Chapter 141 "Igor's Indiscriminate Killing!"...
After the international break ended, Fino returned to Madrid immediately and threw himself into intensive training, with the second round of the league match against Espanyol away from home about to begin.
After finishing the day's training, Ronaldo stopped Fino and asked, "Fino, shall we do it today?"
Fino nodded, then turned to Casillas: "Igor, do you have time after training?"
Casillas looked at Fino, then at Ronaldo, somewhat puzzled, but still honestly replied, "Aside from having dinner with Sergio, I have no other plans."
Fino was relieved and said to Cassie, "Igor, if you're not too hungry, how about we postpone dinner? We need your help. After we're done, I'll treat you and Sergio to dinner."
Cristiano Ronaldo generously replied, "It's on me! You and Sergio can order whatever you like!"
Fino laughed and reached out to touch Ronaldo's hair, but before he could touch it, he changed direction and patted Ronaldo's shoulder instead.
That was close! I almost got my hand covered in hairspray.
"Whoever wins treats!"
Cristiano Ronaldo nodded, already getting excited about the match that was about to start.
Upon hearing that someone was going to treat everyone, the other teammates gathered around.
"Why only invite Igor and Sergio? I want to go too!"
"Hi, there's one more person here, available tonight."
...
Nobody cares about the dinner, but everyone wants to participate; it's a great social opportunity.
Casillas and Ramos are the big names of the Spanish contingent. According to Real Madrid's captaincy rules, after Raul and Guti retired, these two became Real Madrid's captain and vice-captain.
Needless to say, Fino and Ronaldo, two young foreign stars, both joined Real Madrid with astronomical transfer fees.
There have been huge changes in the locker room this summer. Everyone needs a chance to integrate into the group, and at least not be the one left out. Now that four very important players on the team are teaming up, only a fool wouldn't take the opportunity to join them.
At this moment, Guti walked over, put his elbow on Fino's shoulder, and raised an eyebrow, pretending to be unhappy, and asked, "What's wrong with the kids? The captain and vice-captain are still here!"
Fino smiled and turned to explain to him, "I'll have to take up some of Igor's time today. Dinner is a thank you dinner. When I have a holiday, I'll book a private room and treat everyone to a more formal dinner."
Guti's purpose was to liven up the atmosphere, not for the meal itself.
This Real Madrid team has been assembled for too short a time, and the players are still polite and restrained to each other, inevitably with a sense of restraint and scrutiny.
"What do you need Igor for? Do you need any help?" At this moment, Raul also came over.
Cristiano Ronaldo nonchalantly said, "I want to have a penalty shootout with Fino, and I hope Igor can help me keep an eye on the goal."
The atmosphere was quiet for a second before returning to its previous liveliness.
Considering the minor incident during the first round of La Liga when the two players were arguing over a penalty, the meaning behind Ronaldo's words is self-evident.
Without saying a word, Casillas began to put on his gloves decisively.
A group of people surrounded Fino and Ronaldo as they approached the goal.
By the time Casillas was ready to make the save, Fino and Ronaldo had agreed on the rules: they would take turns standing at the penalty spot and take turns throwing the penalty kicks. Each person would take 5 kicks per round, for a total of 6 rounds, with each person scoring a total of 30 kicks. The person who scored the most kicks would win.
The other Real Madrid players stood by and watched the game.
Arbeloa, who returned from the Premier League this season, rubbed his hands together and couldn't resist opening a small betting pool.
Guti was the first to respond, betting 100 euros on Ronaldo.
With the bigwigs taking the lead, other players also pulled out their wallets and placed bets with Arbeloa.
Arbeloa was too lazy to keep track of the expenses, so he simply put out 100 euros for each person. Those who bet on Ronaldo stood to Casillas's left, and those who bet on Fino stood to Casillas's right. It was all very clear.
The vast majority of players bet on Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo is three years older than Fino, and he frequently took penalty kicks when he was at Manchester United, while Fino didn't have many opportunities to take penalties, so it's hard to tell what level he's at.
Theoretically speaking, Ronaldo has a clear advantage over Fino, both mentally and in terms of experience. They interpret this so-called contest as Fino being young and arrogant, unwilling to be outdone by Ronaldo, and simply engaging in pointless provocation.
Only Kaká, Alonso, and Higuaín beat Fino.
Kaká and Fino were teammates for three years, so he certainly knew Fino's penalty-taking ability. Milan had many penalty and free-kick specialists, and they were all happy to give Fino pointers. Fino could be said to have learned from many masters, resulting in a very high success rate.
Although Alonso was unsure of Fino's level, he knew Fino's character. Fino never fought unprepared; he was young but not arrogant. He wouldn't have challenged Ronaldo for penalty kicks unless he was absolutely certain of victory.
Higuain's thoughts were the most peculiar. He was simply unhappy that Ronaldo had been pre-selected as the penalty taker as soon as he joined the team. While Raul and Kaká remained silent, he went along with the crowd and didn't object, but he harbored resentment. He silently prayed that Fino would step up and win the penalty taker, thus proving Pellegrini and Ronaldo wrong.
As Fino and Ronaldo took their penalties one after another, the expressions of the players watching grew increasingly serious.
Cristiano Ronaldo played with his usual steady and precise style, just as they expected.
But Fino was equally impressive, scoring goal after goal, and he didn't fall behind Ronaldo.
In the first round, both players made 4 out of 5 shots, with similar accuracy.
In the second round, Ronaldo still had 4 out of 5 goals scored, while Fino had 3 out of 5 goals scored, temporarily trailing Ronaldo by one goal.
In the third round, Ronaldo scored 4 out of 5 goals, while Fino scored 5 out of 5, equaling Ronaldo's record. His teammates cheered and applauded Fino's brilliant performance.
In the fourth round, Ronaldo also scored 5 goals and converted all of them. Before he could celebrate for long, Fino calmly converted all five of his own goals, bringing their stats back to even.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Fino's perfect performance once again drew cheers from their teammates, with even Casillas giving them a thumbs up.
The commotion on the training field also caught the attention of the coaching team, and Pellegrini came over with several assistant coaches.
In the fifth round, both Ronaldo and Fino scored 5 goals with 3 on target, bringing the draw to the final round.
In the final round, Ronaldo walked to the penalty spot with the ball in his arms. He flicked the ball between his fingers a few times, turned to Fino, raised an eyebrow, and grinned mischievously, "How about something more exciting in the final round?"
Fino understood immediately: "A penalty shootout, a draw means sudden death?"
Cristiano Ronaldo nodded.
Fino made a "yes" gesture.
In the final round, the two players take turns with one ball each, completely simulating a penalty shootout, which will significantly increase the psychological pressure on the penalty takers.
At this point, no one on the training field spoke. The immense pressure was not only on Ronaldo and Fino, but also on the onlookers.
Especially for midfielders and forwards, they unconsciously put themselves in the shoes of the person taking the penalty kick, thinking about how to take the shot.
Both Ronaldo and Fino withstood the pressure, scoring one goal after another and converting both penalties into goals.
After six rounds of free throws, Ronaldo and Fino are tied, both making 25 out of 30, with a free throw percentage of approximately 83%.
This is a remarkable number, even though it wasn't in an official match and didn't reach 85%, their opponent was a serious Casillas, the Saint Casillas at his peak.
Especially in the final round of the five-goal contest, even the spectators were affected by the pressure in the air. Cristiano Ronaldo and Fino, the main characters, withstood this pressure and scored all their goals.
The final round of 5 goals still ended in a draw. Fino and Ronaldo exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with admiration for each other, and both were burning with fighting spirit.
Next comes the even more thrilling sudden-death round, where the two players take turns shooting free throws, each shot potentially deciding the outcome. If both make their shots or both miss, the game continues; if one makes a shot and the other misses, the game ends immediately, with no room for error.
At this moment, the pressure in the air seemed to have truly transformed into a gaseous form, entering the lungs with everyone's breathing, occupying the space for oxygen, and spreading throughout the body with the transport of red blood cells.
Some of the younger players were so nervous that they started sweating.
Cristiano Ronaldo took the first penalty, followed closely by Fino.
Both players scored on the first penalty.
Time flies, and the second ball game is about to begin.
Cristiano Ronaldo breathed a sigh of relief, stood with his hands on his hips at the penalty spot, and observed Casillas's position.
Casillas, who had already made 62 saves, had his hair soaked with sweat, but he remained calm and focused, looking ahead with unwavering eyes, waiting for Ronaldo's penalty kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo glanced discreetly at the bottom right corner of the goal before finally taking a shot.
He gently rubbed the bottom of the ball with the instep of his foot, giving it an upward spin, and the ball slowly flew towards the goal along the middle.
After the ball was delivered, Ronaldo immediately thought to himself, "It's over!"
Despite his less-than-ideal height, Casillas still reached the pinnacle of goalkeeping, relying on his top-notch reaction speed, solid goalkeeping technique, amazing core strength and explosiveness, as well as his excellent positional awareness and anticipation.
Cristiano Ronaldo boldly executed a Panenka kick to deceive Casillas's anticipation. He even deliberately glanced nonchalantly at the bottom right corner of the goal and made the illusion of kicking towards that corner with his body language.
Whether Casillas was tricked or realized the deception and lunged in the opposite direction, as long as Casillas was away from the center of the goal, he had succeeded.
However, Casillas remained motionless and easily caught the ball from the spot.
Cristiano Ronaldo lost his bet.
Casillas clenched his fists and roared. Starting from the fifth goal in the sixth round, Ronaldo and Fino took turns taking the penalty. This was the 13th penalty taken by the two of them combined, and Casillas finally made the save.
Cassie's roar broke the long-standing silence, and the stagnant air began to move.
Immediately afterwards, Fino stood at the penalty spot with the ball. If he missed this shot, his match against Ronaldo would continue; if he scored, he would be the winner of the game.
At this time, Cassie was in high spirits, and Fino was under immense pressure.
Fino also took a deep breath, calmed himself for two seconds, and then took the penalty kick.
Casillas gambled on the bottom left corner, but as he moved away from the center of the goal, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the ball had curved and slipped into the net from the spot he had just cleared.
That's right, Fino copied Ronaldo's Spoon kick, and this time, Casillas made the wrong bet.
Fino won the final victory.
After the free throw went in, the stadium was silent for two seconds, followed by applause, cheers, and even whistles.
No one expected that at such a crucial moment, Fino would replicate the scoop Ronaldo had just missed with a penalty kick. What terrifying mental fortitude does that take?
The applause and cheers were for Fino, and also for Ronaldo. This match was an eye-opener for everyone. The two competed in high-level shooting for so long, and no one was a loser.
A hint of disappointment and regret flashed in Cristiano Ronaldo's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He's no longer the little Ronaldo who used to cry easily; he can afford to lose.
He stepped forward, extended his right hand, and firmly grasped Fino's hand, sincerely saying, "You won, congratulations!"
Fino patted Ronaldo on the shoulder: "According to the 30-goal rule set before the match, we are tied. The last goal was just a surprise attack on Igor, a trick. If our penalty order had been reversed, you would have won."
Fino was also sincere. It's hard for most people to imagine that the person taking the second penalty would repeat the mistake of the one who missed earlier. If Ronaldo had taken the penalty, Ronaldo would have scored too.
Cristiano Ronaldo shook his head. In a penalty shootout, the player who takes the penalty second is under more psychological pressure than the player who takes it first. This is why the team that wins the coin toss often chooses to take the penalty first.
Before Ronaldo could speak, Casillas walked over while taking off his gloves. After hearing Fino's words, he pretended to be angry and said, "Fino, what do you mean? Anyone can score? Do you think I'm a target? You two made me look bad today, I was already very unhappy!"
Fino immediately clasped his hands together and pleaded with Cassie with puppy-dog eyes, "Igor, you're the best goalkeeper currently playing, we can only resort to a shortcut!"
Flattery will always work, but it can ruin the seriousness of a man in a suit in an instant.
"The penalty shootout is a draw." Fino turned to Ronaldo again and emphasized, "Shall we compare free kicks?"
Cristiano Ronaldo shook his head.
So the penalty-taking responsibility was decided: Fino and Ronaldo would take the penalties and free kicks they created themselves, while the penalties and free kicks created by others would be taken by the two of them, one per game.
Seeing Ronaldo and Fino casually awarding the penalty kicks, Pellegrini remained silent, tacitly approving their actions.
If it were a strong-willed manager, he might feel that this was a challenge to his authority, and even if he made an inappropriate decision, he would not allow the players to question his decision. But Pellegrini did not have that kind of confidence.
He even felt that Ronaldo and Fino had solved the problem themselves, which actually saved them a big trouble, and everyone was happy.
Higuain felt a little regretful, but that's just how reality is; if you don't have the courage to stand up, you lose the right to a share of the pie.
At this point, Arbeloa, acting as the bookmaker, asked, "If it's a tie, which side wins? Does the bookmaker take all the winnings?"
Ramos immediately retorted, "What a big mouth you have, trying to beat the bookies?"
Marcelo added, "I think it's a bookmaker paying out in full!"
Arbeloa naturally refused; there was no reason for him to pay out of his own pocket to be the bookmaker.
The elementary school kids on the back line started arguing.
At this moment, Fino stepped forward and made the final decision: "Igor wins! Since it's a draw, then Igor wins!"
Casillas has done such a big favor, so he has to win everything, especially since I didn't place any bets myself.
Cassie patted Fino on the shoulder, thinking the kid was really sensible, and then extended his hand to Arbeloa.
The old man at the gate reached out his hand, and the usually unreliable defense had no one to argue with, so they could only obediently watch Casillas take all the money.
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank you everyone for your support! [cheering emoji]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
