Chapter 723: Magician from Brazil, Phillipe Coutinho!

A substitution for Bayern Munich.

Thiago Alcantara, their playmaker in the midfield, was subbed off the pitch by their head coach, Hansi Flick. In return, the magician from Brazil, Phillipe Coutinho, came in, getting ready to wreak havoc in Schalke’s territory.

Higo’s face turned solemn when he saw that man. Even though he was not that tall and didn’t look so strong, the boy still remembered Kumiko’s assessment about him.

"Phillipe Coutinho, a playmaker loaned from Barcelona. He is a shifty player, being able to get rid of one or even two players at the same time to create his own space. However, if there is one thing dangerous about him, it is his placing shot. He basically masters this shot, being one of the best in the world to do so. When he has space and the right angle, keep an eye on the far post, because his aim will never miss."

’A loanee from Barcelona... Only being able to get into Bayern’s bench... That’s how big of a cheat code this team is, right?’ The goalkeeper could feel the corner of his lips twitching speechlessly here.

Coutinho didn’t stay idle for too long. Just ten seconds after the Brazilian man got onto the pitch, he received the ball in the pocket area, turning around so quickly that both Morita and Juan Miranda got caught off guard.

"SHIT!"

"Someone, cover!"

Seeing that Coutinho snuck into the channel space and got closer to the byline, Higo let out a short, relieved breath. Even though the situation was still dangerous, at least the man didn’t go for his most dangerous weapon. With him being far into the box, the only chance here was...

Thud!

’Yeah, he could only send a cutback!’ Higo grinned. ’I could get this!’ He rushed forward for two steps before diving with both hands stretching far, trying to catch the ball in the air. In front of him, Thomas Muller also tried to extend one foot, intending to push the ball into the goal.

BRUGH!

"ARGH!"

Higo groaned in pain as he felt his body collide with the opponent. However, the boy still managed to catch the ball perfectly, not giving any chance for Bayern players to get a rebound and score against him.

The referee also moved fast, blowing the whistle and giving a free kick to Schalke. Fortunately, Thomas Muller managed to get his foot away from the path where he intended to, or Higo would be in deeper trouble, having that foot going straight to his abdomen.

Still, the boy used this time to slow down the game for a moment. He also didn’t forget to say something to Morita here. "If he gets the ball, just get him into the channel again like this. At least, he wouldn’t be able to use his best weapon."

Morita blinked for a moment before figuring out what Higo meant here. He nodded quietly, looking at the Brazilian playmaker with a more serious gaze.

Unfortunately, this was still not enough for him to defend Coutinho perfectly. The Brazilian was too slippery here. The man knew that Morita was guarding him from taking an angle, so he shook the boy twice, pretending to cut inside before chopping into the byline and turning around 90 degrees again to get into the half-arc area just like he wanted to be.

Poor Morita, he became a perfect highlight for the man here, getting his ankle broken in the face of such an absolute dribble.

"FUCK! No, cover the space there!"

"Don’t let him shoot!"

All the Schalke players knew full well that Coutinho was dangerous in that area. Two people put their bodies in line, trying to block all the incoming shots here. Higo himself had already shifted his position, wanting to cover the far post immediately.

However, right in that second, a vision came to his mind, and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.

’FUCK!’

Thud!

Instead of going for himself, Phillipe Coutinho decided to send a low through ball, getting it through Ozan Kabak’s legs before it arrived straight inside the penalty box, just slightly toward the left side where Thomas Muller was standing.

The captain himself grinned when he saw Higo was already moving. However, he made a mistake by informing Higo way earlier, when they were chatting before the second half began, which the boy still remembered well.

"Lewy becomes more curious about you, so get ready to face him more!"

This little information wrapped in a teasing manner, coupled with Kumiko’s report on how Bayern always liked to move the ball around even inside the opponent’s penalty box to make sure that they got a 100 percent chance to score, made Higo dare to gamble here.

Instead of trying to recover to his original position and protect the near post from Muller’s attack, he didn’t change his stance, just leaning toward the far post. Then, true enough, what he was waiting for finally came.

Thud!

Instead of getting it done by himself, Muller tried to send a cutback to his right, and Lewandowski suddenly appeared out of nowhere, bypassing Ozan Kabak and Oczipka before bursting into the scene heroically. It was clear that he was hungry for a goal right now, wanting nothing but to slam the ball into the back of the net.

However, Higo was one step faster in this case.

He had already been moving to the space between those two, and when the pass finally came, it didn’t take that much for him to dive to the ground, catching it before the Polish striker could snatch the ball from his grasp.

"WHAT?!" The two Bayern strikers widened their eyes in shock, not knowing where Higo came from.

Still, Higo didn’t just stop with that catch. No, the boy knew that his team was currently down by one goal, so he got up immediately, scanning around for just a millisecond before finding one person who could lead the counterattack.

"MORITA-SAN! COME ON!"