Ryo stretched lazily as he woke up the next morning. Despite being exposed to the rising sun, very little light actually got through the curtains. Usually, western-style hotels, like the one they were staying in, used thick, yet somehow inefficient curtains.
Fortunately, the hotel that had been provided for them this time was better equipped than the norm.
As much as he wanted to stay in bed longer and keep sleeping, Ryo forced himself up and slightly parted the curtains with his fingers. He instantly recoiled and squinted the moment the morning sunlight hit his dilated pupils. His eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and off in the distance, looming majestically over the horizon, was Tokyo Coliseum. A slight smile crept onto Ryo's face.
He only appreciated the view for a few more seconds before withdrawing his hand, allowing the curtains to close shut. Ryo silently made his way across the room and into the closet near the entrance to retrieve his kit. He sifted through the different clear, hanging bags until he reached the one with his number on it.
Honestly, the logistics for Nationals must be insane. Ryo thought as he made his way into the bathroom to change into his recently cleaned jersey and get ready.
When it came to selecting venues for the national tournament, the requirements were really strict. They needed enough fields, training facilities, and lodging to accommodate all the teams for the tournament, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Naturally, this weeded out many potential host cities, and ultimately, only thirteen of them were sufficiently qualified to host the national tournament. But by far, the best host was Camp Atsu in Tokyo. Before even mentioning the quality of the facilities, just the sheer number of teams it could contain was absurd. As a testament to this, in some years, such as this one, the three main youth leagues, U–12, U–15, and U–18, all had their national tournament held in Tokyo.
This meant that, over a period of only about two to three weeks, the organizers had to accommodate, manage, and provide for more than ninety-six teams. They managed this feat by staggering the start of each tournament by four days. This allowed half the teams from one tournament to be eliminated, and thus vacate their lodgings, before the teams from the next tournament showed up.
Every team was lodged in the same, aptly named Grand Atsu Hotel. The hotel itself was situated on the perimeter of Camp Atsu, integrated straight into the surrounding city. It was an attraction on its own, to the point that the hotel was listed as one of the must-see attractions for tourists visiting Tokyo.
From a distance, it was already an imposing structure—an amalgamation of concrete and glass looming high at almost 160 meters tall. But its interior was the main reason why it became famous. Supposedly inspired by large American resorts, similar to the old Greenbrier Hotel and the notable Gaylord Hotels, the architect sought to build a massive, one-of-a-kind atrium in her hotel.
The first thing that caught the eye was a calm yet mobile river that circumnavigated the interior, connecting the building's two separate atriums. The river was constantly fed by a short waterfall at its furthest point, providing a tranquil and subtle white noise for everyone near it. The rest was carefully modeled with Japanese elements in mind. There were small ponds with beautiful Koi swimming around, traditional Japanese arched bridges, gazebos, and buildings containing several restaurants and shops. Interspersed among all these elements were countless species of live flora, from green foliage to colorful decorative flowers, and even large seasonal trees like maples and cherry blossoms.
In total, almost two kilometers of walkways wove throughout the two atriums, led to higher floors, and even hung in the spaces above the scenery. Along the walls, all the way up to the domed glass ceiling and its calm hanging lights, were countless rooms with balconies into the indoor atriums.
Ryo himself had been completely blown away when he first saw it. The team was walking by when, through one of the passageways leading to the interior, Ryo caught a glimpse of a spectacular, white willow tree standing guard over a flowing river. If the entire group wasn't moving forward ahead of him, he might have subconsciously walked inside to get a better look.
"They really have everything for us here," Ryo commented to himself after walking back out of the bathroom wearing his freshly cleaned jersey.
The strangest part was that this hotel was ultimately a complement to Camp Atsu, meant to hold teams, players, and spectators. Because of that, specific floors, with their own common rooms, lounges, and dining areas, could be reserved during tournaments. It also had plenty of features and facilities such as glass elevators overlooking the atriums, swimming pools, gyms, ballrooms, and even observation decks on the roof.
If it weren't for the fact that they were students from an elementary school with strict rules, curfews, and schedules, Ryo would've definitely explored the hotel for a considerably longer time.
I guess it means I'll have to come back to Nationals in Junior High or High School.
For now, though, he was going to focus on the current national tournament. Ren and Yuto had just stirred awake as well, so he went to wake Kazuki before leaving the room himself.
Before long, the entire team left the dining area and boarded their bus that would take them to their practice pitch. Although there was a pedestrian bridge connecting the central plaza in front of Tokyo Coliseum straight to the resort, they were assigned pitch #32 on the opposite side of Camp Atsu.
Given that the campus spanned more than a kilometer in length, it was illogical for them to cross it all on foot. But luckily, they didn't have to take the long way around. Instead, there was a shortcut.
Their bus followed signs that led them to an entrance to Camp Atsu's underground network. They quickly passed through a main tunnel before stopping in an adjacent parking garage labeled: Fields 31–36. The team disembarked, then followed some signs to the surface, and within three minutes, they were all on the pitch.
Based on what Matsumoto had told them on the bus, their drills today were quite simple. And for the most part, he hadn't lied. The team started with light stretches, movement drills, and shooting drills before transitioning into some rondos.
As usual, Matsumoto's rondos included gimmicks to train a particular skill, and this time, the groups could only perform one-touch passes. One-touch passing was rather draining and, quite frankly, difficult for elementary schoolers, so they didn't spend an extremely large amount of time on them.
The last drill they had was two concurrent 4-on-4 minigames, or "Face-offs" as Coach Matsumoto liked to call them. Each minigame consisted of four defenders and four attackers, hence the name of the drill, plus a goalie.
The sole purpose of this drill was to train the players' horizontal spacing and coordination. In football, both vertical and horizontal coordination are vital to the game. Horizontal coordination refers to how synchronized players are with their adjacent teammates on the same line. Players on the same line must learn how to act in sync with each other, because without support, defenses would break apart easily and there would be no threats behind attacks. Vertical coordination, however, is how well players can play between lines and along vertical lanes. A team without proper vertical coordination would have trouble driving the ball up for an attack and would fail to pass the ball in retreat.
Many players struggle to manage both simultaneously. They often focus solely on their horizontal coordination and end up struggling to keep their vertical positioning in sync, or vice versa. The only way to improve at handling both of them efficiently without detriment to the other is with constant practice. Whether on or off the ball, players must ask themselves, "Am I in the right place for our line to hold?" or "If the player in front of me gets the ball, am I close enough to provide support?" This time, Matsumoto chose for the team to focus solely on the former.
He placed forwards and defenders into their respective positions for the minigame, and split the midfielders to fill in remaining gaps in the teams. This time, Ryo was positioned on the left center of an attacking team. Usually, he wouldn't play in a central position, but when another player once complained to Matsumoto about it, he responded with, "Sometimes playing in an unfamiliar position can give you certain insights you wouldn't see otherwise."
Unluckily for Ryo, though, he hadn't been placed on the same team as Ren, and on top of that, Kazuki was on the opposing team.
This really isn't going to be easy, Ryo lamented to himself when he saw Kazuki position himself opposite to him. Ryo had practiced with him countless times, both during and outside of team practices.
And that was enough time to know that Kazuki's talent as a defender was rather exceptional. Not only his intuition, but also his understanding of tactics and presence were all on another level. His ability to read an attack, know what the threats were, and consequently, know where he needed to position himself made him an annoying defender to play against.
Lastly, when it came to tackling players, especially one-on-one, Ryo believed that Kazuki was the most skilled on the team. Even against Ren, Ryo expected to win more one-on-ones than against Kazuki. But the funniest part was that Kazuki was a fullback who didn't hesitate to move upfield when he saw an opportunity. That truly made him a dangerous adversary.
Soon, once everyone was settled, the drill began, with one game positioned on either side of the pitch. Right from the first action, Ryo already had his feet on the ball, trying to get past Kazuki. The defensive line did a good job of staying together, despite the left attacker, Mori, trying to bait them out.
With no viable options to pass on his right side and with increasing pressure on him, Ryo was forced to hit it to Mori wide on the left. Ryo immediately followed up for support, and after a few seconds of confrontation with his opponent, Mori passed it back. Ryo moved forward slightly to receive the ball, hoping to run forward and breach their defense, but Kazuki was hovering right beside him.
Suddenly, a faint trace of Kazuki's leg coming in appeared in front of him due to his skill, Danger Indicator. Ryo barely had time to roll the ball back underneath himself when Kazuki's actual tackle came.
After redirecting the ball backwards, Ryo turned around completely and tried to find one of his two teammates in the box to send a pass to. However, he didn't have a passing lane leading to either of them immediately available. Right then, another flash of intent showed up in front of him, but Ryo wasn't able to completely protect the ball by the time Kazuki's leg swung in.
Still as precise as usual, Kazuki. Here you are, completely pushing the limits of my skill.
Ryo grinned as he saw Kazuki get a touch on the ball, sending it away and terminating their first action. Ryo couldn't be mad, seeing how Kazuki made two perfect tackles that left a minuscule window for Ryo to react to his skill.
Fine then. I won't pull any punches either!