The team knew better than to be discouraged by this development. Ryo watched the Kyoto City players celebrate their goal while he strategized.
It's as we saw in the recordings of their previous matches. Nakamura Daichi heads their attack, but the rest of them excel at bringing the ball up to him. They especially favor their right side…
Because of this, Ryo understood that he might have to play a bit more defensively when Kyoto City had the ball. By dropping back, Ryo allows the defenders slight relief in the center so that they can defend more strongly on the left, where the attack would mostly come from.
However, they would restart the game with the ball, so it was too early to think about defense and cede possession, so Ryo didn't enjoy the idea of dropping back.
"Ren," Ryo called out over the cheers resonating in the stadium after Kyoto City's goal. Ren, who was standing further upfield, turned around after hearing his name.
Ryo clearly held up four fingers, a signal that would convey how they wanted to play the ball around Ren. It had been a signal they came up with out of necessity to relay information faster and silently. Simply put, if they divided Ren's "zone" into ten squares like a typical keypad, then one would signify he should play deep left, and two would be deep down the middle. Other than ten, which replaced the traditional zero on a keypad and told Ren to drop back completely, all the rest were straightforward.
So, the number four told Ren to stay centrally, but slightly left. The idea was to create an even larger gap between Ryo and Ren, thinning out the defenses on their side even more, allowing for more passing lanes to open. Of course, each play would be completely situational, but it never hurt to plan ahead.
Ren quickly acknowledged Ryo's signal with a nod and immediately went to talk to the players on the left side, which showed he had understood Ryo's idea. Ryo then turned and moved close to Kazuki, speaking in a low voice.
"Our team will be busy on the left, so make sure to help them out when you can," he began. "But if you get the ball, do not hesitate to push up or lob it to me even if I am a bit further up."
"Okay, Ryo," Kazuki answered confidently. "In that case, you shouldn't worry about me too much and should push up more. I'll get it to you."
Haha, he's as reckless as ever, yet he always makes it work.
"Sounds good, send me some good passes, okay?" Ryo said, walking towards the center circle to get ready for kickoff.
As Kyoto City regrouped and set themselves up on the other side, Ryo clearly saw how the goal had uplifted their spirits. However, that didn't mean that they were careless. Right after Ryo received the ball at kickoff, he tried to pass it aggressively to Ren to move through the opponents, but they were ready. They immediately surrounded Ren and pressured him, forcing him to pass the ball in retreat and regroup for another opportunity.
For a couple of minutes, everyone in the stadium held their breath as the teams were locked in a struggle in the midfield. Ryusei supporters were happy to see that their team wasn't losing possession; however, the amount of pressure the team was receiving made them nervous. On the other hand, Kyoto City supporters, who were more numerous, felt the opposite and were biting their nails since their team couldn't regain meaningful possession.
And then there were neutral supporters there to watch a good game. Those supporters rooted for either side equally as long as they saw beautiful football. They too found the game stressful during that time, since the organized chaos where possession is challenged every second made them ache for a breakthrough.
On the pitch, the players visibly started exhausting themselves with the many changes in direction and speed they had to perform. Soon, though, unlike the several times before when he found himself covered as Ryusei shifted the ball to Kazuki, Ryo was unnaturally open by then.
Kyoto City had been slow to rotate their midfield specifically because of how compact they were in the center. Ryo, after making eye contact with Kazuki, spotted his opportunity and immediately took advantage of it. He didn't hesitate to use his skills for this.
{Skill Activated!}
—[Burst Step – A]
Ryo felt the muscles in his leg contract more than usual, and in three steps, he had gone from jogging in their own half to fully sprinting down the line. Kazuki sent a powerful lob in response, flying over the heads of several midfielders, straight into Ryo's path forward.
Ryo, with a player approaching him from the front, slowed down, turned, and jumped to intercept the ball mid-air with his chest. He remained unbothered even as the fullback ran right up to him with the intent of tackling the ball when he landed.
What happened next was completely outside of the defender's predictions. Ryo had been right up against the sideline when he jumped, so the defender had placed himself facing slightly inwards. Instead of safely controlling the ball where he had space in the middle, Ryo shifted his torso and brought it down in the meter-wide space between himself and the painted line.
The defender, now facing the wrong direction, abruptly turned and stuck his leg out to intercept the ball, which was now shooting right behind him. Ryo had kicked the ball hard once he landed since the space behind the fullback was not covered, adding a slight curve to the ball so it would stay in bounds.
The fullback didn't manage to recover in time, so the leg he carelessly put out missed the ball, but went right in front of Ryo's stride.
Ryo saw the tackle from Danger Indicator and tried hopping over, but didn't clear enough height to avoid clipping his toes on the defender's leg. This caused Ryo to stumble slightly as the inertia in his upper body kept moving him forward.
He toppled over and caught himself with his hands before continuing his sprint. Ryo had lost his speed, and now the ball was loose. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryo saw how the referee had the whistle in his mouth, ready to call the foul if he didn't retain possession. This outcome didn't benefit Ryo, so along with the surging cheers from passing the defender, he activated two more skills in quick succession.
{Skill Activated!}
—(Crowd Support – B [Max])
——[Based On Current Cheering Levels, Overall Stat Increased To 58.]
The boost isn't a lot, but it's more than enough. Ryo registered the increase, feeling his acceleration increase, and he closed in on the ball right before the center back could.
{Skill Activated!}
—{Misdirection – A}
Instead of abandoning his momentum as his body language currently suggested with Misdirection, Ryo used it to move past the center back. He calmly rolled the ball over with the bottom of his foot, moving past the defender and exposing the rest of the pitch to him.
A few of his teammates asked for the ball, but Ryo had already seen Ren moving, even while wedged between two Kyoto City players. Thanks to their coordination beforehand, Ren had followed Ryo's suggestion perfectly. He was currently approaching the center of the box from the left, creating a weakness in Kyoto City's defense due to how much they had been spread out. Ryo made a firm pass right as Ren broke through the two players. Ren reached it right before he crossed into the box, but he didn't take the shot with one player behind and another to his side.
How brilliant, Ren! You brought the two all the way across, wrecking their formation, and now…
Right as he anticipated, Ren passed the ball back, even as his jersey was being grabbed by the defender, pulling him to the ground in the process.
Perfect, those three are blocking the keeper's line of sight.
As the excitement within the stands grew, Ryo felt the stats from the Crowd Support skill grow even more. He made it to the ball and planted his right foot, preparing to shoot with his left—he was now close enough that he still felt confident with his weaker leg.
Fweeeet!
However, in response to the clear foul on Ren, the referee had blown his whistle. Ryo, now mid-stride into his shot, couldn't stop his leg as it swept through the ball, impacting it perfectly. The goalie, Mori Shun—not to be confused with Ryo's teammate, Mori—had his vision blocked, yet was also committed to defending despite the whistle. However, Ryo's shot had been too well-placed and powerful for Mori to stop, and it reached the back of the net without resistance.
As beautiful as the goal was, the referee had blown the whistle and awarded the foul before he shot, so the goal was void.