Chapter 188: A Tough Win in the Second Round!
The ga was just the beginning of the journey, and while it was a nice win, even in Hokkaido, this was just like a single drop of water falling into an ocean. No one other than the team itself cared about the win, thinking that it was too early for them to celebrate.
Still, it was enough to build the players’ confidence, and that was sothing that no amount of training could give them.
In the second round, they had to go for an away ga to Asahikawa, a big city in the center of the island, close to Sapporo itself. Their opponent was Asahikawa Industrial High, another new team that didn’t have any experience in the tournant so far. On paper, this should be an easy ga for them.
It was not a great ga for Hakodate Nishi, though. This was the first ti in a long ti they went for an away ga, and so of them failed to asure their stamina during the journey to the ho team, suffering from fatigue first before they could go all out.
They displayed a sloppy performance, with so many mistakes that they could have led to a goal. Hell, even Makino himself dropped the ball at the opponent’s feet in the team’s own area, giving it away for basically free.
Still, even with all that happened, the team still managed to maintain its clean sheet record, and once again, this was when Higo played the biggest role. In the second ga, he made a total of four saves straight to the goal, claiming seven aerial balls, and even sweeping two wild passes from coming to his side.
Of course, that also made him in a very foul mood. It didn’t matter whether Makino was the captain or not, but Higo had been scolding the boy nonstop since the beginning of the ga. Hell, with how the thick vein popped on his neck, it was clear how intense the boy was in handling the situation.
Fortunately, none of the defenders really took offense in this case. They knew that their performance was horrible, and only Higo’s performance was the saving grace for them.
As for the final score, the team managed to steal two points in the injury ti of the second half.
The first one ca from a quick counterattack, where Yuji did a solo run before a pass from Hiroshi managed to break through the opponent’s defensive line. This was definitely the pattern they had been training for for a long ti, and based on their fluid combination, everyone could see how much effort they had put into making this combination work.
Then, the second one ca a mont later, when Denki managed to steal a sloppy pass from the opponent’s defenders. It was clear that they were exhausted as well, so he took advantage of himself being fresh from the bench to launch a quick attack, putting the ball so easily for his first goal in his high school career.
In the end, they managed to win the ga with the score of 2-0, but also with so many red notes in Kumiko’s notebook.
"...Honestly, I don’t know where to start." She sighed, rubbing her forehead due to a headache. "If this performance is our true level, we are screwed. Let alone the final and beating Sapporo Otani, we would be beaten against Esashi High in the semifinal, and that is definitely the worst possible outco here."
All the players winced instantly, not daring to face Kumiko’s eyes directly. The girl was always a person who was generous with her smile, and yet, that wasn’t visible on her face right now. That showed how big the gravity of the situation was for her.
"Usami-kun... Stop running once the ga enters the 50th minute... Takaaki-kun... Lost the ball three tis in the first half in a deadly area that led to a quick counterattack... Makino-kun... Not even trying to run and chase the opponent’s attackers... Hiroshi-kun... Despite the last assist, you tried so hard to do everything alone and forget to pass..."
All the nas on the team were called one by one, with Kumiko listing all of their mistakes brutally. This was a public execution, and if they weren’t ashad of themselves because of it, honestly, Kumiko would never know what could get into their thick head right now.
"You guys still show a top-team quality, though." Kumiko suddenly praised them all, startling everyone on the team.
They weren’t so sure about this, especially when the girl’s gaze softened a lot, way gentler than what she showed a mont ago. However, Kumiko didn’t lie here. The girl indeed believed that today’s result was a big show for the team.
"While yes, today is a terrible ga for everyone, but at the end of the day, you still secure the win for us. This, I think, is the most important thing here." She paused for a mont, letting her words sink in their head. "After all, no team can play at its best every ti, and you will have so ups and downs in your career. What matters is that you can finish the job, and that’s what you did today. So... Congratulations..."
Well, if anything, this didn’t make them happy or ecstatic. Instead, the praise only made them feel like they were crap here.
This was Kumiko’s man-managent strategy. She knew that no amount of punishnt could make this experience useful. No, the best way to do that was to put them in the deepest hole by exposing all their mistakes, then praise them as if they also did a good job.
The players here were not kids anymore, but most of them were barely adults. They could figure out that the praise was just empty words to console them, and the shallow pride that only a bunch of hot-headed teenagers like them possessed would never allow them to accept that.
True enough, Makino clenched his fist unconsciously, unwilling to accept the praise. The others were also in the sa boat, looking at each other with determination burning in their eyes.
’After this...’ They all muttered. ’After today’s pathetic display, we will never be this bad again in the future! This is a promise!’
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