Chapter 21
"By the way, where do you live?" Cristiano suddenly remembered on the way back.
He tilted his head to look at Kaka, his eyes slightly bright, with a hint of eagerness to try: "You came so quickly, you must not have had time to book a hotel? I can let Carvalho and Figo share a room, there is still an empty bed in Figo's room."
Kaka saw Cristiano's expectations, but he still poured cold water on his lover: "Mendez has arranged a hotel for me. It's not far from here."
"Mendez?" Cristiano almost forgot about his agent.
He seemed a little disappointed and curled his lips: "Oh, his efficiency is always amazing."
"It's hard to book a hotel room before the final. Mendes helped a lot." Kaka was amused by the depression written on Cristiano's face. He curled his lips and said, "I will take you to the hotel and then go back."
"Send me to the hotel? That sounds like coaxing a little girl." Cristiano raised his eyebrows. "You can fly directly from now on. I'll reserve a bed for you."
Is it a bed issue? Kaka was helpless and amused.
The distance from the training ground to the hotel was not far, and soon they had to stop and leave separately.
"Okay, then I'll go in." Cristiano said, but he had no intention of taking a step forward.
Kaka took advantage of his height advantage and ruffled Cristiano's hair. He leaned over to hug him and then quickly separated: "Sleep well."
"By the way, where will you sit tomorrow?" Cristiano asked.
Kaka told Chris the seat location. He looked at Cristiano and said with a hint of smile, "What are you going to do now?"
"I give you this goal." Cristiano winked at his lover.
"Tomorrow I will score two goals, one for you and one for myself."
Cristiano's voice was firm.
///
Stadium of Light.
Portugal vs Greece.
The team with the greatest hope of winning the championship faces the most incredible dark horse. No matter who wins, the media has already prepared countless scripts.
Kaka and his teammates, as well as head coach Ancelotti, were already sitting in the VIP viewing seats.
Shevchenko leaned towards the court, looking at the Portuguese players warming up on the sidelines, and couldn't help but twitch his lips: "Isn't that Ronaldo? There are too many people pointing their cameras at him."
What he meant was that compared to fame, there was a sense of mismatch. It turned out that the media still prefers to look at faces.
After hearing this, Kaka turned his attention to the dozen or so reporters behind the boy. Compared to the scenes he had seen in his previous life, this was not even one-tenth of them. He smiled and said, "There will be more in the future. Besides, he deserves it."
The Ukrainian couldn't stand it and rolled his eyes.
The game has begun.
As Portugal had seen in the previous six replays, the Greeks showed their neat and solid military style from the start.
Scolari stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, staring at the situation closely, while a few dozen meters away, Greece's head coach Rehhagel glanced over here.
The first half ended in a stalemate with neither side scoring a goal, and there were even boos from fans in the stadium.
Neither side had many shots in the first half. The Greek central defenders held their defense very solidly, and several attacks launched by Portugal were blocked, so that the game looked a bit boring.
The half-time whistle was blown and the players walked into the tunnel.
The start of the first half was as the Portuguese expected, and the Greek team's performance was just as they expected.
Scolari clapped his hands and shouted loudly in the locker room: "Just follow the plan! Kids! You know what to do! Don't let Portugal down, do you hear me!"
Cristiano lowered his eyes and took small sips of water.
The second half begins.
The two teams were visibly stuck in a stalemate. The Greek team, led by midfielder Zagorakis, launched an attack and played more proactively than in the first half.
In the 57th minute, just like in the previous life, the Greek team won a corner kick, and their striker headed the ball into the goal that had been closed for nearly 60 minutes.
"Greece! Scored! The score broke the deadlock! One to zero!" the commentator exclaimed, "It looks like this dark horse Greece is going to be a legend throughout the entire European Cup!"
Kaka sat in the VIP seat, staring at the audience with an expressionless face. Shevchenko, who wanted to say something, shut his mouth when he saw this.
Shevchenko wanted to say that the kid on the sidelines with Kaka looked more relaxed than Kaka.
Cristiano watched as the Greek team broke through their goal in exactly the same way as in the previous life, and goalkeeper Ricardo got up from the ground in frustration.
Cristiano pursed his lips tightly, patted Carvalho who was closest to him, and quickly started running again.
Carvalho heard Cristiano say to him in quick, short sentences: "We are going to win."
The Portuguese center back bumped into Cristiano's brown eyes. Those eyes were very beautiful, and the light in them seemed to contain powerful energy. Just by looking at each other, he seemed to be able to draw a trace from it.
Carvalho rubbed his face hard and nodded silently.
Cristiano greeted Figo, and Portugal's present and future two golden captains exchanged glances.
"The time has come to eighty minutes! Including injury time, Portugal still has less than fifteen minutes! I wonder if they can equalize the score difference of one point?" Dozens of live commentators on the sidelines were saying their own things at the same time.
We are about to witness the birth of a dark horse and the fall of the most favored championship team. This is simply the favorite of media people.
Shevchenko showed concern for his Brazilian teammates, cleared his throat and said, "This is Ronaldo's first European Cup, right? Reaching the final, even if it's runner-up, is a very high starting point..."
"Sheva, there are still ten minutes, which is enough for Cris." Kaka interrupted Shevchenko gently but unyieldingly.
Hearing the voice, Shevchenko looked towards their little prince and met Kaka's eyes. He suddenly realized that the young man with a gentle voice just now was just a mask, and there was no smile in the eyes of the Prince of San Siro.
Shevchenko fell silent subconsciously.
He always felt that his teammates seemed to have become a different person since returning from vacation last year. They always had some incomprehensible expressions and a sense of distance.
It’s as if Kaka has built a wall for himself, and this wall is only a tiny distance away from the Kaka inside the wall, but even so, they cannot touch the real Kaka.
It is not uncommon for the game to be tied within ten minutes on the field, and even a shocking reversal may happen within just one minute. This seems to be something the players should be accustomed to, and they should not lose confidence in the current score.
But precisely because they are professionals, Shevchenko knows more clearly how challenging and difficult it is for a player to achieve such a miracle.
What the audience sees are the wonderful moments framed by spotlights and countless editing highlights, but to them, those are miracles that can only be achieved through thousands of kilometers of sprinting, waste and loss, and half of luck.
No one knows better than them how small the proportion of such miracles is in hundreds or thousands of games.
Shevchenko said nothing more and turned his attention back to the court.
The Greeks launched another round of attack. Forward Charles Dias, who had previously scored a header, ran quickly to the front of the penalty area and shot a quick low ball, but the ball was intercepted by goalkeeper Ricardo.
Ricardo kicked the ball quickly, and the Portuguese player had already run to the opposite front court tacitly.
Figo grabbed the ball and then passed it to Deco, who then kicked it to Cristiano on the wing.
A defense immediately surrounded Cristiano, and he made a high lob and unexpectedly lifted the ball over the defense in front of him, then turned around and started quickly.
"Ronaldo dribbled past the defense easily! But the Greek defense is pressing on!" The commentator's voice became a little excited. There was no doubt that Portugal was fighting a fast counterattack!
But obviously, at this moment Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to be held back by the Greek defense.
The Greek tried to snatch the ball from Cristiano's feet, but the boy made a feint, then tapped the ball lightly with his left heel and passed it between his feet from behind!
He quickly ran forward with the ball, and at this moment, two more Greek defenders surrounded him.
"Ronaldo's heel pass was so neat! But he is now facing a one-on-two situation! The Greek defense is very solid, Ronaldo... Ronaldo broke the pressure with a Marseille turn!" The commentator's voice became louder and louder, and he waved his arms vigorously, "The Portuguese is so agile that it's like he is doing a Latin dance! Beautiful!"
"Ah, Ronaldo was knocked to the ground by a flying tackle! The referee blew the whistle!" The commentator sighed with regret, and then said, "Faced with Ronaldo's continuous dribbling, the Greek team could only commit tactical fouls to disrupt his offensive momentum."
Cristiano was tackled and flew out, rolling twice on the ground, holding his ankle and frowning in pain.
Seeing this, his teammates immediately rushed up, and in the stands, Kaka's body suddenly straightened.
Captain Figo quickly checked Cristiano's situation, and seeing that the boy just waved his hands with a grin, he immediately turned to the referee to ask for an explanation.
"The referee awarded a free kick in front of the penalty area! This position is not too far from the penalty area, but it is still a bit far for a shot. I wonder how Portugal will deal with this free kick?" The commentator exclaimed, "This may very well be Portugal's last chance today!"
Cristiano waved his hand to Scolari and Figo.
"It looks like Ronaldo will take the free kick!" The commentator hummed, somewhat surprised and somewhat ambiguous. "A 19-year-old young player playing in the European Cup for the first time. Although in the previous games, his performance was indeed mature and did not look like a rookie! But at such an important decisive moment, can this young player really have the courage to take the penalty?"
Scolari's palms were full of cold sweat, and he even asked himself in his heart if he was too risky and impulsive by directly giving the free kick to the young No. 17?
But there was not much time for Scolari to think and waver. The referee blew a whistle and Scolari subconsciously followed the young man in red on the field.
Cristiano was seen standing in front of the ball, stepping back step by step, his eyes fixed on the ball, as if he was measuring the distance for the serve.
Kaka leaned forward slightly, he subconsciously clenched his hands, and stared at Chris on the field. He was very familiar with this movement and expression!
Several years ago - before that serious knee injury - Cristiano's classic signature skills drove the fans crazy and scared the opposing goalkeeper!
That was almost the most glorious era, but injuries are always the lifelong enemy of athletes.
Ever since he had the injection, he knew clearly that Cristiano's free kick power would never return to its amazing level in the past.
——It is a violent aesthetic that can capture the hearts and souls of even those who don’t understand football, just like Cristiano, clean, direct, unstoppable, yet forever elusive and impossible to completely possess.
And now, Kaka knew that his emotions were fluctuating incredibly, but he really was.
Seeing my lover standing on the court, it was as if he was back to his peak. This feeling of direct observation was even more exciting and joyful than returning to his peak himself.
That proud Cristiano, that shining Cristiano, that omnipotent Cristiano, that Cristiano who always brings infinite hope in adversity, is the Cristiano he loves deeply.
Kaka stood up involuntarily, supported himself with the armrest and looked at the court seriously.
Cristiano stretched out his left foot, took a deep breath, and started running!
He rushed to the ball and kicked it hard out of the center with his hitting foot forming a perfect angle with his torso! And the black and white ball passed the human wall at an extremely fast speed and headed straight for the goal!
"Ronaldo took a direct free kick! Oh my God! The ball went in! The ball went in!" The commentator's voice suddenly turned into an unbelievable roar of excitement, "Let's watch it again!"
"Ronaldo stepped back. His way of taking free kicks was different from other players. Look at him. It was like he was doing math problems, calculating something... He shot! Watch carefully! The force of this ball was very strong! The arc was straight, and when it approached the goal, it suddenly fell strangely! The goalkeeper had no chance to react at all!" The commentator spoke quickly, with full of disbelief, "This goal was too weird!"
"The score is 1-1! Cristiano Ronaldo scored a crucial free kick in the last minute of the European Cup final! He equalized the Greek team! He won Portugal the second ticket to the championship!"
Cristiano knew he had scored a goal as soon as he kicked the ball. His superb sense of the ball was a great weapon for him to control victory. He turned around and ran towards Kaka's seat! It's almost the other end of the court!
But he didn't care and just passed by his teammates who were rushing towards him to celebrate, and ran to Kaka's side of the field with his arms open. He pointed behind his ear, kissed his fingers, and pointed hard in the direction of the VIP audience seats where Kaka was.
This goal, a representative of his former peak period, was given to Kaka by him——
They came from the peak and will continue to write the legend of the peak, and they are indispensable on this road.
"This guy..." Shevchenko also subconsciously stood up and looked at the field for the beautiful free kick that went into the goal.
Before he had time to savor the goal, he saw the kid running across most of the field and directly rushing to their side. He also made a celebration gesture in their direction that was very similar to Kaka's.
The corner of Shevchenko's mouth twitched, and he looked at Kaka again, and saw that his little teammate was rarely calm. Just like the fanatical fans in the stands, he waved his arms vigorously at the hero boy off the field.
Shevchenko: “…”
Ancelotti said from the side: "That Ronaldo, was he celebrating just for Kaka to see?"
"It's a bit provocative." Nesta, who had been eliminated long ago, had been watching the ball in silence until this moment when he crossed his arms and spoke.
Ancelotti: “…”That shouldn’t be the case.
He looked thoughtfully at the replay of the opponent's goal on the big screen in the stadium and said, "This free kick of his...will win him the Golden Boot sooner or later. But it will be very stressful for his knees, right? It seems that he mainly relies on the muscles around his knees to generate power."
Kaka took a deep breath to calm his excitement, and turned to his head coach: "Yes, he needs to protect himself."
"I think he's quite good at it." Nesta said again. He didn't miss the boy's flexible diving in this game. His body muscles couldn't resist, so he dived to reduce the damage. It must be said that it was a smart method, but he couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Kaka laughed.
Figo, Carvalho, Deco and others also rushed over at this time, pressed their hero boy to the ground, and kissed the top of his head hard.
Portugal! Into overtime!
Scolari pulled Ronaldo out from the bottom of the crowd and slapped Cristiano in the face with excitement: "Good job! Good job!"
Cristiano's face immediately turned red, and his eyes were stained with excitement. He grinned and hugged several older brothers tightly, then said: "This is only the first one, we will have the second and third goal!"
"That's right!" The whole team was excited, and it was hard to tell that this was a team that had been running for nearly a hundred minutes.
After a short rest and hydration, the overtime between Portugal and Greece began.
As soon as the overtime began, the Greek team replaced three players in a row, seemingly trying to play a fast-paced offense, but it obviously did not achieve the expected effect.
Scolari is still watching. At present, although this golden team has run for a hundred minutes, their condition is still very good!
What is more important is the running-in. The tacit understanding and chemical reaction between the team are the key to victory.
In the previous matches against Greece, Scolari saw this kind of chemical reaction in the Greek team, but now, as the game was dragged into overtime and with Rehhagel's substitution of three players in a row, this chemical reaction in the Greek team was almost invisible.
The Portuguese, on the other hand, seemed to have settled into a very comfortable rhythm.
"Okay Ronaldo, take the ball! The Portuguese are starting to attack!" When the commentator saw Cristiano get the ball, he didn't know why he became excited, as if he had assumed that the other side would score a beautiful goal.
"Ronaldo dribbled past the opponent's defenders! He dribbled the ball into the opponent's penalty area from the wing!" the commentator said excitedly, "If he was in the penalty area and □□ goal, the threat of this kick would be very great!"
"It looks like he's going to shoot. Will he score a brace?! The Greek goalkeeper rushed out to save the ball!"
"Ronaldo didn't even shoot! He passed the ball sideways! He passed it to the feet of Portugal captain Figo who had already reached the position! It's dangerous, the Greek goal is now empty!"
"Figo shoots! The ball goes in! Assisted by Ronaldo! The cooperation with Figo completely fooled the opponent's defender and goalkeeper! Nice trick!" The commentator couldn't help but jump up, "Portugal 2-1! The Portuguese scored a goal in the first half of the overtime!"
Figo slid excitedly on the field, covering his face tightly with his hands. This was the closest they had ever been to the Delaunay Cup!
On the sidelines, Greece's head coach Rehhagel had a grim look on his face. He loudly directed his players to rearrange their formation.
However, this time, the goddess of victory did not visit Greece again.
The Greek team was already in a slump, and this slump was eating away at the team at a rapid pace.
The consecutive defeats of conceding two goals dealt a heavy psychological blow to this dark horse team that had not conceded a goal in six consecutive games.
Not to mention that they are now facing the Portuguese golden generation and Cristiano Ronaldo who are in the best form.
In the second half, the two sides exchanged goals.
The Greek team's midfield core once again organized an attack on the Portuguese goal, but this time it was still intercepted.
Cristiano stole the ball from the opposing forward Charles Diaz, he quickly glanced around the field, and passed the ball directly to Carvalho on the right.
The two exchanged glances, and then Carvalho passed the ball to the midfield, Figo grabbed the ball, and Cristiano, who was originally on the Greek half of the field, started at an astonishing speed and swallowed up all the people!
"Oh my God! Ronaldo is speeding up! His speed doesn't seem like a player who runs for a normal 120 minutes! Oh my God! He actually has such incredible explosive power!" the commentator exclaimed.
Figo passed the ball to Cristiano, who immediately took the ball into the Greek back area. The young man was as agile as a dancer, and he made the opposing defender fall to the ground.
There was suddenly space next to him, and Cristiano did not miss this opportunity. He took the ball and broke into the opponent's penalty area alone!
"GOOOOOOOOAL! Ronaldo shoots! The ball goes straight into the far corner of the goal!!!" the commentator screamed, "Ronaldo! Scored twice! This young 19-year-old player scored two goals and assisted one in the final of the European Cup!"
"God, the big clubs in Europe will open their arms to him!"
Cristiano ran towards his lover again, he roared in rage, pointed behind his ear - his soul mate, his match made in heaven - he kissed the fingers that touched that skin and pointed hard at the sky.
Kaka looked at his young lover crying uncontrollably, and he couldn't help laughing again, and at the same time, heat welled up in his eyes. He raised his hand and touched the same skin behind their ears, which seemed to be incredibly hot as well.
[The system detects that the stability level of the two souls has increased. Reward: Treatment Kit (Intermediate) x2. The virtual space is officially open. The system enters the sleep update state.]
The system's reminder was inconspicuous in such an atmosphere. For the time being, no one, whether Chris or Kaka, paid an ounce of attention to it.
"I have to say, it was a wonderful game." Shevchenko exhaled slowly. He looked at the young boy on the field who seemed to be crying because he won the game. He felt a little funny and a little touched.
He remembered that the opponent was Manchester United's number seven, and he suddenly became very interested in playing against him on the field.
"The plane ticket was worth it," Cafu said, looking at Kaka, "Congratulations to your little friend."
"Thank you." Kaka hugged Kafu tightly.
Cristiano was lifted high by his teammates and thrown into the air, surrounded by cheers.
"Ronaldo! Ronaldo! Ronaldo!"
Cristiano covered his face with his hands. He couldn't control his tears at all. He shouted:
"Portugal! Portugal! Portugal!"
At his shout, his national team teammates cried and laughed and shouted: "Portugal!"
They won the Delaunay Cup for Portugal at home!
At the following award ceremony, Cristiano habitually stood in the corner - he had enough glory and spotlight in his previous life, so compared to the actual trophies, he did not have much vanity about the media's spotlights, and he was willing to give that beautiful position to his teammates.
What's more, the traces of crying on his face have not faded yet. The redness around his eyes on his fair, chubby face looks shocking, as if he had put on a layer of blush.
Although Cristiano didn't see what he looked like, he was sure that he must look extremely ugly at the moment.
But he was unexpectedly pushed to the center position by Figo. His captain and teammates hugged his shoulders tightly, stuffed the trophy into his hands, and let him hold up the glory.
He was a little dazed for a moment, as if he had become the youngest child spoiled by his older brothers at home. He was not used to it at all and just subconsciously hugged the two big ears of the trophy but did not react to lift it high.
Figo and Deco couldn't help laughing when they saw that their youngest player looked so ignorant and dumbfounded.
The two men looked at each other, and with malicious intent, they each lifted one of Cristiano's legs and easily lifted him onto their shoulders!
Cristiano exclaimed, then reacted and his whole face turned red. He held the trophy and just looked at the camera with a silly smile.
“Portugal!”
Colorful streamers were flying all over the Stadium of Light, and on that day hundreds of cameras honestly recorded Cristiano holding the trophy, held high by everyone like the most beloved little prince.
The Portuguese will remember his name from now on——
Cristiano Ronaldo.
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