Chapter 1035: Disastrous End

The first half was finally done, with the away team leading by one goal from that penalty scenario.

Inside the locker room, just as everyone expected, Frohling snapped, exploding straight in front of everyone’s face.

"Fucking hell! You guys are getting paid to work here, and you let your work be below our standard just because you think too much about the break tomorrow?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Some people couldn’t even work and earn proper money due to the pandemic, and yet you are here with a luxurious salary and only having to work once or twice a week, and you couldn’t even deliver?!"

"Fuck! You guys don’t deserve every single penny that this team gives; I hope you know that!"

The man continued to scold everyone personally, and that was definitely impressive considering how the coach always managed to shorten any insult in his mind to less than a minute so that all the main players could suffer from the same fate.

Somehow, though, even if Higo had done well in the first half, he also got this hair-dryer treatment from the coach.

"Don’t act like a saint and a victim at the same time! You didn’t even lead the defense properly, and you think you can blame them?! You are the team’s vice captain; try to act like one! Don’t think that role is permanent! I could take it from you now if you want to!"

Higo was so dumbfounded when he heard that. How could he suddenly act like that in the coach’s eyes?!

Also, he was the team’s vice captain because Frohling asked him to be one when the boy himself had never thought about it before, so why did the boss think that it was a good idea to use this status as a threat?!

’Well, how about I give that role back to you, dang it!’ Higo murmured inwardly, wanting to complain about this injustice.

However, on the outside, he just nodded along like the others, knowing that interrupting the coach when he was on a witch hunt like this was never a wise idea.

In the end, the break passed so quickly without any solution, and the players had to go back to the pitch half-heartedly after getting scolded without any mercy by the coach.

As a result, well, it wasn’t that surprising when Freiburg managed to suppress them once again since the second half began, not even allowing any Schalke players to get past the half-line before they got overwhelmed by Freiburg’s pressure.

Hell, even Schalke’s infamous Blitzkrieg attack couldn’t get into the penalty box, just being cleared so easily by the opponent’s defensive line.

That was before the away team launched another wave of attack, and in the 55th minute, another disaster struck on the home team.

Somehow, Emir Demirovic managed to receive the ball inside the penalty box, and in his attempt to turn around and face the goal directly, he baited Malick Thiaw to pull his shirt with force, and with a little bit of diving, the referee bought it and blew the whistle.

Yeah, another penalty for Freiburg.

All the Schalke players there complained, thinking that the striker was acting. In the end, the referee also agreed that a check was needed, so he went to the VAR to confirm this decision.

Unfortunately, from the camera’s perspective, everything was clear there.

Even though, indeed, the fall from Demirovic was a little bit exaggerated, the pull was real from Malick Thiaw, and the referee would only risk his reputation if he canceled the decision here.

So, yeah, another penalty kick for Freiburg, and at this point, Higo’s face was so dark that he was so close to snapping at everyone else.

’Yeah, I don’t know what is on their mind right now, but I hope they all rot in hell.’ He glared at all of his teammates with eyes full of hostility.

This time, the one who executed it was Emir Demirovic, as it seemed that Freiburg had the policy that the one who shot the penalty would be the one who got it.

Unfortunately for Higo, though, a similar scenario happened once again.

He managed to get the ball first, but the rebound failed to be cleared by the team’s defensive line, and now it was Christian Gunter who tapped it in to add one more goal for Freiburg.

This also became the first time in such a long period for Higo to lose two goals in one game, as the last time was far at the beginning of the season when the team lost against Bayern Munich.

Unfortunately, the circumstances were different now, as the team sucked a lot today.

This score also lasted until the end of the game, as after that, not a single threat from both teams came close to each other’s goal.

Schalke gained some good chances to shorten the gap, but their final execution was far from satisfying.

Meanwhile, Freiburg also lowered their tempo, putting on more defensive players while also waiting for the final whistle to go back home with three points in their hand.

Once the referee blew the final whistle, Higo didn’t even greet anyone else on the team.

No, he just went straight to the locker room with a dark face, ignoring the head coach as well. His mood was so gloomy at this point, not wanting to deal with any post-match tomfoolery outside.

Still, the boy hadn’t reached the point where he lost control of his mind here. No, he just went back so that no one could bother him and push him to that level, knowing that an unstable emotion could lead him into bigger trouble.

Unfortunately, the last push that made Higo snap somehow came from the head coach himself, as the boss suddenly made a snarky comment when he was asked by the reporter about Higo’s amazing performance today.

"This sport doesn’t need personal heroism. Two penalty saves, and the team still lost? That means he hasn’t done enough. I expect him to do more in the future, not just try to shine by himself alone."

That was when something cracked inside him, as the boy could feel blood coming from his clenched fist.

’So, that’s how you want to play, huh? Fine...’