Chapter 823: Game Day!
If Higo were asked whether he was confident or not, of course, he would nod, not thinking about the strength difference between the two teams. However, the boy was also someone realistic here, and he knew that, in all honesty, the team was not ready to face Bayern Munich again, not straight away in the very first week of the season.
Unfortunately, the team couldn't run away from this fate, so now, all he could do was try his best, using the information that Kumiko had already collected for him to ensure that at least the boy could hold on until the end of the first half.
'Yeah, the initial goal is to secure the first half here.' Higo took a deep breath, trying to get his mind clear. 'As long as I don't concede a goal until the half-time break, I can probably light up something inside the others, enough to make them believe they can do something if they are willing to try.'
Of course, it wasn't an easy task to do, and Higo had already prepared to fail. That was why, even though in the end, the team still lost, the boy had already set at least two more realistic targets to achieve.
'First, I don't want to concede more than two goals.' He set this in his mind. 'I have never conceded more than two goals in my career, and the worst is against Bayern and Sapporo Otani in the past. At least, that is my bottom line.'
A little bit ambitious, of course, but it was definitely achievable. However, the second target…
'I can accept anyone else scoring against me, but only for Lewandowski… I will definitely lock him down!' He clenched his fists secretly, getting ready to do anything to prevent that Polish striker from netting a goal against him.
At this point, it was as if he had a personal grudge against the man. Not that it was far from the truth, of course, since Higo himself felt a spike of motivation against him. The Polish striker was the best one in the world nowadays, so Higo wanted to make sure the world knew that there was someone who could stop the man here, in Gelsenkirchen.
Little did he know, though, that Lewandowski was also eyeing a goal against him. After all, even though the man had already won everything last year, he was a vindictive person when it came to football, and the Polish striker still didn't forget how he was denied a goal against Higo last February, even getting his penalty shot blocked at that time.
So, yeah, the boy was also eyeing Higo secretly, which made this encounter way more exciting than anyone could imagine.
Well, time passed quickly, and before Higo noticed it, he was already with the team on the way to Allianz Arena, the home ground of Bayern Munich, to start the season. Much to his surprise, though, instead of the empty stadium that he had already expected beforehand, the boy saw a group of people walking into the stands, clearly here to watch the game.
"Wait, the government has already allowed supporters to come?" He blurted out the question quickly.
In return, though, the boy only met a judgemental stare from the others, before Fabian Reese couldn't help but sigh at him. "This was discussed by the team two weeks ago, you know? The federation has already secured a deal with the government to allow at most 10 percent of the stadium capacity to be filled in the game. Have you ever heard our conversation or at least read the current news?" he asked in exasperation.
Higo himself had his mind blank for a moment before he remembered that this was something that Kumiko and Sakura talked about a while ago. However, at that time, Higo was still in a state of euphoria after getting back into the game, and the boy didn't truly pay attention to the conversation at all.
He could feel a blush creep up on his face, getting embarrassed by his own stupidity.
"So, does that mean we will have at least 6000 people watching us for our home game?" He asked, trying to change the topic quickly.
"Yup! It is not that much, but we will take every bit of support that we need there." Huntelaar nodded. "I also cannot wait to meet some guys from the community again. Man, it has been a long time since I went to Bosch; I wonder if it would be different…" The man sighed with his gaze wandering far.
Well, at least, Higo could relate to that. Even though his absence wasn't as long as Huntelaar's, it had been a long time since the boy went to Bosch, and honestly, he started to miss the people there.
'Are Hans and the others okay? Would they watch this first game of the season?' The boy couldn't help but wonder. 'Damn, I haven't even asked them anything since this pandemic began. I am such a terrible person. Maybe, after this, I have to pay a visit to their place, huh?'
Still, it was a completely different matter, as right now, his focus should be on the game here. With Simon Henzler's help, the boy began his goalkeeping warm-up, wanting to make sure that no injury could happen due to his stupidity later.
The others were also busy with their warm-up session that Tomasz Waldoch led right now. Hell, they didn't even realize that the home team hadn't arrived at the stadium yet, getting too focused on themselves right now.
It wasn't until the small crowd on the stand started buzzing that Higo turned around, and there, he saw all the home team players in their proudest red jerseys walking from the tunnel, all carrying the gravity of the gladiator who had just killed their opponent without mercy.
Higo himself couldn't help but gulp when he saw this. Even the boy was not immune to the immense pressure radiating from the opponent's side.
'Yeah, this is the team that has just won a treble last season. Damn! This is either going to be legendary or a disaster! Fuck, I cannot wait to start the game right now!'