Two days before the third round of the tournament, Kumiko finally finished all of her homework. Even though the sample was too small, only two games, at least, she had an image of the opponent they were going to fight against later, and honestly, it was quite an eye-opener.

Of course, the first thing she did after everything was done was to gather all of her players. After all, there was a decision to be made here, and she could imagine that they were also anxious about who would play in the next game.

"Okay, let’s not beat around the bush here." Kumiko coughed, turning on the projector to show the footage she compiled on her own. "Hannan University High, if I could describe it with one word, is a proper British team. Have any of you watched an England game in the mid-2000s?" She asked.

The players were so lost right now, with only one or two of them raising their hands hesitantly. Well, it couldn’t be helped. Most of them here were born in 2001 or 2002, so they were too young to remember England’s ’Golden’ era. No, for some of them, their first memory of England was probably in the World Cup 2014, and that team left no impression on anyone who was not a die-hard fan.

"...Right." Kumiko was so deadpan when she didn’t get the response she liked here. "I forgot that most of you were just brats around that time." She murmured loudly.

"Hey, hey, hey! No need to attack us like that!"

"Yeah, you are around our age, Shishida-senpai! Don’t try to act like a geezer!"

Some took offense at that insult, creating a little commotion inside the meeting room. However, anyone could see that this was just playful banter, and Kumiko did so to lighten up the mood. The players had been in a tense atmosphere in the last couple of days, so a joke here and there was indeed necessary.

The girl had the corner of her lips tugged a little before continuing, "Anyway, the tactic’s name is Kick-and-Rush, and honestly, I have never thought that there would be a team that still uses this outdated playing style. However, their head coach, Noburo Yoshio, is a geezer of around 56 years old, so it is no wonder they would stick to an ancient approach."

Some of the boys snickered secretly. It was quite rare for Kumiko to crack a joke continuously like this, and it would be a lie if they said they were not enjoying this.

"The concept is simple. The defender kicks the ball, and the attackers rush to win the first contact. It bypasses the midfielders, turning them into the scrappers in the second line. Their task is simple: win the second ball in chaos and move the ball quickly to the wing. Then, the normal approach is to get the ball to the box, letting a tall and strong striker deal with the aerial duel. No complication, no fancy move. Just precise from the back to the front."

The players had a sweat drop at how Kumiko simplified everything here. The way she said it made them believe that the tactic was simple, but the game was always dynamic. No one could guess what would happen on the pitch, and one wrong prediction due to misinformation was enough to punish the whole team instantly.

"For that strategy to work well, they need some key points here, and those are what we are going to anticipate." The girl pressed the button on her laptop, moving to one player with a blue-and-black jersey. "First, they need a defender who can play the ball well from the back, and in this case, you have Taiga Nagai. Just like Hiroki Kawabe, whom we faced a few days ago, he is a member of the National Team, by the way, and he already has a contract with Vissel Kobe for the next five years. So, you can expect something great from him."

Some started to straighten their back, taking note of the boy’s appearance. Unlike any other top players, though, he didn’t look intimidating, just a standard Japanese boy whom they would meet in every corner of the street.

"He is probably the best in this tournament when it comes to long passes." Kumiko showed a statistic. "His success rate in getting the ball to his teammates in the final third is 79 percent, and he makes about 9 attempts per game. So, you can expect at least 7 or 8 dangerous balls coming from him."

Even though Makino didn’t show it, the boy couldn’t help but feel nervous. After all, he and Sano were going to be the two players who faced that kind of ball, and if he was going to be honest with himself, aerial duels were not his forte.

"Then, you have the tall and strong striker, Jui Hata." The screen moved again, showing a goofy boy grinning widely while wearing a headband. "201 cm, officially the tallest player in this tournament. Good at aerial duels, strong as a bull, so hard to be moved, let alone dragged down, and plays well as the wall on the front, becoming a magnet to attract players’ attention and distribute it to his teammates. His goal contribution might not be that high, but his involvement in offense is what makes their game run like a well-oiled machine."

Well, if Taiga Nagai was not intimidating enough, this Jui Hata sure did the job. "No wonder the completion rate for the long pass is ridiculously high... That striker is so fucking tall..." Jun murmured lowly, and that was telling something, since Jun himself was the tallest person in the room.

"Lastly, and the most dangerous out of them all..." This time, Kumiko’s tone was so solemn that everyone couldn’t help but gulp. "Their engines in the midfield, the two players who are always running and filling the gap in between. Their distance coverage might not be as high as Naoya Takahashi’s, but combined, they cover around 22 km on average per game. They are tough, gritty, and willing to do all the dirty jobs in the middle. The names are Matthew Edwards from the USA and Kei Murakami, their team’s captain, so make sure you remember them well."