. If those clubs are truly interested in you, they would’ve called you personally, you know?" Higo tried to reassure his roommate while talking about his experience from the past.
"It is easy for you to say; you are the one who has signed with Schalke." Naoya retorted bitterly.
For that, Higo didn’t have any answer, opting to keep his silence.
Three days before the final game, and somehow, Team Japan suffered from an invisible attack. Each one of the main players got their minds split, not being able to think clearly about the tournament anymore.