"Are you nervous, Kazuki?" Ryo asked while they were leaving the locker room.
"What do you mean, Ryo?" He responded anxiously, "We are about to play in front of the entire country. Only you and Ren aren't nervous for this."
"Haha, I guess that's true," Ryo laughed. "But I do feel a bit anxious before every game. No matter how many times I've played, I always feel a bit jittery before; however, by the time I make it to the pitch and warm up, that feeling is overtaken by excitement."
Kazuki nodded along, quickly acknowledging Ryo's answer. Before long, they were lining up to enter the pitch, and everyone held their breath when they saw the cameras recording them. Even though they had already played one game at Nationals this year, seeing the camera inevitably made them all quite nervous.
Lined up beside Ryusei, the players from Kyoto City FC stood in their dark violet-purple jerseys. Despite being in such proximity, both teams ignored each other and kept facing forward, waiting for their entrance.
Soon, the teams were called out, and Ryusei stepped out onto the pitch with Ren, their captain, leading them. The stands, which reached more than 50 meters into the sky, were brimming with spectators, all standing on their feet and applauding their entrance. The short pre-game warm-up time had already concluded, and they were now officially welcomed onto the pitch after returning to the locker rooms briefly.
The cameras tracked both teams as they walked onto the grass. This was their sixth game now on the national level, yet Ryo still wasn't used to being filmed so openly. He knew that the regional tournaments were filmed, but they only showed the game itself, and the cameras were really far away, so he barely felt their presence. However, here, Ryo was aware that there were at least tens of thousands of people watching live through the camera, and feeling as if all of their eyes were packed into that small area was rather odd.
Despite his unease, though, Ryo didn't show it outwardly. He walked out calmly and went through the pregame ceremony, shaking hands with the referees, watching Ren win the coin toss, and taking his position on the right side of the pitch.
Matsumoto had placed him on the right wing at the start of his third year, instead of the left, but Ryo wasn't too troubled. He didn't have any particular attachment, at least for now, as to where he was on the pitch, as long as he played in the midfield. And since it was for their new formation that year, Ryo had no issues with switching.
Fweeeet!
The stadium erupted into cheers as Kyoto City started the play following the referee's whistle. Ryusei immediately spread out into their formation and began applying subtle pressure to Kyoto City's players.
Matsumoto had elected for a riskier formation this year, a 4–2–3–1. What made this formation riskier is that it required more finesse and care, which could only come with a technically gifted team. But Matsumoto had believed that this year, the first team was capable of it.
The main appeal of the 4–2–3–1 is how expansive it is. The formation relies on its wingers, both Attacking Midfielders and fullbacks, to push up the wings with the ball. At the forefront, the one striker served as the battering ram in their offense, hitting hard where it hurt most. Ren was particularly good at this, as he was able to apply sufficient pressure on the center-backs in one moment and act as a decoy, pulling the defenders with him in the next.
With the support from their respective fullbacks, both the left and right wingers pushed the ball up aggressively, often linking up with the Striker on attack. Yet also passed back to the Central Attacking Midfielder or even the Defending Midfielders if no way forward was available. A reliance on the wingers like this caused formations—especially centrally compact ones—to stretch out beyond what they could tolerate, leading to gaps that could be taken advantage of. In particular, the formation created a staggered arrangement of players, where the Defending Midfielders and the Central Attacking Midfielder could regularly push through so-called "Half-Spaces" that formed between a team's natural three passing lanes.
For teams caught unaware, this was a tactic that caused confusion as to which player had to cover the gap. For teams without precise communication and understanding, stopping an attack that pierced right where two players' zones overlapped was almost impossible.
However, a dependence on the wings to develop an attack often left the team lacking against opposing attacks down the center of the pitch. One such team was Kyoto City FC, who ran a 4–3–3. Ryusei had studied their formation extensively these last few days, and although seemingly simple at first glance, the formation held a surprising amount of nuance.
They could comfortably press down the center with their tight formation, overwhelming teams with aggressive passes and presses. Moreover, their three Forwards could easily overwhelm most defenses, stretching them thin, and more often than not, breach their way through.
And now, both teams, who were some of the best U–12 teams in the nation sporting their respective formations, faced off against each other. Through the first few minutes of the game, as the intensity slowly accumulated, the might of their formations began to shine through.
Ryo himself stayed far right, unless Kyoto City formed an attack on his side, after which he would tighten up the center. The first twenty minutes went by before Ryo even realized it. Both Ryusei and Kyoto City had attack-oriented formations, and although there weren't any goals, the game was full of action. One moment, Kyoto City was driving down the middle, and the next, Ryusei went up the sides, as if taking turns.
Both teams' defenses had started out really solid, shutting down most attacks and only letting a few weak shots reach the goalies.
They are definitely worthy of being called a national-level team. Ryo thought to himself as he watched Ren being forced to pass back again after being left with no way forward.
However, the tempo began quickly picking up. Or rather, Kyoto City really started applying heavy pressure. Their right winger, Nakamura Daichi, was a tall kid for his age, standing one head above everyone else, yet his skill was way more impressive.
Whereas Ryo and Ren's style was more centered around finesse and ball handling, Daichi used his build to his advantage. He wasn't bad at ball control; however, he knew how to use his body to break his opponents, and that is what made him a terrifying opponent.
Ryusei's Left fullback, a talented fifth-year, was one of the players who confronted Daichi the most. Up until that point, he had defended well against Daichi's attacks, enlisting the help of the center-backs to control any spaces to pass or dribble. But when the three attackers for Kyoto City, including Daichi, started to press higher up even while off the ball, the fullback had instinctively tightened up at the center.
Normally this isn't bad, and it is often what defenders do when faced with an attack. They prefer an attacker to go down the sidelines rather than to leave a space for them to go in the middle, which would likely happen if the fullbacks were to challenge the attackers.
Daichi was well aware of this, yet he had also become excellent at converting these wide runs into goals for his team. So, knowing his teammates were attacking aggressively behind him, Daichi sprinted, going much faster than Ryusei's fullback had anticipated.
The fullback saw that the center-backs were busy dealing with the other attackers and tried his best to close the angle without getting pulled out. Daichi read this and cut back towards the center, only to be challenged once again, yet in a split second, he called out to his teammates, ran straight forward once again, and gently passed the ball into the box. Daichi had imparted a bit of loft on the ball, yet he perfectly controlled its spin to land right in front of his teammate, who finished it into the net.
The Ryusei defense had played exceptionally well, with the center-backs guarding the attacker's runs and the fullback covering Daichi and minimizing the angle he had to the goal. Yet even with a solid defense, Kyoto City had cut through, avoided offsides, and scored.
Such was the nature of the national tournament. Ryusei had felt it two years in a row. They could play without fault, but an exceptional attack by the best teams would break through regardless.
So, in the twenty-third minute of the game, Ryusei was down 0–1.