"ARGH!"
Mamoru’s first reaction was to scream while holding his ankle, rolling on the ground like he was in pain. It wasn’t something that he planned to do, but his instinct, honed by so many hard collisions in the front line, flared at the last second, demanding him to act.
"Sensei, foul!" He turned at the referee, complaining.
Unfortunately, the man was in a good position to see everything earlier, and while yes, Mamoru didn’t dive, the tackle itself was clean, getting the ball perfectly from the boy’s possession. He just shook his head, waving his hand to signal Mamoru to get up as quickly as possible.
Mamoru just sighed helplessly, getting up from the ground while also trying to check that the fall earlier didn’t hurt him at all. The boy also glanced at the culprit behind his fall, finding the opponent’s number 17 to do the same as him.
’Tch! So, this is Yukhym Konoplia?’ He clicked his tongue in annoyance. ’Kumiko-san is right. He is the type of defender who is relentless, never giving up to pester me. This is going to be a difficult game, huh?’
While he was still in his thoughts, the crowd was also buzzing in excitement. It was still the first minute of the game, and yet, they had been shown two high-level defensive actions from both teams.
"Damn! What the hell is going on here?!"
"That Japan’s number 18 has a crazy game reading ability! Can you see him moving even before the ball fell?!"
"Hey, what about Ukraine’s number 17! He ran back as if his life depended on it, and he still got it! What a crazy boy!"
"Shit! This is going to be an explosive game, I tell you that!"
If Makino’s action was still hard to make the people impressed since what most of them could see was just him pressing the striker with his strength, the Ukrainian defender was enough to make them excited. After all, a hard tackle inside the penalty box like that was risky, and the boy managed to pull it off perfectly to save the team.
This was definitely more ’highlightable’ for the crowd compared to Makino’s defensive decision earlier.
Still, all the players from Japan could see the effort that the boy put in, and they could appreciate it well. Ito gave Makino a high-five, saying, "Thanks that the cover is timely. The coach’s decision to put you here is not wrong at all."
"So, you thought that it could still be wrong?" Makino snorted indignantly.
The captain just smiled a little, not exposing how red the boy’s ears were right now. No, it was clear that Makino was excited here, so he didn’t need to add more fuel to the boy. No, too much excitement could lead to reckless play, and that was the last thing he wanted to see right now.
Makino himself didn’t care about the praise. Well... He cared. However, he was happier that the knowledge he got from Hakodate Nishi somehow worked well to let him save the national team from a disaster.
’Yeah, even though I don’t have that much high-level experience, in this game, everything matters. I can still affect the game with every skill that I honed in Hakodate, so I don’t need to feel inferior anymore!’ He clenched his fists tightly.
"Hey, Cap! Makino! A corner! Move forward!" Miki Yamane shouted, asking them to rush to the box.
Yeah, Mamoru’s attack earlier, while it failed to get any good result, still gave Japan a corner kick. Most of the players there rushed forward, leaving Naoya, Miki Yamane, and Mitsuki Saito on the back.
Unfortunately, just like the coaching team predicted, the aerial duel was not going to work today. Even though Morita’s cross was perfect going to Ito, the tallest Japan player in the box, he couldn’t do anything under Ukraine’s giant wall. The ball was just sent back to Japan’s territory, resetting the play to zero again.
After this, both countries also realized that the beginning of the game was a bit too explosive to their liking. They started to slow down a little, trying to play with the rhythm while also prying the opponent’s defense slowly. While this would be a long process, at least the safety was guaranteed, and when the game had just started like this, at least that was what the team could ask for.
Ukraine also let Japan control the rhythm. They knew that they weren’t the best at it, so it was better to let the opponent do it while they watched closely, ready to pounce whenever the opponent made a mistake.
However, they also kept their pressure on Morita. Ukraine knew that everything on Japan’s side always started from that boy number 10, so they wanted to make sure that he couldn’t be comfortable even in his own area. In the last five minutes, they even managed to force Morita to go to the flank, which they could consider a success in their book.
Still, as a creative player, there was no way Morita would stay quiet under this oppression.
At first, the boy just took it slow, always passing the ball directly to get out of the pressure. However, he also calculated everything inside his head, making sure he knew the opponent’s reaction time and route to block him.
’That number 15 is quicker, but he always comes from the left. If I turn toward that direction, it would catch him off guard. However, that number 8 will be ready to back up. Can I get through him? No, I don’t need to do everything alone. A quick one-two pass would allow me to get out of their pressure!’
He glanced slightly to Mitsuki Saito, showing the boy eight fingers. This was a code between those two, with Morita asking the boy to get closer to that number 8. Mitsuki Saito nodded quietly, understanding the signal quite well.
Then, in the 10th minute of the game, the boy finally took action, and just like everything he did in the past, he would make sure he hit where it would hurt the opponent the most.
’Now, it is time to have fun!’