The Rise of the Iron Wall!-Chapter 92: Makino Joins the Frontline!

"Wait, what?! Kumiko-chan asks you and Jun to reinforce the front line? What about the back?" Makino blinked when he heard from Ishinori.

"That’s what I said, but it seems Shishida-senpai is desperate enough to gamble here." The left back sighed helplessly.

Makino pondered for a moment before glancing at the analog clock next to the scoreboard. Fortunately, Sapporo Dome was a modern stadium with a complete facility, not like a crappy pitch where the team usually played. At least, in this situation, they could still know how much time was left before the game was over, a luxury that they couldn’t always enjoy in the past.

’Three minutes left, and even with the eventful second half, the additional time given by the referee would only be at most five minutes. She is right to be desperate.’ He nodded solemnly. "Just do as she said, leave the back to me."

Well, when the captain himself also said that, Ishinori didn’t have any reason to reject the request.

Then came finally the last three minutes of the game, with Hakodate Nishi overloading all of its players forward in the hope of scoring a goal. The attack also shifted to the left side, while Hiroshi also sneaked smartly into the opponent’s penalty box. He still played the Tom-and-Jerry game with Hiroyuki, but an idea suddenly popped into his head.

’If he wants to follow me, let’s give an impression that I am going to compete for a header next, and let’s see if he would catch the bait or not.’ He glanced at his marker secretly.

This was also another smart approach by Hiroshi. Now, he was lingering in the offside line, probably even defined where the offside line was in the penalty box, and with Hiroyuki guarding him, as long as he didn’t get the ball or interfere with anything, his teammates would still be able to catch a good position on the front line without having to worry about offside.

This was called killing the opponent with a borrowed knife, and honestly, Hiroshi was proud that he came up with this idea by himself.

Unfortunately, even with the effort of everyone, Sappotani’s defense didn’t bulge. Hell, knowing that the away team was going to launch a bombardment from the air, they pulled an outrageous move, forcing Yuwell Carlson to deal with everyone on the box.

BAM!

’Yeah, fuck! This is unfair! Such a cheat code should never be allowed to exist!’ Kuroki cursed as once again, Yuwell Carlson managed to beat him in the air.

"YES! CLEAR IT AWAY! CLEAR IT AWAY!"

"HANTA, LOOK AROUND! DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!"

As the ball was cleared away, Yuwell Carlson grinned widely, finding this to be satisfying. He had been suppressed by Jun and Makino in the second half, so being able to win some contests was definitely a boost in his confidence.

Not that he would need it, of course, since the Swedish striker knew that he was the best here.

Seeing his teammates stumped on the front, and noticing the anxiety on Makino’s face, an idea suddenly popped into Higo’s head.

"Oi, Teme!" He called.

Makino turned around and asked, "What?"

"How about you push forward a little bit and help add more players to receive the ball in the center? I mean, you remember how Sappotani did that in the first half, right?"

Makino was stunned, knowing exactly what the boy said. With him crossing the center line, it would also unconsciously push the offensive line further, and more players on the box would mean more chances for them to score. It also helped that he could help the team get better from that position, something that he couldn’t do from the back here.

Still... If he abandoned Higo here...

"Don’t worry, I can handle this." The goalkeeper patted his chest proudly. "Don’t you notice that they haven’t landed any shots on target since the red card happened? They must be satisfied with 1-0, so with them turning into a cocoon like this, we still need everyone’s effort to pry open this stubborn bastard. Just go back quickly if a counterattack is launched."

Makino nodded numbly, somehow feeling touched by the gesture.

This was definitely Higo’s act of responsibility as a team player. The boy knew that the team needed Makino more in offense than in defense, so the boy guaranteed that he had his back if the worst-case scenario happened.

With that in mind, he started standing in front of Fujinaga—much to the defensive midfielder’s surprise—and shouted commands left and right, not even wanting to be subtle anymore.

"Come on, Hiroshi! Until when do you want that creep to stalk you like that?!"

"Takaaki, don’t rush! Don’t rush! Send it back, and move again!"

"Just hold the ball and send it back if you cannot do it! Let me do the job here!"

He put his position as the team’s new distributor in the middle, and somehow, it worked quite well. The captain was like a well-oiled machine that got turned on after one year of being sidelined. His command, albeit slightly rusty, was still straight to the point, sending everyone into their best possible position.

Sappotani’s coach frowned when he saw this. The man came to the sideline and asked one of the players there, "Listen, at least put one player as the lapdog to guard that captain. Disturb his rhythm with your body, and if you cannot do that, ask Hiroyuki to do that for you."

The player bit his lips before nodding reluctantly at the instruction. The defense around Makino was thickened instantly, not letting the captain get out of any easy route anymore.

However, Makino was a man on a mission right now. Seeing that his opponent just shut down any passing route in front of him, another idea popped into his head, and this time, he liked it the most.

"Well, if you are expecting me to stay here until the end, you are wrong! If I cannot pass the ball, fine! I’ll do it myself!"

And with that, another one-two pass helped him escape from the opponent’s defense even just for a second, and before everyone knew it, Rin Mito had already shouted from the top of his lungs, "STOP HIM! HE IS ABOUT TO SHOOT!"