Chapter 962: DFB Pokal! (III)

Well, at least once the second half began, the players took the warning seriously, even though it was only some of them.

Some players still tried to push their luck, though, dribbling aimlessly without even getting closer to the opponent’s penalty box. All they did was just slow down the team’s progress and show off their stupidity, and for those people, Frohling didn’t even hesitate to take them out.

It was still the 49th minute of the game, and he had already put four new players on the pitch to replace the stubborn ones earlier.

This was the man trying to establish his authority, because if he let this matter slide without any repercussions, the players would look down on him more in the future.

The guys he played with in the second half were a bunch of players from the U-19 teams. At least, they still took his authority seriously enough to follow his arrangement, and the second half became easier for the team to control.

Then, in the 60th minute, Schalke finally got another goal that basically sealed everything today.

This time, Luca Schuler was the preparator, as he ran wide to receive a through ball from behind before whipping a low cross to the penalty box.

Inside, an old local striker, Steven Skrzybski, cut in from the other side of the flank to receive the ball and tap it into the back of the net, adding one more goal to the score sheet.

This seemed to be the goal that put the team into a comfortable zone. After this, they slowed down the tempo once again, trying so patiently to breach the opponent’s defense without risking too much for themselves.

After all, if something bad happened, even though the team would still win, they were going to be the ones who suffered, so it was better to avoid any risk at all costs.

Unfortunately, sometimes, no matter how careful they were, luck seemed to be on the opponent’s side.

In the 73rd minute, a long ball straight to Schalke’s penalty box became a disaster when the goalkeeper and one of the defenders miscommunicated.

The goalkeeper thought that it was the defender’s task to handle it and vice versa. As a result, no one got the ball for just a split second, and somehow, the opponent’s striker managed to sneak into that spot to tap the ball with his foot, putting it through the back of the net easily.

"FUCK! DEFENSE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"GOALKEEPER, WHY ARE YOU SO QUIET?! TALK TO YOUR TEAMMATES, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!"

Poor defensive line; they were so pale after getting scolded by Frohling so fiercely. Hell, even the assistant referee had to hold him back to stay on the sideline, being so close to snap in the middle of the game.

Still, even though Higo pitied those guys, that mistake was unforgivable, one that should never happen in this game.

’That defender was still staring at the sky, eyeing where the ball would fall, so he couldn’t be blamed. But the goalkeeper saw everything from his perspective, so why wouldn’t he say anything?’ He thought inwardly.

This was why communication skills were so important for a goalkeeper. They had the widest point of view in defense, being able to see everything. So, more often than not, they had to be the one taking the command, not just waiting for the others to do what they wanted to do.

No, the other players couldn’t read his mind or see what he saw, so the goalkeeper had to be the one who pointed out where to go.

After this, the opponent also seemed to receive a new life, trying to push forward eagerly.

Still, after the shock of them conceding a goal earlier, all the Schakle players regained their concentration, as there was no way in hell that they would allow themselves to get scolded by the head coach again.

Now that the team went into a serious mode, it didn’t matter what the home team tried to do, but every single effort always met a huge wall on the back.

At this point, the difference between the two teams was as clear as day and night. It was unfortunate that Schalke failed to score more goals, but in the end, 3-1 was already a good result to get them to the third round of the cup.

In the end...

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

The referee finally blew the whistle, ending the game with Schalke’s win.

"Yes! Good job, everyone!"

"Nice game! Nice game! We got to the third round; that’s the most important thing!"

"Good luck for the future, Guys! Come on!"

The moment the game was over, all the Schalke players hugged at each other, as if they were ready to go into separated ways. Well, how could they not, since most of them had already had a plan for the future, and it included them having to leave the team.

Higo himself also joined, and while he didn’t know much about the players here, as they were just benchwarmers, background characters who usually didn’t get involved in the game, he still wished them all luck for their future.

Of course, the boy didn’t forget to greet the opponent, as most of them somehow wanted to take a picture with him. This got some of the guys on his team looking at the boy in envy, starting to make a lot of rude hand gestures that Higo just snorted as a return.

Still, in the end, the boy had to say that it was a nice trip.

He went to a small city where he had never been before, experienced the local people’s hospitality, and came back with a win on the bag without having to do anything else.

If Higo didn’t know better, he would think that he was still in the middle of a break right now.

’Oh, well... Now that the DFB Pokal is over, it is time to go back to the main team, right?’ He muttered secretly. ’Yeah, this is the best time to climb further. We cannot let this chance slip away so easily!’