"YES! COME ON!"

"Another penalty save?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Senpai, tell me, did you consume something funny before the game begins?! This is fucking unreal!"

"Come on!"

The moment the players entered the locker room, everyone laughed, cheering at each other. It was a difficult first half, and there were so many moments where they felt like they deserved to lose a point. However, at the end of the day, they managed to survive while also maintaining their clean sheet record, which was definitely more than anyone could ask for here.

Of course, as the hero of the game so far, Higo was basked in praises. Everyone wanted to touch his head as if he were some sort of Buddha reincarnation, wanting to get a blessing from his insane performance. While Higo himself showed a disgust toward his teammates, the grin on his face clearly told everyone that he was enjoying this moment.

Hell, even Kazawa himself had a little smile on his face right now. While he was still shrouded in frustration for the red card, the boy also felt a huge relief wash over him once he saw Higo’s foot touch the ball earlier. The guilt was still there, but at least he could raise his head higher right now.

"Okay, can I have your time, please?!" Kumiko suddenly raised her voice, stopping all the conversation inside the room. The players sat immediately, drinking some water while also taking off their boots to relieve the pressure on their feet. While doing that, their eyes were also on Kumiko, waiting for the head coach to give a word.

"First of all..." She took a deep breath before a bright smile curled on her face. "That is definitely the best defensive performance we have ever shown in this tournament! Great job, guys!"

"Oh, hell yeah!" The moment they heard that, all of the players cheered once again, some even starting to hit the bench enthusiastically. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Still, we have some homework to do to make everything easier for the second half, mainly regarding the defense on the right side." The girl continued.

The moment she said that, some players tensed immediately, knowing that they were going to be judged here.

"In the second half, some changes have to be made. First, Denki-kun, I am sorry, but you have already been knackered from the constant intrusion on that side. I don’t think you can survive for the whole game, right?" Kumiko smiled apologetically.

Denki slumped immediately, knowing that he couldn’t even argue here. The boy had been murdered left and right by Kawabe, and the constant fear that was inflicted by the opponent’s captain was enough to drain all of his energy. Even if he tried to stay strong, the boy would only be able to last for another five to ten minutes, and that was also not in his best form.

"Fine! But, Hori-senpai, don’t tell me later that I didn’t warn you!" He huffed while also taking off his jersey annoyedly.

"Ha! Don’t worry, Brat! Your time is over, so leave the rest to me!" Hori took off his jacket, starting to warm up excitedly. "Still, that doesn’t really solve the problem, right? I wouldn’t be able to do anything better than Denki..." He rubbed the back of his head confusedly.

This was a valid question. Even Denki, with the help of Kazawa, was not enough to stop the man, and Hori was not confident enough to believe that his defensive skill was better than that of the two combined.

"That’s why you are not the one who is mainly responsible for him. No, you are going to cover the leak with your speed." Kumiko replied. "As for the one who guards Hiroki Kawabe, Ishinori-kun, are you up for the task?"

"Wait, me?!" Ishinori was startled when his name was mentioned, not expecting to get a heavy responsibility like this out of nowhere.

Well, this move was quite unexpected, but also understandable when everyone thought about it. The unexpected part was due to the fact that it had been a long time since Ishinori had to do this kind of job. He had been doing well as the third central defender in this tournament, covering any leak that managed to escape from Makino and Jun’s grasp.

However, at the end of the day, Ishinori was still the best one-on-one defender on the team. He was also the fittest one among the defenders here, being able to run back and forth with full speed for the whole 90 minutes tirelessly. It was understandable that he was being chosen to do this dirty job.

"So, I am the main defender, and Hori will be the one who covers any leak?" Ishinori asked one last time for a confirmation.

"Yes, what do you think?"

For this, Hori and Ishinori glanced at each other, and then a similar smirk formed on their faces. "Ha! That’s an interesting challenge! Don’t worry, Senpai! Consider the job done!" The former laughed boisterously.

The others just shook their heads in exasperation. They knew that no amount of warning would be enough to wake Hori up from this state. Even though the boy had already witnessed how dangerous Kawabe was, he only did it from the bench. The feeling of facing Kawabe directly was completely different, and only those who had already been beaten by the man knew how horrible it was.

"Let’s just hope that Hori will not be stupid enough to get himself killed later..." Makino muttered inwardly.

"As for our offense, with only ten players remaining, it will be difficult for us to initiate a counterattack." Kumiko continued. "However, Kenji-kun, Hiroshi-kun, I need you to be more active on the front line. Put more pressure, make more combination attacks, show off more, do anything that would make them wary of you. I know I have been saying this over and over again, but we need to make them think that we can bite them back! Can you do that?"

The two just looked at each other grimly. They knew that out of everyone else on the team, their rating in the first half was probably the lowest. Well, more to Hiroshi than Kenji. At least, the latter was able to trigger a red card for the opponent’s DM. But Hiroshi didn’t really do anything in the first half, just strolling around while also watching Kawabe wreak havoc from afar.

Now with Kumiko’s reminder, they couldn’t just stay passive in the second half. Even without looking at his senpai, Kenji knew that Hiroshi would agree with this, as he nodded solemnly at Kumiko.

"Don’t worry, Senpai. We will make sure they remember our presence later..."