Chapter 89
Anfield Stadium.
It's another away game. For the team, away games always mean unfriendly fans. This is very common, but there are indeed few people who can get 100% attention like Cristiano, especially in recent times.
Cristiano is far ahead in the number of times he was fouled on a non-authoritative list, and he also tops the list in terms of the number of times he cried on the court, leaving the second place behind.
Even though Cristiano's teammates and Ferguson didn't know there was such a list, they still noticed that more and more away fans seemed to be particularly keen to fill the stadium with boos and curses - as long as Cristiano got the ball.
This was so wrong, but there was nothing anyone could do.
Ferguson is very concerned about his young players, but fortunately Cristiano does not seem to be affected too much.
There are still two hours before the game officially starts and the players are warming up on the field.
Cristiano likes to play some fancy ball tricks during warm-up. The ball bounces around all parts of his body like an obedient black and white elf.
He always felt that doing so was like a tacit confirmation with the ball that he was still in control and the ball would respond to him.
This allows him to forget the pressure and worries outside the competition and focus more on the next game.
Cristiano found a position on the sidelines, hooked the ball with his toes, gently lifted it behind him, supported it with his back, then gently bent his head to push the ball to the top of his head, and then along the smooth line of the back of his neck, the ball moved from the left shoulder to the right shoulder, and finally shook it and stopped the ball steadily with his knees.
His teammates were already accustomed to Cristiano's little habit. They glanced at him from a distance, shook their heads in amusement, then looked away and went back to their own warm-up.
Cristiano is extremely focused when playing with the ball. His little tricks are always beautiful and smooth, just like the way he plays football, which is very entertaining.
Sometimes Ferdinand would also get involved and play some back and forth interaction.
Rooney whispered to Pique who was warming up nearby: "Leo is just like teasing his poodle, throwing a ball and waiting for the other side to fetch it back."
"I find that you always get to the point even when it's not necessary." Pique gave Rooney a thumbs up.
Rooney: “…”
He looked at Gerard Pique, who had golden hair and a sunny smile, and suspected that he had been stabbed, but it seemed that he had not.
Rooney touched his short stubble.
There are already spectators in the stadium, and there are lively voices everywhere. Cristiano is looking around the audience. Kaka will come to watch the game today, just before their vacation ends.
Cristiano reserved a box for Kaka, but he didn't know if he had arrived yet.
Kaka led his club teammates helplessly: "Rui, stop staring at me, I won't do anything. I just came to watch Chris's game."
"You pay too much attention to me, Kaka, don't be nervous, I just come to watch Chris's game." Costa shrugged.
He said this, but he muttered in his heart that he might as well hope that Kaka would do something, at least that way he could stop it.
He was even more afraid that Kaka would do nothing on the surface, but privately set a photo of the two of them that looked like a wedding photo as his chat background.
Oh my God, anyone who sees Kaka’s chat background will think there is something wrong!
Two men wearing suits of the same style but different colors, one sitting on a chair with his chin slightly raised and looking straight ahead, the other standing on the side with his head down and staring intently. Costa felt that he thought there was something wrong with the photo, most likely because he had a preconceived idea, but he didn't dare to ask Figo or Deco for confirmation - to be precise, he didn't dare to ask any of the big brothers in their national team for confirmation.
Costa could only watch closely on his own.
Kaka pinched his nose when he heard Costa's answer, then lowered his head and smiled: "Okay Rui, let's watch the game together."
"But don't you think you came in too early?" Costa looked at the time. Although there were already many fans queuing up to check their tickets to enter the stadium, was it necessary for professional players like them to watch this pre-match warm-up time?
Kaka said, "Is it early? I've missed Chris' warm-up for twenty minutes."
He looked at his teammates with a gentle and serious look, but Costa got a hint - damn, he was only twenty minutes late!
Blame him?
Could it be that the prince of San Siro would also hint at others in this way?
Don't you really need to repent to God for one more minute for such connotations?
Costa realized belatedly that apart from the key point of "20 minutes", Kaka's focus was also on "Chris warming up" -
So their Portuguese strawberry warm-up is so attractive, right? Figo must not know this.
Costa gnashed his teeth imperceptibly.
Cristiano finally saw Kaka in the stands. His eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately walked over there, kicking the ball inconspicuously with a clear smile.
Oh and Costa, Cristiano noticed his Portuguese teammate was there too.
Yes, this is better than Kaka watching the game alone.
Maybe next time he should find a friend to watch Kaka's game together? More smoke bombs.
Cristiano was thinking aimlessly in his mind, and then he continued to show off his little skills excitedly, and kept the ball steady on his forehead like a sea lion heading the ball.
Costa laughed when he saw this: "Oh, I admit that Cristiano's warm-up is very interesting. This guy is really funny."
"Isn't it cute?" Kaka took out his camera and quickly pressed the shutter.
Costa: “…Is that so?”
He twitched his lips and tugged at Kaka's arm: "The gossip reporters on the front line are not as scrambling as you to capture the moment."
Kaka tilted his head to look at Costa, then grabbed the camera, pointed it at Costa and pressed the shutter, smiling: "That's because they don't have a good angle like me."
Costa: “…”
roll.
After the warm-up on the field, all the players returned to the locker room.
Cristiano was in great shape. He trotted to the sidelines, looked up at Kaka and Costa, and just as he was about to wave his arms, Pique and Alan grabbed each of their arms: "Let's go, the boss is going to have a small meeting in the locker room."
"Have you seen Riise? That guy's calves are so thick!" Pique whispered, covering his mouth.
Cristiano had no choice but to give a quick look and was embraced and quickly walked into the corridor.
"That's all you're paying attention to, right?" Cristiano teased Pique.
"Tsk, I don't believe other people didn't notice it." Pique said.
As he spoke he looked at the others. Cristiano followed Pique's gaze and looked at Ferdinand, Giggs and the others. None of his teammates spoke to him.
Reese did find the amount of attention he was getting during the warm-up unusual, but when he turned his head to look, he saw nothing and could only frown in confusion, which made him look even more fierce than usual.
The Norwegian, who actually had a pretty good temper, groaned inwardly and kicked the ball into the net.
Ferguson's pre-match mobilization was not much different from usual. After it was over, the group of people went about doing what they were supposed to do.
After Cristiano changed into his jersey, he walked over to Alan and put tape and shin guards on his calves, reminding Alan: "Don't forget what we said before."
"I see, Chris. Why haven't I seen you be so careful before?" Alan laughed. He took off his training suit and turned to look at Cristiano. "You'd better be careful about yourself. I'm not the one who's always being watched."
Cristiano wrinkled his nose, put on his socks and sneakers, and handed the tape to Alan: "Be serious."
"Okay, Cristiano." Alan responded, deliberately biting every byte and dragging out the voice, which made all the men in the locker room laugh.
"Ronnie can be like a mother hen sometimes." Fletcher laughed. "Our Ronnie has grown up."
"Of course I am, but why don't you care about Keane and the others? And me." Giggs narrowed his eyes and pulled the chubby face of their number seven.
Their No.7 never knew how to avoid these little moves. He looked so obedient that people didn't have the heart to use too much strength. Giggs just pinched him twice for the sake of politeness, and then sighed with a trailing tone: "So our Ronnie really still depends on the face."
Alan raised his eyebrows and curled up the corners of his mouth: "Then I'll take this as a compliment."
"You are really hopeless." Cristiano rolled his eyes. He took some water and splashed it on his face. The cold water gave him a chill and made him feel more energetic.
Winters in England are always cold, and even though it was a sunny day today, Cristiano chose to wear black gloves.
Pique from Spain also wore gloves out of fear of the cold, and stood behind Cristiano with a smile, making faces behind him as if playing a prank. Cristiano knew nothing until Pique reached out and covered his ears out of the blue: "Ha, Chris, look at how red your ears are from the cold, you are too cold-resistant."
Cristiano shrank his neck, rubbed his ears when he heard the words, snorted and ignored it.
People like Pique who were born in a golden cradle would never understand how poor they were when they were young, and how their ears were so cold that they were painful, itchy, and red.
The others, on the other hand, were not afraid of the cold at all. They blew away the cool air and jumped around to warm up their bodies.
In the double-sided player tunnel, Liverpool's main players were separated from Manchester United's main players by an aisle. No one on either side looked at each other, and they stared straight ahead without looking away.
"The game begins! Liverpool players wearing red home jerseys attack the Manchester United goal from the left side of the screen, while Manchester United players wearing blue away jerseys attack the Liverpool goal from the right side of the screen!"
The commentator in the broadcast room gave real-time commentary on the Red Derby match.
Kaka and Costa sat in the box to watch the game. Costa rubbed his hands and blew coldly, saying, "It's really cold in England, not as cold as Milan, let alone Portugal."
Kaka looked at Cristiano on the field and said: "Cristiano came to England when he was 18 years old."
"Okay." Costa touched the tip of his nose. "Cristiano is a guy who will grow up wildly. This climate problem is nothing to him."
Kaka curled the corners of his mouth, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
This climate issue is indeed just a small part of Cristiano's trouble in adapting to the Premier League life. Compared with some of the troubles Chris once told him, it is really nothing.
But he still felt a little sad because of this - they were always on the phone, but now Cristiano was used to this kind of separation-filled life together, and he could always adapt well, but think about the little Cristiano in the previous life, who had to spend the most difficult first year in tears and longing.
Kaka knew how much Ms. Dolores and Chris's family doted on their youngest brother. Chris once talked to him proudly about his family. Although they were very poor at that time, his brothers and sisters would use their wages from working to pool together a round-trip ticket for their mother and buy luxury goods for Chris, so that the poor boy from the country would suffer less bullying and contempt.
Kaka was surprised when he heard about this experience for the first time. Born into a wealthy family, it was hard for him to imagine that this flamboyant and popular star had such a past. He also never expected that when Cristiano talked about this experience, he would smile with satisfaction and sweetness, as if those sour memories had only produced sweet and ripe fruits.
Just as he always proudly told everyone that he had very deep exchanges with Cristiano Ronaldo and they talked about everything - it was precisely because of these conversations that he was shaken by Cristiano's soul again and again, and then fascinated and deeply involved.
Kaka was concentrating on watching Cristiano running on the field. Cristiano's black hair was inconspicuous among Manchester United's first-line main team, but Alan's platinum short hair was very eye-catching. However, Kaka could still recognize who was his lover at a glance.
Cristiano's running style is very striking. He is tall and thin, and his natural skeleton makes it impossible for him to look fierce and tough like other strong players. When he runs, it seems like he is carrying a gust of wind, like an agile cheetah.
The more prominent indicator is the reaction of the audience.
As soon as Cristiano touched the ball, the fans at Anfield immediately burst into huge boos:
"Ronaldo plays like shit!"
"Ronaldo is a crybaby!"
"Switch to Beckham!"
“…”
The Anfield Stadium, which can accommodate more than 40,000 people, is filled with spectators of the home team. It is like a huge modern Colosseum, and the players are like trapped beasts inside. They have to fight with other beasts in the Colosseum as well as the cheers of the audience.
Costa hadn't watched Cristiano's game live for a long time. He remembered that he hadn't encountered such shocking fans' reactions in the last qualifiers. He was shocked and his eyes widened in shock: "What are these fans shouting?! Didn't Cristiano just get the ball?!"
Kaka looked at the ordinary seats at the bottom of the box and pursed his lips.
"It's always like this," he whispered. "It's terrible, isn't it?"
As far as he can remember, in most of the games after they joined Real Madrid, perhaps because they were really unlucky, they always missed out on major competitions. Whether at home at the Bernabeu or away, Cristiano was always the most popular player in their first-line team. As long as he touched the ball, there would be too many and too loud boos. If it were any other player, it would be enough to make most people lose their mind and be afraid to go on the court.
As for why Chris was always booed, Kaka guessed it was probably because the opponent would always respond by stubbornly scoring a goal, and then arrogantly rushing to the sidelines to provoke the fans who had instantly fallen silent. And if they lost a goal next, those fans would seem to have regained their ground and booed back even louder.
It's a give and take.
Those people just love to see Cristiano's reaction. Cristiano is like grass flattened by a storm, which will stand up again vigorously and full of vitality if not noticed.
Costa's eyes widened. "Always like this?! Damn, this is so unhealthy?! Why didn't he ever tell us about this?"
Kaka thought to himself, Chris never mentioned it to him either.
Cristiano accepted it well. Receiving such high attention away from home at least proved that he is indeed threatening enough, which is a good sign.
He cycled past a defender and looked up to find Alan's position.
Alan was almost halfway between him and the front court, but the two looked at each other almost in tacit understanding. Cristiano licked his lips, grinned, and made an extra-long pass, while Alan broke through fiercely and knocked away the opponent's defender. After grabbing the ball, he hardly adjusted. The pass position Chris gave him was very comfortable, and he decisively shot directly outside the small penalty area!
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!"
"Alan Smith scored with a powerful shot! Cristiano Ronaldo made a long assist! Forty minutes into the first half! Manchester United broke the deadlock with a score of 1-0!"
Cristiano excitedly trotted to Alan and patted the back of his head. In the previous life, they couldn't even score a goal in this game!
In the previous life, until the last 87 minutes of the game, their score remained at a disadvantage with Liverpool leading by one point - Cristiano believed that if they had not had no advantage in the score, then facing Riise's explosive shot, Alan would not have been so aggressive in using his body to block the opponent's free kick.
But now it’s different!
Alan grabbed Cristiano's arm and ran to the sidelines, just like when he assisted Cristiano to score a goal at the beginning, Cristiano pulled him to the sidelines to accept the cheers of the fans. This time it was his turn.
However, the fans at Anfield were obviously just furious. Faced with the provocative actions of Alan and Cristiano, they shouted curses in dissatisfaction and smashed bottle caps and bread.
Cristiano laughed, pulled Alan and ran back to the field: "Oh my God, Alan, at least pull me to the area where our team's fans are."
Alan showed a little embarrassment on his face, but it was quickly dispelled by Cristiano's laughter.
Kaka was sitting in the box watching with amusement. He could clearly feel how happy Cristiano was. Even being hit didn't seem to affect his good mood.
Costa beside him smacked his lips and said speechlessly: "This former Leeds United player Alan is really unreliable..."
"That's true." Kaka answered quickly.
While celebrating, Cristiano looked up at Kaka in the box. They were too far apart, but he felt that Kaka must be looking at him and smiling, so he raised a bigger smile towards the box.
"Half-time whistle!"
The commentators in the broadcast room began to review and predict the details of the game in the first half. When there was nothing else to talk about, they began to talk about the audience seats, interspersed with chatting about the fans in the audience seats, and then looked at the time. There were still five minutes before the start, so they had to keep going.
"This game was not so enjoyable for Liverpool's home fans, especially since the goal came from the connection between Alan Smith and Cristiano Ronaldo. It must be quite frustrating."
"These two actually ran to the side of the stands to provoke us. How should I put it? It doesn't seem surprising at all. This is something these two people would do."
“Hahaha, just look at the reaction of the audience. They... No, wait, look at the other side of the box. The director cut to the VIP box! It’s Kaka and Costa! AC Milan’s two leading stars actually appeared in the stands for this game?! This is neither a semi-final nor a final. It’s at most a national derby between mortal enemies!”
"Uh... are we thinking the same thing? Didn't Ronaldo go to watch Kaka's Super Cup final not long ago?"
"Costa is Ronaldo's national team teammate, right? Check out his social media updates, just a few minutes ago -"
[@ruiCosta: To be honest, I didn’t see such harsh reactions on the field when I was 20 years old. Is this really healthy? :(]
"Wow, this is so clear."
"AC Milan is on holiday recently, right? They just won the Super Cup. I guess Costa came to see the performance of his national team teammates? I remember that it will be the last game of the World Cup qualifiers soon, right?"
"What about Kaka? Can he come along?"
"The relationship between these two people is really... very confusing. Are they familiar with each other or not? Hahahaha."
“…”
"Ahem, okay, the main players of Liverpool and Manchester United are back on the field now! The second half of the game is about to begin! Let's get back to the topic!"
Cristiano and Allan had been praised generously by Sir Alex Ferguson in the locker room, and both of them seemed more motivated when they returned to the field.
As for Costa in the stands, he was busy watching the live video in the national team group chat {Protect Our Little Strawberry}.
[Figo: ...He's just a kid, isn't that serious?]
[Deco: ...He's just a kid, isn't that serious?]
[Carvalho: ...He's just a kid, isn't that serious?]
[Ricardo: ...He's just a kid, is that a big deal?...By the way, why are you here? Did you secretly go to meet Chris? 】
[Figo: Yeah? ? When did you go? 】
[Costa: ... just today [share picture]]
【Figo: Oh, I see. Take it back, who wants to see your headshot?]
【Costa:? 】
[Figo: How did Chris play? The pressure in this environment is too great. It is normal to make mistakes. Remember to comfort him when you see him after the game.]
[Costa: In the first half, I only assisted a goal with a long pass. I think this pressure is like chicken blood for him]
[Figo: ...As expected of our No. 17]
[Deco: ...As expected of our No. 17]
[Carvalho: ...As expected of our No. 17]
【……】
Costa rolled his eyes and cursed before closing the group chat page.
In the second half of the game, Liverpool scored a goal and the score was tied.
Cristiano adjusted his breathing shallowly, and while running without the ball, he kept exchanging glances with Alan and Rooney.
The three of them frequently attacked Liverpool's goal like a trident, but the goddess of victory was no longer on their side in the second half. Cristiano's shots were blocked several times and he covered his face tightly in frustration.
Alan trotted over and touched Chris' forehead, then pressed the back of his head and whispered, "Don't worry, Chris, we still have a chance, but we can't let them score again. Time is running out."
Cristiano's heart beat faster when he heard that. He seemed to see that look again. He didn't realize that he was distracted for two seconds. He suddenly reached out to grab Alan, but caught nothing.
Damn it.
Cristiano was a little flustered. He subconsciously looked up in the direction of Kaka, but the distance was too far. He grabbed his hair in a mess and pursed his lips heavily.
The big screen at the scene happened to give a close-up of Cristiano, as if they really loved seeing Cristiano with such an expression and would never miss it.
Kaka and Costa leaned forward slightly when they saw this. Costa frowned and said, "What's wrong with Cristiano? He doesn't seem to be in good shape."
Kaka could see that his lover was a little uneasy. He had noticed Chris looking at him just now, but he quickly looked away. Kaka clenched his fists slightly, took a deep breath and suppressed the restlessness in his heart.
He really wanted to run out onto the court, really wanted to hug the other person so that they could solve the problem together.
But soon, Cristiano recovered, as if he was not the one who was frustrated just now. Instead, he behaved more proactively and fiercely.
"Just ignore what I said. It's impossible for him to be out of shape on the field." Costa sighed softly, but then leaned back in his chair with relief, with a little unobvious pride, "He fought really well. Fortunately, this is our Portugal team."
Kaka glanced at his teammates, feeling somewhat helpless. He looked at the field with even more worry, fearing that Cristiano's fight would cause him to get injured.
The entire Red Devils team fought hard, and no one wanted to drag the game into overtime. Cristiano's performance was like a thorough Red Devil, and he naturally won the singing and cheers from a small corner of the sidelines.
But Manchester United still failed to break through Liverpool's Dudek's defense.
In the 88th minute of the game, Liverpool won a free kick in the frontcourt.
"The position is very close to Manchester United's penalty area, and the threat is quite big." Kaka said in a deep voice.
Costa also sat up slightly and nodded: "If we get scored, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reverse the situation."
Cristiano saw Riise and another player, Porter, walking up to the penalty spot. He knew they would make a tactical combination. Porter would feint and take a small free kick, giving Riise a chance to adjust his position. Then Riise would quickly kick a powerful free kick.
While the other team was discussing tactics, he quickly ran to Alan and said, "Don't block Riise's free kick with your feet."
"Of course, we've all seen his video. I couldn't figure it out, so I used my feet to block it." Alan sneered. He looked at what was happening on Riise's end, then glanced at Van der Sar, who was also directing them to form a human wall.
Cristiano breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. He scratched his hair. Alan was right. This time they all knew how powerful the Norwegian heavy gunner's kick was.
"Porter faked a tactical free kick! Riise kicked the ball! The ball was blocked by the wall!" the commentator said loudly.
Cristiano subconsciously chased the flying ball and rushed towards the opponent's half. He had just run a few steps when he suddenly thought of something. Before he had time to look back, he saw a faster blue figure running past him.
Alan!
When Cristiano saw the iconic platinum hair, he instantly felt at ease.
Alan waved to him and raised his hand to signal, Rooney cut in from the middle, and after two passes between the three of them, he counterattacked and attacked directly into the opponent's penalty area almost like a textbook, and the Liverpool defender was torn open by the trident.
"Manchester United played a beautiful counterattack! Ronaldo passed the ball to Rooney from the wing! Rooney's shot was saved!"
"There's still time! There's still a chance! The ball is back at Alan's feet! The defender is almost back! Opportunity!"
"Alan passed the ball out of the restricted area, Neville made a reverse triangle! It was passed to Ronaldo again!"
"Ronaldo's header!!! The ball went through the goalkeeper Dudek's fingers!!! 2-1!!! Manchester United scored the winning goal in injury time!!!"
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