Chapter 881: Stopping the Second Penalty!

"On-site decision! A handball from Sebastian Rudy! A penalty kick for Mainz!"

"Oh, come on!"

The moment the decision was announced, all the Schalke players groaned. Honestly, it was as if they were on a run of bad luck today, with two penalties coming from the same VAR scenario.

Honestly, it felt like karma was playing a role here. After being favored by the VAR last game with two fifty-fifty incidents resulting in their favor, today, they got two decisions made by VAR that went against them. To make it worse, those two ended up in a penalty kick, probably the worst possible scenario of all times.

"Are you really sure that it is a handball?" Omar Mascarell still tried to push his luck here, unwilling to accept the decision straight away. "It probably only hits his waist, you know? Side? It is a bit harsh to give them a penalty for that when you have already given them one before..."

Even Frohling himself tried to put pressure on the fourth referee on the sideline. "Just watch! I will definitely review the incident after the game is over, and if I saw that you played with us... Don’t think you can still be a referee again after this fucking game!"

Unfortunately, no amount of threat and intimidation worked here. The referee just shook his head, clearly saying that the VAR had already decided everything in this case.

Still, for those who could watch the replay on their television, they would think that the decision was quite harsh. After all, the angle of the camera was bad, only showing the incident from behind.

Not only that, from that position, the ball looked like it was hitting either Rudy’s waist or hand, but it was closer to the waist, especially since Sebastian Rudy also put his hand behind his body at that moment.

Unfortunately, the moment the referee decided to check on the VAR, he had already formed a bias inside his head. After all, the complaints from Mainz’s players were quite convincing, and with a bad angle even from the footage itself, the man felt like he missed something, and he concluded that it should be the handball incident itself.

That was why, even with a less clear vision like that, the man still decided that it was a penalty for Mainz, the second one that he gave this game.

"Fucking hell... You guys sure know how to make things difficult for me, huh?" Higo sighed helplessly.

"Ah... Sorry about that, Higo..." At least, Stambouli had the decency to look sheepish here. "Still, you have saved one before, right? Getting the second one should be easier than before..." He chuckled awkwardly, trying to ease the tension with a poor joke.

Higo could feel the corner of his lips twitching as he stared at the Frenchman speechlessly. "You are getting spoiled too much, Benjy-san. You think that saving a penalty is really that easy?" He retorted.

"...Ahaha... Just do your best, okay? Even if you concede a goal, we will do our job to get back later." Stambouli patted the boy’s shoulder before running away, not wanting to be there too long under Higo’s guilt-trip gaze.

It seemed that he was the bravest one here, as the rest of the team didn’t even dare to approach him. It was clear based on their gazes that they were too guilty about it, not wanting to receive Higo’s wrath.

"... Fine, it all depends on me again, huh?" Higo took a deep breath before getting ready for the penalty kick.

The one who stepped into the white spot this time was not that defender with the number 18, but their striker, Jean-Philippe Mateta. The burly man eyed Higo directly, and based on the man’s expression, the goalkeeper could’ve already made a guess about what kind of a penalty he would face after this.

’Another power shot, huh? Now, the question should be, how good he is at aiming the ball?’

The worst-case scenario would be a player who could send the ball to the top bins, as that was definitely not an area that Higo could reach so easily. Still, not a lot of players had the technique to do that, and those who had sometimes didn’t even have the guts to pull it up in this exact moment.

Soon enough, the penalty box was cleared for all the people there, only leaving Higo and Mateta there. The referee was also ready, and in the next second...

’Left... Low!’

FWEEE!

The moment the referee blew the whistle, Higo had already shifted his center of gravity. There was a slight surprise here, since he didn’t expect that Mateta would prefer to go for accuracy rather than power.

However, with that image inside his head, the boy didn’t hesitate even for a single second here.

’I can stop it! Come on!’

BAM!

Then, true as Higo expected, the ball came low, piercing the ground, going to the far corner of the left side. Honestly, with that aim, it would be troublesome for Higo to handle if he didn’t move first.

Still, this time, his reaction was on time, with one hand stretching far to deflect the ball away from the goal, getting it out of the pitch.

"OH! FUCKING HELL!" The first one to react there was Stambouli, as he rushed toward Higo in awe and disbelief. "What the fuck is that inside your head?! How could you fucking save something like that, Boy?!" He asked while hugging Higo in celebration, looking at the boy in pure awe.

Soon enough, the other Schalke players also rushed, hugging Higo enthusiastically.

"Come on! Give us another pen, our fucking Wakabayashi will stop it!"

"We have the best goalkeeper in the world! What can you do?!"

Honestly, Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching when he heard that. After all, who the fuck wanted to suffer from another penalty kick? Only those who were involved in the match-fixing scandal should be willing to do that.

Still, he couldn’t help but have a big grin at this point, knowing that at least he didn’t embarrass the trophy that he had just won a few days ago.

’Yeah, blocking two penalties, who can top that?’