Riccardo and Nishimura were walking through the schoolyard.
"What are your practices usually like?" Riccardo asked.
Nishimura thought about it for a moment.
"Incredibly relaxed..."
Riccardo was confused.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Usually our assistant coach Suzuki is in charge of the practices. He basically tries to teach us what coach Ishii wants... but the results aren't that great."
The two entered the locker room and saw Kaneko alone, frantically rummaging through his bag.
"Where did I put them..." he muttered.
Finally, he took out his shoes and sighed in relief.
Then Kaneko noticed that Nishimura and Riccardo had been watching him the whole time. Embarrassed for a moment, he quickly composed himself and gave a haughty look.
"What are you looking at?"
Kaneko quickly put on his cleats and left, the other two looking confused.
"That was... unexpected." Riccardo said sarcastically.
"Yes..."
They arrived at the field, where the rest of the team was already waiting for them.
Shimizu waved.
"Hey—"
Suddenly, something caught his attention and stopped him.
The two became suspicious.
"Did we do something?" Riccardo asked curiously.
Nishimura turned around and saw Coach Ishii standing behind them.
Everyone was stunned by his presence.
"Good morning!"
The team hesitantly replied: "Good morning..."
Soon after, Coach Suzuki approached Coach Ishii.
"Now it almost feels like a real soccer team..." Nakamura whispered sarcastically to Tanaka.
Tanaka countered in kind: "Let's be careful, it might rain today..."
Coach Ishii watched them chuckle and then stepped forward to address the team.
"From today on, I will personally lead all of your practices!"
Everyone was shocked by the announcement.
"Start with the usual warm-up with Coach Suzuki, then go get the cones and balls!"
The team began warming up and gathered the necessary equipment.
Coach Ishii approached them.
"We have a friendly match next Friday."
Everyone was excited.
"Who are we playing against?" Nishimura asked.
Coach Ishii looked at him, then turned to the rest of the team.
"Maebashi Ikuei."
Everyone was shocked and excited. Everyone except Riccardo, who looked confused.
"Who are they?"
Yasuda looked at him, excited.
"Maebashi Ikuei won the national tournament last year! They are an incredibly strong and talented team!"
Coach Ishii added: "Exactly. This match will help you gauge the level of this team and give you a chance to apply the tactics I will teach you! There are less than two weeks until the start of the national qualifiers, so get ready. I will push you all to the limit!"
Nishimura watched as Coach Ishii headed toward an area of the field set up with cones and mini goals.
Shimizu approached him.
"Finally... after a whole year, I can say that we are seriously practicing."
Shimizu has a confident expression.
That expression, however, would soon turn into pure despair.
Shimizu collapsed onto the grass, completely exhausted.
The entire team was out of breath and exhausted.
Riccardo fell to his knees, panting.
"Mamm' mij..." he muttered.
Coach Ishii looked at the team, then smiled with satisfaction.
He grabbed a ball and passed it to Kaneko.
"Okay, last exercise for today... a rondo! Form a circle: Tanaka and Nakamura, you are in the middle!"
The two immediately protested.
Tanaka snapped: "Why!?"
The coach looked at them sinisterly. "I saw you laughing earlier. Now it's your turn to entertain us. Also Aoki, you come in. I want to test your ability to anticipate the times."
The players formed a circle as instructed.
"Good..." Coach Ishii placed cones around the circle to mark the boundary "You can move freely, but do not go beyond the cones. Maximum two touches. If you complete 30 consecutive passes, the players in the center will go around the field twice!"
Shimizu shivered at the last part.
Two laps if I lose?!
Riccardo looked at the distance between him and the cones.
Just two steps... with so many people, it will be difficult to manage the space.
"Start!"
Kaneko passed to Koyama, who passed first to Sugimoto, who almost lost it under the sudden pressure of Tanaka.
"Almost..." Sugimoto muttered.
The ball came to Ono, who passed it to Nishimura with two touches, under pressure from Tanaka and Nakamura.
Difficult pass... Nishimura thought.
He spotted an opening and used the outside of his foot to pass the ball.
He reached Yasuda, who quickly passed it to Riccardo, but before the ball could reach him, Aoki intercepted it.
"I did it!"
"Ugh!" Yasuda exclaimed.
Aoki stepped into the circle, taking the Yasuda's place.
He continued by passing it to Ueno, who quickly passed it to Shimizu.
Shimizu saw Tanaka running toward him, but noticed that his legs were slightly apart, so he tunneled him.
With a smirk, Shimizu looked at Tanaka, who became furious.
"Damn! Always you!"
Tanaka accelerated even more aggressively towards the ball carriers.
The ball came to Kaneko, who was being pressured by Nakamura and Yasuda. He scanned the area, saw Riccardo unmarked, but ignored him.
He passes the ball to Hamada who is surprised, controls it in an articulated way due to Tanaka's haste, passes the ball by lifting it.
Hamada exclaimed: "Watch out!"
The ball fell near Riccardo, just as Tanaka and Nakamura ran towards him.
Riccardo quickly scanned the field, then controlled the ball with a backheel, bringing it to the left. Using his strength and speed, he protected it from both opponents.
Tanaka was stunned.
What kind of monster is this?!
Riccardo passed to Kaneko, who was surprised by how cleanly he handled that ball.
Should I compete with him?!
Kaneko made a pass no-look to Nishimura.
Seeing the intensity increase, Nishimura smiled.
He immediately passed the ball to Ono with a back heel.
Ono avoided Yasuda's pressure by moving towards the center of the circle, then used the outside of his foot to pass to Tamura.
Tamura passed it first to Noguchi.
Noguchi controlled badly and Tanaka pounced on him. Taking the ball.
"Good!" Tanaka cheered.
Noguchi gave him a high five.
"Great interception!"
Noguchi replaced Tanaka in the center.
No one's going to throw me out now! There's no way I'm going to do two laps! - Tanaka thought happily.
Tanaka resumed play, passing to Kaneko.
After a few exchanges, the ball returned to Tanaka, who was being pressured by Yasuda.
Tanaka quickly shifted the ball and passed it to Aoki.
But Noguchi in slide intercepts the ball.
Tanaka was shocked.
"Excuse me, but I'll take my place again!"
Noguchi patted Tanaka on the shoulder.
Tanaka returned to the center, desperate.
As the sun began to set, they completed 30 passes.
Everyone looked even more exhausted.
Finally, Tanaka, Shimizu, and Hamada were left in the circle.
"Well done!"
Coaches Ishii and Suzuki approached the players.
"That's it for today! Tomorrow I'll explain the tactical systems I want you to play with! Also, keep in mind that I'm still evaluating who will be the starting players for the next game and the games after that. So give it your all!"
Everyone slowly began to leave the field.
Tanaka, Shimizu, and Hamada tried to blend in with the others, hoping to avoid the penalty loops.
"Not you three."
The trio froze at Coach Ishii's words.
"Go do your laps."
"...Okay," they muttered, exhausted.
And they began their first lap.
Coach Ishii and Suzuki watched.
Coach Suzuki spoke with a satisfied expression: "It seems that this year, someone finally cares about you on this team..."
Coach Ishii looked at him seriously: "Yes. This year's players reflect my way of interpreting soccer."
Suzuki smirked.
"Then this year will be fun. I'll finally be able to see the real soccer of Takumi Ishii again."