Chapter 268
After the Netherlands-Portugal match, Cristiano returned to the hotel.
The hotel where they were staying was surrounded by extremely excited fans. Cristiano and his teammates walked into the hotel with difficulty under the protection of bodyguards.
Some fans waiting in the lobby held up Cristiano's jersey, shouting his name and screaming excitedly.
As Cristiano walked over, a signature pen was stuffed into his hand. He looked down and saw a little boy who was just as tall as his thighs, looking up at him expectantly, with the light in his eyes seeming to overflow.
He couldn't help but smile and patiently signed his name on the jersey quickly.
Cristiano always tried his best to be patient with these fans who came from afar, but he didn't let them stay here for too long. The bodyguard was more worried that the increasingly restless crowd would bring trouble and danger, so he quickly took Cristiano into the elevator.
Cristiano and Pepe shared a room, and as soon as he arrived in the room, Cristiano relaxed and fell straight into the soft big bed.
"I miss them." Cristiano hummed softly.
"Thinking of who?" Pepe didn't hear clearly, so he pricked up his ears and asked, "What did you say?"
"I miss Junior, Luca, and Kaka." Cristiano turned over.
He was tired today, both on and off the court. This was Van Nistelrooy's last European Cup. When he saw the opponent's back in the player tunnel, he always felt uncomfortable, and the suppressed emotions also exhausted him.
Perhaps because of these reasons, he missed the feeling of being at home so much.
As soon as the Champions League final ended, he flew back to Portugal with Pepe and Coentrao to participate in the national team training within two days. Then there was the intensive game schedule and he hadn't seen them for more than a month.
Cristiano pouted and said to Pepe: "You don't know how cute my Junior and Luca are now."
Pepe: “…”
He suspected Cristiano was showing off to him.
Of course he knew. Come on, on the night when Real Madrid won the Champions League, Junior and Luca were both brought to the stadium. The two little kids, who were only four or five years old, were chubby and walked on the court with their short legs looking for their dad. They captured the hearts of a group of players almost immediately and were captured by many cameras.
In the end, he went to find Cristiano, holding the two little ones, one in each hand.
The two little guys kept clinging to Cristiano, especially Junior, who almost became his father's little tail. However, because the little guy didn't like the spotlights, Chris soon asked the staff to take him back to the backstage.
However, Pepe did not expect that Kaka was among the names Cristiano mentioned.
He rolled his eyes. "Those two little brats are indeed adorable. I can barely understand that you miss your son and someone else's son at the same time, but a roommate? Cristiano, you are a little too emotional."
Cristiano choked and scratched his chin, not knowing what to say to Pepe.
Pepe was too lazy to listen to Cristiano's words and waved at the boy, indicating that he needed to use the bathroom to take a shower first.
Cristiano nodded immediately and quickly rushed Pepe into the bathroom.
Pepe looked at the bathroom door that was even closed considerately: "..."
Through the frosted bathroom door, he could see Cristiano quickly jumping back onto the bed to play with his cell phone.
【C: I miss you guys :(】
After Cristiano sent the message, he remembered that Kaka was experiencing a time difference and was probably already asleep by now.
He turned off the screen of his mobile phone, turned around and buried his face in the pillow.
Who says that the Ballon d'Or winner can't think about his children and partner when he's playing outside? What's wrong with him thinking about it?
Cristiano curled his lips and nuzzled into the pillow again.
The next second, the phone vibrated through the pillow and the screen lit up.
Cristiano subconsciously tilted his head to look——
【K: I miss you too】
Kaka's reply came back almost instantly.
Cristiano happily turned over in bed with his phone in his arms, laughing and biting his lips.
【K: Haven’t you rested yet? You should go to bed obediently Cris]
【C: Maybe because I miss you guys a little bit :(】
Although there were only a few words, Kaka sensitively noticed that Cristiano was in a low mood.
He paused, and quickly replied:
【K: What happened? I want to see you】
[C: Good]
The space provided by the system became their secret garden for secret dates across countries.
Almost immediately after sending the message, both of them entered the system space. They completed their training and rehabilitation treatment here and were already completely familiar with it.
"I watched your game. Portugal played beautifully." Kaka said. He sat next to Cristiano and tilted his head to look at Chris. He saw some fatigue in Cristiano's eyes and said, "So... is it because of Van Nistelrooy?"
"...I don't know how to say it, I just know very well how he feels." Cristiano paused for a moment because Kaka noticed it keenly, and he said in a low voice in a sullen voice.
He pinched his eyebrows, and when he felt Kaka approaching, he relaxed his body and leaned on Kaka.
He let out a long breath.
He knew that Van Nistelrooy left Real Madrid and joined the Bundesliga club Hamburg mainly for this European Cup.
If they stayed in Real Madrid, they both knew that even if Van Nistelrooy's appearances would be reduced, he would still have a place, and Real Madrid would bring much more championships and glory than Hamburg, but Van Nistelrooy still chose Hamburg.
Cristiano can fully understand such a choice, and perhaps if he were in the same situation, he would make the same choice.
But the performance of the Dutch team was disappointing. They did not lose due to a difference in strength, but due to more personal problems, which made the defeat even more unbearable, especially as this was their last tournament.
Cristiano said: "But you see, this is an unsolvable problem. Whether in the national team or the club, similar problems will always appear. Even if it is not like this, there will be like that. No one can change it. All we have to do is accept it."
His voice was soft, like a whisper, a little tired and a little mocking: "Even though I say that, it's always difficult to do it."
7
This is an obvious answer. Everyone knows that they have to accept these things and not try to resist the environment. One person cannot change anything.
"In the player tunnel, I told Ruud that I had learned to accept it, but I felt very sad," Cristiano said. He looked at Kaka, lowered the corners of his mouth slightly and pursed it, which made his face look a little more aggrieved.
Kaka understood what Cristiano meant. He unconsciously tightened the strength on his hands slightly, and only reacted when Cristiano looked over at him.
He bent down and kissed Cristiano's shoulder apologetically, the place that was hurt by his grip. He kissed it several times. When he heard Cristiano laugh softly, he looked up at Chris.
There was a hint of smile in the Portuguese man's eyes, just like a child, the emotion just now came and went quickly.
Kaka met Cristiano's eyes, and he also slightly curved the corners of his mouth, then propped himself up and moved closer to kiss his lover's eyelashes, which were long and curled, and he would subconsciously blink twice when he got closer.
"Then follow your heart, Cris." His voice was steady.
"Your reason and wisdom are telling you how to deal with those 'problems' correctly, but your heart belongs to football." Kaka said, putting his palm on Cristiano's chest. The warmth under his palm and the strong heartbeat made his eyes become deep.
He lowered his head and kissed the skin through the fabric.
Cristiano belongs to football. Then it belonged to him.
He thought about it, and then said, "If that makes you sad or uncomfortable, then follow your heart and challenge those problems that may seem unsolvable. Be yourself, Cris, you are different."
Cristiano lowered his head and looked at Kaka quietly. After several seconds, he nodded slightly and then showed a big smile.
…
Five days later, in the quarter-finals, Cristiano scored the only goal of the game against the Czech Republic, bringing Portugal into the semi-finals.
"MVP of the game! Cristiano Ronaldo! Scored the crucial winning goal! Drag Portugal into the semi-finals!!"
"This is the furthest Portugal has ever gone since losing their golden generation! They will face Spain head-on in the semi-finals!"
"It's another Iberian derby. The match against Spain will definitely be a very difficult one. The overall strength of Spanish players has been at its peak in recent years, while Portugal is relatively weak."
“…”
This semi-final attracted a lot of media attention.
The game has reached the semi-finals. No matter which team Portugal faces, it will be a strong opponent. As for the next opponent being Spain, the Portuguese showed an equal indifference.
The coach is already very satisfied with Portugal's ability to reach the semi-finals, which is already a breakthrough result for Portugal.
In two consecutive European Cup matches, Cristiano helped Portugal break out of the death group in the Netherlands-Portugal tournament, and became a key player in the quarter-finals to help Portugal reach the semi-finals. His performance was enough to win praise from the outside world.
The England team, which had been eliminated, could only watch. Some players had already left, while Ferdinand, Neville, Alan and Rooney simply stayed and planned to watch the next semi-final.
The reporter waited in front of the hotel and caught four people, and inevitably asked about Cristiano.
The list of nominees for the Ballon d'Or has been announced, and naturally the question of whether the award should be given to Messi or Ronaldo will continue to arise.
Alan was standing nearby and heard the same old question again. He snorted and laughed, the sarcasm in his voice was self-evident. Perhaps because he had no intention of covering it up, the reporters and cameramen on the other side were silent for several seconds.
Seeing this, Ferdinand subconsciously raised the corners of his mouth, but was immediately reminded by Neville's cough.
He cleared his throat and put on a serious expression: "I am very happy for Ronnie. He deserves the current results. He played brilliantly against the Czech Republic. This will hopefully be his European Cup - the European Cup he wins as captain and leader of Portugal because he is the most comprehensive and capable player."
Rooney stood aside and listened with a smile, thinking in his heart, tsk, look, here it comes again, Leo can't stop talking about Ronnie.
"I believe he will be named the best player this year, while Messi will have to be content with the Silver Ball. Cristiano helped Real Madrid win four titles and his performance in the European Cup is obvious to all, which is a guarantee for the Ballon d'Or," Ferdinand said bluntly.
If it weren't for his status as a player, he even wanted to say that if the Golden Globe was not given to Ronnie, it would be robbery.
"It doesn't seem like there's anything to ask. I think it's obvious, isn't it?" Alan said on the side.
Ferdinand gave Alan a look when he heard this, and he seemed to have forgotten that he was still an active player.
Neville and Rooney began to say some nice polite words to make this impromptu interview less tense.
Although they guessed that even if this content was put on paper intact and seen by the Boss, the Boss probably would not criticize them at all, and might even reward them with an extra lap of training.
Then let’s not do that.
The semi-finals were held in Donetsk.
In the player tunnel, both teams are familiar faces. The peak period of Real Madrid and the peak period of Barcelona are gathered in the same team. This team seems to have a face that says "I am the champion".
Ramos and Pique both came forward to greet Cristiano with fist bumps, and then looked at each other -
Pique: A good student.
Ramos: Are you that familiar? Don't rub.
Casillas pushed the two defenders aside, and Alonso came over and hugged Cristiano, Pepe, and Coentrao one by one. The teammates from the club stood on opposite sides, which was already familiar to the two teams.
After a brief greeting, they strode onto the court following the broadcast.
The game was as tense as they had expected. During the 90 minutes of regular time, neither side was able to score a goal into the opponent's goal.
The game went into overtime and Cristiano heard the fans on the field yelling Messi's name at him, just like they did in their club games, while the Portuguese fans were so angry that they almost fought with the other side in the stands.
Cristiano ignored the boos from the fans, which was almost commonplace for him. He wondered why no one shouted Kaka's name at him, which would have made him absolutely happy.
"There seems to be some fierce conflict in the stands. The fans on both sides are about to fight. The security on the field has already taken action!"
"It seems that the Spanish fans yelling Messi's name annoyed the Portuguese fans."
"But to be honest, there has never been a player like Ronaldo who has always been pressured by the opposing fans by shouting the name of another player during the game."
The commentators in the broadcast room were talking.
In the stands, Ferdinand and others rolled their eyes at the same time.
"It won't do any good, we did that to him in the dressing room a long time ago and he didn't even look at us, remember?" Rooney said.
Alan glanced at Rooney and raised his eyebrows: "You have done this too?"
Neville met Alan's surprised and condemning eyes and felt that they were really inhumane at that time.
"But he always walked with his head held high," Ferdinand said. "That's Ronnie's personality. He never really got beat."
The farce in the stands had not yet ended, but something suddenly happened on the field.
Cristiano immediately accelerated after receiving the pass from Coentrao. The regular 90-minute game made it impossible for the Spanish defense to catch up with Cristiano so quickly. Cristiano dribbled the ball straight into the penalty area and almost faced Casillas one-on-one.
"The ball goes in!!! Ronaldo scored a goal in overtime——"
The commentator shouted excitedly, and the fans in the stands were even more excited and celebrating.
However, before the commentator could finish speaking, the linesman raised the flag.
"Ah, the linesman indicated that Ronaldo's goal was offside, so the goal is invalid!"
Cristiano almost rushed to the referee, and the commentary hall began to replay the slow motion of the goal.
"As for this offside... it's only a matter of millimeters. If Ronaldo's shoes were half a size smaller, it might not count," the commentator joked.
The entire game was full of ups and downs, and the fans' dissatisfied protests almost overturned the Donetsk stadium.
However, the score of the game returned to the starting point and continued until the end of overtime.
This time, all the fans in the stadium held their breath and were extremely nervous.
The commentator in the broadcast room slammed the table: "Penalty shootout! Portugal and Spain have reached the extremely cruel penalty shootout round!! I wonder what kind of lineup will Portugal's coach Bento give?"
Bento wants to put Cristiano in the final position, which is a position that tests experience and mentality. He must have a big heart to calm down.
"Let me go first. The pressure of the first penalty kick will be greater, and I should stand there." Cristiano looked at Bento, who pursed his lips and rarely refuted the other party's arrangement.
Bento was a little surprised, but he immediately refused: "No, then who will play the last position? No, I can't find a more suitable candidate, you are the fifth, Cristiano, I believe you."
Faced with the coach's unquestionable and rejecting gaze, Cristiano could only shut up. He could not quarrel with the coach over the order, as that would affect the team's performance.
All he could do was turn around and cheer on his teammates.
The first penalty taker for Spain was Alonso. Alonso was almost certain to win the penalty, but he did not expect that the first ball was saved by goalkeeper Patricio.
This made all the Spanish main players suddenly become quiet and solemn.
On the Portuguese side, the first penalty taker was Moutinho, a midfielder who performed very well in this game. However, his penalty was saved by Casillas, which undoubtedly made the Spanish side feel a little relieved.
"Portugal coach Bento looked very solemn on the sidelines. Moutinho's first penalty shot error brought great pressure to the next penalty shooter!"
"It's Spain's turn to take the penalty kick next..."
In the following rounds, both Spain and Portugal scored two penalties each.
"Spanish Ramos! A spoon penalty, a central defender actually scored a penalty shootout with a spoon penalty!"
"Ramos once missed a penalty in a club match, but in this crucial final, he scored a very beautiful penalty!"
"The next player for Portugal is Bruno Alves... The ball was blocked by the goal post!! Portugal is now behind, and the next goal from Spain will almost determine Portugal's fate!!"
"It's the goalpost again. Many of Portugal's shots in this game were blocked by the goalpost. The goalpost is almost becoming Spain's second goalkeeper on the field, right? It seems that Portugal does lack a little luck..."
The next team to stand on the penalty spot was Spain. Torres Fabregas took a deep breath. His kick would determine the fate of Portugal and Spain.
Run up and shoot.
Suddenly there was a burst of joy in the stadium - the ball went in!
"The game is over! Portugal is eliminated in the semi-finals!! Congratulations to Spain for getting a one-way ticket to the European Cup final stage!!"
"Fabregas's kick also hit the goal post! But the ball was deflected by the side post and sent into the goal! This time the goal post was on the Spanish side! The goddess of luck favors Spain!"
"Ronaldo didn't even have a chance to take the penalty and the game was over!!"
Cristiano looked at the goal in front of him, pursed his lips tightly, laughed and shook his head helplessly. He felt his nasal cavity quickly filled with sourness and his eye sockets quickly became hot.
They almost had luck, they had done everything this time, but they lacked luck, it was a complete battle of luck.
He didn't say much, but just walked towards his teammates. Those teammates who were frustrated and annoyed that they missed the penalty shot lowered their heads. He walked over and gave them a tight hug and kissed their hearts, just like he did before the penalty kick started.
"We still have many games to play, don't lose heart, boys." His voice was slightly hoarse, and then he led the whole team to thank the audience.
Ferdinand, Neville and others stared at Cristiano with frowns on their faces. They saw him straighten his back and stride into the player tunnel. They did not look away until he was out of sight.
"He seemed very calm, as if he accepted the result easily." Rooney said after a moment of hesitation. This was different from the Cristiano he knew.
Neville and Ferdinand looked at each other without saying anything.
Alan looked in the direction of the player tunnel and said suddenly: "He is the captain of Portugal."
Rooney paused.
As Cristiano walked into the locker room corridor, he squatted on the floor of the corridor against the wall and buried his head in his knees while the cameras gathered outside the stadium were only rushing to shoot the winning team.
"Where's Cristiano?" Pepe was the first to notice that their captain was missing. He frowned and looked around. "Has anyone seen Cristiano?"
Coentrao, Quaresma and others ran out immediately, and after only a few steps they saw Cristiano squatting outside.
Coentrao was stunned for a moment and saw Cristiano's shoulders shaking violently. He paused, then freed their captain's face from his knees.
Cristiano couldn't stop the tears from flowing. His eyes were red from crying, and he quickly buried his head back like a child who had lost his favorite toy.
Quaresma sat next to him. He was silent and said nothing. He just hugged Cristiano tightly, putting his arms around the Portuguese's shoulders like two crossed branches. Cristiano buried his face in Quaresma's shoulders.
He was not on the field for this penalty shootout. He was substituted off during the game because of an injury. He could only watch the game anxiously on the sidelines. Just like Cristiano, they didn't even have a chance to take a penalty for the team and everything was over.
Soon, other teammates and even the coaching staff came over.
Bento swore that he had never tried so hard to comfort his little son, but their captain seemed to have lost his tear valve and kept crying, leaving him completely at a loss.
He knew very well that if Cristiano was put in the first position for this penalty kick, perhaps everything would be different. He should have listened to Cristiano.
But there are no ifs.
In the post-match interview, Cristiano's eyes were still red, and the skin under his eyes clearly showed that the boy had cried bitterly in the locker room after the game, and the media obviously would not let it go.
Cristiano attended the post-match interview. As the captain, he had to speak out.
"I'm the same as always because I'm happy to have done everything I could and we have to be proud because we played well, we just had no luck," he said.
Portugal didn't have a superstar lineup like Spain, but they still forced the game into a penalty shootout, which is enough to prove their strength.
"This has been a very successful European Cup adventure. We were one of the top four teams. It's disappointing to leave because we were good enough to reach the final," Cristiano said without hesitation. He looked at his teammates and led the applause. He said loudly and firmly, "Even if we stop in the semi-finals of this European Cup, I believe we still have great potential to make the final next time."
Applause gradually broke out from the media seats in the audience. After a few seconds, the applause became a wave and continued.
Being eliminated cannot make Cristiano lower his head and let go of his pride.
He accepts failure, but the next moment, he will hold his head high to challenge those seemingly incredible goals and ambitions.
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