Chapter 436: Coaching Team’s PoV
Norio Takahashi was by no means a world-class goalkeeping coach. No, he was not even close to the clothes of those who held that title. For more than thirty years, he had been coaching in his life; the man had only managed to reach the National Team U-20 so far.
However, if there was one thing the man was confident of from his long career, it was his ability to see a goalkeeper’s potential.
He was so proud of his keen eyes, and it was also proven in the past when the man promoted the young Eiji Kawashima, who was still around 17, as the national team U-20’s main goalkeeper. It caused a slight controversy among the goalkeeper community at that time, but everything paid off, as after so many years, Kawashima managed to maintain his performance as the number one goalkeeper in the country.
Now that Eiji Kawashima was around 37 and was so close to retirement, it was time for regeneration to happen, and as the goalkeeper coach for the Young Samurai, he was also quite immersed in this task.
’Zion Suzuki is good, a perfect template for a modern goalkeeper. His shot-stopping is strong, and his instinct in distributing the ball is also top-notch. It also helps that he is good with the ball on his feet. The only downside is that he has always played in a good, attacking team, so we still don’t know for sure what would happen when the situation is flipped.’
’Ryusuke Higo is completely opposite here. He is a traditional goalkeeper through and through, and with his posture, not a lot of people would be interested in him. However, his game-reading and shot-stopping abilities are the best I have ever seen, even better than Kawashima-kun at that time.’
’At least, this matchup will give us a clear indication of who is more ready to lead the team from the backline.’
At least, that was what he thought earlier. However, the moment Norio saw a half-volley shot from the half-space area by Taisei Miyashiro, and how Higo, coming from out of nowhere, jumped and blocked the shot, he couldn’t help but jump from his chair.
BAM!
"OH! What a save!"
"Damn, even that shot could still be saved?! This is ridiculous!"
"Is that Ryusuke Higo from Hakodate Nishi?! He sure is as amazing as the rumor is!"
While everyone was still in awe over the diving save from Higo, Norio had already had his brain recall what he had just witnessed earlier. Besides him, Masanaga Kageyama, the team’s head coach, also whispered with a serious tone.
’Is that a coincidence or...’ He let his voice trail behind.
Norio didn’t answer immediately, but after his brain managed to reconstruct everything earlier, the man shook his head quietly. ’No, you will be able to see it in the footage later, but he has already made his move the moment Morita-kun sent that chip. He knew what kind of shot Tagawa-kun would take. No, if anything, he knew Miyashiro-kun would take a shot directly even from that angle."
Kageyama’s expression turned solemn as he nodded. The man clearly knew the implication here.
There was no way Higo knew anything about Miyashiro’s characteristics, especially since the striker himself had already been in university.
So, to be able to predict Miyashiro’s next action from that spot and react accordingly, that only meant two things. One, Higo’s instinct was so ridiculously sharp that he could feel a threat coming even a few seconds before, or two, he read everything first from his position and used his brain to judge what would happen next.
Based on the information he had about Higo, Kageyama was more inclined toward the second choice.
’Yeah, no wonder you always have confidence in him, Shishida-san...’ His peripheral vision fell on the girl who was beaming so brightly at Higo on the pitch. ’He really has something in him that puts us in awe, huh?’
However, the show was still far from over. This time, though, it didn’t come from Higo. No, if anything, it was Zion Suzuki who stole the limelight.
After the corner kick from the B team, the A team somehow managed to snatch the possession away. With the ball falling on Miki Yamane’s foot, the left back only needed to take one glance before he launched a ping pass far forward, crossing across the pitch to fall on the other side of the flank.
BAM!
"Shit! What a pass!"
"As expected from Yamane-san, he has a fucking GPS on his right foot!"
"Come on! Run! Run! Run!"
The pass was slightly longer, and if it were any other slow striker, no one would be able to catch it. However, the one who dashed like lightning was Keito Nakamura, and he was as rapid as hell.
No one knew how it happened, since earlier, Nakamura was still guarding the far post for the corner as well. However, in the next second, he had already crossed the half-line pitch, casing the ball for his life.
He wasn’t alone, though. Behind, Hiroki Kawabe also gritted his teeth, trying to race Nakamura first to get the ball. Both players showed off their insane feet, blitzing their way through the B team’s territory.
Still, with them moving at the same speed, the one who got the ball would definitely be the one who started earlier, and in this case, it was clear that Nakamura had a one-step lead in this race.
Or... So that was what everyone thought.
In reality, though, it wasn’t a pure race between two players. No, there was still one player on team B’s territory, and with a calmness that was far from his age, the dark-skinned boy rushed forward, controlling the ball with his chest while also avoiding the crash between him and the two speedy boys.
Thud!
Everything happened so fast that no one knew what was going on. However, when Kageyama saw that the ball was on Zion’s foot, with both Nakamura and Kawabe looking around dumbfoundedly, he could feel the corner of his lips twitching madly.
’Yeah, the competition for the goalkeeper area will be good...’
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