Chapter 898: Frankfurt Takes Initiative!

’The best goalkeeper in the league? Heh, let me test how good he is today!’

At least, that was what Andre Silva thought at the beginning of the game, and he almost proved that with a quick goal, if only that exact same person he initially sneered at didn’t suddenly make a move at the last second here.

Somehow, Higo reacted straight at the same time when the ball fell on his right foot, and the moment it bounced off Andre Silva’s foot, the boy had already stretched one hand far ahead, making a swipe movement to block the ball away from the goal.

Thud!

"Oh, fuck! The second ball!"

"Rebound! Get it!"

The moment the ball was truly blocked, everyone rushed to the six-yard box, knowing that they had to clear it first from the dangerous place. It was fortunate, though, that Schalke had already gotten used to Higo’s crazy performance, so a help-defense like this, where the only thing they needed to do was to clear the ball, was still quite easy to handle.

BAM!

Benjamin Stambouli cleared it away, not leaving any chances for Frankfurt’s players behind him to get the ball first.

"Nice save, Higo!" He just high-fived the boy while helping him get up from the ground casually.

At this point, all the Schalke players were quite numb to Higo’s craziness; such an amazing save inside the six-yard box only warranted the boy a casual high-five.

Higo himself didn’t think too much about it. If anything, doing a high-spirited celebration in every save that he made seemed to be way too exhausting for his own good. Instead, it was better to stay casual, only saving his energy for a better occasion.

What still made his heart race, though, was the fact that Frankfurt was trying to imitate their blitzkrieg attack in a more efficient way, and it almost succeeded if only it wasn’t him who was on the goal line.

Yeah, that attack was done only 20 seconds after the start of the game, a familiar tempo for Schalke, who always tried to seek a quick goal after a kick-off. This strategy had been imitated a lot by the other teams in the league, but this was the first time Higo saw it become so deadly efficient, and it would be a lie if the boy said that he wasn’t nervous.

’Fortunately, I could still save that shit, or the team would be in big trouble later...’ He muttered under his breath.

Still, that didn’t mean Frankfurt’s attack was over. If anything, Andre Silva was just slightly surprised that Higo managed to save his tap-in, but the man’s face clearly showed that he was so excited to break through Higo’s goal.

This was a clear ego from a good striker. When they faced a better goalkeeper, they would be curious at how it felt to bag a goal against that person. Of course, Higo himself saw this, so he could only feel the corner of his lips twitching in amusement.

’Well, I cannot wait to see your frustrating face after everything is over later...’

The attack continued once again, and just like before, it all started with Filip Kostic. The Serbian man was truly the brain of any operation, and hell, even if everyone knew about it, the man was simply unstoppable.

He was a player who was willing to drop back to receive the ball, and if only someone tried to mark him down Frankfurt’s territory, that would leave a big space behind, which the home team would never hesitate to take advantage of.

Then, when he received the ball slightly closer to the center line, the man had a lot of options to take.

He could just go down the sideline to attack the flank, sending a decisive diagonal cross toward the box, or even just playing a combination attack with the midfielder, and everything would still turn into a dangerous attack.

Then came the support from the midfield, where Djibril Sow and Makoto Hasebe would always be in the vicinity to help recycle possession if only Filip Kostic stuck with his limited options. This made it impossible for Schalke to snatch the possession away so easily to launch a quick counterattack.

Not that they really wanted to do it, of course, since Schalke was content with playing defense first at the beginning of the game. They had already gotten used to fighting back later; losing possession at the start wasn’t really the end of the world.

Still, Frankfurt’s attack was so fierce.

In the 10th minute, Filip Kostic managed to attract Schalke’s defense to shift toward his side, and the man suddenly switched the ball to the other flank to exploit the emptiness there. Unfortunately, the wingback in that spot failed to send a good ball to the box, only putting it straight into Higo’s hands.

Then, in the 13th minute, the most dangerous attack appeared.

This time, it all started with Makoto Hasebe, who held the ball, and somehow, Schalke’s players had the illusion that he would always pass it, so they stepped back to wait and see where the ball would go.

Who would’ve thought, though, that the 37-year-old defensive midfielder would decide to push the ball by himself, and once he got closer enough to the penalty box, he sent the ball to Daichi Kamada who opened a space next to him, and the attacking midfielder would take advantage of the fact that they attracted so much attention to shift the ball to the other side.

There, Andre Silva managed to sneak into the channel area, and when he received the ball, the Portuguese striker couldn’t help but grin.

’Hah! The first point goes to me!’

Or... So that was what he thought.

Unfortunately, though, he didn’t see Higo coming, as the boy also pounced from his spot, fighting to get the ball first. He slid on the ground quite violently, and before Andre Silva could even swing his foot...

BAM!

Higo snatched the ball first, and in that exact second, one player suddenly made a move in the midfield.

"RYUSUKE! COME ON!"