Chapter 663: Schalke II VS SC Verl!

Much to Higo’s expectation, the beginning of the game turned out to be a slow one. Neither team dared to go all out from the beginning, not wanting to drain their energy when the opponent’s focus was still at its highest.

Still, it was SC Verl who took the first initiative of the game, controlling the tempo straight from the whistle being blown. They had Mehmet Kurt, a strong central midfielder from Turkey, and Jan Schoppner, a dynamic attacking midfielder in the pocket area, to help them maintain their possession.

Those two were experienced players who competed in the 3. Liga last year, so it was clear that they could suppress the trio of Schopf, Idrizi, and Fontein in Schalke’s midfield area. Those three didn’t even have any chance to develop the tempo, just falling back to their own defensive area immediately.

Well, no one really minded about it. In fact, even the coach had already predicted this state, since the departure of Jonas Hofmann and Morita to the first team really hurt their midfield. This was already the best they could ask for, and demanding more would be unreasonable for Frohling.

Fortunately, the team’s defense was still as strong as ever. With Brackelmann being in command on the defensive line, they could repel any attack from the opponent’s side easily so far. Of course, this state didn’t last forever, as their left back, Levent Mercan, somehow made a mistake in the 7th minute of the game.

"Shit! I lost the ball!" The Turkish fullback cursed when his pass only met the opponent’s midfielder.

"What the hell are you doing, Levent?! Go back!" Timo Becker shouted, starting to move back slowly to slow down the opponent.

However, this was a rare chance for SC Velt to make a move, and their players didn’t hesitate to take advantage of it. The ball landed on their attacking midfielder, Jan Schoppner, and the blonde man sent it back to that same flank, where their winger was already running through the sideline.

That boy also noticed that Higo was always strong in a crossing situation, so instead, he sent a cutback pass to the area outside of the penalty box, where one of their strikers, Matthias Haeder, picked up the ball.

BAM!

The first rocket was launched to Higo’s goal, not too high but still going to a troublesome spot. It even got through Brackelmann’s blockade, flying through the left side of the goal. Fortunately, Higo had already seen this beforehand, and with a little dive to that side, he didn’t even need to block that shot, letting it fall completely on his gloves.

"OH, YES! That’s what I’m waiting for!"

"COME ON, HIGO! FIRST SAVE!"

"We will keep the count, don’t worry about it!"

Higo himself couldn’t care less about the cheers right now. No, this was the best timing to launch a counterattack, and after scanning through the frontline for a second, Higo threw it to the right side, where the other fullback, Jonas Carls, had been waiting for.

"Come on, Carls! Push forward!" Higo roared, signalling for the counterattack before the opponent could recover to their original shape.

"SHIT! Move back! A counter is coming!"

"Slow him down! Slow him down! Don’t let him pass to Nassim!"

Two of SC Verl’s players rushed forward immediately, wanting to put pressure on Carls. However, the fullback moved quickly here. He knew that his route to the flank was blocked, so he passed back to Brackelmann in the center. Then, the captain was the one who sent the ball to the flank side.

"Oh! It is Nassim!"

"Come on, Nassim! Don’t you dare miss the chance here!"

The supporters rose immediately, cheering so loudly when they saw the Moroccan winger getting the ball. The boy didn’t disappoint, controlling it with his left foot before cutting inside with his right, starting to rush diagonally to the opponent’s penalty box. Unfortunately, SC Verl also realized how dangerous Nassim was in this kind of scenario, so one of their midfielders didn’t hesitate to pull his jersey forcefully.

"Oh, come on!" Nassim groaned annoyedly as he was forced to stop here. "Ref, can you see it?! We cannot advance further with this kind of play!" He complained, showing his annoyance.

Even though he didn’t get pulled to the ground, this little move was enough to delay the counter, and the referee also knew that. Without any hesitation, the man gave that midfielder a yellow card, punishing him for the professional foul he committed.

Still, that midfielder didn’t feel guilty at all. He just shrugged it off as nothing, walking back like this was something he should do.

If anything, his decision was correct, one that annoyed Frohling greatly. After all, Schalke’s success rate in a counterattack situation where Nassim managed to get through the center line was always high, with 70 percent of it always ending up in a threatening situation. Not all of them resulted in a goal, but at least this could help the team build the momentum for the later stage.

’It seems the opponent has already noticed this pattern and thought of a solution here. That means I have to adapt my counterattack method, right?’ He thought secretly.

Well, that was the thought once they were on the break, as right now, the game continued again. Unfortunately, the foul earlier cut Schalke’s momentum, and when they tried to build it once again, the opponent was more than ready to defend their own side with their lives.

Idrizi, Nassim, Randy, and Luca Schuler tried their best to breach the opponent’s territory with force, but all of their attempt only hit a brick wall. When defending, SC Verl put more than 6 players inside the box, while the last four became the wild dogs whose task was to chase away all the intruders from their door.

Their discipline was at a high level, enough to frustrate Schalke. If anything, though, it was they who got another dangerous chance later, as in the 28th minute, somehow, Levent Mercan lost the ball again. This time, the consequence was severe since most of Schalke’s players were still on the opposite half of the pitch.

Seeing this, Higo couldn’t help but widen his eyes, muttering just one word.

’Fuck!’