The Rise of the Iron Chapter 184: Taking the Lead!

Chapter 184: Taking the Lead!

In fact, it wasn’t just the players who were anxious. Even Kumiko herself started to get restless on the bench. She wasn’t worried about whether the team would win or not, but more like why the goal hadn’t co yet.

’We have been encircling them for the first twenty minutes, and yet nothing big happened on the pitch.’ She bit her lips nervously. ’If this keeps going, they will start to get sloppy and impatient, and everything will be more difficult in the future.’

Fortunately, the referee finally blew the whistle to announce a free kick for Hakodate Nishi, and her eyes lit up imdiately when she heard that. Even though the distance was far and the location was on the flank, this was still a good chance to launch a direct cross to the penalty box.

Seeing that most of the opponent’s players gathered in the middle, Kumio pondered for a second before calling Hiroshi, who was about to take the shot. "Go for sche B. Don’t try to battle them in the center, it will be too difficult to handle."

Hiroshi pondered for a second before nodding his head slightly.

Yeah, the team indeed had more than one tactic when it ca to free kicks. This wasn’t just for a show, but sothing that Kumiko ca up with after deep research.

She found out that in a counterattack scenario, about 70 percent would end up in a foul, especially when the defenders were overwheld in number. Not a lot could survive in that situation cleanly; just a few top defenders could probably co out victorious in that scenario.

Since Hakodate Nishi was a defensively oriented team with a lot of chances to counterattack, it was important to take advantage of every chance they had.That was why Kumiko designed several free-kick scenarios for the team, depending on where the foul happened and how the opponent took their defensive shape.

In this case, the sche B that she was talking about was quite simple.

All the players who were going to battle on the front would start scattered and even from outside the box, wanting to spread the opponent’s defense thin. Then, once the free kick was about to be taken, they all would swarm into the middle, shrinking the area into the penalty box. The purpose was simple, and that was to overwhelm the opponent and draw their attention to that side.

Then, as the last touch of the sche, Hiroshi would send the ball to the far post, using everyone as a deception to aim the ball at Kenji, who sneaked from behind. That was when Kenji’s superb technique ca in handy. He could decide whatever he wanted, but once the boy was in the opponent’s penalty box with the ball on his feet, a dangerous chance was sure to happen.

It might look like the tactic was complicated, but in reality, everything would happen so fast that only five to seven seconds passed during that ti. The most important part was just how Hiroshi executed the ball, because if he failed, the attack would crumble instantly.

Fweee!

As the referee blew the whistle, Hiroshi raised his left palm high, a signal for the tactic. Right after that, he made a slow run-up, and the mont he kicked the ball, everyone was already swarming on Sapporo Kita’s territory.

"Co on, I get this!"

"Jun, jump! Don’t get overpowered by him!"

"The ball is mine! The ball is mine!"

All the players jumped to get the ball, and yet, exactly like what Kumiko designed, Hiroshi sent a perfect cross curling high to pass through the crowd, landing perfectly on Kenji’s feet.

The kouhai also didn’t hesitate here. He didn’t even take control, just swinging his leg as quickly as possible to whip the ball straight to the far post of his position.

BAM!

As a result, the ball hit the crossbar, bouncing down to the ground before slamming the upper part of the net violently, resulting in the first goal of the tournant for Hakodate Nishi High.

"Hell, yeah!" Kenji clenched his fist, raising both hands in celebration.

Right after that, all the Hakodate Nishi players around followed, so even jumping straight onto the boy’s back.

"Co on! That’s how you do it, Kenji!"

"Damn, Brat! Which Zlatan highlight did you watch last night?!"

The crowd also went crazy for the goal, especially since most of the girls there were from Kenji’s fangroup. They all cheered and squealed, so even snapping so many pictures in one go with their nose bleeding at Kenji’s bright smile.

Kumiko just shook her head in exasperation when she saw this. The girl also high-fived all the bench players next to them, celebrating the goal silently. It wasn’t like she was ecstatic, but more like relieved that the goal she had waited for finally ca. Now, the team could play a little bit more relaxed, not having to rush things up for another goal.

’Now, our ga should be smoother than before. Co on!’ Kumiko clenched her fist tightly.

True enough, after the first goal, Hakodate Nishi’s players also got calr, controlling the ball longer while also showing the confidence that wasn’t there previously. Hell, so players like Jun and Kazawa even dared to make a solo run, trying to penetrate the opponent’s defense with their big bodies.

Of course, the second goal didn’t really co that easily. Sapporo Kita still implented a ten-player defense, not wanting to suffer any like once again. However, it also helped that they needed to tie the score, so sotis, they braved themselves to rush forward, which was a small window that Hakodate Nishi could take advantage of.

Then, after waiting for more than twenty minutes, the second goal finally arrived. Just like before, the preparator was Hiroshi, and this ti, he sent a beautiful chip to get through the opponent’s defense before Kuroki beat the goalkeeper in the aerial duel.

Just in the first 45 minutes of the ga, Hiroshi had already established himself as the king of assists here, initiating the two beautiful goals that the team scored. The result also lasted until the referee blew the whistle, and as the first half was over, the ho team left the pitch with a satisfied smile, knowing that they had done a good job here.

It was the half break, and they were already leading with two goals ahead, getting themselves one step closer to the second round of the tournant.