Chapter 236
After qualifying from the group stage, Cristiano didn't have much time to celebrate with Kaka, as the entire World Cup schedule was very tight, with the round of 16 knockout round to come in five days.
Brazil sounded the clarion call for qualifying for the World Cup earlier than Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Brazil's result as the first in the group allowed them to face Chile, who qualified as the second in the group. Cristiano watched the broadcast of this game in the hotel.
Pepe and Quaresma also gathered in the Portuguese captain's single room to watch the game together. Coentrao looked everywhere for the team to have a midnight snack at night but couldn't find anyone. Finally, he found the team in Cristiano's room.
So watching the game became an activity for four people.
"There should be no suspense when the five-star Brazil plays Chile," Quaresma said. "This game is like a one-sided massacre."
Pepe nodded in agreement.
"Then why are you watching the game here? Why don't we go out for a midnight snack?" Coentrao urged.
He didn't want to watch any more games during the World Cup. Their games were already close enough, and now he almost vomited when he saw them.
Quaresma and Pepe looked at each other after hearing this.
Why are you watching the game here?
You'll have to ask Cristiano.
Quaresma rolled his eyes to the sky.
He pointed his thumb at Cristiano, who was hugging the pillow, and curled his lips: "If this guy wants to watch, what can we do? We can only watch."
But he also wanted to see what was so special about Cristiano's Brazilian friend that was worthy of Cristiano's attention.
Cristiano smiled at Pepe and Quaresma, patted the sofa beside him, looked up at Coentrao and asked, "Then together, Fabio?"
Coentron paused and thought, forget it, it would be boring to have a midnight snack alone, so he just took a look.
"Where are we now?" He sat down next to Cristiano, took a bottle of mineral water and unscrewed it. "Oh wow, a goal has been scored? I said there was no suspense in this game..."
Cristiano pinched Coentrao's mouth: "Shh, be quiet Fabio."
Coentrao: "..."
Pepe and Quaresma grinned silently on the sidelines.
"Chile played very actively and at a fast tempo," said Quaresma, squinting his eyes slightly as he watched the serious fouls on the field. The penalties given by the referees in this World Cup were very mild, which also indulged some teams' "reciprocity."
Cristiano nodded: "But Brazil did a good job and didn't give them any chances."
"Look at the little guys in Chile, and then look at the Brazilian side. To be honest, Kaka is worth the two over there," Quaresma said again.
The Chilean players were skinny, but Kaka was obviously much stronger. Even with two players double-teaming him, Kaka still managed to break through.
Coentrao hissed softly and nodded in agreement: "Honestly, his impact doesn't match his face at all."
Cristiano was almost amused. He grinned and asked back, "Not suitable? Why do you say that? Look at him playing football, like the wind, so cool and neat, doesn't it match his face?"
Coentrao said: "No, Chris, look at the way he knocks people away, and his body, I dare say few people can knock him down, he suits a face like Pepe."
Cristiano almost squeezed the bottle of mineral water in his hand and it burst. Pepe was also startled and screamed quickly: "Don't talk nonsense!"
"Oh, what I mean is, you should have a face that looks like you're not going to mess with someone, instead of smiling gently at everyone like you do now. This is too weird!" Coentrao seemed to realize that he had said something wrong and quickly explained.
Cristiano shook his head. He had to get rid of the idea of changing his head. It was too scary.
Pepe rolled his eyes. Seeing that Coentrao was still trying to explain something, he was afraid that the older boy would make things worse, so he quickly interrupted him.
"Now, be quiet and just watch the game!"
Coentrao wisely made a zipper-like motion and closed his mouth tightly.
Brazil scored a goal in the first half, and not long after the start of the second half, Kaka assisted and scored another goal. This was almost a foregone conclusion.
"Kaka has contributed three assists in the official World Cup so far, and currently shares the first place in the assist list with Thomas Muller!" said the commentator.
Cristiano curled his eyes, and he stood up to order some salad from the hotel restaurant. He turned to his friends and asked, "What are you going to eat?"
"How about some vegetables and cod?" Quaresma guessed Cristiano would like that.
Sure enough, Cristiano gave him an approving and happy smile, and Coentrao ordered a steak.
When Pepe was about to place his order, he suddenly heard the commentator on TV screaming, "Kaka was knocked down! Foul in the penalty area! The referee pulled out a red card! This is the first red card of this World Cup so far!"
"A penalty, no doubt about it!"
Cristiano immediately put down the phone and quickly returned to the TV.
He frowned and stared at the screen without blinking. He saw Kaka still lying on the grass without getting up, and he had a bad feeling - this was not consistent with Kaka's usual behavior.
He knows Kaka, and Kaka is not someone who would waste time on the court.
Cristiano unconsciously clenched his hands slightly, and at the same time, the commentator and the players on the field noticed that Kaka was still curled up on the grass with a painful look on his face.
"Kaka seems to have injured his ligament!? Or maybe his knee? The team doctor is here!" the commentator said quickly.
Upon hearing this, Pepe immediately looked at Cristiano, and saw that Cristiano was standing there a little stiffly, so nervous that he even forgot to hang up the microphone in his hand.
Pepe exchanged glances with Quaresma, and he stepped forward to take the microphone from Cristiano's hand, and whispered the details of the order to the front desk customer service who was waiting patiently on the other end of the microphone.
Quaresma comforted Cristiano, saying: "It won't be that bad, he may have just twisted it when he landed just now, Chris, sit down and don't worry, there is no use worrying, you know."
"And we have a team doctor, professionals will take care of it. Kaka is their captain, they are more nervous than anyone else." Coentrao also said.
Cristiano nodded randomly and said in a low voice: "But will this affect his subsequent games? The time is too tight, he doesn't even have time to fully recover..."
"The team doctor signals that a substitution is needed! It seems that Kaka's injury forces him to leave the field first. I wonder if we can see him on the next World Cup stage again?" the commentator said quickly.
Cristiano pursed his lips tightly, his eyes fixed on the close-up shown in the broadcast screen. His lover frowned and covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
He knew how frustrated Kaka was. Once in the World Cup in South Africa, Kaka was sent off due to a red card and missed the subsequent games. Brazil was eliminated early in the quarter-finals. This time, he avoided a possible red card incident, but the sudden injury seemed to bring the nightmare back.
Cristiano felt almost the same way, as if his heart was being tightly squeezed by an invisible hand.
"Chris, call Kaka later and you'll know the situation. Don't worry about your friend. You look like you're about to cry." Coentrao whispered. He stood up and hugged Cristiano. He intuitively felt that Cristiano needed a hug from his partner.
Cristiano nodded quickly when he heard that. He had no interest in watching the rest of the game. Brazil's advancement to the quarter-finals was a foregone conclusion. He was more concerned about Kaka's injury than a game without suspense.
The hotel waiter brought up the food that had just been ordered. Cristiano took a few spoonfuls of the food and Pepe waved his hand to urge him to call Kaka quickly and not stand there with a pout as if he was bullied by the three of them.
Quaresma shook his head. He only knew that Cristiano was about to mash the plate of vegetable salad in front of him into juice.
Anyway, the game is over and the post-match interviews have been broadcast, so Kaka must be free at this moment.
Cristiano curled his lips when he heard this, and he said softly: "I sent a message to Kaka a long time ago, and he said he would call me later."
"It's okay, Chris, look how quickly he responded to the message, there must be no big problem..." Quaresma said.
Before he finished speaking, Cristiano's phone rang. Quaresma looked at his childhood sweetheart and he jumped up as if a spring was pressed on his buttocks: "Kaka's call, I'll go to the balcony to answer it!"
Quaresma: "...Go ahead."
He waved his hand weakly and muttered quietly, "Look at how nervous he is. If I hadn't known it was that Brazilian on the other end of the phone, I would have thought it was his love interest."
Pepe sneered: "Then you should see how they are in the club."
"Hmm? Completely opposite?" Quaresma was a little interested, and even Coentrao next to him looked over curiously.
"Then you will be more convinced." Pepe glanced at the two of them, looking at them as if they were fools, "What are you thinking about?"
Quaresma, Coentrao: "..."
Cristiano answered Kaka's call on the balcony. The moment the call was connected, he didn't know what to say. He breathed softly, listening to the same breathing sound coming from the other side, and his breathing trembled.
"Hey Cris." Kaka was the first to break the silence. He called out to Cristiano softly, "Is it convenient for you to answer the phone?"
"Convenient." Cristiano responded quickly. He asked quietly, "What did the team doctor say? What is the diagnosis?"
He suddenly changed the subject: "Wait, Kaka, let's go to the old place. I want to see you."
Kaka was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone, which made Cristiano's anxiety and panic reach its peak.
But soon, Kaka agreed: "Okay Cris, don't worry, we'll see you there."
After Cristiano hung up the phone, he glanced over to the balcony, where Quaresma and others were still eating a midnight snack with their backs to him.
He exhaled lightly and returned to the system space in a blink of an eye.
Kaka came in right after him. Cristiano looked at him and Kaka barely curled his lips towards him: "Cris."
Cristiano hugged Kaka gently. Looking at Kaka's appearance, he knew that the situation was not so optimistic. At least for them, the worst thing was not being able to continue to participate in the next World Cup.
He held Kaka in his arms, patted his lover gently, kissed Kaka's forehead like comforting a child, and said softly: "It's okay, we are still here, nothing can't be solved."
"But I still can't participate in the next game," Kaka said.
The mild meniscus sprain turned out to be much better than expected when he left the game, but no matter what, even with a systematic treatment package, it would be impossible for him to recover and play in just four or five days.
Kaka looked at Cristiano and saw the sadness in his lover's eyes. The brown-green eyes slowly turned red, as if he was about to cry. Kaka knew that Cristiano felt sorry and sad for him. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
Cristiano seemed to know it and hugged him tightly, so hard, as if he wanted to pass on his strength to him through this hug.
Kaka felt that he was falling continuously.
After he was injured and in so much pain that he couldn't stand up, he kept falling. It was not until this moment that he felt that he was being supported, as if he had landed on solid ground. He truly felt a sense of relief.
He was supported by Cristiano. Kaka lowered his head and buried it in his lover's shoulder. He briefly removed the mask of expression that kept smiling and calm even in front of reporters, and subconsciously clutched Cristiano's collar.
He murmured Cristiano's name softly, as if just saying Cristiano's name was enough to give him endless strength.
Cristiano is like faith.
It wasn't just him, Kaka was always aware of it, and he saw and felt it firsthand.
He gradually closed his arms.
Cristiano felt the force tightening around his waist. He did not struggle, but just relaxed his waist muscles, kissed Kaka's forehead little by little, and patted his lover's back.
"You see, fate always plays tricks on people..." Cristiano said softly, his voice was hoarse and soft, as if he was humming in his ear, "This is the magic of football, it is always full of regrets and surprises, and Kaka, I firmly believe that as long as we are still on the field, it will be wonderful. No matter what the result is, we enjoy the process, it is charming."
"It is, Cris..."
///
Cristiano and Kaka stayed in that private space until they were kicked out by the system. Then they talked on their phones until they became hot before hanging up.
Kaka's injury forced him to rest and he basically said goodbye to this World Cup.
On the other side, Portugal also ushered in its quarter-finals.
Portugal qualified as the second in the group, which means they will face Spain, which qualified as the first in the group, in the quarter-finals.
This is really a team full of familiar faces. In the stadium where the quarter-finals kicked off, Cristiano met Casillas, Ramos, Pique in the player tunnel without any surprise...
Casillas waved at Cristiano, and as he watched Cristiano approach him obediently, he grinned, then hugged the little Portuguese captain's head and rubbed it twice: "It's really exciting and novel to be your opponent."
Cristiano grinned when he heard this: "It's not the first time."
Casillas paused after hearing this, and then he saw the boy winking at him, and some of his memories suddenly came back to him - for example, when Real Madrid was still in the round of 16 of the Champions League, in the second leg of the quarter-finals that year, the Portuguese scored two goals in his goal.
Casillas exhaled and patted the Portuguese's hairspray-covered head.
It’s better not to recall these memories!
Cristiano's grin became even more vicious, and Casillas couldn't help but reach out and pinch the Portuguese's fleshy round face: "How annoying Cristiano!"
Pique ran up and put his arm around Cristiano's shoulders. He pushed Casillas aside and shouted with a smile: "I won't be too gentle with you, Ronnie. I see through you."
——These were the harsh words that Pique said in an interview before the game. After he finished speaking, Pique slyly called Chris and complained angrily on the phone that he was bullied by his national team teammates: "Iker laughed at me and said that I didn't see through you and stop you when I was in Barcelona. I said, can you blame me for this? Who guaranteed that I could stop you if I saw through you? I was just talking."
"And Sergio, you have to be careful with him. He kicks too hard, and yellow and red cards are commonplace. He is not as tactful as me... Damn Ramos! You splashed water on me!?"
"Don't listen to him, Cristiano! The people in Barcelona are all wicked! But Sese won't let us win! Don't cry if you lose the game, Chris..."
Cristiano hung up the meaningless call directly. It would be better for him to keep it so that he could have a long-distance call with Ms. Dolores.
At this moment in the player tunnel, Pique mentioned the harsh words he had said in the previous interview. He looked at Cristiano with a smile and said, "Remember to come to me if you cry, Ronnie. I will always open my arms to you."
Cristiano gave him an elbow and said: "Fuck you Gerrard, don't make me sound like a crybaby."
Pique covered his lower abdomen and choked for a moment - what? Isn't that Ronnie? Everyone in the world knows who he is! !
Ramos glanced at Pique with gloating. If it were him, he would not say that he was a crybaby in front of Cristiano.
— he would say across the line.
"The game begins! This is an Iberian derby! Spain versus Portugal! The game is about to begin!"
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