Chapter 914: Morita’s Free Kick!

"Fuck... This is the worst!"

"I know, right?! Was that foul really necessary?!"

"What do you mean necessary?! If not for him to stop that boy, we would’ve already been down by two goals!"

"Yeah, at least Hasebe is buying us another opportunity here, even with the cost of himself getting a red card."

"At least, respect his name, Bastard!"

The situation was quite gloomy on the stand, as everyone was debating the foul itself. Unfortunately, even though the debate wasn’t there, a similar atmosphere could be seen among all the Frankfurt players on the pitch right now, as they just stared at each other helplessly.

Still, no one really complained about the red card decision. After all, only a stupid and blind referee would let something like that slide, as it was a pure professional foul, and as the last man in defense, it was clear that Hasebe would only get a red card from his action.

If anything, it left the others with guilt, knowing that the man did that to give them a little bit of a chance to at least tie the score later.

The people who felt guilty the most were, of course, the two defenders who left their territory to chase the corner kick. Those two were Evan Ndicka and the captain David Abraham, as their penetration to the frontline cost the whole team one player here.

"We really owe Hasebe one this time." Evan Ndicka spoke solemnly.

"Well, don’t think too much about it." The captain interrupted. "We will truly owe him one if we can get away from this, okay?" His gaze landed on the outside of the box, where three Schalke players were getting ready to execute the free kick.

Indeed, the threat from Schalke was far from over. The foul that Hasebe pulled might save the team, but it also put them in a dangerous situation here. A free kick just two meters in front of the box, and the angle was so direct, facing the goal straight away.

Any good taker would be able to put the ball to the back of the net easily.

"Come on, guys! The taller one, get into the wall!" Frankfurt’s goalkeeper roared, setting up the wall in front of him. "Don’t leave any gap! Get closer! Fuck, Luca! Keep your hands on the back! Don’t you dare let your hand get hit by the ball!"

Luca Jovic stiffened immediately before putting his hand behind his body. Getting a handball and handing a penalty to the opponent in this scenario would be the worst-case possible, and he was sure that he would get chewed alive before he could leave the stadium if that happened.

Meanwhile, in front of the ball, Morita, Sead Kolasinac, and Omar Mascarell were gathering there. They stared at the wall for a moment before whispering to each other quietly.

"So, you want to take this?" Omar asked while covering his mouth.

"Yeah, if that’s okay with you." Morita nodded solemnly. "This might not give us the second goal, but I still want to try it."

Both Sead Kolasinac and Omar Mascarell stared at each other for a moment. This type of honesty, admitting that he wasn’t so sure he could execute the ball well, was quite refreshing for them.

Also, honestly, in any normal scenario, this kind of ball would be Sead Kolasinac’s duty to execute. The fact that the boy was brave enough to step up and ask at least managed to get him into their good graces, and in the end, Sead Kolasinac just nodded, accepting the request.

"You are the one who gets it, so get the job done." The man grunted. "Just make sure it doesn’t hit the wall. It is better that the ball floats rather than stays on the pitch, okay?"

"Don’t worry, Sead-san, I will make sure of that." The boy nodded once again with the same level of solemnity.

After a little bit more discussion between those three, the other two finally stepped aside, leaving Morita facing the ball alone. This move caught everyone off guard, expecting that at least a distraction from the others would be set to execute this free kick.

At least, this showed the boy’s confidence, even though he also faced some skepticism here.

"Really? Is he just that cocky?"

"Just another young player trying to show off, eh?"

"Man, Sead is so good with a youngling. He allows that boy to get this, right?"

At this point, no one really thought that Morita would be able to do well on this free kick. Hell, some of his teammates even gave the boy a disapproving gaze, thinking that it wasn’t his turn to step up on this occasion.

This was their chance to widen the lead, and instead of letting a young player like Morita do an experiment, it was better to go for a sure option here.

Honestly, besides Morita, only one person was still confident about that boy, and it was none other than Higo, who knew full well his countryman’s reputation before coming here.

’They really thought that you were just here because of your big confidence, huh?’ Higo couldn’t help but snort, finding this situation to be amusing. ’Well, it is time to slap some faces. Come on, Morita-san, show them what kind of a genius you are!’

Morita himself just stayed quiet, turning his ears deaf against the discordant noises around him. He just stared at the little gap above the wall patiently, waiting for the referee to give him the ok sign.

Then, once everything was ready...

FWEEE!

The referee finally blew the whistle, and Morita didn’t need to be told twice to make a move.

All the people who formed the wall tensed for a moment, and right when the boy was so close to the ball, their captain, David Abraham, shouted, "NOW!"

With that command, all five players who formed a wall jumped at the same time, trying to block the shot from getting past them. However, what they didn’t expect was...

Thud!

The ball was sent gently, floating easily above them all.