Chapter 659: Higo Back at the Team Again!

"Damn! It’s good to see you back, Higo!"

"Come on! I cannot wait to play with you again!"

"Psst! Don’t say it out loud, Idiots! They would hear us!"

Higo couldn’t help but smile broadly as he greeted his teammates here, all showing enthusiasm when they saw him on the pitch.

It was the first day back on the training ground after the team had just gotten back from their two away games, and they were so relieved to see Higo was already there. No one truly noticed before, but when Higo was gone, they finally realized how good Higo was in front of the goal. While the backup was still decent, the sense of safety that the man gave was not the same, and that was why they were happy to have the Japanese goalkeeper available for the next game.

Of course, there would be some people who were unhappy with this. The most obvious one was the backup goalkeeper, Soren Ahlers, who just looked at Higo sourly from afar. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it. Conceding three goals in the last two games was bad, and it didn’t help that one of them resulted in the team’s defeat.

Higo himself just ignored that man completely. He had already shown his attitude since the beginning. The boy would never take the initiative, so as long as Soren Ahlers didn’t greet him first, Higo would also treat the man indifferently.

"Okay, everyone! Let’s focus on the training session first!" Frohling clapped loudly, gaining everyone’s attention. Inwardly, though, he was happy that even after two bad games in the last week, they could still be in their highest spirits right now. "We still have two games left before the international break, so let’s try to get as many points as possible!"

"YES, SIR!"

After this, the training session began, and in every mini-game that the coach set, whoever was on the same team as Higo couldn’t help but sigh in relief, secretly marveling at the big difference between the goalkeeper in this team.

Oh, that didn’t mean Soren Ahlers was a weak one here. That man still had a solid performance, what with a decent reaction speed and slightly above-average shot-stopping skill. He was also trained for so long in being a sweeper goalkeeper, even edging Higo in this regard by a large margin.

However, that was it.

While yes, he was good for a fourth division in Germany, that man wasn’t even special here. Compared to that, everyone could see that Higo was at least at the Bundesliga level. Not the top-notch, per se, probably just around the middle to bottom tier. However, that was definitely way more than enough to deal with the second team’s competition right now.

Even Soren Ahlers had to accept this fact. He was so bitter, but the man couldn’t deny that Higo was miles better than him. Inwardly, he could only curse one thing here, ’Damn! How could he be dropped in this second team?! Isn’t this bullying an honest man like me?!’

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do other than sit sulkily on the bench, waiting until the first team called Higo up.

The competition continued again, and in the eighth game of the season, Schalke had to fight against Rot-Weiss Essen in another trip. Honestly, the schedule was devilish for them, having to fight three away games in a row like this.

This was another strong team in this division, having been in the constant phase of moving up and down between 3. Liga and Regionalliga. This was a team that was not strong enough to compete in the higher level, but still too much for the fourth division team to handle.

This was also the first game for Higo after returning from the injury, and honestly, he was quite nervous. After all, he left with strong momentum, and it would be hard to regain it after his absence in the last two weeks. However, it seemed that he was overthinking about it.

Once the game started, his concentration was at its peak, and not only that, his clairvoyant ability was clearer than ever. It was as if the collision in the game against Dortmund two weeks ago knocked every useless thing inside his head away, getting rid of all those messy things and only letting the important ones remain inside his head.

He played like a beast, jumping all around the place to save one threat after another. Not only that, his command was always in time, cutting off any of the opponent’s attempts to break through his goal.

Then, in the 74th minute, the team finally managed to break through the deadlock, scoring a decisive goal from Idrizi’s long shot. The Kosovo midfielder showed off his range, launching a rocket that went through two blockades before it slammed the top left corner of the goal, giving Schalke the lead they had been chasing since the beginning of the game.

This goal was enough to seal the fate of this game, helping Schalke II get out of the bad momentum after two negative results last week.

This was also an important win, helping them maintain their position as the leader of the division with 17 points out of 8 games. Behind them, two teams were trailing with 16 points, SV Rodinghausen and SC Verl. Those two were the other powerhouse teams in this division, having been dominating this Regionalliga West for so many years.

Coincidentally enough, though, Schalke’s last game before the international break would be against SC Verl. This would be a decisive game for the team; if they could get through this, they would be able to kick out one of their competitors from the race, only leaving one stubborn opponent that would eye this game as well.

However, that was a matter for the next weekend, since right now, Higo had already found himself standing in the middle of the crowd, his eyes glancing around to find two familiar people who should’ve been here. His hand also grabbed the phone tightly, waiting for it to buzz and show a message.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for too long, because a minute later, a gentle voice finally greeted him from behind.

"Ryukkun! Have you been waiting for so long?"