At these words, Yeben Lisan's smile instantly froze. He then coughed twice and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Did I ever say something like that?"
"Hahaha, you must have remembered wrong!"
Everyone from Meihou Industrial High School looked speechless as they watched their coach. They knew his personality better than anyone.
Before every game, no matter how strong or weak the opponent was, he would first disparage them verbally, saying they were weak and nothing worth worrying about.
With a helpless expression, Nakamura Yashi said, "Coach, this is already the quarterfinals. Any team that has made it this far can't possibly be that weak, even if there's a gap in strength."
He had specifically looked into Ryonan's match records before. After seeing their performances in the regional tournament and the early stages of the National Tournament, he knew perfectly well that they were definitely not an opponent who could be knocked down in just a few moves, as the coach claimed. Fukuda Kentai immediately nodded in agreement, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness.
"And I heard that Ryonan seems stronger than any opponent we've faced before. I also heard they beat Hainan in their previous games in Kanagawa."
Yamaaki Toru added, "And there are two players on their team named Chi Tong and Sendoh. They seem really strong, and their number fifteen also looks like a troublesome opponent."
Takeuchi Yusi chimed in as well.
With the players tearing him down one after another, Yeben Lisan did not get angry. Instead, he smiled and scratched his head before putting on a helpless expression. "Uh, hahaha, wasn't I just trying to ease the tension before the game? You all know that being too nervous before a match can easily lead to poor performance."
He paused, pulled a crumpled notebook