The moment Sano stepped on the field, he took a deep breath, trying to keep his legs steady. He was one of the boys who cared the most about how people looked at him, and it wouldn’t be funny if they saw such a tough guy like him trembling to enter the pitch.

’No, I cannot do that. It would be too embarrassing, and Kumiko-senpai’s strategy will not work later. I have to keep this expression up.’ He muttered to himself.

Indeed, the tough, delinquent expression that he used to hate the most in the past seemed to be transformed by Kumiko into a deadly weapon here. Its use was just one thing, and that was as a deterrent to keep all the balls away from his direction, which would give his teammates an easier time defending the other areas.

Of course, the boy was not that confident at first. After all, he was so used to being associated with those delinquents because of his face that he couldn’t perceive it as a positive thing. However, Kumiko said one thing in the past that changed his perspective about his look.

"You don’t need to hate your own face that much, Sano-kun. At the end of the day, people will always hate something about you, from your tone to even your family. Just use your tough demeanor to scare the people who don’t deserve you. Those who like you will come no matter how good or bad you look."

This was definitely an eye-opener, and also the first time someone said it to Sano directly like that. Sano wanted to be skeptical about it, but Kumiko’s genuine eyes were enough to melt him on the spot. At the end of the day, he finally tried to open up with the other football club members, and the reception he got was quite overwhelming, he could say.

"Damn, Brat! You’ve got it tough, huh?"

"Don’t worry, no one really cares about your look right now! Just go all out and scare the shit out of our opponent!"

"Come on, Sano! Just glare at them all, and they will run away from our path!"

They might still joke around about his scary demeanor, but everyone here said that he could use it to their advantage. This was probably the first time someone pointed out that this could be his trademark, and once Kumiko noticed how effective it was, she even put him as the team’s secret weapon.

Once again, this was the first time he received such positivity, and Sano had been devoting himself to every possession to repay the team’s kindness in the future.

"Stop daydreaming and get ready, Sano!" Jun, who he was about to replace, suddenly patted his stiff shoulder gently. "Don’t worry, just follow Makino-senpai’s arrangement, and try not to be too nervous. Come on, you can do this!" The senpai slapped his back quite loudly, giving one more encouragement.

After taking one last deep breath, he finally went onto the pitch together with Takaaki, and the moment they were there, the atmosphere seemed to drop several degrees once they knew that Sano was going to be on the pitch. Some narrowed their eyes like hawks, while the others looked at him like they wanted to dissect his corpse alive.

No one really knew how big the boy was since he was always sitting on the bench, but once he got up, he looked like a giant in a fantasy movie, so big that he could crush anything in between. Coupled with his tough appearance, it was clear that the opponent’s players would avoid him from now on.

Well, true enough, he became a gargoyle statue on the back. Whenever he approached the opponent, the ball would be passed away from him immediately, with no one really wanting to mess with him.

The only one who was brave enough was Abraham Nori, but even though Sano was not the best defender on the team, he was still a big and strong boy, and coupled with the fact that he had just come with fresh stamina, there was no way his opponent could gain an advantage here.

This, coupled with the fact that Takaaki and Kazawa started to take more control of the midfield, added more security to the team. Now, they weren’t really worried about any unstoppable wave of attack, and they could just slow down the game as much as they wanted here.

Higo also took a deep breath when he saw this. It had been about five minutes since a real threat was coming at him, and since then, all he had to do was to guide his teammates to the players and area where he thought would be dangerous. Other than that, he didn’t even touch the ball here, just shifting around to keep his position steady.

’Man, is this the life of the goalkeeper in a top club? It sure can be nice, huh?’ He couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

The opponent also started to get desperate. Hell, their goalkeeper even started to rush forward. Not that far to the frontline, but he had already reached the half line here, acting like another midfielder.

It was a risky move, since any lob could’ve sealed the game for Hakodate Nishi. However, this was necessary to add more numbers on the frontline, giving more pressure on that side.

Still, time was ticking by, and not a single threat could reach Higo’s side yet. In the end, even though it was still the 87th minute of the game, the goalkeeper decided to join the crowd in a corner kick scenario. A little bit early, but if they didn’t score soon, they wouldn’t be able to tie the two goals they had conceded earlier.

Unfortunately, this was a double-edged sword, and this time, the sword itself came to hurt the team.

The corner kick’s quality itself was terrible, and it was cleared by Kazawa on the near post before anyone could touch it. Then, Hiroshi, the vocal point of the team’s counterattack tactic, managed to win the contest to get the ball, and even from behind the half line, the lob he sent from afar still glided in the air, going down so fast like a rocket before it hit the net.

Thud!

The moment the sound echoed throughout the pitch, the boy spread his arms wide, smiling widely as he knew one thing was sure here.

This goal sealed the deal, allowing his team to get through the semifinal of the tournament.