A whole Week had passed since the devastating 6 - 3 loss to Team X and after countless hours of training, we made some progress on our Teamwork. One day, during one of Team Meetings, we gathered to discuss our collective Weapons. And they are as thus:
Iemon Okuhito - An All-rounder (I can actually see it in him)
Imamura Yuda - Speed and Technique (whatever that means. I've never even seen him use the damn thing)
Naruhaya Asahi - Getting in behind the Enemy (makes sense, given his small frame)
Gagamaru Gin - Incredible Agility and Body control (makes sense too. He's used it numerous times, even in training. The guy's incredible)
Raichi Jingo - Sexy Soccer (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Kunigami Rensuke - Strong Physique and a powerful left-footed shot (very effective weapons, if I do say so myself. Just lacks accuracy but he can work on that)
Bachira Meguru - Dibbling (super effective. He can't shoot very well but what does that matter when you can dribble the entire team, bamboozle the goalie and tap it into an empty net)
Takumi Kaido - Speed, Dribbling and Curve shots (I mostly use fake-outs and feints and my curve shots are stuff of dreams. If you can't tell, I'm very proud of my shots.)
Isagi Yoichi - Undecided (give him time. He's got a lot of things to work out in the meantime)
And lastly, Chigiri Hyoma - Refused to reveal (seriously, what's with this guy? I've played against him and I know his Weapon is his unmatched Speed so why does he refuse to use it? The crazy things we could do with him, the insane amount of goals we could score if he would just co-operate, thinking about it alone pisses me off. But then again, it's not my business. I won't pry into other people's personal lives. We'll just have to manage without him.)
We talked for a few more minutes about what we could do with our upcoming games and how we can proceed and we came up with a few ideas.
First up, since everyone had differing weapons, we would change the Formation from the initial 5-4-1 to a 4-2-1-2-1 and we would rotate who gets to play the '1' up front in a clockwise direction so we can seamlessly change positions without leaving holes in our Midfield or Defence. Iemon, also brought up a good point, "From a Defensive standpoint, it would be risky and very reckless if we all take turns in Goal so I volunteer to stay in Goal until we win the 1st Selection." I paused and considered it and I found out how right he was. Chigiri also decided to volunteer to stay in Defence. This change wasn't expected but the plan still looked solid so we chose to stick with it. So we kept the rotating 4-2-1-2-1. I called it 'The 9-chambered Russian Roulette'. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, as for how long a player will spend playing the '1' up front, we obviously chose to rotate it every 10 minutes. Convenient, isn't it?
Anyway, game day was fast approaching and we trained in preparation. When the time for the game finally came, 5 minutes to Game time, Team Z were already on the Pitch, warming up and ready to go. 2 minutes left and Team Y finally showed up, led out by their Ace, Kumamoto Prefecture's top goal scorer, Ohkawa Hibiki. His weapon, his incredible array of finishing techniques. One-on-One with the Goalkeeper and he was scoring 9 times out of 10 in any and every condition. We mustn't let him anywhere near our Penalty Area, let alone in a One-on-One with Iemon. Oh, right. Our formation was the aforementioned 4-2-1-2-1 with our positions being
Goalkeeper - Iemon Okuhito
Defenders - Chigiri Hyoma (LB), Imamura Yuda (CB), Igaguri Gurimu (CB), Naruhaya Asahi (RB)
Midfielders - Raichi Jingo (CDM), Gagamaru Gin (CDM), Takumi Kaido (CM), Bachira Meguru (LM), Isagi Yoichi (RM)
Striker - Kunigami Rensuke (CF)
With our gameplan set, we were ready to go. Team Z were going to start the game so Bachira and Isagi moved on up with Kunigami slotting behind them. Our plan around Kunigami was that Isagi, Bachira and I would carry and hold on to the ball and form a triangle of sorts with Kunigami in the middle looking for an open path to the Goal and the 3 of us will hold on to the ball, dribbling around and riling up Team Y's Defence. When Kunigami spots an open space in his ideal range, he will signal us discreetly and we would send a quick ground pass in his direction which he will run onto and, without breaking stride, fire a thunderbolt towards goal, preferably towards the Top corners because those shots were harder for the Goalkeeper to block. But even in Football, the saying 'No plan survives first contact with the enemy' was verified here because despite Bachira and I wreaking havoc on the entirety of Team Y, every passing lane to Kunigami effectively blocked, leaving us to pass the ball around.
6 minutes into the game, I had the ball and said "Screw it. I'll just send it long." Hearing that, 2 Team Y Midfielders came rushing at me to stop that. I smiled and positioned myself as if to fire a long ball but it was a feint which the frontmost Midfielder fell for as he jumped in the air to block but I cut the ball to the left, leaving him flailing behind me but the other guy was on me in a flash, luckily a quick 1-2 with Isagi got me free and running down the right flank at high Speed and Isagi was gunning it down the middle. I sent a quick, hard pass to Isagi but to my surprise, he dummied it and let it run through both his and his marker's legs to Kunigami. 'Kunigami? When did he get there? And how the hell did Isagi know he would be there?. My train of thought was interrupted by a sharp BOOM as Kunigami's left foot made contact with the ball, sending it hurtling at high speeds towards the goal and straight into the Top Left corner of the net. As expected, the Goalkeeper couldn't react to that. Goal.
Team Z 1 - 0 Team Y
We lined up again, ready to resume the game. This time, Team Y started with possession of the ball. The Whistle sounded and Team Y passed back to build their attack….at least that's what we thought but instead, they started passing the ball around determined to keep Posession, sometimes even passing the ball to the Goalkeeper. This continued until Kunigami's time as the Striker was up so we quickly changed formation and this time, the one in the Striker position was Isagi, so I entered his previuos position on the Left, Bachira entered my position and covering for his spot was Kunigami. The rest of the positions remained unchanged though. This would have been our position if Isagi had a known Weapon but since he didn't, I had to take his spot up front so the team quickly changed positions to support me.
Team Y continued to pass the ball around, sometimes moving forward but abruptly turning around and passing back. Isolated up front, Ohkawa had nothing to do but he picked up a position in a dangerous plcae, luckily, our Defence was rock-solid. The only problem now was WE JUST COULDN'T GET ON THE BALL!! It was in that same state that my 10 minutes up front ran out.
Next one up front was Raichi. "YES!!IT'S RAICHI TIME, BABY!!! REMEMBER, LOSERS!! JUST PASS ME THE BALL AND I'LL HANDLE THE REST, GOT THAT?!!!", he shouted enthusiastically until Gagamaru frustratedly remarked, "If we can actually touch the ball, that is.". This poured a cold bucket of Water all over his Fire, or at least it should have but Raichi barked back, "I don't care how you idiots do it, just get the ball and send it my way, got it?!!!". "Do you ever stop shouting, Raichi? Seriously, if you have that much energy to bark like a Rottweiler, spare some of it to helping us get the ball back. If we can't get on the ball, YOU can't score and just like that, your 10 minutes of 'Glory' will be up. Now, MOVE YOUR DUMBASS!!!!!", I screamed back at him, shutting him up and forcing his focus back to the match.
'Delusional idiot, that's what he is, I swear to God. If I was a Manager, I woulda subbed his dumbass off the field in an instant. That being said, these guys aren't exhibiting qualities of a Team who wants to win. Are they looking to tire us out? We've been furiously pressing, trying to win the ball back by any means necessary but they're just too good at retaining the ball. We need another goal, at least, to create a cushion between us. Just to secure all 3 points for us. I don't know what their gameplan is but I have a feeling we're playing right into their hands.', I thought to myself after getting up from missing a Sliding Tackle, earning me a Yellow card and a Freekick to Team Y.
Before long, Raichi's time up front elapsed and it was Bachira's turn up front. Sweating and breathing slightly heavily, Bachira, Isagi, Naruhaya, Igaguri, Kunigami and Gagamaru were slowly losing Stamina from running around too much and too fast.
Then, it happened. In the 38th minute, a short player with bangs covering his eyes (How he even sees where he's going is beyond me but hey, he's here so he's gotta be pretty good, right?), carried the ball forward and the entire Midfield of Team Y started sprinting forwards. Naturally, we responded and immediately started racing back to defend this sudden all-out attack from Team Y but their insane co-ordination, quick passes and our slightly drained Stamina combined with the suddenness of their attack, as opposed to their backwards and sideways passing, meant we couldn't cover the sudden gaps in our Defence which they pounced on with ruthless aggression. Suddenly, we found ourselves pinned to our 3rd of the pitch, unable to move forward, still unable to get on the ball. At this point, Bachira's time up front had expired but nobody even cared about the 9-chambered Russian Roulette anymore.
In the 44th minute, from the left, the same short, banged, bowl-cut boy had the ball and sent faked a high cross to which Igaguri fell for and he quickly took that opportunity to run in behind him, ready to fire but Isagi and I were there to block him so he turned around and sent a diagonal low pass. The pass was slow, as if setting up someone for a shot on goal, something I realised too late. But Isagi did so he sent his full length at the ball, sliding to intercept it before it got to someone dangerous but it was too late. Ohkawa was there, ready to receive, just at the edge of the Box, primed and ready to fire towards our goal. He sent his right foot through the ball with a resounding thump, sending it flying hard and fast towards the bottom left corner. Iemon was already on his way down to stop it but a foot from nowhere intercepted the shot, deflecting it towards the middle of the Net. Iemon could only watch from the floor as the ball smashed into the Net and the Whistle blew, signifying Team Y's Equaliser.
Team Z 1 - 1 Team Y
We went into the Half-Time Break with nothing to separate us.