Chapter 108
Cristiano remembered very clearly how the game started in his previous life, but to be honest, he only remembered how it started because everything that happened afterwards happened so quickly and chaotically.
He told himself in his heart that at least he couldn't be kicked off this time.
The whistle to start the game was blown, and the Tulip Army, wearing white away jerseys, started off with fierce action.
The front line of this Tulip Army is composed of Van Persie, Robben and Kuyt, forming the Dutch forward trident, while Van Bommel and the other three are responsible for guarding the midfield.
Van Bommel possesses excellent defensive and offensive abilities and is an indispensable dispatcher on the court. His playing style is fierce and his attack is extremely sharp.
On the Portuguese side, Cristiano and Figo flew on both wings, and Pauleta was at the front of the line.
"Okay! Kick-off! Cristiano dribbles the ball on the left and quickly presses towards the Dutch frontcourt! Van Bommel approaches from behind Ronaldo!" The commentator in the broadcast room said quickly.
“It seems that the Dutch team has been keeping a close eye on this Portuguese golden boy who shined in his first World Cup!”
Cristiano noticed Van Bommel approaching from the corner of his eye, and he immediately passed the ball to Nuno who came to the midfield.
As soon as the ball passed his feet, he was hit hard from behind by Van Bommel.
Cristiano was tackled almost at the same time. He jumped up slightly and then rolled to the ground with a scream. The Russian referee Ivanov hurried over and showed Van Bommel a yellow sapphire card.
Seeing this, Scolari in the coaching booth widened his eyes and turned to look at the Dutch coach Van Basten on the other side.
This is clearly targeted! Damn it, Scolari pursed his lips tightly, frowned slightly, and carefully observed the situation on the field.
Van Basten noticed Scolari's gaze. He looked at Scolari expressionlessly and turned back to the court.
"Van Bommel tackled Ronaldo from behind and received a yellow card warning! The game had only just started in the first minute!! The atmosphere between the two sides was very tense!" The commentator in the broadcast room became excited.
In the previous life, this game also received a yellow card just two minutes into the game, and this life it happened even faster and earlier.
Cristiano's speed and efficiency are faster and higher than in his previous life, and the Tulip Army can therefore attack earlier and more decisively.
Cristiano knows very well that there is no such thing as a static game.
His partner nodded and said: "As expected of the Orange Army's most ruthless player, Van Bommel's tackle from behind was neat and tidy, forcing Ronaldo to pass the ball away, blocking the opponent's offensive momentum!"
"Although Van Bommel got a yellow gem card, if Ronaldo is allowed to break into the threatening shooting area from the left wing, then based on Ronaldo's current shooting data in the World Cup official matches, four out of six shots have been scored, the Netherlands' goal will probably face a great challenge," the commentator analyzed.
Cristiano got up from the ground, covering his feet. He bared his teeth and frowned, then jumped twice on the spot. There was nothing wrong.
It is difficult to avoid a tackle from behind, but fortunately he was prepared and Van Bommel's attack was not too real.
Deco looked at him and he nodded slightly to indicate that everything was fine, and the game resumed.
The Tulip Army, which received a yellow card, did not show much restraint, and Cristiano was closely guarded.
Less than three minutes later, when Cristiano once again received the ball from Deco in the midfield, the Dutch defender, Braluz, who played for Hamburg, came up to him fiercely!
Cristiano's attention was all focused on the ball. He raised his knee to stop the ball, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed a figure suddenly rushing towards him. He stopped abruptly and turned his back as if he had expected it!
The defender nicknamed "Piranha" was extremely ferocious. When he rushed forward, he raised his foot and showed his studs. The height of his foot was almost as high as Cristiano's knees and thighs!
However, Cristiano lifted the ball a second ago and turned his back in time to avoid Braluz's high tackle.
Bulaluz missed the target and nearly fell forward, causing the audience to cheer at the same time.
Scolari took a breath, marveling at Cristiano's amazing reaction ability, which was like foresight. At the same time, he was extremely grateful that Braluz's kick did not actually step on Cristiano's thigh.
Scolari angrily protested to the linesman on the sidelines. He waved his arms in anger and shouted something, but obviously to no avail.
Cristiano lifted the ball over Braruz, who nimbly and quickly bypassed the defender who was defending him and caught up with the ball in two or three seconds.
No one expected that the tackle would be avoided. Braluz didn't have time to turn around and adjust his defense, and the other teammates didn't have time to catch up with Cristiano.
There was a gap of a few seconds in front of him!
Cristiano looked towards the goal quickly and his eyes met Van der Sar in front of the goal.
Van der Sar's eyelids twitched.
Cristiano didn't hesitate for almost a second, knowing that the chance to score in this game was rare. He pressed the ball and kicked it diagonally straight into the goal!
When Van der Sar met those eyes, he immediately realized that Cristiano was going to shoot. He was so familiar with this look, so familiar with it that he knew which direction the other party wanted to kick just by looking at him.
At the same time as Cristiano kicked the ball, he quickly made a save in the same direction. It can be said that it was the most timely save among the world's top goalkeepers!
However, even if Van der Sar could guess the direction of the ball and the timing of the shot, Cristiano's long shot was like an unsolvable problem.
The extremely fast ball drew an erratic trajectory in the air, like a fallen leaf, and suddenly fell on the grass near the goal line, then bounced into the net!
Van der Sar was half-kneeling on the grass. The speed of the ball was almost an afterimage. He clearly felt that the ball was held in his arms, but it turned out to have fallen straight into the grass a moment earlier!
He turned his head helplessly and in disbelief, staring at the ball hanging in the net, and couldn't help but smile helplessly.
Damn Ronnie, his ball speed, power and even curve seem to have made incredible progress after 20 days of training with the national team.
This guy just won't stop, right?
No one can save this ball!
The moment the ball entered the net, the entire Nuremberg Frank Stadium was boiling. This unexpected shot into the net was like dropping a drop of water into boiling oil, which immediately exploded with a crackling sound!
"A world wave!!!! Cristiano Ronaldo once again!! Made a wonderful shot on the World Cup stage!!!" The commentator jumped up from his seat excitedly, "This is Ronaldo's first goal in the World Cup knockout stage, it's absolutely wonderful!!"
His partner also said excitedly: "Ronaldo used his performance to prove to the Tulip Army that even the tightest defense can't stop his determination and pace to score goals!"
The game had just started in the seventh minute and Portugal was leading by one point!
Cristiano rushed towards the audience and yelled, then took off his jersey and held it tightly in his hand, showing his muscles to the audience on the field, demonstrating that every one of his dribbles, collisions and shots were closely related to his training.
The court is his stage. Apart from this moment, what better time is there to let fans know that all his achievements did not come out of thin air?
Figo, Deco, Carvalho and others rushed up excitedly and hugged Cristiano tightly. This beautiful and strong body contained astonishingly huge energy!
Van Basten, who was in the coaching area, still had his arms folded with an expressionless face, and the players on the field pursed their lips. Not only did they have to be careful to guard against the threats of breaking into the restricted area, but even in the distant position near the midfield, they had to worry about the super long-range shots from Ronaldo! How else could they guard against this troublemaker?
Van Bommel and Braruz and other central defenders guarding the midfield and the front door of the penalty area looked at each other.
After scoring the goal, Cristiano seemed to have found a smoother way of cooperation with his teammates. At the same time, with a one-goal lead, Portugal had more energy to control the tempo of the game.
The Dutch team's attack became more and more sudden and fierce like a storm, and they urgently needed to gain control of the ball and attack opportunities.
However, the ball was quickly passed between the feet of Deco, Nuno and Costa, and then to the feet of Figo or Cristiano, while Pauleta was waiting for an opportunity in the frontcourt.
Blarrouz was like a piranha that had been locked on to its target by a positioning marker. His last defensive lapse directly led to a goal for Portugal. So in the following minutes and seconds, whenever Cristiano got the ball at his feet, he would immediately rush forward and try to get the ball away at all costs.
"Ronaldo was knocked to the ground! It seemed that Braluz stepped on his thigh?!" the commentator exclaimed.
On the screen, Cristiano was hit from behind.
A body that was already running at high speed would easily lose balance and fall if there was even a slight imbalance in the external force. Behind him, Bululuz's kick forward due to inertia was not retracted in time, and instead kicked him on the base of the leg.
Cristiano immediately bit his lips in pain, covered the part of his body that was kicked with both hands, and curled up on the ground.
The referee Ivanov immediately blew the whistle. The Portuguese team doctor also understood that the kick was definitely very powerful and ran onto the field quickly.
Ivanov once again gave the Dutch team a yellow sapphire card.
"Braluz received a yellow card! Isn't the penalty standard a bit weak? This foul deserves a straight red card!" The commentator frowned and explained the current situation on the field.
Just as the commentator said, the second yellow card for Ivanov was too light. I don't know if it was because the Netherlands team had already received a yellow card just one minute into the game. Compared to the degree of violation suffered by Cristiano, this second yellow card was more like a light verbal warning.
Figo, Pauleta and others on the sidelines immediately complained to the referee in dissatisfaction, but it did not change any results.
Cristiano frowned in pain, he took deep breaths to adjust his breathing rhythm, put his hands on his hips and looked down at the team doctor who was spraying him with an emergency pain-relieving ice spray.
He pursed his lips tightly, and a few tears came out of his eyes due to the physical pain. He quickly wiped the corners of his eyes with the palm of his hand.
The team doctor quickly sprayed the spray while rubbing the muscles at the base of the leg, which were bleeding under the skin due to being kicked. The strong and plump thighs were slapped and rubbed until they turned red and hot.
Soon, the team doctor said Cristiano could continue playing.
Scolari pursed his lips seriously and looked at Cristiano. Cristiano pursed his lips and nodded at him, determined to continue playing.
The game had only just started for less than twenty minutes, so he couldn't rashly use a substitution.
The game resumes.
Cristiano was "carefully taken care of" by the opposing defenders, and the referee's decision was unacceptable. Several veterans on the Portuguese side exchanged glances in silence and launched a counterattack.
Less than three minutes after Cristiano was fouled, Deco knocked down Van Bommel in the center circle. The fierce midfielder who had previously tackled Cristiano from behind this time also experienced the pain of being knocked down from behind.
The referee trotted over. He had shown mercy to the Dutch team in the previous round's trampling foul, so this time he only gave a verbal warning to Portugal's retaliatory behavior, as if to balance the two penalties.
However, it was this failure to take timely action to stop the retaliation that directly ignited the hidden fuse between the two teams.
"Van Bommel takes the ball and organizes the attack! The Dutch team's counterattack is very fast!" the commentator said excitedly. On the screen, the Dutch team wearing white jerseys formed a trident-like momentum and quickly attacked Portugal's frontcourt.
"Nuno knocked Van Bommel down from behind! He interrupted the Netherlands' quick counterattack, but at the same time he received a warning yellow card!"
This time, the referee Ivanov showed no mercy and showed Portugal the first yellow card, which was also the third yellow card of the game.
The first half of the game ended temporarily with three yellow cards, and Cristiano slowly moved his thigh, which was beginning to feel more painful, to the sidelines.
Deco and Nuno, who were nearby, also followed Cristiano and patted the boy on the shoulder, asking him, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Cristiano responded with a grin.
He walked towards the player tunnel and noticed a gaze from the side. He looked over and saw Van Nistelrooy looking at him with a slightly frown.
Seeing this, Cristiano smiled at Van Nistelrooy and walked over directly, not caring at all how scary it was for a guy wearing a red jersey to blend into a group of players wearing white jerseys.
Van Nistelrooy was stunned for a moment, then quickly walked towards Cristiano.
He patted Cristiano's face and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Cristiano was more frank and open. He curled his eyes, hugged Van Nistelrooy when he had the chance, lowered his gaze to his feet, and asked, "How's the injury?"
The two of them whispered to each other. After all, they were national team rivals, and soon they separated under the watchful eyes of their respective national team teammates.
Van Nistelrooy pinched Cristiano's face, just like when they were teammates. He always liked the boy's grin at him with his wholehearted trust and reliance. He didn't see this pure happiness in other young people, as if he could transmit this happiness and joy to him.
Fanny felt that his depressed mood after being injured had improved.
"You should be careful too." He didn't say much, just covered his mouth and whispered while pinching her face.
"Hmm." Cristiano responded with a nasal sound, happy about Van Nistelrooy's reminder. He grinned and narrowed his eyes, not avoiding Van Nistelrooy's actions.
Van Nistelrooy was taller than him. Seeing this, he raised the corner of his mouth slightly, lowered his head and touched Cristiano's forehead, then turned around and went back to the player tunnel on his side.
Cristiano returned to his teammates in a good mood.
Van Nistelrooy's reminder made him realize more clearly that even though they had not been teammates for a long time, they were still friends who cared about each other - even though Van Nistelrooy's reminder had actually been noticed by everyone with a discerning eye, what was important was not what he said, but what he did.
After returning to the locker room, the team doctor re-treated Cristiano's thigh injury.
The therapeutic items in the system cannot be used during the game. Cristiano is well aware of the fairness of the system's settings. He tightly grasped the muscles at the base of his legs with both hands, gritted his teeth slightly and endured the pain caused by the team doctor's hands.
"These Dutch people clearly want to kick Cristiano off the field!" Nuno spat and said with a sullen face.
"If I get injured, the next games..." Costa frowned and didn't finish his words, but everyone knew what he wanted to say.
"We need a complete team for the next games. We can't have anyone accumulating two yellow cards, let alone a straight red card." Cristiano interrupted Costa and said quickly, "Our goal is not just to reach the quarterfinals or semifinals. I think this is something we all agree on?"
Figo glanced at Cristiano with some surprise. He thought that the boy, who had been silent and lowered his head to receive treatment, was still feeling aggrieved and sad about the pain and the targeting on the field. He never expected that the other party would quickly cheer up and recover quickly.
He clapped his hands, focused the attention of the entire locker room, and then said, "Cristiano is right. We are not soft persimmons that can be easily squeezed, but we are not reckless men under impulse. They attack our forwards, so the defenders stick to protect the counterattack! We use goals to fight back against these Dutch people, just like Cristiano's goal, which silenced them!"
When Scolari walked into the locker room, he heard Figo's locker room speech. He couldn't help but look at Cristiano who was sitting on the bench in the corner. The young Portuguese looked seriously at Figo in the middle, and Figo kept using Cristiano to boost the passion of the entire locker room.
He vaguely understood what Figo was planning. He looked at the older captain of the golden generation, and Figo also looked at him.
Scolari has never been a stubborn, old-fashioned coach, nor is he the kind of coach who has the final say in the locker room. He always maintains a healthy respect and equality with the players and is willing to accept their thoughts and ideas.
And now, he understood Figo's plan and how much the other party valued the young Portuguese rising star - that was the new generation No. 7 chosen by the current golden No. 7 himself, the next successor.
Scolari could not find any reason to refute. The veterans of the national team were about to retire from the stage one after another, and Cristiano proved himself in these major competitions with his outstanding performance that was expected by everyone.
What's wrong with that?
Even though he is extremely young, even though he is immature and green, Portugal needs him.
Scolari nodded slightly to Figo imperceptibly.
He walked over to Cristiano and patted Chris on the shoulder: "How do you feel?"
"The team doctor said I'm fine." Cristiano looked up at Scolari and replied, "I can still play."
Scolari nodded and said nothing more.
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