[27] The Unbeatable Striker?

Whistle!

The moment the whistle blew, the first half of the game started with Sakurai High having the kickoff.

With a kick, the ball was passed to their midfielders with the intention of possession plays.

For a while, the game stagnated with both teams contending after the ball back and forth.

But during the 12th minute, Isagi with a burst of speed, managed to predict the opponent's pass and intercepted it.

"Counter!"

The Ichinan coach shouted, instructing the team to switch their formation to offense.

Through a reminder from their coach, the Ichinan team immediately shifted their style and began invading the opposing side.

On the other hand, Isagi was in the spotlight as he proceeded to maneuver around the field with simple feints and fakes.

And the crowd cheered every time Isagi outplayed or bypassed a player.

"Go Isagi!"

Meanwhile, Izumo stood up from his seat and started cheering as well since he got caught up in the mood.

But alas, in the 27th minute...

Izumo sat down and stopped cheering as he saw Isagi pass up a chance to score and give it to his teammate instead.

"Isagi, my man... what are you doing?"

Izumo shook his head and sighed disappointingly at what he saw.

Even though he already knew that Isagi had already locked his ego away, he still hoped that it wasn't the case.

To pass up a chance to score a goal...

What sort of forward is that?

Frankly, the more Izumo watched Isagi play, the more and more he felt disappointed.

And by the time he noticed, the first half had already ended with Ichinan High leading the score with 1 point.

"That's it...?"

Izumo felt that the team could have scored more if their formation had centered around Isagi as the spearpoint.

Too bad, the Ichinan High was so focused on teamplay that they didn't notice that they were wasting time due to it which led to only scoring 1 goal.

They should have taken risks and played more boldly instead of safe plays.

Now, Izumo was pondering if he should just leave but he soon shook his head and decided to stay.

After all, he still hoped to see that Isagi hadn't fully locked his ego away.

'Come one, Isagi... show me you still have it'

Izumo thought, staring at Isagi who was on their bench just sitting with his head lowered and a towel on his head.

Whistle!

After a few minutes, the referee blew the whistle yet again, signaling the start of the second half.

This time, it was Ichinan High's turn for the kickoff, and soon kicked the ball forward.

With the ball in their possession, the team wasted time yet again with the constant, overly too much teamwork.

In the 53rd minute, the ball was stolen away from them, eliciting a loud cheer from Sakurai High students from the stands.

But Isagi, with a great sense of spatial awareness, managed to intercept and steal the ball back yet again instantly.

However, Sakurai High seems to have already predicted this and planned ahead as four players surrounded him shortly after.

With the tight pressing, Isagi had no choice but to perform a cross toward his teammate to prevent the ball from being stolen.

"Nice pass!"

An Ichinan player yelled out to Isagi, thankful for the pass as he soon dribbled the ball toward the Sakurai goal.

And as the player arrived inside the penalty box, a defending player performed a slide tackle and accidentally kicked the leg instead of the ball.

"Foul!"

The Ichinan coach cried out immediately toward the referee as several players, including Isagi, started surrounding their injured teammate.

Whistle! Whistle!

The referee blew his whistle repeatedly in response and waved his hand to pause the game in order to check the play.

On the other hand, the Ichinan students who were sitting on the stands were booing and cursing towards the Sakurai players.

After a few moments, the referee came back and declared it as foul play, giving the Ichinan High a penalty kick.

"Urgh!"

The Sakurai players groaned, seeing a mistake of theirs give their enemy a free chance to score a goal.

Meanwhile, the Ichinan High was discussing who the kicker would be before deciding it would be Isagi since he had been popping off during the game with his passes.

"...!"

Seeing he was chosen, Isagi was surprised for a moment before he clenched his fist in excitement at having the chance to score.

Shortly after, the players positioned themselves away from the penalty area except for the goalkeeper and Isagi.

"Wooo! You can do it!"

"Go for it!"

"All for one and one for all!"

The fans and the audience started cheering and encouraging Isagi, not realizing it was just bringing more pressure on him...

Well, for ordinary players that is, but Isagi himself was never one to be normal.

Perhaps, Izumo who was watching intently was the only one who knew of this since he had read the novel pertaining to Isagi's short backstory.

After all, Yoichi Isagi was born a natural genius just like Nagi since birth...

This young man when he was just a tiny child managed to scope onto a mosquito and predict rain with his ungodly senses.

There was even a time when Isagi managed to copy Noel Noa's moves which led to him getting the nickname of the unbeatable striker...

And coupled with his disgustingly overpowered talent of being adaptable.

'...he undoubtedly deserves to be the damn protagonist'

Izumo thought as he soon formed a small smile after seeing Isagi easily netted the ball and score a goal.

This in turn elicited the crowd to cry and cheer as the scoreboard once again blinked, changing the points from 1 to 2.

With the big lead in the score, Sakurai High's performance dropped significantly as they started to make mistakes which led to another goal from Ichinan High.

Surprisingly, it was Isagi himself who scored it.

Perhaps it was because of the dopamine and excitement of scoring a goal from the penalty kick earlier that his movement became smooth thereby managing to score a goal.

'Well... at least he managed to perform his duty as a forward once'

Izumo commented inside his mind, seeing that Isagi scored a goal despite having needed reliance on external motivation.

If it was Izumo instead, he wouldn't need a goal to pump himself up and get him motivated to play the game seriously.

In fact, he could play earnestly anytime or anywhere, he just chose not to.

Still, this does give him hope since Isagi took the initiative to play offensively.

'Hm, it's still his first year so it makes sense that his ego hasn't been completely locked away... that's good'

Izumo nodded at himself, agreeing with his rationale.

And for the remaining time, Ichinan High scored another goal before the game soon ended, bringing the score to 4-0.

"Amazing! As expected of Ichinan High! They won in a dominating manner!"

The commentator exclaimed on the mic after seeing the Ichinan High prevent the other team from scoring at all.

This elicits loud cheers yet again from the majority of the audience, making Izumo cover his ears in annoyance.

Meanwhile, the Sakurai students as well as their players, left the stadium in frustration and sorrow.

After a while, the Ichinan High players all left the field next with faces of pride and happiness on them.

"Hm, that's my cue"

Izumo stood up and shortly left the stadium before he suddenly twisted his head around after getting out, seemingly looking for someone before his eyes lit up.

'There you are'

Izumo smirked and shoved his hands in his pocket as he saw the Ichinan players in the distance and followed them behind discreetly.