Chapter 953: The Start of the Second Half!

Soon enough, fifteen minutes finally passed, and once the break was over, everyone was back toward the pitch with great enthusiasm.

Well... everyone... From Schalke’s side, at least.

Their eyes were still filled with hunger, as if leading by two goals was far from enough. They stared at the opposition half like a bunch of starving beasts, wondering which part of the prey they would eat first later.

On the other side, though, even the break was not enough to flip the table for FC K?ln. They looked so dazed; their eyes were full of confusion.

Oh, it wasn’t just about the game, but also about everything. They didn’t know how they could have turned so bad this season, getting beaten left and right with no light to be seen in this dark era.

Hell, even the worst offensive team like Schalke could get two goals in just one half, which showed how horrible their current situation was, right?

If only they could end this game right now, they would love nothing more than drop everything on the spot and go back home to enjoy a pint of beer. Unfortunately, that was not possible, so they had to accept this torture to continue for the next 45 minutes.

Seeing their state, Higo couldn’t help but chuckle, murmuring, "It seems that I am going to be jobless again in the second half, huh?"

"That’s not a bad thing, right?" Benjamin Stambouli patted the boy on the shoulder as they went into the defensive area together. "I mean, I don’t mind not having to constantly get anxious about the backline. Although we have you, no one could guarantee anything, right?"

Higo just nodded quietly, accepting the subtle praise while also pondering over the answer.

"Yeah, you are right. Compared to our usual timeline, where we have to always shout to each other, this little change sure can be nice, huh?" A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as the boy said that.

"Anyway, just get ready here. The game is about to begin!" The French defender said again while also tightening his gloves to combat the cold air in the stadium right now.

Higo took a deep breath as well, pulling down his sleeves to make sure that they would cover all of his skin before glancing at the whole stadium once again before the second half started.

On the frontline, Hoppe and Morita were more than ready to start the kick-off, with the former bouncing around like an ADHD boy in the classroom.

Well, Higo couldn’t blame his excitement here, since the thought of being the focal point in the Blitzkrieg attack was such an honor, with a great chance for Hoppe to score the second goal today.

Still, the goalkeeper was so speechless right now, as Hoppe truly radiated all of his intention in this expression.

’Yeah, it seems that after this, Sensei has to check on everyone first to make sure that they all know how to pull a poker face. How in the hell could he manage to survive before?!’

Yeah, even from afar, Higo could see Hoppe’s intention to rush forward once the kick-off started. Still, he didn’t remind the striker, knowing that at this point, the opponent would be able to see it as well.

’Oh, well... Let’s just let Morita-san deal with this matter in his own way...’

Once everything was ready, the referee also had the whistle on the tip of his mouth, and with a single nod toward everyone...

FWEEE!

The whistle was finally blown, starting the second half of the game!

Hoppe pushed the ball to Morita, and without hesitation, he rushed forward with a speed that everyone still found a hard time believing could come from such a tall, lanky boy.

Not just him, but Benito Raman and Fabian also did the same, and Nabil Bentaleb also tagged along as support from behind.

This was their usual operation, and it seemed that K?ln also understood it as well.

"Drop back! Drop back!" Their captain shouted, "Keep an eye on the second ball! Don’t let them get it!"

Well, at this point, all the teams in the Bundesliga had already known about this scheme. Still, knowing was one thing, but being able to stop it was another.

What they didn’t realize was that they dropped back immediately, having everyone who rushed forward on their radar, while forgetting the one who was holding the ball right now.

Seeing this, Morita couldn’t help but snort, feeling slightly insulted.

’Do you really think I am just a paper tiger here?’

So, instead of pushing the ball back to let Omar or Nabil Bentaleb handle the long pass, he dribbled it on his own, and just one push was enough for the midfielder to cover two or three meters instantly.

"SHIT! How could you let him escape?!"

"Forward, get closer to him! Challenge him!’

All the K?ln players suddenly realized that they had left the most dangerous players from Schalke so open, and now they ran frantically, wanting to recover from this mistake.

However, Morita didn’t blink here. Seeing that two players were coming, he just changed direction slightly, adjusting it to the little space between them before speeding up, getting through the two players in a blink.

Now, he was already within the range of shooting, just a few meters outside of the box. The defense was also quite heavy there, with everyone intending to kick him out to the flank.

Not only him, but Hoppe was also being guarded tightly. After all, the boy was probably the most dangerous player inside the box right now, and leaving him alone or even with just one player around would be a stupid decision to make.

However, Morita had already anticipated this.

With him and Hoppe being guarded, he just pushed the ball gently to the joint area between the center and the flank, and there, coming from the dark, Benito Raman snuck in to receive the through ball from him.

"OH, SHIT!"