Chapter 770: The End of the First Half

"YES! Come on, Cali!"

"That’s how you should do it, not waste the pass from me!"

All the Schalke players rushed toward Caligliuri as the striker was celebrating with the people on the bench for his goal. However, it was clear that he was more reserved here, what with this being the second goal of the day already.

Still, the man had the biggest grin right now, finding himself to be in heaven. The game was still at the end of the first half, and yet, somehow, he had already bagged two goals here. This was something that he had never done in his career, and Daniel Caligliuri had already played football professionally for more than fifteen years.

Hell, if everything went well, he would also have a chance to get a hat-trick today, an achievement that he had never done in the last twelve years. Yeah, the last time the man bagged three goals in one game was more than a decade ago, when he was still playing for SC Freiburg. That was also the only hat-trick that he had ever done, so the man was curious to get one right now.

Knowing that he would never be able to get that without his teammates’ effort, the man was shameless enough to ask, "Guys, I am just one goal away from a hat-trick here. Can you help me get one, please?"

Everyone was so stunned for a moment, but in the end, Nassim just snorted amusedly. "You sure know how to be shameless, Cali. If only you could convert that first chance earlier, you would’ve already gotten that, you know?" He asked sarcastically.

’Well... That isn’t a no, I guess.’ Caligliuri took a note in his head.

"Hah! Don’t worry, Cali-san! Just try to get a room on the front; the pass will come without you knowing it!" Morita grinned, giving a thumbs-up in agreement.

Well, Caligliuri was glad that two players who could be his assistants today didn’t show any refusal. Still, his glance shifted toward the head coach, knowing full well that any final decision would be in his hands.

The man himself was quiet for a moment, enough to at least make the festive atmosphere after scoring the goal delay a little bit here. Everyone waited quietly, with Caligliuri sweating bullets on his back.

Fortunately, this state didn’t last long, because Frohling finally smiled and gave a nod of approval here. "Good, we have already had a big lead right now, so trying to achieve something individual is acceptable. Go for it! I will wait for the good news later!"

Caligliuri’s eyes lit up instantly before he nodded so rapidly like a chicken. "Don’t worry, Boss! I will get it done quickly!"

The other players also let out a sigh of relief and a little bit of excitement. It was always good to have a coach who would understand the players’ desire for individual achievement and personally encouraged it, like what Frohling had just done here. At least, it made the players fight more willingly, knowing that the coach was not stingy when necessary.

Meanwhile, Suat Serdar, the team’s main striker, just looked at the veteran with sour eyes.

’It should be me who is in that position! I am the team’s top scorer, for God’s sake! How could I have never received this kind of luxurious treatment?!’ He cried inwardly.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it. The man failed to get his weight back to the team’s standard before the game began, and not only that, just a few days ago, he sprained his ankle, being forced to rest for at least a few days. This definitely jeopardized his plan to come back to the pitch again, and now, the man could only stare bitterly at how the whole team was celebrating with Caligliuri right now.

After this, the game somehow slowed down drastically. Augsburg didn’t even try to fight back for a goal here, just moving the ball around aimlessly. It was clear that after conceding two goals in one half, they had lost all hope of getting something in this game, and all they wanted to do right now was to prevent them from suffering any other humiliation.

Not that Schalke was unhappy here. Even with Caligliuri wanting to get a hat-trick, it was not something that they could do as quickly as possible. The first half had already run for so long at this point that they also started to get tired, so the best option right now should be to follow the slow tempo that the opponent set and let the time burn as much as possible.

Of course, that didn’t mean no threat was thrown here. After all, Augsburg players still encircled Schalke’s territory, wanting to gain something with their numbers. Their attacking midfielder, Eduard Lowen, was also still ambitious enough to chase a goal, launching one shot after another from outside of the box.

Unfortunately, none of them managed to even get closer to Higo here. No, Weston McKennie was more than capable of dealing with that man, as the American midfielder would always arrive in time to disturb that shot.

In total, just in the last five minutes of the game, Eduard Lowen had already launched three shots, and the first two got blocked easily by Weston McKennie, while the other one flew so high and far away from the goal, enough to make some people laugh secretly at that terrible aim.

In that period, Higo also didn’t have to work that much. Besides one cross that was close to his six-yard box and forced him to jump and catch the ball, the boy just redirected the ball here to make sure that the team could maintain possession as long as possible. Of course, that didn’t mean he would dare to bait the opponents to come to him, as he himself didn’t want a humiliating death in the middle of the game.

After a while, though, the referee had already looked at his watch, and right after that...

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

The referee finally blew the whistle, ending the first half for Schalke’s win.