That's his son

3

Somewhere in Japan, The Football Journal is interviewing surprise star player Itoshi Sae, a 17-year-old Japanese Midfielder who highly detests football in Japan. Though he has no interest in Japanese football, he already has a spot on the Japan National Team, stating it's not essential to him at all. Sae makes a bold declaration and promptly leaves the interview. It is revealed that Sae is only back in Japan to renew his passport, but while leaving the building, he stumbles upon a press conference for Blue Lock. Reporters bombard Anri and Hirotoshi with questions on the realism and reliability of Blue Lock, and Anri responds with confidence that Blue Lock will succeed and fix Japan's broken soccer by creating a hero. This piques the interest of Itoshi Sae.

The First Selection is explained in detail. It will be a round-robin tourney between the five teams of the 5th stratum, and only the top 2 teams will advance to the Second Selection. Another way to succeed is to be the top scorer and most dominant player on your team. Tourney rankings are based on awarded points dependent on the game outcome; A win is 3 points, a draw is 1 point, and a loss is 0 points. Also, the amount of points lost is taken into account to rank teams with the same amount of points. Team Z is taken aback as they realize they will have to play together to advance, and then they start debating about who plays what position.

Back in the conference hall, Anri talks about the history of Japanese Football and how Japan has come so far and gotten so close to the World Cup but always comes out short. With Blue Lock, the dream of being the best in the world is officially revived. A hero must be born, and they must lead Japan to victory. Who will accept that hero from Blue Lock, a facility packed to the brim with people who want nothing more than to be the best? At that moment, Itoshi Sae tells his manager to cancel all his plans for he wants to see what kind of player Blue Lock can create.