"Head or tail?"
"Head."
"Then I’ll pick the tail."
It was just a few minutes before the game began, and right now, the referee had already gathered the two captains from both teams to do the coin toss. Here, Ito stood in front of Ukraine’s goalkeeper, Andrey Lunin, who was about 10 cm taller than him, and the boy was unfazed at all.
Still, inwardly, he couldn’t help but sigh right now. ’Yeah, the height difference is ridiculous. Going from the flank would be a disaster.’
Soon enough, the referee finally threw the coin, letting it fall on the back of his palm. He didn’t wait for too long, showing it to both boys in front of him.
Head.
"So, I’ll go first, right?" Andrey Lunin asked with his thick accent. After getting the nod of confirmation from the referee, he didn’t forget to shake hands with Ito first. "Let’s have a good game."
"Yes, let’s have a good game." Ito nodded firmly, accepting the handshake without showing any weakness.
"Remember, I want a clean game today, and if any of you feel dissatisfied with my decision, ask me! I will make things clear, but I don’t want to see your teammates swarming me, okay?" The referee, a tall man named Jack from the USA, said. He also glanced at Ito, subtly telling the boy to control his teammates. "I can accept some complaints, but don’t be too excessive!" He emphasized this point again.
Ito just nodded awkwardly, not knowing what to answer here. Fortunately, after the formality was over, the referee finally allowed him to go back to his team. Still, when he saw the boys’ hopeful gaze, the captain couldn’t help but shake his head there.
"No, I lost the toss." He said casually, as if this was not a big deal at all. The rest of the players just nodded along, not bothering the result at all. Still, one person reacted differently toward the result.
Makino couldn’t help but feel the corner of his lips twitching when he heard it. The others might not care, but his instinct, forged in Hakodate Nishi where every kickoff could be valuable, kicked in, and the boy had been paying attention to the coin toss almost every game. Somehow, though, he always found Ito losing the toss, giving up the right to the opponent.
’I thought I was the unlucky one, but it seems that there would still be a poor soul who couldn’t win the toss at all. Yeah, take that, Chibi.’ He glanced at Higo, who always mocked him about that.
Well, that was only for a brief second, because next, he shook his head quickly, starting to get ready for the game. The boy glanced around, finding that the defenders had already stepped into their positions as well.
"Come on, Makino!" Ito shouted. "You have done well in the semifinal, so show the world that it is not just a coincidence! Show the world that you belong to this stage!" He added, trying to encourage the boy. It seemed the captain mistook Makino’s slow reaction as him being nervous, needing something more to hype him up.
"Don’t worry, Captain! I know what to do!" Makino nodded.
The boy took a deep breath, gaining his composure quickly. He was also a former captain, so it was quite easy for the boy to stay calm. His gaze also fell onto the center line, where two players were ready for the kickoff, and he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at one of them.
’Vladyslav Supriaha, the second-place on the top scorer list behind Erling Haaland with six goals already.’ He tried to recall every piece of information about the boy with the jersey number 11. ’He is just 182 cm, a few centimeters smaller than me. However, his core is so strong that it is impossible to put him down without a foul. He is also good at being a solo striker, carrying the ball alone to launch a counterattack. Well, he is basically the smaller version of Yuwell Carlson, huh?’
Memories threw him back a few months ago, when the boy was still struggling to fight against Sapporo Otani’s Swedish striker. Even up until now, after facing the kind of striker like Park Han-Gyeol or France’s frontline like in the semifinal, the boy still believed that Yuwell was the scariest striker he had ever faced.
This helped him shape himself into a better defender, though. Now, even when facing a striker like Vladyslav Supriaha, Makino would always think something like, ’I have survived against Yuwell when I was bad; why would I be afraid of you now?’ or something like that.
’Speaking of Yuwell, it is a pity that Sweden is not qualified to play in this tournament. It would be interesting to see how far I have improved since our last encounter.’ Makino thought inwardly.
Well, this was not the time for him to think of that. The referee had already checked everything with his assistants around, trying to make sure that no technical faults would happen in the middle of the game later.
The two strikers from Ukraine were also ready to start the game. As soon as the referee finished one last check...
FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!
The whistle was finally being blown, starting the first half of the final game between the two strongest teams in the tournament.
"Yes! Come on, Japan!"
"We can do this, Young Samurai!"
"Ukraine! Ukraine! Ukraine!"
The crowd was buzzing with excitement as well. Their cheers were loud and deafening, trying to show their support toward their beloved country. However, once the whistle was blown, the players couldn’t care less about them.
No, their attention was on the ball completely, as Supriaha sent the ball straight from the middle to the goalkeeper. This move surprised Miyashiro and Mamoru, who were trying to put pressure on the opponent’s defensive line, but Makino had a premonition about it, and he couldn’t help but have his eyes widen in shock at the familiar scene in front of him.
"SHIT! Captain, get ready!"
BAM!