The team celebrates Riccardo's goal, leaving everyone speechless once again.
Coach Ishii smiles slightly as he watches the boys on the pitch.
Finally...
Riccardo high-fives Shimizu, then offers his hand to Nishimura, who hesitates.
But when he sees Riccardo's sincere smile, he sighs and high-fives him.
"Nice goal..."
From the sidelines, everyone is amazed by Riccardo's two goals.
"Even if it's the recommended one... he's making his mark!" Yuzuki says, his eyes full of admiration for Riccardo.
Kaneko gets angry again at Yuzuki's words.
"Damn!"
"Try to stay calm," Tanaka says, approaching Kaneko. "An angry captain will only bring trouble."
Kaneko walks past him, visibly annoyed by his words.
"Shut up. I know what I'm doing!"
Tanaka watches him walk away, his eyes cold.
The referee blows the whistle to restart the game.
Kaneko passes the ball to Tamura.
Tamura passes it to Enomoto, then pushes towards the opponent's half of the field.
Enomoto raises his head, noticing that Nishimura is starting to press him.
He looks around, looking for open teammates to pass to.
Tanaka is marked by Shimizu, Ono is followed by Riccardo.
"Long ball!" Kaneko shouts, signaling a deep pass to push the team forward.
But Enomoto glances towards the right flank, where Nakamura gains an advantage over Yasuda thanks to his superior speed.
He attempts a deep pass along the line.
Nakamura prepares to receive the ball, but Koyoma heads it in before him.
"Damn!" Nakamura exclaims, taken by surprise.
Riccardo reaches the second ball, pressed from behind by Ono.
Using his greater physical strength, Riccardo turns and rushes towards the opponent's half of the field.
But when he sees Tamura approaching, he turns and passes the ball to Nishimura.
Then, with his right hand, he signals everyone to remain calm.
"Let's play calmly!"
Nishimura senses Riccardo, then looks around and sees that there aren't enough players in position to launch a counterattack.
He's not just skilled, he's also thinking...
Nishimura is marked by both Enomoto and Tamura, so he passes the ball back to Riccardo, who quickly breaks free of Ono's marking with a decisive move.
Riccardo receives the pass and shields the ball, running back.
He sends it back to his own half, giving it to Hamada.
"Man!"
Hamada notices Kaneko aggressively approaching from behind to pressure him.
But he cleverly turns, dodging Kaneko's pressure.
Kaneko, desperate to recover from his failed attempt, pulls Hamada's shirt and commits a foul.
The referee blows his whistle.
Koyoma high-fives Hamada for causing the foul.
Kaneko takes the opportunity to approach Enomoto.
"Why did you ignore me before!?"
Enomoto is surprised by Kaneko's intensity.
"II thought that was the best way to attack..."
Kaneko glares at him, his expression dark and menacing.
"What's that supposed to mean!? You think I'm not good enough!?"
"N-no! That's not what I meant!"
"Then next time, pass me the ball!"
Kaneko angrily returns to his seat.
From afar, Noguchi watches him.
Kaneko Raizo, 17, third year... If someone judged him by his manner with others, they'd think he was just a hothead looking for a fight. But after spending three years at school with him, I know the truth. He's kind and genuinely cares about his friends... His only flaw is that he loves soccer a little too much.
Nishimura steps forward for the free kick, then passes the ball to Kinoshita.
Kinoshita quickly passes to Ueno, who pushes forward.
As he approaches Tanaka, Ueno suddenly sprints forward, surprising him.
He outruns him, keeping him at bay with his strength.
Shimizu moves slightly toward the center, clearing the flank for Ueno to run.
Kuwahara approaches Ueno, but Ueno passes to Shimizu.
Ueno continues to push towards the back line.
Just before he goes offside, Shimizu passes to him.
Ueno receives the pass and immediately attempts a cross.
But it's too short: Aoki releases him before Riccardo can reach him.
The ball falls to Kaneko, who advances to midfield.
Kaneko controls the ball, shielding it from Hamada until he sees Tanaka sprinting alone down the left flank.
Ueno and Shimizu are slow to cover him.
Coach Ishii notices.
"Back!"
Kaneko plays a through ball into Tanaka's path.
Tanaka runs unhindered down the flank until Kinoshita suddenly moves to intercept it near the left corner flag.
Tanaka avoids Kinoshita's first thrust by pushing the ball forward with a quick touch.
Looks into the box, but Kaneko is not there yet.
He just spots him on the edge of the box, visibly exhausted and struggling.
Before the defender can tackle again, Tanaka moves inside, leaving him behind.
He looks up to see Kaneko surrounded by Hamada and Noguchi, clearly struggling.
Nevertheless, Tanaka crosses with his left foot with a curved inside shot.
Kaneko jumps, but the ball flies just over his head.
Landing, he turns to see where the ball is going, only to realize that the cross wasn't meant for him.
It was meant for Nakamura, who had run in at the far post.
Left alone with Sugimoto to beat, Nakamura passes him in a burst of speed.
With a sliding shot, Nakamura scores.
Kaneko watches the ball hit the back of the net, then turns to a confused Tanaka.
He heads straight for him.
"Why didn't you pass it to me!?"
Tanaka sighs before answering.
"Senpai, you barely made it to the box after running all over the pitch... You would never have scored, especially with two defenders on you."
He turns to Kaneko with a cold, serious look.
"I'm telling you straight: after this game, you will no longer be a starter on this team."
Kaneko is taken aback by those words.
"What did you just say!?"
"That's exactly what you heard," Tanaka replies bluntly. "And for the record, if Aliberti had been there in your place, I would have given him that assist you wanted."
Those words crush Kaneko. He is left speechless.
Meanwhile, Tanaka walks away towards his half of the field.
The referee checks the clock: 25 minutes have passed.
The game resumes, with Nishimura's team now focused on controlling the lead, while Kaneko's team desperately pushes forward, trying with all their might to equalize.
Minutes passed... But without a doubt, the level of play had skyrocketed: quick passes, individual actions, decisive tackles and impressive saves by the goalkeepers.
All the students watching were now even more excited, attracted by the intensity of the match.
Yuzuki, watching the match carefully, couldn't help but notice how much the level had risen.
"Is this really still our school's boys' soccer team?"
Sato watched the ball whizzing at an incredible speed between the players.
Then, looking more closely, he noticed the smiles on the players' faces every time they touched the ball.
"They really seem to be enjoying themselves..."
Riccardo received the ball from Nishimura in the center of the field.
He looked up and saw Shimizu diving into space, right on the edge of the offside line. The opposing defense had been pushed dangerously high, almost to the center of the field.
With his right foot, Riccardo delivered a perfect through ball to Shimizu, who had just passed Kuwahara.
The pass was so perfect, easy to control, and Shimizu didn't lose an ounce of speed.
Nishimura's team surged forward, eager to exploit the precarious situation of the opposition's back line.
But then, as always, Tanaka recovered.
Does this guy never run out of energy!?
Tanaka blocked Shimizu's advance, helping the defense regroup.
But Shimizu didn't give up. With a clever double step, he passed Tanaka, pushing the ball to the right.
Shimizu goes for the corner.
He then crosses into the box for Riccardo, who is being marked by Aoki and Tamura.
Riccardo leaps into the air, jumping higher than the two defenders, and heads the ball powerfully. The ball goes toward the goal.
But Yamauchi reacts with a spectacular leap, saving.
The rebound reaches Aoki, who parries it.
Kaneko seems to have the advantage of arriving first, but his lack of concentration is evident, with Hamada intercepting him.
Kaneko, unwilling, doesn't even try to recover the ball. He simply lets it go.
Hamada advances freely.
"Here!"
Riccardo asks for the ball, with Tamura coming toward him.
Hamada passes it to him.
Before he even receives it, Riccardo glances at Tamura's position.
Then, with a clever right-heel flick, he nutmegged his opponent.
Sato was amazed by the play.
"Hey, Yuzuki..."
Yuzuki turned to her.
As the ball rolled forward after the tunnel, Aoki stepped forward to intercept it.
But Riccardo, quicker on his feet, got past him with a stylish ruleta.
"...I didn't think I could have this much fun just watching a soccer match."
Yuzuki smiled at her words.
After the ruleta, Riccardo calmly used the inside of his right foot to make a low pass into the box, right where Nishimura had slipped in unnoticed.
Amazed by the perfection of the pass, Nishimura remained lucid and put the ball in the net, past the goalkeeper.
Everyone turned to the linesman, waiting for the offside flag.
But the flag remained down.
The team exploded with joy when Nishimura's goal was validated.
The referee checked his watch.
Forty-five minutes.
He blew the half-time whistle.
Team 1 1|3 Team 2
The exhausted boys head for the benches.
But Coach Ishii intercepts them.
"That's it for today! I found the answers I was looking for!"
The boys stare at him in disbelief.
Coach Ishii takes out his phone, glances at it, and then puts it away.
"You all did a great job. See you next week!"
The boys watch him leave.
In a sarcastic tone, Noguchi says, "So he can congratulate you..."
Someone starts clapping from off-court. Riccardo notices: it's Sato.
Soon after, Yuzuki joins them, followed by everyone else who has been watching the game.
Some shout things like,
"That was a great game!"
"Well done!"
Shimizu leans on Nishimura's right shoulder.
Then, in a joking tone, he says: "See? They finally became fans!"
Nishimura watches the students applaud, surprised.
"Yes..."
Tanaka approaches Riccardo and pats him on the shoulder.
Riccardo looks at him, surprised.
"There's no need to say it. After that game... welcome to the team!"
Everyone gathers around Riccardo to introduce themselves properly and congratulate him on the game.
Everyone except Kaneko, who watches from afar.
Then he silently heads towards the locker room, looking dejected – Noguchi notices.