Chapter 647: A Break Time

At this point, even those who didn’t really understand how big the derby was got carried away, starting to treat Borussia Dortmund as their sworn enemy. If before, they treated this game as a big challenge to face, this time, when they were already on the lead, everyone just looked at Dortmund like it was a bulliable team that they could kill anytime they wanted.

Higo himself also joined the shout, but he didn’t dare to look down on the opponent like that. No, he knew what the coach said about Dortmund’s relentless spirit was right. This was something that the infamous Liverpool coach today, Jürgen Klopp, adapted to his philosophy: that even though the team lost, giving up was never an option.

This had been proven so many times in the past, as Borussia Dortmund was the team with the most comeback wins last year in the Bundesliga. Even though it was the first team and Higo didn’t know whether it could be translated to the second team or not, he didn’t dare to lower his guard for the second half.

During the break, Frohling started to chat with everyone personally like usual, and after a couple of games in this season, Higo finally understood the pattern here.

If the team was in the lead, the man would be willing to come down and have a conversation with them, asking the players about their opinion while also adopting some reasonable advice here and there. However, once the team was in a bad state, either still a draw or even having to chase the score from behind, the coach would use the iron-fist approach, becoming the biggest dictator that the players had ever seen in their lives.

...No, that was a bad joke for Japan and Germany, who both had a bad history of dictatorship. Still, the point was there.

Higo listened to the chatter quietly, and once Frohling came to his side, the boy didn’t hesitate to voice his opinion.

"It is a tough game." The boy said honestly. "Not just because of the opponent, but also because of the supporters on my back. I am so afraid that if I made even one wrong step, or if I didn’t notice something amiss before the disaster comes, I will disappoint those people who have our back."

"That is a good mindset. At least, it shows that you have started to integrate with the people in this town." Frohling nodded in approval before his gaze turned serious again. "However, you have to remember that at the end of the day, they don’t understand your perspective and your struggle. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself just because of them, because they will always have another new hero every year."

Higo felt the corner of his lips twitched a little bit. He didn’t really agree with what Frohling said, especially after hearing people’s real thoughts in the last couple of days he was wandering around Bosch. However, the break time was short, so the boy didn’t want to debate anything right now, just nodding in acceptance.

Once the break was over, the referee finally called them to get out, and the moment they stepped onto the pitch, everyone could see all the Dortmund players were already there, either just standing coldly or doing their little warm-up.

Once again, Higo had to give a hat off to them. After all, it was not easy to do so under the scrutiny of almost 3000 hostile eyes. While he could still see some nervousness on their expression, at least they didn’t back down, waiting like true warriors ready to fight till death.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were going to charge blindly. Even though they hadn’t issued any substitution yet, some changes would definitely appear once the game started. Well, no, not once the game started. Higo could even see it right now, before he could even get to his goal.

Their striker, Steffen Tigges, dropped back a little, letting the two wingers, Crish Fuhrich and Joseph Boyamba, become the team’s two tops on the front line. It was a clever arrangement, since Tigges himself was a solid playmaker in the pocket area.

While he was not fast and his dribble was far from being decent, his ability to hold the ball and his vision were top-notch. So far, he had already provided 3 assists when the striker was dropped back to the pocket space, allowing him to create more chances there. The only pity was that his passing ability was quite terrible, so the boy needed to have a lot of chances before finally landing one good pass to his teammates.

That was why this tactic could only be pulled when the team was in danger, and seeing that Dortmund had already initiated it, that meant they were starting to get desperate, wanting to score as quickly as possible.

’That means the pressure will be crazier, right?’ Higo muttered while the corner of his lips was twitching madly. ’Damn! This is going to be a long second half for me!’

It wasn’t just him who noticed this. Everyone also looked solemn the moment they saw the killing intent radiating from Dortmund’s side. The change had been mentioned by Frohling earlier, but since Steffen Tigges himself was a new addition for Dortmund’s team this year, no one knew how the tall boy in front of them would play.

"Schopf, keep an eye on him," Brackelmann instructed quietly. "If he picked the ball outside of the box and is going to threaten us... you know what to do, right?" He asked menacingly, making a gesture like he was slitting his neck with his thumb.

In return, Schopf just nodded quietly, and although he didn’t say anything, the glint in his eyes told the captain that he understood the assignment.

Meanwhile, the referee was busy checking the situation one last time, not wanting to miss something due to miscoordination with the linesmen. Once everything was ready, though, he had already had the whistle on his mouth, and soon enough...

FWEEE!

The whistle was blown, starting the second half of the Revierderby.