Chapter 297: Toin Gakuen Starts to Panic?!

"Fucking hell... What the fuck is going on here?!"

"How could we concede a goal this fast?! This should be the first time, right?"

"What in the hell are they doing there?! They lost to a team with a fucking girl as a head coach!"

"Yeah! I heard she is just in her senior year! How in the fuck are we losing here?!"

The whispers of despair echoed throughout the stadium as the atmosphere turned gloomy because of Kenji’s goal. Kumiko herself didn’t show any reaction. No, she just stood in front of her bench, applauding her boys for executing the play beautifully.

"Yes, that’s it, Boys! An exquisite execution!" She praised them all. "Kenji-kun, I see you there! Two goals, you are the current top scorer of the tournament!"

The boy’s face bloomed before he laughed boisterously. "Hahaha! You should’ve expected this from the mighty and awesome Kenji Makabe!"

"Idiot! Stop messing around and get ready to play! The referee is calling for you!" Kuroki, the senior striker on the bench, scolded him playfully. However, the boy was also jealous here. It was his dream to score in the national tournament, and yet, his kouhai somehow did it before him.

"Don’t worry, Kuroki-kun, you will have a chance to play later," Kumiko said, noticing the unstable mood in her friend.

Kuroki blinked for a moment, clearly not expecting himself to get caught offhandedly like that. However, he just nodded silently, trusting Kumiko’s judgement for this game. ’It isn’t like she has ever done something stupid before, and we are in the lead, so why would I make a fuss? If we won, we would get another chance, right?’ He muttered under his breath.

Kumiko herself had already focused back on the pitch. However, inwardly, she couldn’t help but smile smugly, somehow wanting to rub this in the face of those reporters from the Daily Sports.

’An inexperienced team with only a girl as their head coach and a first-round exit team, they said. Hah! Now, let’s see how they would write about me once the game is over.’ She mumbled sarcastically.

As the commotion finally died down, the game was about to be restarted. However, it was clear that the goal hurt Toin Gakuen’s morale. They came into the pitch for the second half with a high spirit, and now, they looked like a bunch of headless chickens, not knowing what to do and where to go.

This wasn’t just because they were mentally weak. No, if anything, the timing of the goal was the worst. It was common knowledge in a football game that the team had to prevent a goal from happening in two periods: The first and last five minutes of the game. Those were the times that would affect the whole mood immediately, even able to destroy whatever calmness in the team and turn it into uncontrollable chaos.

This time, no matter how hard Toin Gakuen tried to handle this situation, it was clear that after the blitzkrieg goal, they were quite in a daze, getting flustered so easily whenever one or two Hakodate Nishi approached them.

"Fuck it! Keita, slow it down! Slow it down!"

"Tetsuro, don’t rush things up! We still have time!"

"Take a deep breath! Send it back to me first!"

Naoya had been shouting non-stop since the team conceded a goal, and a thick vein even popped on his forehead. Right now, the game definitely didn’t go much to his liking, not just because of the score, but also due to how his teammates started to get impatient, losing all their calmness, and decided to just chuck the ball hastily toward the box, not even caring whether the team was ready or not.

Somehow, this only made it easier for Hakodate Nishi to deal with everything.

"Oi, Teme, keep an eye on their number 8!" Higo raised his voice, pointing at one player with the purple jersey outside of the box. "He is in a good position to get a rebound; just make sure you cover the angle, leave the middle to me!"

"Sure!"

BAM!

Another careless shot was taken by Toin Gakuen’s number 8, and this time, Makino did perfectly as Higo instructed. The ball couldn’t even get through the captain, getting blocked by the boy’s ankle before it bounced back to the flank, and with both Denki and Usami swarming on that side, Toin Gakuen’s players there had to put the ball back to their own territory, restarting another wasteful chance to attack.

"Yes, Teme! That’s how you defend it!"

"Nori, don’t spread too far! Get ready to reinforce the left! Don’t push around! Kill him in the corner!"

BAM!

Another ball was cleared, as Denji managed to send it back across the half-line.

"YES, DENJI! NICE CLEARANCE!"

On the stand, even Park Han-Gyeol shook his head in disappointment. "They are a good defensive team, but once they are down and facing a low-block team that puts a fucking tank in front of their goal, Toin Gakuen doesn’t know how to handle it. It is a pity they couldn’t even get through the opponent’s defensive line."

"You are right, Han-Gyeol-a. They are so flustered right now, finding not even a single hole in Hakodate Nishi’s defense." Mamoru also let out a deep sigh. "Once they enter the 60th minute, they would be more panicked, finally realizing that they don’t have too much time left."

The entire squad was so quiet at this point, hearing the analysis of the two best players of the team. It was quite a tragedy that a team that reached the semifinal in the last Inter-High was about to get eliminated in the first round in front of their own crowd, but this was the National Tournament. Anything could really happen here.

"So, what do you think they would do next?" Someone asked curiously.

"Oh, it is easier to predict than you think." This time, it was Kang Do-Jin, the goalkeeper, who chimed in with a snort. "Once it finally gets through their thick skulls that they cannot get through Hakodate’s defense in a normal way, they would try to launch a desperate shot from outside of the box. But..."

BAM!

Right as the Korean goalkeeper said that, one player from Toin Gakuen indeed tried their luck from a longer distance. The shot’s power was good, and its direction was also quite tricky, going to the far post without even floating too much in the air. However, Higo also reacted quickly, diving onto that spot without hesitation to block it with two hands.

"See? I know this is going to happen." Kang Do-Jin nodded in satisfaction. "They will try to shoot from afar, just to realize that their opponent’s best player is the fucking goalkeeper himself."