Ishii's chosen team gathered around him.
The coach stopped in front of the players.
"All right, as I already mentioned, we'll be playing a 4-3-3, but with a very attacking approach! Andou in goal; Ueno at right-back and Sugimoto at left-back; Noguchi and Kinoshita as centre-backs; Hamada and Yasuda as the two central midfielders; Shimizu will play as the right winger, while Tsukimura will take the left flank. I know you'll be playing out of position, but I'm sure you'll do your job. Finally, Nishimura will play as an attacking midfielder, supporting our central striker: Aliberti."
The coach looked over each of his players.
"Other than that, play as you normally would."
Nishimura clenched his fists slightly.
"You're seriously not going to say anything else!?"
"No. Nothing else. Play freely. All I need from you in this match is to see how you respond."
Ishii turned around and headed towards the bench.
"Come on, get out there. We haven't got all day."
The players watched him with frustrated expressions, while Riccardo seemed busy analysing the situation.
Shimizu approached him.
"That's our coach... a real demon, just like everyone says. Don't you think?"
Riccardo nodded.
"Looks that way..."
Shimizu put a hand on his shoulder.
"He wants answers from us, so let's give him what he's looking for! What do you say, newcomer?"
Riccardo noticed his teammate's enthusiastic smile and returned it.
"Yeah. In fact... I have to."
He then shifted his gaze towards Nishimura, who looked puzzled.
"I have to prove myself on the pitch to a couple of people."
Nishimura scoffed at those words and turned towards the pitch.
"You're always good with words, I see. Let's hope you're just as good with your feet."
Meanwhile, Coach Suzuki called Kaneko's team over.
"All right, lads. We'll be sticking to our usual formation: a 4-4-2. Yamauchi in goal; Takeda at right-back and Kuwahara at left-back; Aoki and Aoyama as centre-backs; Koyama and Tamura in central midfield; Tanaka on the left wing and Nakamura on the right. Finally, Ono will play as the second striker, just behind our main striker: Kaneko!"
As both teams began taking their positions on the pitch, numerous students gathered around the fence, curious about Riccardo's presence.
A girl walked past the pitch, carrying a gym bag in her right hand.
Noticing the crowd gathered around the playing area, she slowed down and stopped to watch.
Her high ponytail swayed as she moved, while her striking light blue eyes curiously scanned the pitch.
"Sato!"
Sato turned at the call and spotted a student waving her over.
"Hi, Yuzuki!"
"Finished training already?"
"Surprisingly, yes... But why is everyone gathered here?"
"The famous Shūdan-teki boys' football club is about to play a friendly match. But that's not the real reason I'm here. The new arrival has just joined the team."
Sato looked towards the pitch, searching for someone.
"The new arrival... the one who was recommended by the headmaster?"
Noticing that Sato was looking for him, Yuzuki pointed him out.
"Yes, that's him."
Sato watched Riccardo.
"He's got himself into quite a mess. The most hated student in school has joined the worst club... That team is anything but united."
"Yeah... It's all because of that coach. None of the boys who join the team can stand him, but somehow, no one has managed to get rid of him in ten years."
"Not qualifying for the national tournaments for ten years, especially for a school like this, is practically a crime."
The referees arrived on the pitch, and Riccardo noticed them, looking impressed.
This school really is elite...
The players took their positions.
Kaneko prepared to take the kick-off.
The referee blew his whistle, and Kaneko passed the ball to Tamura, who immediately played it out to the left for Tanaka.
Tanaka took on Shimizu, nudging the ball towards the touchline to get past him. With remarkable speed, he caught up with it and continued his run.
But just as he was bringing the ball under control, Ueno stepped in, attempting to dispossess him.
Tanaka, however, was still moving at full speed. He nutmegged Ueno and continued his run.
Riccardo watched him.
Making those runs this early in the match...
Tanaka reached the edge of the pitch, looked towards the centre and spotted Kaneko. He immediately delivered a cross.
Noguchi battled with the striker inside the penalty area, but Kaneko managed to get in front of him and connect with a header.
The effort went straight down the middle, however, allowing Andou to make a comfortable save.
Sato was impressed by the move.
"Number 7 is incredibly quick!"
"Coming from the future 100-metre champion, that's quite a compliment."
Back on the pitch, Andou, still holding the ball, spotted Hamada in space in midfield and threw it towards him.
Hamada controlled the ball and played it out to Shimizu, who was cutting inside from the right wing to receive it.
Shimizu noticed Tamura closing him down as he took his first touch. However, with the ball still moving, he decided not to bring it to a complete stop.
He rolled it across with the sole of his left boot towards his right foot, then pushed it forward, performing a variation of the "La Croqueta".
Tamura was completely wrong-footed by Shimizu's skill and was left behind as the winger accelerated past him.
But Shimizu was immediately put under pressure by Kuwahara.
Seeing the situation, he quickly looked up and spotted Tsukimura on the opposite flank.
Without hesitation, he switched play with a long pass.
The ball reached his teammate perfectly in stride, but Tsukimura failed to control it properly.
Seeing an opportunity to win possession, Takeda moved towards him.
"Tsukimura!"
Tsukimura immediately looked up and spotted Nishimura approaching.
He played the ball to him with the inside of his left foot.
Nishimura controlled it calmly, waiting for the opposition to close him down.
But it wasn't just Tamura and Koyama coming towards him. Kaneko also rushed in aggressively from the attacking line.
"You're finished!"
Nishimura immediately looked for someone to pass the ball to.
With all three opponents closing in on him, he spotted a narrow opening through which he could play the ball to Riccardo, who was being closely marked by the two centre-backs.
It's risky... but I have to try!
He threaded the ball through an incredibly tight gap between Koyama and Tamura.
The pass caught all three opponents by surprise.
Riccardo moved towards the ball, but Aoki immediately followed him, ready to dispossess him.
Kaneko noticed and smiled with satisfaction.
"Go on, Aoki! Give him the welcome he deserves!"
Riccardo heard him, but then noticed Shimizu making a run into the penalty area from the right wing, exploiting the space Aoki had just left behind.
Why not... let's give it a try!
With a quick, almost instinctive touch, he struck the ball with the outside of his right foot, changing its trajectory.
The ball glided away, almost perfectly, straight into Shimizu's path.
The winger and everyone else were left amazed by the pass.
Shimizu controlled the ball inside the penalty area, but Kuwahara quickly tracked back from the flank to close him down.
I can't cut inside and shoot with him right on my back!
He slowed the play down and looked towards the centre of the penalty area, searching for a teammate to pass to.
There's no way he could have made it into the middle already...
To his great surprise, however, he spotted Riccardo in the centre of the box, with both centre-backs trying to keep him under control.
But he was simply too quick for them.
Shimizu played a low pass into his path.
Goalkeeper Yamauchi read the situation and rushed off his line to intercept it.
Riccardo did the same, reaching the ball first with astonishing speed. He poked it with the toe of his left boot, sending it through the goalkeeper's legs just as Yamauchi was diving forward.
The ball rolled into the net.
Everyone, both on and off the pitch, was left speechless.
Only Shimizu reacted immediately, running towards Riccardo and jumping on him.
"What a move!"
The entire team rushed over to celebrate, praising the incredible combination between Riccardo and Shimizu.
Everyone except Nishimura, who remained stunned by Riccardo's technique.
After a few moments, Riccardo finally managed to escape his teammates' celebrations and approached Shimizu again, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Great pass. Give me more of those in the future!"
Shimizu smiled at him.
"Of course!"
Sato watched Riccardo talking to Shimizu, visibly surprised.
"That looked like a difficult move..."
She then turned towards Yuzuki, whose expression was incredibly enthusiastic.
"Looks like you think so too."
"Absolutely! That was amazing! I have to try moves like that with the other girls!"
Yuzuki nodded enthusiastically, making her dark red shoulder-length hair sway.
Her eyes, the same intense shade of red, sparkled with excitement.