Chapter 127
After the warm-up, they returned to the jersey channel from the locker room. Chelsea's starting lineup and Manchester United's starting lineup were ready.
Carvalho was in the Chelsea team. He called out to Cristiano and the two hugged across the aisle. He patted Cristiano on the shoulder and said, "First start back at Manchester United?"
"Yeah!" Cristiano responded with a grin. In the previous friendly matches, Ferguson did not let him start, but only replaced him in the last ten minutes to find his form.
The fact that Cristiano was not in the starting lineup for several consecutive friendly matches has led many people to speculate whether Ferguson is planning to weaken Cristiano's role and status in the team.
This Community Shield match was Cristiano's first start and first official match.
The starting lineup of the first official match directly and silently refuted the previous groundless speculations - how could Ferguson's decision not to let Cristiano start in those friendly matches be an intention to weaken the opponent? It's clearly overemphasized!
"Cristiano Ronaldo appears in the starting lineup! This is the first time Ronaldo has appeared in Manchester United's starting lineup after the World Cup red card controversy. It seems that Sir Ferguson still regards him as his trump card!" said the commentator in the broadcast room after the starting lineup jumped out on the screen.
"There have been many speculations about whether Ronaldo's core position will be weakened this season or he will be benched, but obviously in this official game, Sir Alex Ferguson gave us a very strong answer - Cristiano Ronaldo is still the first core of the Red Devils!"
His partner teased, "Are you kidding? Sir Alex Ferguson would bench Ronaldo? Ronaldo is his child! He would never torture Ronaldo in this way."
The commentator laughed, and everyone enjoyed making fun of Ferguson's unbridled favoritism towards Ronaldo, which was not common between coaches and players.
There were obviously a lot more spectators in the stands around the stadium. Before he even walked out of the player tunnel, Cristiano heard some unfriendly noises coming from outside.
Giggs and Alan were standing next to him, and when they heard the noise they couldn't help but look at Cristiano.
Cristiano looked straight ahead at the court with a frank look in his eyes. After noticing the gazes of his teammates, he grinned at them with a nonchalant smile.
He spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, said nothing, and trotted out behind Keane, holding the caddy.
When the fans in the field saw Cristiano come on the field, the noise became louder, suddenly rising to a higher level, making O'Shea and Evra, who were walking at the end, couldn't help but shrink their necks.
The Frenchman who joined the team this summer couldn't help but open his eyes wide and whispered: "What are they shouting? Aren't they all shouting Ronnie? He is too popular..."
He only vaguely understood Cristiano's name.
When he walked out of the player tunnel, he saw the banners held high in the stands - those ugly pictures with obvious "anti-Ronaldo" and huge red crosses made Evra immediately overcome the language barrier and realize that these fans shouting Cristiano's name were not out of goodwill.
"Wow..." He underestimated the lasting impact the World Cup would have.
How long has it been!
O'Shea tilted his head to look at their new teammates and said: "You'll get used to it. These guys used to do the same thing when they shouted 'Long live Cristiano'."
Evra made a nasal sound in confusion and O'Shea paused, forgetting that their new teammate was having some minor language problems.
He waved his hand to indicate that it was unimportant.
"Okay, the game begins!" said the commentator in the broadcast room. In the center of the screen, the two teams began the first round of offensive wrestling. "This is Cristiano Ronaldo's first starting game. Let's see how he performs!"
Whenever Cristiano touched the ball, the fans in the stadium would boo loudly. If the ball was snatched away from his feet, the sound would be even louder.
This makes people wonder whether they want Cristiano to score and win the game for the club, or they want the team to lose to prove that Cristiano should not stay in Manchester United.
Rooney did not play in this game. He sat on the bench, listening to the constant boos from the stands, while holding his head and nervously watching the back of the number seven running on the field.
He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead just sitting on the bench. It was the first time he felt so much hatred so directly. It was real, ugly, and sharp... This was completely different from being booed during normal games.
Runiche realized that perhaps hatred could really kill a person. He could not help but clench his arms, pursed his lips and said nothing.
He even had a moment of regret during the friendly match - maybe he should have remained mute instead of trying to be a hero and saying those nice words.
But at this moment, he heard the cheers from the field almost doubled, and he suddenly felt fortunate that he had said those nice words, otherwise the anger and hatred of the fans that Cristiano would have to endure would probably be even more violent and terrifying than what he was experiencing now.
Rooney actually knew what his national team coach meant by his words, but he made his own decision at the most important moment.
There were two paths in front of him, and he chose the one that would not wake him up in the middle of the night with an uneasy heart. At least now he slept peacefully every night - in Alan's house, to be honest, Alan Smith gave him a great sense of security.
Rooney looked at Cristiano, and he couldn't help but think in his heart, if they lost this game, should he urge Alan to invite Cristiano to live with him at Alan's house? Anyway, Alan has already taken him in, so he wouldn't mind taking in one more, right?
No, maybe it's not his turn to ask, Alan will invite him directly, Rooney muttered in his heart again. He guessed Alan would be happy to take in Cristiano, that guy was so likable.
Rooney was lost in thought, a little distracted.
But a sudden noise on the field drew his attention back. He saw that even Ferguson suddenly jumped up from the chair beside him and rushed towards the linesman angrily.
Seeing this, Rooney couldn't help but stand up from the bench and looked at the field. He saw Cristiano curled up on the ground, holding his stomach. He was soon surrounded by his teammates and he could not see anything.
"Damn it, what's going on?" Rooney couldn't help but curse under his breath, his eyes wide open and he stood on tiptoe to look at the field.
The big screen in the stadium also replayed the scene just now - Cristiano was almost running to the opponent's penalty area with the ball, and two Chelsea defenders double-teamed him from the side and front, forming a powerful closed-door defense.
Cristiano staggered after being double-teamed, and before falling, he knocked his heels and passed the ball to Alan behind him.
But soon he lost his balance and fell down, but the Chelsea defender next to him did not retract his foot, but instead kicked Cristiano directly in the lower abdomen with his studs showing!
Cristiano immediately curled up in pain. He lay on the ground, clutching the grass, and almost retched.
The referee blew the whistle for a foul. Alan and Neville were very close to each other, so they quickly surrounded him. Neville bent down and asked about Cristiano's condition, and quickly called the team doctor.
Alan glanced at Cristiano's condition and saw that Cristiano was curled up with an ugly look on his face, covered in cold sweat and water stains. He couldn't tell whether they were tears or sweat.
He suppressed his anger, looked up at the referee, and saw the referee showing a yellow card to the opposing defender.
Just a yellow card? ! Alan walked forward dissatisfiedly, and heard that man even felt that he did not deserve the yellow card. Other Chelsea players even came over to try to appeal, and the Chelsea fans on the field protested loudly, as if kicking Ronaldo would be enough to offset a card.
Alan suddenly became furious, and he strode over to argue. Seeing this, the defender on the opposite side pushed forward, hit Alan with his head, and said something provocative to Alan. Then Alan pushed the opponent hard, and the tension on both sides was instantly on the verge of breaking out.
Giggs and Ferdinand came up and immediately separated Alan from the opposing players: "Calm down! Alan! Don't worry about what he said! Go see Ronnie! Go over there!"
Ferdinand put one hand on the back of Alan's head and forcefully brought Alan to Cristiano's side.
Keane and Giggs were talking to the referee. Not long after, the referee showed another yellow card to the defender who had just provoked the conflict and confronted Alan. Two yellow cards turned into one red card!
Chelsea's players and fans were all in an uproar, and Alan received a verbal warning from the referee.
Alan lowered his eyes and walked silently to Cristiano. The team doctor was examining Cristiano to confirm that there was no internal injury.
Cristiano bit the corner of his shirt and lifted it up, revealing his abdominal muscles that were kicked red. There was a cut caused by a spiked shoe, and the bright, thin red line was very eye-catching. The team doctor wiped it with a cotton ball to stop the bleeding and then disinfected it.
He held the corner of his clothes tightly in his mouth, and only a slight groan escaped from between his teeth.
The team doctor sprayed him with painkillers again, and then signaled to Ferguson on the sidelines that he could continue playing.
"Ronaldo's fall means Chelsea can only play with ten players on the field now! Chelsea was too emotional this time!" said the commentator in the broadcast room, "Manchester United got a free kick in front of the penalty area! Maybe only fifteen yards away from the goal? Eighteen yards? It's a pretty good position!"
His partner was concerned about another question: "I wonder if this free kick will be given to Ronaldo who was injured just now?"
On the screen, Cristiano was pulled up by Ferdinand, the man patted him on the shoulder, and handed the ball to Chris.
Cristiano let out a light breath, nodded slightly, and put the ball on the penalty spot.
"It is indeed Ronaldo who took this free kick!" the commentator said loudly.
The Chelsea fans on the field booed Cristiano even louder, shouting out extremely loud sarcasm:
However, these could not shake Cristiano's shot at all.
Run up, kick, and shoot!
The ball flew high over the wall of players, and just as it passed the goal in a parabola, it suddenly fell down, and the center of gravity of the ball hit the right blind corner under the crossbar of the net!
"Ronaldo scored from a free kick!!! The ball went straight into the corner and the Chelsea goalkeeper had no power to stop it!!"
"Ronaldo opens the new season for the club with his trademark free kick! Unstoppable!"
Cristiano ran to the sidelines the moment the ball hit the net, completely forgetting the previous pain.
He smiled and performed the celebration he had promised in the locker room. Ferdinand also knelt on one knee beside the boy and gestured his arms back and forth - a rocket was launched!
"Come on, come on! Ryan! Alan!" Cristiano raised his arms and looked at Giggs and Alan who were running towards them with bright eyes.
Giggs and Alan froze in their tracks when they heard the voice. They looked at each other and saw a hint of helplessness and compromise in each other's eyes.
Okay, this little troublemaker. Giggs ran to Cristiano's side muttering and gestured with his arms - SIU!
Oh my God, he is already in his thirties and still has to do such embarrassing celebrations! It’s all Ronnie’s fault!
Alan touched the tip of his nose, stood behind the three people, in the most inconspicuous corner, knelt on one knee, and accompanied Cristiano to perform a standard replica of the rocket launch.
Neville and Evra ran over laughing, and Alan was extremely grateful that Neville always came so in time, allowing them to quickly escape from the celebration.
The Red Devils hugged each other enthusiastically to celebrate Cristiano's first goal of the new season - they all knew that this goal was of extraordinary significance.
The fans at the scene cheered subconsciously the moment the goal was scored, but soon they fell silent again.
One second, people were booing Ronaldo, saying that he only knew how to look for the referee and cry all over the field, and the next second, the opponent scored a goal.
…
The game ended with a score of 2-1 and Manchester United won the trophy.
At the post-match press conference, Cristiano faced the flashing lights that seemed to want to swallow him up, and the reporters asked some sharp and unpleasant questions. Then he answered and gave some answers that were not pleasing to the reporters - this has become a skilled process.
He shrugged and took one of the microphones:
"Yes, I saw some of the fans' reactions. You have to admit that one person can't be liked by everyone. Some people hate me, but these can't stop me from scoring goals. I will only get more motivation from it."
"Sad? No, I don't have the time and energy to spend on these emotions. When you see me score goals, you will see where my time is spent."
He finished recording the post-match interview, and soon after, when his answers were collated into text and posted on social media, Cristiano unexpectedly discovered that his lover had also posted a blog post:
"There are many people who don't hate you. Love will support you and God will bless you, my dear @cristiano"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
