The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 40: A Short Introduction to Sappotani’s Monstrous Team!

Silence.

For a moment, the room went into dead silence, as everyone was too shocked, too stunned to say anything. This news was like a thunder in the middle of a sunny noon, coming out of nowhere to give the people the worst jumpscare possible.

"8-0..." In the end, it was Usami, the quietest and also the least noticeable person in the room, who broke the silence. "The score is worse than ours. Does that mean Ritsumeikan was weaker than us last year?" He asked his friend, Takaakai, with an unsure tone. His logic was so simple that it made everyone speechless.

The so-called friend had the corner of his lips twitching, smacking the boy’s head mercilessly while hissing, "Idiot! That means Sappotani right now is far stronger compared to themselves in the last winter tournament!"

"Indeed, Takaaki-kun is right." Kumiko nodded solemnly. "During the period after the winter tournament was over, they brought two strong reinforcements, trying to make a breakthrough in the summer tournament. The consequence, though, is that they are going to be more untouchable in Hokkaido. Now, I don’t know who will be able to dethrone them in the future."

This explanation was enough to make the atmosphere around grim. Even though they knew that Sappotani was in a different class compared to them, they now... This? It was as if adding a modern tank with a nuclear weapon to tear apart a paper wall. An overkill.

Unfortunately, no matter how much they loathed this fact, they couldn’t blame Sappotani for recruiting reinforcement, especially when they only wanted to make a breakthrough in the national tournament.

Yeah, this was the most ridiculous fact here. For all the dominance Sappotani High showed in Hokkaido, the moment they entered the national tournament, they suddenly turned into a weak team. In the last five years, they had never been able to cross through the second rank, and in their history, their best achievement was to get fourth place twenty years ago in 1998.

This made Hokkaido one of the weakest prefectures when it came to football, and a part of a small list of prefectures that had never won the national tournament in history.

That was why Sappotani didn’t have time to think of the other teams in Hokkaido. No, if they had a chance to reinforce their squad, they would jump into it instantly, still having a mountain for them to conquer.

"Anyway, what I want to show is not something to make you more depressed!" Kumiko clapped, snapping them out of their depression. "No, what I really want here is for you to take inspiration. I know that we are far from Sappotani High, but at least, I want to let you see how they break down Ritsumeikan High’s defense and try to think of how we should do it if we are in their shoes."

The others nodded slowly, could see Kumiko’s point. However, having known the girl since they both were in diapers, Higo could see that she wasn’t being honest here. At least... There was something that she didn’t say.

’The question is... What?’ The boy frowned. ’Should I ask about it later?’

Kumiko didn’t really notice her friend’s change. She just pressed the play button on her laptop, and the video played immediately. "First of all, what we really need to study is their defensive system, and how they managed to shut down Ritsumeikan High’s offense in their second encounter." She spoke.

The others leaned forward, knowing that this was crucial knowledge here.

"The one we really have to pay attention to is their number 14, Takuro Iwai." She pointed at the screen, especially at one particular person with a huge smile on his face. "He is the heart of Ritsumeikan’s offense, and last year, when they managed to force a comeback draw against Sappotani, he was the one who orchestrated it, scoring two goals and also giving two assists to his teammates."

This made everyone gulp nervously. A player who managed to wreak havoc on Sappotani’s defense and even put that ridiculous statistic on his sheet was definitely not an ordinary one. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"So, what did Sappotani do in their second encounter? Well, introducing you, a freshman defensive midfielder, Hiroyuki." The screen shifted into the boy with the pink jersey, looking so fierce. "His task is simple. Mark Iwai, and follow him to death. Make sure that Iwai is uncomfortable for 90 minutes of the game, and help the team turn it into a 10v10 game. The effect is immediate, as even the best player from Ritsumeikan failed to even create a chance against him."

Hiroshi gulped nervously, imagining himself in Iwai’s shoes. Looking at how fierce Hiroyuki used his body and marked his opponent... ’If I were him... How long will I be able to survive?’

"So, with Iwai, the heart of the team, being taken away, Ritsumeikan doesn’t have any choice but rely on the flank to send a direct ball to their striker. However, as you can remember..." Kumiko’s voice trailed behind as the screen changed one more time. "Sappotani still has the duo of Yuma Igari and Rin Mito in the back, and Kuroki, you still remember how suffocating their defense was, right?"

Higo’s eyes turned into his new friend, just to find out the boy’s fist was so white from clenching it too hard.

"Yes, of course, I remember." He growled angrily.

"Yeah, their two defenders are not ordinary players. They are also members of Consadole Sapporo U-18, fighting in the Academy League every year. Their experience and leadership ability are top-notch, making it impossible for any other player to break through them."

No one knew how, but somehow, the conversation shifted from learning from Sappotani to introducing how dangerous Sappotani High was, and this only made the players there more depressed, figuring out themselves that they didn’t have any chance to win.

"Then, their newest additional player..." Kumiko let out a depressing sigh, which only made things worse, since even the coach herself was on the verge of tears right now. "I don’t know how Sappotani pulled this string up, but somehow, they managed to bring a foreign reinforcement, a monster from Sweden with the name of Yuwell Carlson. So, remember that name, because he is going to be the one who tears our defense apart the worst."