Chapter 817 - 5V5 Game! (I)

Don’t get him wrong, Higo enjoyed the goalkeeping training. After all, he hadn’t done any in the last two months, so the boy was quite excited about it. However, if he was asked what he was most excited about, of course, it would be this simulation game.

This was where he could truly show off his ability, something that seemed to be missing in his time recovering from the shoulder injury.

This time, he gathered with the players, and it didn’t take long before the boy heard his name called by the head coach.

"Higo! You are going with Sead, Malik, Mikail, and Luca!"

Higo’s eyes scanned throughout the whole team immediately, searching for all of his teammates. Sead Kolasinac gave a little nod, and Higo didn’t really know the other two, as they came from the youth team.However, Luca Schuler was someone he was familiar with, as the striker was his teammate during his short time with the second team.

Hell, the man even waved at him enthusiastically, clearly getting excited at the prospect of fighting alongside Higo again.

It also helped that this was going to be the first time Luca Schuler was training in the first team after getting promoted by the head coach, so it was a huge relief that he didn’t have to face Higo straight away. At least, he would still have a chance to show off later.

Still, Higo noticed a pattern here.

’I am with the best defender on the team and three inexperienced players? Is this basically the same formula as when I came to the team for the first time? Sensei, you sure like to pit me against the rest of the team, huh?’ He glanced at Frohling with a wry smile.

Indeed, this was exactly the same as the first time Higo was on the team. At that time, he was placed with the team’s best defender, Ozan Kabak, and the other three newcomers, Morita, Jonas Hofmann, and Fabian, to fight against the veterans of the team.

At that time, the purpose was simple: To establish that Higo and the others were strong enough to be on the main team. However, this time, it seemed that the man wanted to give a shock therapy to the players there, wanting to let them know that an insanely-good goalkeeper and an experienced defender was enough to beat them all no matter if the other three were just dead sticks.

"Their opponent! Fahrmann! Rudy! Serdar! Omar! And Mark! Get ready!"

Well, this was a heavyweight team in Schalke. Higo’s backup, who was also a veteran for the team with a salary of about three times what Higo currently earned, three experienced players who had been regular for the team, and a striker who had been battling against injury for almost a year and was ready to work hard to get a place in the team.

On paper, the second team was definitely better than the first team, and it was not even a question.

However, only those who attended that fateful training session almost a year ago knew that they couldn’t count the A team out immediately. No, Higo was the decisive maker here, and if the boy managed to get at least 50 percent of his best performance, they would be in trouble.

"Okay, like the usual, game of three! Whoever lost the game has to wash the socks of the winner! Get ready!"

FWEEE!

Tomasz Waldoch didn’t even give anyone a chance to communicate with each other, which was bad for team A since they had two players who came from the junior team and didn’t know anyone else here.

Of course, once the game began, team B controlled possession immediately, taking advantage of that. They had Ralf Fahrman, Sebastian Rudy, and Omar Mascarell, three players who could dictate the tempo easily. It was clear that they wanted to treat everything carefully.

Higo himself didn’t stay idle. He lowered his stance, scanning everything in front of him while not daring to lower his guard at all. In this small pitch, he knew that it would only take one or two passes before the ball arrived in front of him, so he didn’t dare to lower his guard at all.

"Kolasinac-san, don’t be static! Your position clashes with Malik; spread wider!"

"Mikail! Don’t try to chase alone! Coordinate with Luca! Mikail!"

While guarding the goal, Higo also took the command, guiding the team to shut down all the opponent’s attacks.

Fortunately, the two players from the junior team, Malik Thiaw and Mikail Maden, knew how to follow the command. Even though their movement was slow and a little bit sloppy, they were willing to make it up with their determination to run, which helped keep Omar Mascarell and Sebastian Rudy at bay.

Still, with a small pitch like this, of course, some chances could be created easily.

The first one came from the one-two passes between Sebastian Rudy and Suat Serdar, and somehow, the latter managed to send a decent through ball to the flank side where Malik Thiaw was guarding.

There, their striker, Mark Uth, won a physical battle against the defender, shaking off his opponent’s balance with a single charge on the shoulder before launching a devastating shot to Higo’s side.

BAM!

Fortunately, the shot itself was bad. It didn’t even find the goal, just floating high above the goal. In the end, the boy didn’t need to take any action, just shaking his head in amusement.

"Don’t mind, Malik! You can try it again later!" Higo offered the boy a hand, helping him to get up from the ground. "You don’t need to snatch the ball; as long as you shut down half the route of his shooting, you have already won! Even if he could still aim correctly, I will be able to stop him alone!" His tone was full of confidence.

Mark Uth himself clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was clear that he was unconvinced, especially after hearing the brag from the goalkeeper.

True enough, twenty seconds later, team B’s attack came once again to him as the edge of the spear, and with a quick turning move against Mikail Maden, the man managed to face the goal even just for a second, a short period that was enough for him to take another shot.

BAM!