Chapter 829: Half-Time Break
FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!
The last three minutes of the first half ran quickly, with Bayern Munich deciding to hold their lead and not take too much of a risk in that short period. Well, this also worked in Schalke’s favor, as they were still in shock after conceding that goal earlier.
The moment the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, all the Schalke players just trudged into the locker room, not having any spirit to continue the game anymore.
Hell, the moment Higo entered the locker room, the boy went straight to his seat, covering his face with a towel while trying his best to keep his breath steady. Out of everyone else, he should be one of, if not the most exhausted players on the pitch, having to shout and act whenever the threat was coming.
The only thing that the boy regretted right now was that one of his targets had already failed, and that only happened at the very last moment of the first half.
’Fucking hell... We are so close...’ He murmured lowly, and yet still not low enough for the players around him not to hear it.
The locker room froze right at that second, knowing what the boy was talking about. Still, no one dared to say anything else, knowing that the boy had the right to be this depressed when he had done everything to keep everything safe.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Rudy, who was the culprit of the goal earlier, kept his mouth shut. This was the best option, as any apology would be meaningless when the result was already in front of everyone. Still, the man couldn’t hide his guilt here, looking so distraught at this particular moment.
In the end, it was Frohling who finally broke the silence, as he stood straight at the center of the room.
𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Well, the first half went as well as we can hope, right?" He said with a smile that couldn’t reach his eyes at all. "We only conceded a goal, and we played a solid game for the whole 45 minutes. Not only that, but Higo has already made 7 saves, and if things go as expected, this will be another legendary game for him. This is a good start for our season..."
Even though it was praise, no one felt happy about it. However, if anything, this only made the coach satisfied with the situation on this team.
"The fact that you didn’t show any reaction here shows that you still care about the game." The man nodded in approval. "This is a completely different situation compared to our state a few days ago when we thought that the best we could ask for was not to get humiliated here. At least, from my perspective, you guys show some improvement here."
"...Well, it doesn’t matter if we still lost the game, right?" Higo mumbled lowly, causing some players to wince on the spot
Never in their lives had they seen a player daring to contradict Frohling when the team was down on the scoreboard, like what happened right now. They all knew the head coach’s volatile temper, and in this situation, the best thing they could do was to nod quietly and accept all the criticism there.
Who would’ve thought that it would be the youngest here who dared to spout such an outrageous remark, criticizing the head coach back?
Still, Frohling wasn’t angry at that remark. No, if anything, his gaze softened, knowing that out of everyone else, Higo’s ambition was the clearest one here. The boy knew what he wanted from this game, and that was to avoid defeat.
The goal earlier hurt him not only because the process was stupid, but also because the boy realized that the team would stand no chance if they decided to seek a game-tying goal.
In the end, he just ignored Higo’s grumpy grumble and took a deep breath before addressing the second half to the team.
"Next, we still have to show a cautious approach, but we also need to start pushing them back at the same time. The key is how to balance things out. Strikers, we will have to rely on you for that."
Some of the new guys here were so dumbfounded when they saw how the coach changed the topic so quickly, while the old players just rolled their eyes in exasperation. They all had already experienced getting scolded so fiercely by the head coach, and yet, this was probably the first time they saw someone throw a sarcastic remark and the coach just brushed it off.
’I told you, he is Boss’s favorite son.’ Someone whispered to the others, whose jaws dropped right now.
Frohling ignored the whispers completely, thinking about what the team should do next. It was hard, since his offensive options were not that many. At this moment, the man started to wonder, ’If only Morita were healthy enough to be here...’
Unfortunately, that was just a hopeful thought, something that was impossible to do right now. The man had to fight with the limited resources that he had, which was a task that was harder done than said.
In the end, he made several adjustments and asked the players to be braver, hoping that the team would start shooting more to threaten the opponent’s goal. Even though the guys were not hopeful, this was the coach’s order, so they accepted it readily.
As everyone started to walk back to the pitch, though, Frohling asked Higo to stay there for a little private chat.
Out of everyone else, the man was definitely more concerned about his boy’s mental health, as he couldn’t help but ask, "You okay? Don’t blame Rudy for that own goal, okay? That was just pure bad luck; no one else to blame."
Higo just snorted when he heard that. "I am not that petty, Sensei. Don’t worry, I know that the goal was not his fault."
Frohling checked the boy one last time, a little bit unsure of what to do here. "Well, if you say so. If you have a problem you want to talk about, feel free to say it to me directly, okay?"
Higo was quiet even after hearing that offer. Inwardly, he muttered, ’Well, I cannot just ask why Rudy-san went undetected by my clairvoyant ability, right?’