Relief washed over Ryo the instant he heard the whistle ending the half. He had been running around the pitch nonstop, and if the game had gone on any longer, he would have struggled to keep up with the game.
So, as Ryo slowed to a stop, he resisted the urge to collapse right there on the grass. His heartbeat thumped in his ears, drowning out the noise of the arena. Bent over with his hands on his knees, he sucked in deep breaths, sweat slowly dripping down his face. Only then did he truly calm down—glad that the intense first half was over.
"Let's go back and sit down, Ryo," A voice called from behind him, just as exhausted from the first half.
Ryo smiled as he recognized the voice, "I'm surprised you haven't fallen over yet, Taiga. Your legs have been shaking for a while now."
"Oh… yeah…" Taiga muttered, clearly realizing it for the first time.
With one last sharp breath, Ryo straightened himself back out and walked with Taiga back to their bench. His breathing had somewhat recovered, but he desperately needed to relax for the fifteen minutes they had for halftime.
As if to confirm just how tired he was, The System spat out a notification.
{Notification!}
—(Exhaustion Level: 62)
——[The Player Is In A State Of Exhaustion. It Is Recommended For The Player To Take A Break.]
Yeah, no shit. What do you think I'm doing now? Ryo thought dryly as he sat down. Leaning back in his chair, Ryo cooled himself down with his water, both drinking it and pouring some on his head.
He was hot, and the fatigue was heavy, but he was just as satisfied with how the quest was turning out.
{Situational Quest – Regional Debut}
—[The Regional Tournament Is Here. The Player Must Prove They Belong On This Stage.]
—[Score Three Goals: 2/3]
—[Reward: New Skill – Anchor]
—[Penalty: Overall -5]
—[Time Limit: The End Of The Game]
While most of the team sat in silence while they recovered, Ren, who was sitting right next to Ryo, turned toward him.
"Ryo, we might have trouble in the next half. Some of Alto's players are really good."
Ryo considered it. Yeah, if they can keep pressure for the entire half, it might be difficult to keep our lead. They are definitely good… the second half won't be easy either.
"Yeah, I agree. That number four on defense has been consistently good. He shut down most of our attacks and came close to stopping our goals, too."
"So… does that mean we need to change up our tactics?"
"No, I don't think we should change anything too big. If we lose the pressure we have, they'll be able to turn the game around."
Ren looked confused, so Ryo elaborated a bit more. "What I mean is we shouldn't change how we play the game. So far, we have been using an aggressive press tactic, always trying to maintain pressure, which helped keep Alto from forming strong attacks."
"Right, but—"
"However," Ryo interrupted, raising a finger, "as long as we can keep the pressure, we can change whatever we want."
Ren's pretty smart, he should get what I mean.
"I see…" Ren said pensively, looking down at the ground as he combed through Ryo's words. For a while, no sounds came from the bench—only the distant noise from the stands lingered in the air. But right as the silence started getting uncomfortable, Ren looked back up and suggested, "What if we move our entire formation forward?"
Ryo paused mid-inhale at Ren's suggestion. Why would we—oh… That's actually a really good idea. I hadn't even thought of that.
By now, everyone on the bench had started listening in. Although their conversation had naturally stemmed from a comment about the other team, each player felt that there was merit to their ideas.
Still unaware of the eyes on him, Ren continued. "We had trouble getting the ball past the midfield in the first half. On top of that, most of Alto's attacks were stopped before they reached our defense. So what if we move up our defensive line and our midfield to increase the pressure?"
"Yes, that could work," Ryo answered, "that would make passing easier for the midfield—both forwards and backwards."
Murmurs spread among the players, most of whom acknowledged Ren's thought process.
With neither of them saying anything else, Taiga pitched in his own idea.
"If we do that, how about we set up offside traps? It'll punish their offense if they get too aggressive."
"That's not a bad idea," Tomoya answered cautiously, "but it's very dangerous if an attack gets past you. The defense needs to be well-coordinated for that to work."
"We can handle it," Taiga replied firmly.
For the next few minutes, everyone on the team shared their own ideas and discussed tactics—who to watch out for, who to mark, and how to attack.
"The left side was on the attack more often in the first half, so they might pressure that side more," someone called out.
"We should keep that in mind," Tomoya responded. "But we shouldn't worry too much about their positions. They might end up changing their formation entirely."
That was when Matsumoto decided to cut in.
"Let me interrupt for a bit."
He had been standing off to the side, listening to their conversation, choosing not to take over their talk. It was only after five minutes that he realized he had some important info to share with the team.
Once Matsumoto spoke up, the team stopped what they were saying and looked at him expectantly.
"You guys seem to be doing fine," he said calmly, "There is nothing I have to say that hasn't already been said. I just have one thing to add."
Ryo barely held back a laugh as he waited for Matsumoto to continue. Does he really need to pause for dramatic effect like that?
"Ken and Hideki, you two will be subbing into your usual positions for the start of the second half, so make sure you're ready."
He softly clapped his hands once, "Alright, that's all I had to say. Carry on."
Ryo stared blankly at his coach's retreating figure. Really? That's all he had to say? He's usually a lot more didactic.
Although everyone else was just as confused as Ryo, they eventually resumed their talk from before, refining their strategy up until the end of halftime.
—————————————————————————————————
"Welcome, we're back for the second half of the game between Lida Alto FC U12 and Ryusei Elementary School." Sakamoto started as the broadcast resumed.
"The teams will soon take to the pitch once again," Sayaka added. "It'll be interesting to see how the second half plays out. Will Ryusei manage to hold their lead, or will Alto be able to turn the game around? What do you think, Sakamoto-san?"
She turned to him, waiting for his answer. Although her job was to entertain all those watching on their screens, she sometimes had genuine questions about the games she commented on, and often asked away without hesitation.
"It's hard to tell. Ryusei is currently leading three–zero," Sakamoto answered. "But anything can happen in forty-five minutes."
After all, if Ryusei was able to score three times in the first half, it wouldn't be impossible for Alto to score four times in the second half. This was especially true since Alto would start with the ball in the second half.
The crowd all settled back into their seats, and the referees got ready, signifying the approaching second half.
"What kind of strategies do you expect from both teams, Sakamoto-san?" Sayaka asked, hoping to fill in the time before the game restarted.
"It's hard to tell," Sakamoto answered honestly, "But since Alto is down three goals, they will have to play aggressively if they hope to turn the game around. Ryusei, on the other hand, has more options. For example, if they just want to secure their win, they could overload their defense to prevent any goals."
"But that doesn't always work right?" Sayaka asked.
"Right," He nodded his head, "Numbers don't always dictate the outcome in football. Having more players on defense does make it easier to stop attacks, but after a certain number of players join the defensive line, in a way, it actually becomes harder to defend. Players step over each other, get in each other's way, and lose coordination with each other."
"So, do you think Ryusei will do that, or will they stick to their playstyle from the first half?"
"Since it's the second half and they're more tired, maybe they'll play a bit more passively, but I don't think they'll retreat completely."
As the players started finding their positions, Sayaka glanced at some notes that had been scribbled down earlier.
"Oh! Seeing the players go on the field reminds me of something—we have new players coming into play. Two players are subbing in for both Ryusei and Alto. For Ryusei, we have number nine coming in as the left forward and number thirteen coming in as the right midfielder, and for Alto, both number twelve and seventeen are subbing in as midfielders."
Japan's youth leagues followed the same rules for substitution as professional football. That meant that each team had five substitutions with only three windows in which substitutions can take place, not counting halftime.
That meant both teams saved some of their substitutions, opting to wait until later in the half for the rest, when more players would be tired.
"Yes, the new players seem to have brought fresh energy to both teams," Sakamoto said, "and they're all waiting for the referee's whistle."
The referee looked around, making sure that both teams were set up properly, before bringing the whistle to his mouth and officially starting the second half.
————————————————————————————————
A few minutes before the game restarted, Morita Yuichi was amidst the rest of his team on the bench, but the atmosphere wasn't good. Some players had been willing to give up, while others blamed each other when halftime started.
The acrimony among the players had wasted time they could have spent constructively. It also didn't help that their coach scolded them for a few minutes. By the time everyone calmed down, they only had five minutes to talk about the game going forward.
Yuichi clicked his tongue. We couldn't even come up with anything useful during the break. All this because a few of them got mad at the offense for not doing anything.
Their coach had taken the lead, assigned everyone a role, and boosted their spirits a bit. When they finally went back on the pitch, Yuichi looked over to the sidelines as he passed in front of Ryusei's bench.
That kid… He's dangerous. He is such a problem when attacking, yet he doesn't let any ball get past him when he defends. If our midfield can get through, then he'd have to spend more time on defense… Maybe then it'd be manageable.
But as the game started and everyone found their positions, Yuichi realized that it was foolish to think that that kid could be forced into defense.
Not because Alto had crumbled.
But because he was already deep in their half, relentlessly trying to break open their defense once again.