The reporter's question was aggressive.
Everyone's attention was focused on Coach Takeda and the Italian Coach.
How Coach Takeda would respond to this question was certainly important.
Takeda wasn't a newcomer to managing national teams.
Previously, he had led several national youth teams.
Even earlier, he had led the national team.
Such an experienced veteran, how could he not respond?
"Of course, we gave it our all! It's unfortunate that the players everyone expected didn't play, and I apologize for disappointing the fans who came to watch. But in terms of this game, we absolutely gave everything we had!"
"Since you gave it your all, why didn't you let the player, who once competed against the American prodigy, Allen Ward, play? Isn't that player, Sawamura, your team's Ace?" The reporter clearly had no intention of letting Takeda off easy. His questions grew sharper.
The spectators around, who were just waiting for some scoop, were now amazed by the reporter.
So cool!
Although they knew in advance that this senior was famous in the industry and they had often heard his sharp questions,
It was still rare to see such an exciting scene like today.
While everyone was amazed, Takeda gave his answer with complete seriousness.
"I know that not letting Sawamura play may have caused some misunderstandings among the reporters and the fans here. I sincerely apologize for that. But to be honest, in our pitching lineup, we have many pitchers with distinctive characteristics. Although Sawamura is the most powerful pitcher overall, he is not invincible. It's not that we can throw him on the mound against any opponent. That's a different concept. For today's game, our coaching staff unanimously believed that it was a better choice to send Hongou to the mound. His performance in the game proved this, don't you think?"
Takeda's answer was neither humble nor arrogant.
The reporters, who had been hoping for a scoop, now involuntarily nodded in agreement.
Whether Sawamura, hidden away by the coaching staff, had superior skills was something they could only guess.
But from Hongou Masamune's performance on the mound, his performance was undoubtedly perfect.
Throughout the entire game, he gave the Italian players not even a tiny opportunity. He completely suppressed Italy's lineup and excellently completed his task.
Although the score was only 2:0, with the Japan team scoring just two points,
From the situation in the game, you couldn't tell how close the score was!
Fans who watched the game felt the Japanese team's strength from the very beginning.
Italy's loss was inevitable.
After the game, many fans even wondered.
How could the score difference be so small?
From their observation of the game, they felt that the difference between the two teams should have been much bigger, with the score gap being four or five points, maybe even more.
It was at this point that people were amazed by the strength of Italy's pitcher,
Mario.
How unbelievably strong was he?
The gap between Japan and Italy's teams was so large that even someone with a little common sense could see it.
Even if they lacked common sense, just by watching the players on the field, it was clear.
Japan's advantage was enormous!
Despite the huge difference, Mario managed to make the game appear evenly matched.
In the first six innings, he didn't allow Japan players to score even a single run.
Forget about runs, there wasn't even a single solid hit.
Despite Italy's loss in this game,
Mario, as their ace pitcher, did not lose.
Not only did he not lose the game, but he also became famous after this match.
Japan team this time, because of all the stars' presence, was much stronger than in previous years.
Moreover, something exceptional happened.
Due to a special turn of events and a Coach's unique idea,
A journey that shouldn't have happened, happened.
Sawamura Eijun, along with his teammates from Seidou High School, challenged the world.
They challenged America's Dream Team.
And achieved great results.
For a time, they gained widespread fame.
All of this reflected on the decisions of the national team's organizers, as Seidou and Sawamura have strong rivals all over Japan.
It would be a shame not to make use of all of them, especially with talents exploding everywhere.
During his interview, Coach Takeda remained very humble and sincere.
When answering the reporter's questions, he repeatedly emphasized that his decisions were based on considering all factors, particularly the characteristics of the Italian players.
Therefore, he sent Hongou Masamune to play.
From the outcome of the battle, it was clear that his decision was very far-sighted.
Didn't you see, during the official match,
Hongou Masamune perfectly displayed his skills, not giving Italy any chance.
The reporters couldn't do anything with such a calm and composed Coach Takeda.
No matter how much bait they threw, he just wouldn't take it.
They were helpless.
Turning back to interview the Italian Coach,
He eloquently discussed many tactics, as if it were their opponent who had lost, not them.
At the end, he finally praised Japan's strength.
Indeed, their strength was extraordinary.
Although they knew in their hearts that it was too early to challenge such a team,
To put it simply, they didn't yet have that qualification.
But Italy's players would never give up.
As long as such an opportunity arose, they would do everything they could to seize it.
Next time, when the next opportunity arises,
If Italy's players get to play against Japan's players again,
Then the Italian Coach promised that everyone would see a completely different Italy.
An Italy that is completely different from what everyone imagines.
"We will come back!"
The Italian Coach, who said this sounded very much like a cheesy third-rate cartoon villain.
Every time he was defeated by the main character and the others, he would utter this classic line.
In reality, even though Italy had a supermonster like Mario in their team,
They themselves didn't qualify to face off against Japan or the top five strong teams.
Even though today's game ended with only a two-point difference against Japan,
All of this could be attributed to luck.
After the interview with the Coach, they then interviewed the players.
Italy's players had a generally good mindset. Losing to the Japan team, given their ranking, was inevitable. Although Mario was a bit unfortunate, his performance still had a gap compared to Japan's best pitcher, let alone other positions.
So after losing, Italy's players were very relaxed, including Mario, who felt that his performance wasn't enough, silently vowing to continue improving. When the two teams parted ways, he even took Sawamura Eijun's hand and spoke to him for a while.
Unfortunately, he spoke in Italian, and although Sawamura was fluent in English,
Italian was completely different.
He had no Italian-speaking friends, and Italian wasn't a widely spoken language either.
He couldn't possibly understand what Mario was saying.
Though he didn't understand, he still nodded.
It was just polite.
Sawamura never expected that his unconscious nod would cause him so much trouble.
Had he known, he wouldn't have given such a careless response.
After the match, Sawamura didn't attend the post-game press conference because he didn't play.
Generally speaking, coaches can bring two players.
This time, Coach Takeda brought Hongou and Mima.
Both performed the best in this game.
Hongou Masamune's performance on the mound was already discussed extensively.
Now, let's talk about Mima Soichiro.
Whether in defense or offense, his performance was truly astonishing.
He was so impressive!
Not only could he bat, but he also had incredibly strong base-stealing abilities.
His speed was also exceptional.
The combination of both made his presence increase Japan team's chances of winning.
With him on the field, any plans could easily be executed.
Although Sawamura Eijun tried to avoid it by not attending the post-match media conference,
He still couldn't escape.
When they were about to board the bus, Fujio, a senior reporter from Baseball Kingdom magazine, stopped them.
Baseball Kingdom seemed generous enough to give their employees travel expenses.
Seeing Fujio, Sawamura and his teammates were very happy.
Meeting a familiar face in a foreign land is a nice surprise.
Now, these Japanese players were on foreign soil.
When they saw a hometown friend, they naturally felt close.
Previously, without Coach Kataoka's permission, they couldn't accept any interviews.
After arriving in Taiwan, Takeda's management seemed a bit more relaxed.
Even though Sawamura had some doubts in his mind, he put them aside.
Fujio, as an old friend of Seidou and Sawamura, conducted the interview.
His evaluation, however, was quite pessimistic.
Fujio talked about the performance of the Japanese team today. Despite winning, the victory was far from easy.
Against the 10th-ranked Italy, their performance had been exhausting.
How would they fare against stronger teams?
Did the Japanese team really have the confidence to accept any challenge?
Fujio himself had many doubts.
When the Japan team's lineup was first formed,
He, like many others, felt confident that Japan would win!
With such a stellar lineup, they could surely defeat America's Dream Team, right?
Let alone other countries' teams.
But reality was harsh. Even against Italy, it didn't seem like they had much of an advantage.
When they face even stronger teams, could they really win?
...