Chapter 1026: Wolfsburg’s Wave of Offense!

"ARGH!"

To everyone’s shock, though, Higo didn’t seem affected by the collision. If anything, Wout Weghorst was the one being thrown away in this aerial duel as he fell to the ground, clutching his head and roaring in pain.

Higo just sighed helplessly, as this situation really made him look so guilty.

Fortunately, the referee wasn’t blind. No, the man knew that it was Wout Weghorst who charged into Higo recklessly, and while he still didn’t know how the goalkeeper beat Wolfsburg’s striker in that aerial duel, the fact remained.

"Wait, what?! How could it be our foul?!" Maximilian Arnold rushed forward to complain immediately. "Can you see that he is the one who fell here?!" He pointed at Wout Weghorst, trying to make his case.

Well, since the man didn’t complain aggressively and just wanted an explanation, the referee didn’t find anything wrong with giving him one.

"Yes, he is the one falling, but don’t forget he is also the one who initiated contact, charging into the six-yard box recklessly even when the ball is already in the goalkeeper’s territory. He is lucky that the goalkeeper is fine, or that would be enough to give him a yellow card."

In the end, Wolfsburg’s captain had to be satisfied with the explanation, especially when he saw Wout Weghorst rise from the ground as if the contact before didn’t do anything to the man.

Higo himself couldn’t help but sigh in relief. It had been a long time since he faced that kind of scenario, and the boy somehow remembered all the painful experiences when it came to facing such a straight confrontation like this.

’Some people really think that just because I am a small goalkeeper, I would be easy to intimidate, huh? Fortunately, I trained boxing in the past...’ He mused.

Yeah, the last time he faced such intimidation was when he was in high school, playing against Eshashi High in the prefectural tournament.

At that time, after suffering from the clash, he cowered unconsciously against any confrontational battle in the air for two whole games before he was getting introduced into a boxing training.

While that training didn’t really change his strength, his mentality when facing a direct confrontation shifted, as he was no longer afraid to face anyone else in the air.

Still, this threat was nothing to be brushed off. This was a good wake-up call, especially for those on the frontline: the team’s defense couldn’t be done without them.

"Fab! When we ask you to drop back, just fucking do it, Man! You will have a chance to join the counterattack later, but if we conceded a goal because you are not there, it is on you!"

Fabian just scratched the back of his head as he received the scolding from Sead Kola?inac. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any time to defend himself, as in the next second, the game restarted again with the ball from Schalke’s side.

Still, with them being down by one goal, Wolfsburg took over possession immediately, forcing Schalke’s player to commit a turnover before going back to attack the away team.

Fortunately, now with Higo on the back, the team’s defense was coordinated more perfectly, as everyone was always backing up each other in perfection.

"Shrink deeper, Sead! Behind Malick!"

"Mustafi! Don’t get too close here! Come out and get ready for the second ball!"

"Another cross! Benjy!"

"I get this! I get this!"

BAM!

Another collision was made, and this time, no foul was committed. However, the result was still the same, as Wout Weghorst was being blown away in the duel while the ball bounced out of the pitch quite far.

"YES! Nice defense, Benjy!" Higo laughed, exchanging a high-five with the French defender enthusiastically.

"Hahaha! That’s because of your command, you brat!" Stambouli laughed as well, feeling satisfied with that header earlier.

At this moment, he finally realized the first time how terrifyingly easy playing with Higo.

Before, he had never thought about this since Higo was always behind him.

However, after the last couple of games, the boy was being replaced by Fahrmann before the young goalkeeper was back again. Stambouli finally saw the big difference between those two, and this helped him appreciate Higo more.

’Yeah, the Boss is right. As long as I just follow his command, everything will be under control.’ He thought inwardly.

Higo himself didn’t know what the man was thinking. After that little celebration, his focus shifted back to the game again, as the threat was far from being over.

That clearance from Stambouli ended up with the defender getting the last touch, so the final verdict was a corner kick for Wolfsburg.

However, the same thing happened, as Schalke’s players managed to coordinate their defensive wall well enough to prevent any leak from damaging their territory.

This time, it was Hoppe, who, under Higo’s arrangement, managed to clear the ball away with another strong header after the cross came close to the near post where he guarded that area.

Seeing that all of the opponent’s attack got repelled so easily without Higo even having to take too much of an action, Frohling couldn’t help but nod, showing his appreciation toward the whole defense.

’Yeah, as expected, the commander has to be Higo, huh? He could always point out where the opponent is going to attack and give the best command to minimize the threat. Talent sure is a scary thing...’

Still, even though so far, Wolfsburg’s attack hadn’t given them the result that they wanted, that didn’t mean they had used all of their arsenal already. No, they still had another weapon, which was one that they would use next.

This time, it was five minutes before the first half was over, and somehow, instead of going vertical straight to the box, the ball moved from the wing to the middle area, going to Maximilian Arnold, who was three steps ahead where he usually stayed.

This didn’t look dangerous at all, and the midfielders also just dropped slightly to prevent another through ball to the box.

However, in that exact second, Higo could feel his instinct scream, and he couldn’t help but curse at that moment.

"FUCK!"