While all the players were still taking a break, the situation on the stand was quite restless. While some spectators who had no business other than wanting to enjoy their noon didn’t really bother that much, the rest of the people there could be seen chatting and whispering with the others, some even discussing something on a call.

"Yeah, Hakodate Nishi! A Hokkaido team! Get me all of the goalkeeper’s information in ten minutes!"

"What do you mean he doesn’t have any record playing at a junior level?! There is no fucking way he is just a rookie! Search it again!"

"Yes! His name is Ryusuke Higo! Go get all of his data!"

Most of them here were the professional scouts, coming to watch the game. Some came from the local team like Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale, the two best teams in Kanagawa, while the others came even from afar, like from Urawa Reds Saitama or Kashima Antlers Ibaraki. Their initial purpose in coming here was to monitor Hiroki Kawabe’s performance, but somehow, they found another treasure hidden under the dump.

"Ryusuke Higo, 17 years old, registered to be 169 cm and 65 kg... Too small." One of the scouts frowned when he read the data he received from the official page. "Did he falsify his identity? No, a small team doesn’t need to do that, and he doesn’t get any benefit from doing that, only bringing problems to the team. So... Does that mean he has grown that much since the registered time?! His growth plate is still there?!" He widened his eyes in shock.

Well, the reaction was understandable. After all, while the man didn’t really know Higo’s exact height right now, the boy was definitely taller than 169 cm. The data on the official website was registered before the Inter-High, probably around April. So, that meant Higo had just grown for about 10 cm in eight months?!

"What kind of freaky genetics does he have?!" The man shuddered in fear.

"No, don’t just look at his physique. Look at his data!" Another scout said with a bewildered expression. "So far in this tournament, he has only conceded one goal, and that comes from a rebound from Yuwell Carlson’s penalty that he saved in the prefectural tournament! Other than that, everything is clean!"

"Look at his total saves so far! 47 in the prefectural tournament! That means almost ten per game! This is ridiculous!"

"Also, don’t sleep on his games in the national tournament so far! He made seven against Toin Gakuen a few days ago, and so far, he has already made 6, including a penalty! 13 in total, and we haven’t gotten to the second half yet! His performance today is not a coincidence!"

"Fuck it! I need to call the old man to recruit him! He is going to be the next big goalkeeper in the country!"

So many people were busy from the storm that Higo caused, not knowing that the boy himself was currently laughing his ass off at his teammates’ antics. Well, that was what an amazing performance in the national tournament brought to the players. Everything could happen, but at the end of the day, the players’ hard work would never betray them.

While the atmosphere was bustling like they were in the afternoon, roaming around the street market, there was still an outlier in the group, one person who just had both hands in his pocket without even glancing at his phone. However, the expression on his face was enough to tell everyone that he was thinking very hard right now.

"Masaki-san, once the record is over, can you send it to my email soon?" The man asked in a thick English accent.

He was a foreigner, one with blonde hair and blue eyes like a typical Caucasian person. Hell, even his moustache was blonde, as if telling everyone that he was a true European here.

Next to him, Masaki, his assistant, was stunned when he heard the request. "Wait, Draxler-san, you mean you are telling me the goalkeeper catches your interest?"

He didn’t even ask whether it was for Kawabe or not. After all, the man named Masaki knew that his boss had already had all the data about Hiroki Kawabe, and the man was not that impressed with the Mohawk boy. Other than him, the only player worth mentioning in this game was Ryusuke Higo.

The blonde man didn’t deny it, just giving a quick nod. "Indeed, even though Alex is still in his best performance and is quite young, I cannot help but feel worried about the future. I heard Bayern has already spotted him as their next target for Neuer’s successor, and I don’t know if the money and the promise of glory will be enough to tempt him. I have to have a backup plan before that, bringing a potential player to Berger Feld."

The man’s identity was Marius Draxler, the head scout of Schalke 04 from Germany. Honestly, he didn’t really come here to scout the tournament. After all, his team didn’t have any deep connection with Japan. The only Japanese player in history who had ever graced Schalke 04 was Atsuto Uchida, and while the right-back had quite a long stint, at the end of the day, it wasn’t quite noticeable.

Still, the booming trend of Japanese players in the Bundesliga couldn’t be ignored anymore. From the legendary Shinji Kagawa who thrived for Borussia Dortmund to the current Daichi Kamada, who became the league’s top assist provider for Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany seemed to be the right soil for any Japanese players to bloom.

Still, at first, he didn’t really have much hope. His appearance here was just to try his luck, not expecting to get anyone worth recruiting. Who would’ve thought that his unplanned trip managed to get him an unpolished gem like this?

"Ryusuke Higo..." The man couldn’t help but mutter, recalling everything he saw in the first half earlier. "His game is still far from mature, but his command, his reflexes, and his shot-stopping ability definitely have potential to be the top goalkeeper in the world. If he is polished right, could he be our new Manuel Neuer?"