Chapter 843: An Early Penalty?!
"Come on, Sakura-chan! We are going to be late!"
"God, Kumiko-chan, no need to rush like this! One or two minutes late wouldn’t change everything, you know?! Your precious Ryukkun will still be on the pitch; just slow down!"
Outside of the stadium, two girls could be seen running with all their might, their breath jagged while they tried to keep their posture steady. The mask didn’t help them, as it only made them feel like they were choking in the middle of their run.
Those two were none other than Kumiko and Sakura, as Higo got two tickets for them to watch the game.
Of course, they would never refuse watching a game for free like this. However, just before they left the flat earlier, Kumiko suddenly got a call from their academic advisor about some important matters back in Cologne. That was why they were late right now, having to run for their life to catch the game.
"Shishida? Aizawa? You two are here for Higo?" The old lady who was responsible for the ticket registration recognized them quickly. How could she not, when they were quite regular in the stadium before the pandemic hit?
"Yes... How long has the game been running for?" Kumiko asked while trying to make his breath steady. As for Sakura, she took out her phone to let the lady scan the ticket there.
"Well, you are not missing too much, Young Lady." The older woman replied kindly. "If I’m not wrong, it should still be the first or second minute of the game, so I am sure you will not miss that much."
After a quick scan, both girls thanked the older woman quickly to get into the stadium. However, right after they arrived there, those two were dumbfounded as the only thing that greeted them was a depressing silence in the stands, while the referee was arguing with the Schalke players down the pitch.
"You mean to tell me that in the first minute of the game, we have already suffered a disaster?! What the hell?!"
-0-
Higo himself didn’t notice that the two girls were already on the stand. Well, even if he noticed, the boy couldn’t care less about it, looking helplessly at Omar Mascarell, who was still talking heatedly to the referee.
Inwardly, he couldn’t help but let out a long, tired sigh. "I swear... First minute, how could we be in this position already?"
This disaster all started from a quick attack from the left side, where Werder Bremen’s winger, Leonardo Bittencourt, sent a through ball to the fullback to allow a cross from the flank. Timo Becker managed to win the heading battle against Niclas Fullkrug, but the ball still fell slightly outside of the penalty box.
There, their midfielder, Maximillian Eggstein, came out of nowhere to whack the second ball, and Benjamin Stambouli was unlucky enough to get his hand in the way to block that shot.
As a result, the referee blew the whistle, pointing straight at the penalty spot without hesitation. Hell, the man didn’t even use the VAR, brushing off all the complaints as the incident happened straight in front of his eyes.
Now, Higo was left alone on the penalty spot, having to face Niclas Furklug in this fateful duel. Even though the boy was confident about his penalty skill, that didn’t mean he liked being put in this situation, as he couldn’t help but grumble and glare at all of his teammates behind the penalty box.
’Fuck it! They are the ones who make the mistake, so why is it that I am the one who has to clean up the mess?!’
The rest of the Schalke players just turned their gaze away, not daring to meet Higo’s eyes directly. They all knew that the boy should be in his grumpy mode, so it was better to let him vent his emotions first.
Well, it would even be better if in the process, the boy managed to stop the penalty, but that would be asking too much about it.
After everything was ready, and only he and Fullkrug were left on the penalty box, Higo finally took a deep breath, lowering his stance while also getting ready to jump. At this point, it didn’t matter whose fault it was, but he had to prevent this penalty kick from getting in, or the team would be in deep trouble.
’Fullkrug... Let’s see how different he will be compared to Lewandowski...’
FWEEE!
Soon enough, the referee’s whistle could finally be heard, and the man didn’t even stutter or hesitate. No, it was a clean run-up, and the only hint of emotion that Higo could catch was when the man glanced slightly to his left side.
Honestly, if it was anyone else, the striker would be able to fool the goalkeeper here. However, Higo was blessed with an unfair cheat code, and it gave the boy an image of where the ball would be sent in the next second.
’Right side! Slightly higher! I can stop this!’
BAM!
Fullkrug didn’t try to use his accuracy here, relying on his powerful right foot to send the ball in. However, with the route being quite weak, Higo didn’t have any difficulty blocking the shot, just using both hands to parry the ball away from his goal.
"OH! What a save!"
"Come on! That’s why you’re the GOAT, Higo!"
Unfortunately, the opponent’s attack didn’t stop just like that. No, if anything, it looked like they had already prepared for a scenario where their penalty kick would fail, as right now, two of the Werder Bremen players were running to chase the ball, getting an upper hand by rushing first and leaving everyone in the dust.
Higo tried his best to get up as quickly as possible, gritting his teeth to get back on his feet and protect his goal again. However, he was too late, as one of the Werder Bremen players who got the ball took advantage of his awkward position to launch the decisive shot.
BAM!
At that time, Higo only had one proper reaction to this.
’FUCK!’