"Hey, old man, you're pretty capable! You actually brought Japan this far!"
Both sides got out of their cars at the same time. Echizen Nanjirō went straight over to Mifune and greeted him warmly.
Mifune wasn't surprised. Raising his voice, he said, "Long time no see, Samurai Nanjirō!"
"Building the world's number one team isn't easy, but the youngsters on our Japan Team are still no pushovers."
Nanjirō ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Muneyoshi behind him. "Yeah. I've been keeping an eye on them all along..."
Though the conversation between the two was casual, the players on both teams exchanged looks from the sidelines.
The match hadn't even started, but the air was already thick with tension.
"See you later, then."
Echizen Nanjirō waved and led the Spain Team players away.
Mifune Nyudo watched Nanjirō's retreating figure, his thoughts unreadable.
Muneyoshi and the others didn't ask him about it. Besides, Muneyoshi's gaze had been sweeping over the Spain Team the whole time.
Aside from Medrano, he hadn't spotted another Antonio.
"Heh. Are they planning to catch us off guard?"
Muneyoshi shook his head and put the thought aside.
Then Muneyoshi and Mifune led everyone to the Japan Team's private waiting room.
The final was different from the other matches; it had its own ceremony.
The match hadn't begun yet, so it wasn't time for the players to take the court.
Once the organizers had everything ready and notified the Japan Team, the final of the Melbourne U-17 World Cup Open officially began.
As was customary, representatives of the organizers and the Melbourne city government took the stage to give speeches.
But the crowd was worked up, so the speeches were brief and to the point.
Next, the host rapidly read out the list of sponsors for