Chapter 830: Before the Second Half Begins
Soon enough, Higo found himself walking in the tunnel; his teammates were also on the pitch doing a little warm-up already after having a break for about 15 minutes. However, his mind was not completely on the pitch right now, as a question was bugging his brain.
’I swear, I only saw Lewandowski, Leroy Sané, and Serge Gnabry moving at that time. How could Rudy-san suddenly appear in front of me unnoticed?’
Indeed, that goal, besides being hurtful, was also mind-boggling for the boy. He had never experienced something like this, and the goalkeeper was definitely troubled by the current situation. While his first instinct told him that it was just a coincidence or he didn’t pay attention enough to his clairvoyant image, this still didn’t dispel the worry inside his head.
After all, he had already known that some people could break through his clairvoyance ability, just like Erling Haaland from Dortmund, and the boy didn’t look forward to discovering another weakness that would need him to address it.
Unfortunately, he could only think about it right now without enough data to actually guess what happened. In the end, the boy just heaved out a sigh before shaking his head strongly, finding that there was nothing he could do to figure out the mystery behind Rudy’s own goal earlier.
"Hey, Higo! You look so gloomy; what happened? Getting scolded by your boss?" Someone suddenly hugged his shoulder from behind; the tone was playful.
Higo rolled his eyes sarcastically at that. He knew exactly who the person was before even turning around, as only one person would always be this friendly to him in this kind of moment.
"No, Muller-san, and for your information, I have done well in the first half. I mean, seven saves, right? And no one from your team scored a goal against me. It takes my own teammate to bring me down, so it should be you who got scolded by your boss." He answered; his tone was also quite playful.
Yeah, the person who just greeted him was none other than Thomas Muller, as somehow, the man always managed to find some time to chat with him in the intermission like this. The man laughed boisterously when he heard his answer, slapping Higo on the back quite enthusiastically.
"Damn! I love your confidence here! That makes the game so interesting! You don’t know how much Lewy whined about you in the locker room! He curses so many times, still feeling so frustrated for not being able to get a good chance against you!"
Well, Thomas Muller said it casually, but this was basically a warning for Higo that the Polish striker would try harder in the second half.
"Man, being your teammate should be his bad luck, right?" Higo couldn’t help but snort. "I mean, it is so easy for you to reveal his current state. Aren’t you afraid that he would accuse you of betraying him and the team?"
While he asked it as a joke, the boy was genuinely curious about it. After all, Thomas Muller also did the same in their first encounter last February, and Higo still found it to be quite strange for the man to be so open about his teammates’ situation like this.
"Hah! He would never do that, I tell you!" Muller snorted back. "Lewy is too chivalrous for that! He would insist that the world know he is on fire, wanting to beat you in a head-on confrontation when you also know that he is in his best state! That is the kind of person that he was!"
Well, Higo just nodded along, finding the Polish striker to be quite amusing. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder, "How could all of my knowledge about him come from you? I don’t even know if you tell the truth, you know?" He asked.
"Oh, if you want to get to know him, all you have to do is ask, you know?" The man grinned.
Higo rolled his eyes once again, punching the man on the shoulder. They kept chatting for a while, ignoring the fourth referee who was looking at them with a speechless gaze. In the end, they were even reminded by the man, as the game itself was about to begin.
However, before Thomas Muller left, Higo didn’t forget to say one last thing. "Tell Lewandowski that the deal is still the same as in our last encounter! I might lose the game, but I would never let him score against me!"
Thomas Muller was so stunned for a second before he barked out a laugh once again. "Ha! I love your spirit! Don’t worry, I will tell him exactly what you said!"
After that, Higo also went to his own territory, taking a deep breath as he was also trying to get ready for the second half. He ignored the curious gaze from Sead Kolasinac and Benjamin Stambouli, probably wondering why he was so close with the opponent’s captain like that.
The other players didn’t really care about it, though, having already seen them like this in their first encounter. Hell, some of the jealous guys even spread rumors, saying that this was the boy paving his way to go to Bayern in the future.
Not that Higo cared about it, since those guys were way below him; their existence was already pitiful enough, and there was no need to add salt to their wounds.
As he stood between the posts, though, the boy shifted his attention to Sebastian Rudy, and poor man, he tensed instantly when the gaze fell on him.
"Rudy-san, don’t worry, I am not blaming you for that goal earlier." Higo’s tone softened. "You did a good job earlier, but you often lost communication with Timo-san and me when you were about to shrink. Make sure you give us a quick signal before doing that again."
"...Ah, sure!" The man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not expecting Higo to be this gentle.
Well, the boy moved on quickly, starting to instruct the others about the adjustment that they needed to make to deal with the second half. Even though Frohling didn’t really give any instruction, Higo still had his own concern here.
’If we really want to go for an attack, our defense would be weakened. When that time comes, we have to be ready to face Bayern’s deadly counterattack. Man, I sure am not looking forward to that...’