Chapter 442: Sitting on the Bench for the First Time Ever
Well, this was the first time Higo experienced it, and the boy wouldn’t lie, the feeling was quite strange.
Back in Hakodate Nishi, he only had himself to rely on, so the thought of him sitting on the bench had never crossed his mind. However, now, looking at Zion Suzuki, who was warming up with the main team while he had to watch from the bench, an unknown unwillingness suddenly burned inside him.
’I am definitely not worse than Zion, right?’ That thought flashed inside his head.
"What? Still not willing to sit on the bench?" Makino’s voice suddenly popped, interrupting his monologue. When Higo turned around, he could see his friend looking at him knowingly. "The first knowledge that any players have to learn, Chibi, is that there will always be a better player than you. So, stop thinking that the world revolves around you."
Higo just had the corner of his lips twitching madly. "Bah! Don’t forget that you also felt the same yesterday! No need to act so high like this, Teme!"
"What do you mean by that?! It is clear I am the one who accepts it more easily!" Makino argued quickly, not even blushing at his own lie.
"You guys sure are close with each other, huh?" Someone suddenly chimed in, his tone was melancholic. It was Mamoru, wearing a vest for the bench player, who looked at them enviously. "It is nice to have your best friends in this situation..."
"Me?! Best friend with him?!" Makino and Higo shrieked almost at the same time, glaring at each other fiercely. This only made Mamoru chuckle more, finding their antic to be quite amusing.
"Anyway, the game is about to start. Don’t let Kageyama-sensei see you slacking off here." Mamoru reminded them both.
Makino nodded solemnly, while Higo himself was quite puzzled. If they were going to sit on the bench, what should they do to not be considered slacking off? Still, the boy just followed his friend’s action, pretending to observe the pitch seriously without even blinking his eyes.
Soon enough, the game’s final started with the kick-off from the national team. In Higo’s mind, he had already foreseen that this was going to be a complete blowout. After all, they were the chosen teams among the best in the country, while the opponent was just a team that was far closer to the relegation zone in the second division.
The match shouldn’t be that close; that was what his naïve mind concluded.
However, things weren’t that simple. Twenty minutes had passed since the game began, and the national team was still struggling to gain a foothold in this game.
"Morita! Pass the ball quicker! Don’t hold it for too long!"
"Forget about fancy pass! Just try to maintain possession first!"
"Hey, Kawabe! Drop back if the team gets attacked! Move your lazy ass!"
Koki Morita, someone who Higo always saw having full control over the game, was nowhere to be seen today, while Hiroki Kawabe, who was infamous for his explosiveness, couldn’t find any room to break through so far.
This was clearly beyond Higo’s expectation, and even Makino himself was in bewilderment. Usually, when facing such a strange situation like this, their salvation would be Kumiko. Unfortunately, the girl was far away from their spot, preventing them from asking her what was going on.
In the end, they could only speculate among themselves secretly.
"Oi, Teme, you have an idea?" Higo whispered, not wanting to be heard by anyone else.
At the end of the day, he was still a teenager who didn’t want to look stupid in front of his peers, so when Higo saw that, besides them, only a few were surprised by this development, he decided to play it cool.
"I don’t know..." Makino muttered under his breath.
BRUGH!
"ARGH! FOUL!"
A collision suddenly happened right in front of the bench, snapping them from their own thought. They couldn’t help but wince at the sight of Yukinari Sugawara holding his ankle in pain, somehow feeling it as well.
"If I have to guess, it should be that because the opponent is adults, right?" Makino suddenly spoke again, his tone was unsure. "I mean, look! They are stronger, more developed, and they know more tricks on the pitch! They know how to use their body well, suppressing us with pure strength."
Higo nodded secretly, finding the explanation to be logical. Still, it was quite hard to watch the team he always thought to be superior being dominated like this. It also didn’t help that this was the first time he sat on the bench during a game, which was enough to make him anxious over everything.
’Come on, don’t stick with the ball for too long! You have a teammate waiting on the flank!’
’Don’t push! Don’t push! You will get caught!’
’Yamane-san, you cannot just approach him like that! Their reinforcement will come behind you!’
This was the case of someone who had a better point of view, finding everyone on the pitch to be incompetent. Well, Higo still didn’t notice it yet, as his mind unconsciously thought that everyone should have the same view as him. Still, he couldn’t care less right now, as his clairvoyant ability suddenly flared.
Just as the image had shown him, the worst-case scenario unfolded right before his eyes. Miki Yamane got caught in the bait on the flank side, and as he approached the person there, the ball went behind him, going straight to the penalty box.
Even though it was still in the half-space area with a difficult angle to shoot, this was not a problem for the one who received the ball. It was the foreign striker from JEF United Chiba, someone Brazilian, who got it, and as Hiroki Ito extended one foot to block the shot, the man whacked the ball at the right moment, letting it slip through that block.
BAM!
Zion, who guarded the near post, could only raise both hands to make a save. Unfortunately, the ball still slipped in between them, slamming into the net violently. Silence followed for a moment, with the dark-skinned goalkeeper watching the ball on the back of the net helplessly.
After a while, though...
"OH! The first goal!"
"JEF is leading! Come on!"
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