"Oh! What a pity!"

"The attack is so beautiful! How could he waste such a chance like that?!"

"Hey, you cannot blame him! Didn’t you see how fierce their captain was?!"

"Still, good job, everyone! Come on, keep up with the pace!"

A round of loud applause could be heard echoing in the northern part of the stadium, with all the people with the black-and-white attribute giving their approval on the last attack. This was definitely a good way to make them excited again, especially after how bad they were to end the first half earlier.

Denki himself was so frustrated right now. It was a rare chance that would never appear again today, and yet, he still failed to capitalize on it.

"Sorr, Hori-senpai! I didn’t see him!" He shouted with both hands clapping in the air, apologizing to his senpai.

"Don’t worry, Brat! Come on, get ready again!" Hori shouted, grabbing the ball on the sideline to restart the game.

Unfortunately, now that Sapporo Otani’s defensive shape was back to normal, it wasn’t easy for them to breach it again. Hiroshi was also still getting entangled with Hiroyuki, for the first time realizing that the scouting intelligence that Kumiko gave was far from being an exaggeration.

’Fucking hell... Are you even going to follow me to the toilet?!’ He gnashed his teeth in annoyance.

He rushed toward the flank in a burst, trying to be one step faster than Hiroyuki. Seeing this, Hori threw the ball at him and shouted, "Give it back!" This allowed Hiroshi to recognize that Hiroyuki’s pressure was there.

The boy passed it back to Hori, and seeing how cramped the flank was, he passed it back to Takaaki in the middle, restarting the attack again from the back. This time, though, they were a little bit more confident playing around with the ball, showing that they were not just a mere defensive team.

"Come on, Takaaki! Send the pass!"

"Usami, do your magic again! Get through them all with one dribble!"

The supporters were still on adrenaline after the first attack. Unfortunately for them, the quick tempo was not Hakodate Nishi’s forte, so they slowed down a little bit more, slowly going back to their own territory. It didn’t take long, as five minutes after the second half started, Sapporo Otani finally gained control back, trying to dictate the game at their own pace.

"Sano! Sano! Don’t just stay there! Watch the line, don’t let him escape from the offside trap!" Higo shouted, pointing his teammate to the spot where the boy should go. "Nori, too close! Get a little bit forward! Put pressure on their second line!"

It was so strange that even if he hadn’t taken any action yet, the boy had already started sweating again. The constant state of his spinning his brain to force the clairvoyance out of himself, while also simulating everything inside, really took a toll on the boy.

Still, he had no intention to stop here. If anything, this only made the boy more aggressive in his command.

"Come on, Sano! You are bigger than him! Get him quick!"

BAM!

In a clash between two big boys, Yuwell and Sano, the latter managed to send a sloppy tackle, enough to stumble the Swedish striker and trip him to the ground. The situation seemed to be ambiguous here, especially since the team had already suffered from a similar scene earlier.

This time, though, the referee shook his head, pointing to the spot where Sano cleared the ball.

"Throw in for Sapporo Otani!"

"Hell, yeah!" Higo roared, helping the boy to get up from the ground quickly. "That’s how you should defend, Sano! Be more confident!"

"Good job, Brat! Don’t be afraid of a foul, just push him to the brink!" Makino added, giving the boy a thumbs-up.

So far, Sano has indeed done really well right now. Having inherited the task of guarding Yuwell Carlson, the boy managed to stick close since the beginning, not giving the Swedish striker any room to face the goal.

He treated Yuwell the same way Hiroshi was getting treated by Hiroyuki on the other side of the pitch. Hell, some might argue that Sano was more brutal, since his tough face was enough to make even Yuwell himself feel uneasy. With him on the pitch, it made everything easier for Ishinori and Makino, since they knew that Sano was the most disciplined defender on the team.

Hori also managed to protect the left side quite well. Although this was not his natural position, since it should be right, the boy still defended the flank like his life depended on it, never giving any easy chance for the opponent to slip. Hell, not just that, he was even able to channel his inner ’Sano’, intimidating the shit out of the winger on that side with his physicality.

"Come on, Sano! Push him to the edge! Yes! Go for it!"

BAM!

Another tackle was made, and this time, Hiroto Yamada, the opponent’s right winger, had to suffer the end of it. The tackle didn’t hit him directly, but it was enough to shake off his balance. The boy tried to complain about a foul, but the referee just shook his head firmly. More than that, the man even pointed in Sapporo Otani’s direction, showing that it was Hakodate Nishi’s ball.

"FUCK YEAH!" Hori roared in celebration.

Honestly, you would never see a lot of defenders with so much passion in their art like he was. Still, Hori couldn’t care less about that, since he himself needed to vent out something inside him. This was also the only chance for him to show off, so the boy had to make the most of it.

Well, nevertheless, it was easy to say that the substitution that Kumiko made brought a huge impact immediately, turning the already-solid defense from Hakodate Nishi into an impenetrable fortress.

In this situation, any logical attack wouldn’t work well for Sapporo Otani. No, they needed some kind of a miracle, one that could match Usami’s crazy solo-run goal in the first half. Of course, in this situation, only one person could step up, and that was Yuwell Carlson on the front line.

"Kenji! Kenji!" He waved like a child. "After this, give the ball slightly behind me. It doesn’t matter if I cannot see the goal or not, as long as the ball is in my feet, I can deal with it! Can you do that?"