Ishikawa is ready to resume the game after the Shūdan-teki take the lead.
The referee blows his whistle.
Ishikawa passes the ball to Watanabe.
Nishimura immediately notices something.
They haven't changed the formation, just the layout!
Nishimura moves towards Ito, as usual in his marking duties, but this time Ito is much further back in the build-up phase than before. Then, he observes Watanabe's position.
They are now in a more defensive layout...
Watanabe passes to Ito, who, before the ball even reaches his feet, quickly sends it back to Watanabe.
Nishimura, meanwhile, watches them, trying to prevent Ito from moving freely.
Watanabe is about to be pressured by Riccardo, but with a first touch, he passes to Kamiyama, who has moved forward into Shimizu's area, just behind Ito and Nishimura.
Seeing the pass, Ito turns and starts to sprint toward the Shūdan-teki half of the field, but Nishimura follows him.
Kamiyama, seeing Shimizu approaching, immediately makes a pass in the same direction as Ito.
Ito controls the ball forward and, after a few steps, passes it to Ishikawa, who is now surrounded by the Shūdan-teki midfielders.
Ito continues his run down the left flank, and their number 6 runs to Ishikawa's right.
These two movements unsettle both Tamura and Ono, who are pressing Ishikawa.
Noguchi notices.
"Tanaka!" Noguchi shouts, pointing to number 6. "Press him!"
Tanaka gets the message and quickly rushes toward number 6, but Ishikawa surprises everyone by passing back to Watanabe, who is still in his own half of the field.
"The 2 on the right!" Coach Suzuki shouts.
Tanaka hears this and realizes that their number 2 has advanced, occupying the space left open on Tanaka's wing.
Watanabe controls the ball and immediately throws a long pass to the number 2, who is running on the right wing.
Tanaka tries to catch up and stop him, but the boy with a skillful control swipes the ball to the left, running in the opposite direction of Tanaka.
Caught by surprise, Tanaka tries to recover, but ends up pulling the opponent's shirt and committing a foul.
"Damn!" Tanaka gets angry at the foul.
The referee approaches.
"Try not to do that kind of foul again. Next time I'll give you a yellow card!"
Tanaka nods in understanding.
"Yes, I know. I made a mistake."
Nishimura watches Tanaka apologize to the boy who was fouled, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
They are really good... one or two touches at most, then they pass and everyone else knows where to move to create space.
Mister Ishii steps forward to the edge of his technical area.
"Aliberti! Stay back!" Mister Ishii shouts with authority.
Riccardo watches him as he enters the penalty area and gives him a thumbs up.
All the aerial threats have now arrived in the Shūdan-teki area, waiting for a possible cross from the free kick.
Ito prepares to take the free kick and nearby are number 7 and number 11.
Ueno spots them and moves to the right wing to block any attempt to play the ball on the ground.
The referee blows his whistle and Ito starts his run. At the same time, both wingers move away from the free kick: number 7 heads towards the center and the other, just as Ueno predicted, moves towards the wing.
Some players in the box notice the wingers' movements, but in doing so they lose their position with respect to the opponents inside the penalty area.
Ito crosses into the box, once again surprising the Shūdan-teki.
Aoki tries to anticipate the ball's trajectory, but Ishikawa anticipates him, heading the ball – not towards the goal because of the distance, but towards the wing, where the number 11 is moving inward, followed by Ueno.
The number 11 controls the ball and continues to run. Sugimoto breaks away from the crowded box to stop him.
The boy sees him and prepares to shoot.
Sugimoto senses this and slides, but it's a fake. The player moves the ball to his left and takes a few more steps forward.
Then he stops and, with his left foot, attempts a curling shot towards Andou's far post. But Andou can't see the ball well because of the crowd in front of him.
Luckily for him, the ball hits the post.
Noguchi is the first to react and throws the ball into the left sideline.
Andou breathes a sigh of relief.
"Well done, Captain!"
Riccardo wants to go back on the attack, but he sees Takahashi and Okamoto still in the penalty area. He stops and approaches Takahashi to mark him.
Number 7 takes his time to reach the throw-in area.
Coach Yamamoto looks at number 7.
"As hard as you can, Morita!"
Morita snorts, almost annoyed.
Of course... if how he gets to the area...
Riccardo fights in the area with Takahashi.
Takahashi looks at him.
"You're definitely shorter than me, but I don't notice that difference."
Riccardo is a bit perplexed by Takahashi's comment.
"I'll take it as a compliment..."
Takahashi smiles at Riccardo's response.
The two jostle each other to find the best position.
"Anyway, nice to meet you, Nao Takahashi!"
"Riccardo Yui Aliberti!"
"Nice name! I thought you were a foreigner, so let me tell you something..."
As he speaks, Takahashi manages to slip in front of Riccardo, surprising him.
"Since I started playing soccer..."
Morita, after a long run-up, takes the throw-in - fast and high - into the penalty area.
"...in the penalty area I'm in charge!"
Takahashi jumps incredibly high and heads the ball towards the far post, away from Andou.
Andou jumps, probably able to reach the ball, but he doesn't expect Ishikawa to come up from behind Tamura and volley it with his right foot, into the net.
Maebashi equalizes with a goal from Ishikawa.
The players celebrate the goal, along with their schoolmates who watch from the sidelines.
Meanwhile, Shūdan-teki seems shaken by the almost immediate equalizer.
The scoreboard now reads: 20 minutes played.
Maebashi Ikuei 1|1 Shūdan-teki
Tamura approaches Andou.
"Sorry, I missed the number 9!"
"Don't worry, we'll get back in front!"
On the bench, Coach Ishii looks at his players, thoughtful... then gives a slight smile.
Now I get it...
Riccardo stares at Takahashi, his expression sharp and focused.
"Hmph! Interesting!" says Riccardo, visibly excited.
Nishimura gives him a puzzled look.
"You know they just scored against us, right?" Nishimura asks sarcastically.
"I know... but the important thing is to score one more than them."
Nishimura raises an eyebrow again.
"Yeah... I mean, obviously, otherwise we won't win..."
Riccardo turns to the others.
"Anyway, if you're in trouble, pass the ball to me! I'll take care of it!"
At first, the Shūdan-teki players are a little surprised by Riccardo's words. But then they suddenly frown and give him strange looks.
"What, do you think you're Cristiano Ronaldo or something?" Tanaka asks mockingly.
Tanaka's words and the looks of the others hurt Riccardo.
"Wow, uagliù... a little enthusiasm wouldn't hurt..."
Nishimura moves to take a position.
"I actually like your attitude... but you're not playing alone here."
Riccardo looks at Nishimura in surprise, then Shimizu walks past him and puts a hand on his right shoulder.
"Everyone gives their all for each other... remember that."
Riccardo looks at Shimizu, then at the others as they return to their positions on the field, with concentrated and determined expressions on their faces.
He watches them, then gives a small smile and heads towards the centre circle to restart the game.