The Rise of the Iron Wall!

Chapter 152: Taking Over the Game?!

Everyone held their breath unconsciously for a moment, waiting for the scene to unfold before their eyes. Hiroshi was the most tense one here, what with a vein even popping on his neck. He waited so eagerly until he heard the sound of the ball hitting the net.

However, just right when the ball was a few inches away from the goal, a long hand suddenly extended far. It came out of nowhere, and no one was able to react to it first. Then, in the next second, the ball touched that hand, getting deflected outside of the pitch.

Thud!

"OH! FUCKING HELL!"

"That attack really gave me fright!"

"Good job, Do-Jin-a! That’s why you’re the GOAT!"

Indeed, the culprit behind this heartbreaker was Kang Do-Jin, the Korean goalkeeper whose height was almost 190 cm. With his long wingspan, as long as he didn’t react too late, no ball would be far out of his reach.

"Keep calm, keep calm." The foreign goalie just pressed both hands downward, his expression cool and unfazed. It was as if the attack was just an ordinary one, not enough to deserve any reaction from him.

Of course, the most frustrated one here was Hiroshi. He was so close to jumping and celebrating, and yet, somehow, the boy forgot that Shimizu Higashi had a guardian angel as strong as his team had on the back.

"Fuck it! That’s so close!" Hiroshi groaned, somehow regretting that his shot was not enough.

Still, the attempt itself was perfect. The shot was low and straight to the corner, the hardest spot for any goalkeeper to anticipate. Not only that, the two blockers in front of him earlier were double-edged swords. They didn’t just block his shot, but also the goalkeeper’s sight of the shooter.

Everything was so perfect from his side, and yet, Kang Do-Jin was still able to save the shoot easily. This was the case of a good offense meeting a better defense, and unfortunately, Hiroshi had to be satisfied with this result.

"Don’t mind, Senpai! You will have another chance later!" Denki tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, Hiroshi! Don’t be whiny just because of one failure! Get ready to create a second one, Brat!" Makino nodded, slapping the boy’s back quite hard.

Hiroshi just grunted grumpily, but still knew that they were right. He shook his head quickly, going straight to the corner spot to take the ball. Then, once again, Shimizu Higashi’s defense was swarmed by black-and-white jerseys, all ready to take their chance to score from Hiroshi’s corner.

"Come on! Give me a high one!"

"Hey, push a little bit further! Try to occupy more space in front of the goal!"

"Jun, don’t move around like that! You are the anchor!"

Five to six Hakodate players gathered, from Makino, Jun, Kuroki, Yuji, and even Kazawa. This also had a hidden danger if the goalkeeper got the ball, as a direct counterattack would be devastating for Hakodate Nishi. However, Ishinori and Takaaki were on the back, ready to slow down and even stop any opponent from sneaking behind.

Shimizu Higashi also treated this corner kick seriously. Even Park Han-Gyeol dropped back, marking Jun quite tightly. More than ten people gathered on that box, and chaos was definitely bound to happen.

After waiting for a while, Hiroshi raised two hands in the air. This was a sign that the corner wouldn’t be that high, aiming at the near post of the goal.

The aim was simple.

With Jun and Kuroki, the tallest towers on the team, attracting the opponent’s attention in the middle, the near post would be a little bit weaker. That was when Makino would come from the second line, trying to get rid of his marker and get the ball in the air. There was also Usami, who was still dilly-dallying around that post.

Overall, the strategy looked promising here.

Unfortunately, the execution was simply worse than the imagination. Hiroshi failed to lift the ball high enough, as it was getting cleared easily by Shimizu Higashi’s defender near the post. However, the ball still landed on Denki’s feet, so they still had another chance to continue the attack.

"Come on, Denki! Lift it up again!" Jun, who was still in the enemy’s territory, pointed at the sky to get a high ball.

However, Denki saw that the opponent’s goalkeeper was so close to his senpai there, and rather than risking this chance for nothing, it was better to keep it slow and steady. The chaos might be gone, but at least they still had control over the possession.

"Jun! Go back! What are you doing there?!"

"Hey, Kazawa! Slow down a little bit more! Don’t be too hasty!"

After a while, all the Hakodate defenders were finally back in their own territory. However, the ball was still in their possession, and while Shimizu Higashi’s pressure was quite strong, Takaaki and Makino were able to handle everything that was thrown at their faces.

It was a strange scene, honestly. Hakodate Nishi, the team that had been staying so passive for the entire first half, suddenly gained the initiative here. The opponent was also not just a mere weak and no-name team. No, Shimizu Higashi was a powerhouse school that was always strong in their possession game.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried to pry on Shimizu Higashi’s defense, not a single attempt from them was enough to get a good result.

In terms of defense, Shimizu Higashi was definitely up to par with them. The Shizuoka team was so compact in structure, moving in unit to repel all the attack and force a cross to come. In an aerial duel, they were also quite strong, what with Kang Do-Jin protecting their sky.

Their philosophy was simple but also the hardest to implement, and that was to defend without letting any shots come at them.

’So, this is the top team of the country, huh? No matter whether it is their offense or defense, they cannot be subdued so easily. What a troublesome team...’ Makino grunted lightly.

Out of frustration, Takaaki finally took action. Even though the angle and distance were difficult, he still tried to take his chance, shooting from 30 meters away. Unfortunately, although the ball managed to get through the dense crowd in the penalty box, it still fell easily into Kang Do-Jin’s grasp.

If anything, though, this was the turning point for Shimizu Higashi, as right after having the ball in his hand, the Korean goalkeeper threw it far to the right side close to the center line, where Mamoru, who had been dormant for a while, finally took action.

Seeing this, Makino couldn’t help but curse, "SHIT! COUNTERATTACK!"