Chapter 19
The next day, the headlines of major publications, in addition to reporting Portugal's great victory in the opening match, mentioned the performance of Portugal's rising star Cristiano Ronaldo that day:
"Portugal's golden boy bursts into tears on the court and loses control of his emotions"
"The other side revealed after scoring a goal: arrogant and reckless"
"The Portuguese rising star said he did not cry after the game and refused to be interviewed out of anger"
The new competition will be held in a few days. During this period, everyone is training in the training ground of the European Cup organizer. Cristiano's teammates have seen these glaring headlines and looked at their young teammate who is at the center of the storm of public opinion with a headache and worry.
To be honest, if it weren't for his hasty exit at the end of the interview, there would have been almost nothing wrong with Cristiano's post-interview yesterday.
But this is what it's like to be a famous football star. Cristiano has both beautiful footwork and impressive goal-scoring record, not to mention a pretty face that would make people regretful if he didn't enter the entertainment industry - such a person is both the darling and the outcast of the media.
Those media were like blood-sucking worms that never knew they were full, lying on the boy's body, just like in the previous life, from the prince of Old Trafford to the king of the Bernabeu, they were fed until they were fat and made a lot of money.
To Figo's and others' surprise, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was at the eye of the storm, seemed to be fine.
He came onto the field in training shorts and a good night's sleep, looking refreshed.
He lifted his shorts to the base of his thighs, revealing his beautiful white thighs with smooth lines and full muscles, as if he was enjoying a sunbath in Portugal.
Cristiano even showed his neat white teeth to his teammates on the field and said hello: "I'm here! What are you practicing?"
Figo: “…”
He and several teammates exchanged glances in private.
-He looked as if he was unaware of the reports.
-Don't bring it up in front of him.
-Put those things away.
-receive.
"Come here, Cristiano." Rui Costa waved to his young teammate.
Cristiano trotted over and raised his eyebrows - he remembered that in his previous life Rui Costa had always taught him not to play fancy and to be simpler and more straightforward - but he thought that he should perform well this time.
Rui Costa said: "Scolari has new arrangements for you, let's practice new tactics."
Cristiano was surprised for a moment, but soon accepted it readily: "No problem."
Everyone practiced on the court for a whole day, and even in the evening Cristiano pulled them together to train for two hours longer.
But in order to prevent the boy from having the energy to read those newspaper reports that would affect his mood, a group of older brothers gritted their teeth and fought hard.
Just when they were finally able to return to the hotel to rest, Scolari called them: "You have been training for a long time? Good, keep up the fighting spirit, but don't overwork yourself."
"Also, Cristiano, don't pay attention to the tabloid news. It's all bullshit. No one will believe it." Scolari looked at Cristiano again. He patted Cristiano's shoulders, which had not yet grown strong, twice and encouraged him.
He does have a slight preference for Chris, perhaps because his own sons are a few years older than Cristiano, and the boy is like his own little son in his eyes.
As soon as Scolari said this, the group of people behind Cristiano gasped and groaned, startling Scolari and Cristiano to look over at the same time: "What happened?"
“He didn’t know about this before,” Rui Costa rolled his eyes. “Now he knows.”
"We have managed to keep it secret until now." Goalkeeper Ricardo sighed.
And Figo, their captain, looked at their coach with a helpless look, which made Scolari feel that he had messed up something big.
Scolari: “…” Please! Cristiano is not a Barbie doll! Is this necessary? !
But he did feel a little guilty about it, and he opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting.
Cristiano pulled the corners of his mouth wide open and laughed heartlessly: "Oh, you mean those big headlines about me? Something about my bad temper?"
"Did you see it?!" Figo was extremely surprised.
"Of course." Cristiano nodded. "It's not like my phone can't access the internet. Those apps pushed these to me when I woke up in the morning."
Figo: “…”
"You don't look like you're affected at all." Deco looked at the boy suspiciously, stating a fact.
Cristiano smiled and suddenly understood why his teammates were so enthusiastic about training with him today.
God knows he's been through worse in his time, and this was just a character 'flaw' that didn't really matter.
The world can't know what the real Cristiano Ronaldo is like from the media, but they can see everything from his ball.
He looked at his teammates, with a gentler and softer smile on his face - which made him look younger than his actual age - and shrugged: "My personality has nothing to do with them. It's you who play football with me, and it's enough for you to know what kind of person I am."
Figo and others looked at Cristiano in surprise. To be honest, seeing how the boy cried like a fountain yesterday, they all thought that if Cristiano knew those fabricated and slanderous reports today, he would definitely cry.
"You have a big heart, Cristiano." Scolari looked at the boy with appreciation and some surprise, "This will help you go further."
"Yes, I know." Cristiano smiled with the corners of his lips raised.
He walked towards his teammates, gave everyone a big hug and handshake: "Thank you, but can we continue to train tomorrow?"
He knew that today's extra training was probably due to his misunderstanding that he had become a "poor little thing".
He blinked, pleadingly, and looked first at his captain.
Figo: "... Of course, there is nothing wrong with extra training."
God, he couldn't resist Cristiano staring at him like that!
In fact, no one can refuse, absolutely no one. Figo thought viciously in his heart.
As they walked towards the hotel, Carvalho teased Cristiano: "But seriously, you have to control your behavior in front of the media, otherwise those guys will eat you up sooner or later."
Cristiano curled his lips and spread his hands: "If they don't like you, they can find faults no matter how perfect you do it."
"If I have value, my controversial points can make them money, even if I did nothing wrong, they will make up some mistakes." Cristiano looked at Carvalho, his teammate who had fought side by side with him for a period of time in Real Madrid, and he smiled indifferently, "This is a fact, but I don't mind, that shows that I am really doing well in football."
Carvalho blinked a few times, very surprised that such words could come out of the mouth of a 19-year-old child. He stood there in a daze until Deco pulled him back to his senses.
"My goodness, you sound like you're some football superstar." Carvalho laughed.
Cristiano raised his eyebrows: "Sooner or later."
"Tsk!" Carvalho couldn't help but reach out and pinch the boy's chubby face. He looked really annoying and asked for a beating, but Cristiano had indeed shown his talent, and he was still very young.
Everyone knows that this will be another world-class, epic future superstar.
——However, when this point is pointed out by the person himself, it seems too arrogant.
"I know I'm good, why can't I say it? Just like I know I'm good-looking, should I pretend to be modest?" Cristiano rubbed his face and muttered.
"You win." Carvalho rolled his eyes.
Figo watched Carvalho and his young teammate bickering, and he couldn't help but join in, ruffling Cristiano's soft curly hair, which was very nice to touch: "Be glad that you are from our Portugal team, otherwise I would definitely scold you."
"No, you love me." Cristiano grinned. He was very sure of Figo.
Figo shook his head helplessly, not knowing where the young player in front of him got the confidence in him from. Didn't he ever feel the slightest bit shaken? Didn't he feel that there was an awkward overlap between their positions? Isn't he worried that he might harbor some grudge?
But Figo had to admit that he was indeed attracted to Cristiano. This attraction came from the chemistry between the players. It had nothing to do with love, but a kind of mutual appreciation.
If he were ten years younger and could be teammates of the same generation as Cristiano, he believes they would have won more glory for Portugal.
Figo looked at Cristiano, thinking thoughtfully that perhaps the next captain to carry Portugal forward was ready to take over the armband representing glory from him.
For the next period of time, apart from the games, they mostly spent time on the training ground, or in the hotel's rented conference room to review recent rounds of competitions.
Cristiano was extremely keen to watch Greece's games, which puzzled Scolari. After all, this was indeed a recognized weak team, and their performance in the opening game also confirmed this.
"They didn't play well in the first two games, but they won the next four games without losing a single goal." Cristiano looked at Scolari, "There are two games left, let's see how they perform."
He knew Scolari was thinking, so he didn't say much.
Scolari is undeniably a world-famous coach, and the opponent will know what to do best.
Figo looked at Cristiano curiously: "You mean, do you think Greece can make it to the final?"
Deco laughed, his tone full of disbelief and ridicule: "Wow, that's really a dark horse."
He said that Greece was extremely lucky to have come this far.
Cristiano looked at the other party and said nothing. The fact was that Greece entered the final and became the most dazzling dark horse, while Portugal, the favorite to win the championship, had to be the runner-up and became mediocre in the previous life.
In the football world, no one remembers the runner-up or third place winner. They have only one goal, which is to win the championship.
Scolari was silent for a while before speaking: "The head coach of Greece is Reghar. That guy really... created the Kaiserslautern legend. The Greek team's playing style has changed a lot since the third game. It is not impossible for them to reach the final."
When German coach Reghar was coaching the German team, he led the 2nd Bundesliga into the Bundesliga and won the Bundesliga championship the following year.
This is simply a legend, and it also proves that this famous coach does have the ability to make people fear him.
Cristiano knew that their coach was ready to fight.
They followed Greece's next two games closely and even attended the games themselves.
Two consecutive wins, without conceding a single goal.
This time even Deco, who had been teasing before, looked serious and said in a deep voice: "They are indeed a dark horse that should not be underestimated."
Cristiano stood up, took a deep breath, looked at the Greek team celebrating on the field, turned around and left: "See you at the Stadium of Light."
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