Chapter 92
Cristiano had a very good night.
It was already after ten in the morning when he opened his eyes. He seldom slept that late, but since it was the day after the game, there was no training, and only an afternoon flight back to Manchester, it wouldn't be too much to indulge himself a little, right?
Cristiano turned over and got up, looked around, but did not see Kaka. He scratched the back of his head and walked into the bathroom barefoot.
He rinsed his mouth and looked at himself in the mirror.
He suddenly leaned forward, moved closer to the mirror, raised his long and thin eyebrows, and his eyes fell on his waist in the mirror. There was a bruised finger mark and a kiss mark next to it.
Cristiano grinned and chuckled when he saw this. He vaguely remembered Kaka kneeling at his waist and kissing the skin on this side last night, but he no longer had the energy to pay attention to it.
This is not common. Cristiano rubbed the fingerprints and hickeys on his waist. Kaka was always careful not to leave marks on his body, but this was the first time.
When he finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, he just heard the door closing and Kaka came back with the breakfast packed by the hotel.
"Come and have breakfast, Cris." Kaka looked up, then his eyes suddenly stopped and fell on Cristiano's naked waist. He took a breath and choked. Oh my God, he really went too far last night.
"Right on. What did you bring for me?" Cristiano asked with a smile, pulling out a chair and sitting down, opening the takeaway box and taking a look - vegetable tuna salad, avocado, chicken breast, and a small bag of black pepper.
Cristiano smiled at Kaka with satisfaction.
"When do you and Rui take the flight?" he asked while having breakfast.
"In two hours." Kaka said, he withdrew his gaze from his lover's waist without leaving a trace, and looked at Cristiano who was eating, "We will set off soon."
Cristiano nodded and wiped his mouth: "Have you had breakfast?"
"Um."
"Then I won't see you off, in case we get photographed by the paparazzi again." Cristiano said, "I guess eating together and going back to the hotel together yesterday was enough for those people."
Kaka nodded helplessly. After all, this was in England, and no one dared to underestimate the power of these paparazzi who were everywhere.
He and Costa dragged their suitcases out of the hotel and found a paparazzi hiding in the bushes outside the hotel. Costa even greeted him.
The tabloid paparazzi moved his legs awkwardly, and squatted persistently for several hours, finally waiting for the Manchester United group to leave for the hotel.
The victorious Red Devils swarmed out of the hotel in a lively manner.
Rooney was walking and playing games on his handheld game console. When he was going down the stairs, he was not paying attention and almost fell down. Keane grabbed his collar with a dark face and he narrowly avoided falling. However, the game console was confiscated.
Rooney looked at Keane's dark face and dared not say a word.
Cristiano, who was walking behind and witnessed the whole process, laughed so hard that he lay on Ferdinand's back. The tall Englishman could only let the other party lie on his shoulder and laugh speechlessly, and then dragged Chris out the door.
Neville was pulling his backpack and counting the return tickets while yelling at everyone else to get on the bus. A deputy captain seemed to be working part-time as the team manager's assistant, like a nanny.
The tabloid reporter was taking pictures while muttering, "What the hell, why did these people stay in the hotel so obediently even after winning the game?" No night life?
He and his colleagues took turns squatting for a whole night and a whole day, and only saw Kaka and Costa of AC Milan entering and leaving the hotel. Apart from them, they didn't even see a third person! This is outrageous! It’s obvious that these people all look like the type who have a rich nightlife.
If Rooney knew what the tabloid reporters were thinking, he would definitely shout that anyone who dared to bring nightlife to the hotel under Sir Alex Ferguson's nose would be killed.
Death is certain.
Cristiano sneezed.
And Kaka, who arrived in Milan, also sneezed.
///
"AC Milan vs. Atalanta, Kaka assisted Shevchenko to score twice! AC Milan won the game!"
In the 23rd round of Serie A, AC Milan won 2-0.
Gattuso and Kaka cooperated to pass the ball, and he feinted in front of the penalty area, then passed it to Shevchenko, who pushed the ball into the goal!
Ancenotti clapped with satisfaction in the coaching booth. The whole team cooperated smoothly and in perfect harmony.
As the whistle blew, signaling the end of the game, Shevchenko bumped into Kaka's back and laughed in celebration, while Gattuso slapped Kaka's face twice and shouted cheerfully, "Kaka! You're in great shape after your vacation!"
Kaka smiled and hugged his teammates.
Inzaghi squeezed into the crowd and agreed with Gattuso: "I think so too, his mental state is special... How should I put it, like a well-fed lion? Look how fast he runs."
Costa, who was celebrating with the group, paused when he heard the words. The smile on his face froze. He looked at Inzaghi and then at Kaka with a complicated look - a full stomach?
"I think he's just a different person every time he sees Ronaldo," Nesta interjected, muttering behind his hand. "But he also goes to Ronaldo's place when he's on vacation."
Upon hearing this, Maldini glanced at Nesta obscurely. He narrowed his eyes slightly in thought, as if he had thought of something -
The last time Manchester City played against Ronaldo, he had a broken head and was bleeding profusely. Kaka sneaked into the hospital where Ronaldo was in the middle of the night, and then quietly returned to the team early in the morning. The next day, Manchester City played as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
Although this matter was not discovered by their head coach, it was thanks to the tacit approval and cover-up of the entire team.
It seems to be true. Maldini had to admit it.
Costa had a frozen smile on his face. It was hard for him not to think about how much role their Portuguese little strawberry played in all this.
To be honest, he really wanted to refute it, but he couldn't find the place to refute it because the facts seemed to be such amazing coincidences.
As soon as Costa thought about how their little Strawberry pulled Kaka away from the elevator two days ago, the expression on his face quickly revealed a hint of despair.
Kaka blinked, looked at the one with the most unnatural expression in the team, and showed a gentle and harmless smile: "Rui, thank you for your help."
Costa: “…”
Maldini and others took it for granted that Kaka was thanking the senior midfielder for his selfless teaching and exchange of experience over the past period of time, but only Costa himself knew how much personal matters were mixed in the Brazilian golden boy's gratitude.
Aaaah.
///
The game schedule during this period is quite dense. Ferguson wants Cristiano to rest and rotate as much as possible, but he has to use Cristiano according to the game arrangement.
They are second in the league standings, with one-third of the season left, and they are only four points away from first place. If Ferguson wants to defend the Premier League title, he must seize every game and chase with the biggest victory advantage.
The connection between Cristiano and Alan is already a trump card for Manchester United. When Ferguson wants to ensure that they can win the game, or have the greatest chance of winning the game, he will definitely put Cristiano and Alan in his starting lineup.
Cristiano never refuses any game, let alone Ferguson's arrangements, except in national team games.
In the World Cup qualifying play-off against Azerbaijan, Cristiano was not originally on the starting list, but an accident happened during training two days ago. A player who was originally in the starting lineup was injured during training, so Cristiano was temporarily promoted to the starting lineup by Scolari.
Ferguson was furious about Scolari's arrangement - Cristiano had just played a tough league game of nearly 100 minutes two days ago, and now he had to play a national team play-off. Four days after this game, they would reach the second leg of the Champions League final!
They are so close to the Big Ear Cup! Ferguson roared angrily in his office. He was reluctant to let Cristiano go, but he could not shake the little Portuguese's determination to play for the national team.
The angry Scottish coach could only calculate in his office that his number seven should have arrived at the national team's training camp by now, and then cursed the damn Scolari in his heart again and again, completely disrupting his arrangements for Cristiano.
"Don't be nervous. Just like when we were training before." Figo encouraged before going on the court. He patted Cristiano on the shoulder and whispered to encourage him, "You play well in the club and you will do the same in the national team."
Cristiano was standing in the player tunnel and looked at Figo when he heard this.
Figo went on to say: “Don’t be afraid of how to cooperate, try your attack as much as possible, even if you make a mistake, it’s okay, I’m here, I will cover you and clear you, you just need to run forward with the ball.”
Figo was well aware of the pressure of facing such an unplanned key game, especially since Cristiano had just finished a not easy professional game.
Cristiano, who has attracted the attention of so many fans around the world, was selected as the most popular young star in the world. His performance in every game will be magnified, not to mention the live video sent to them by Costa not long ago. He was booed as soon as he touched the ball. This is not what a young player deserves.
- This is not what any player deserves, it is so unfair. If they play really badly, they miss chances, they behave poorly, then they deserve the boos, but not what Cristiano is enduring now.
Cristiano looked at his captain with some surprise, he blinked, and then saw Deco and Costa looking at him, and stood over to him as if to encourage him.
He couldn't help but smile with his eyes curved. He had heard these words in his previous life. But in another time and space, even though he had already shown a more mature style of play and spirit than boys of his age, in the eyes of his captain, he was still the boy who needed the most care in the national team.
"Thank you, Luis, I will," Cristiano said softly, nodded, leaned forward and hugged Figo tightly.
He will cherish this World Cup. He will try his best.
Cristiano thought so in his heart.
Figo was caught off guard by Cristiano's hug. He was stunned for a moment, subconsciously opened his arms, then looked down with amusement at the big boy who buried his face in his chest.
Every time when he thought their No. 17 was mature and reliable, the other party would always show a hint of childishness in front of him.
And every time he felt that he needed a teammate to stand up and stand behind him on the field to support Portugal with him, he would find that this person was the youngest kid in their team - such as the European Cup in 2004.
When Costa and Deco saw Cristiano lowering his head and hugging their captain, they were so moved that they wanted to sniffle just by a few words?
The two of them looked at each other and grinned. Costa teased, "Oh Chris, our little Chris, no wonder the captain is always worried about you being alone in England. You will be deceived by those sweet-talking English people."
"Why don't you go to Serie A? It happens that you and the captain are both in Milan." Deco laughed, and then said, "Oh no, Italy is even worse. I remember there is a guy who is very talkative in your club-team."
Costa's eyelids twitched.
"Oh yeah, that guy called Kaka." Deco thought, "That guy is always very careful in front of the reporters and never offends any player. He is quite capable."
Costa laughed dryly.
Figo ignored what Costa and Deco were talking about. He looked down at Cristiano. Cristiano was much younger than him and always had rich and undisguised expressions. In his eyes, he was like a child.
He tightened his arms slightly to give him strength, then gently patted the back of Cristiano's head: "Okay kid, I believe you. We should go out."
Cristiano nodded quickly. He heard what Costa and Deco said. His ears turned red from the teasing. Deco mentioned Kaka, which made him feel guilty and he put his face in Figo's shoulder until the captain spoke.
He coughed lightly, lowered his head to adjust his socks, and did not dare to look at Costa who was staring at him with resentment.
Rui, good Rui, God bless him. Cristiano thought as he made the sign of the cross.
The main players of the two teams led the ball boys into the court, and after a simple friendly gesture, the game whistle was blown.
Portugal vs Azerbaijan.
Cristiano showed his value to the team in the seventh minute of the game.
Figo made a diagonal pass and sent the ball to Cristiano's feet. He quickly glanced at the frontcourt and saw that Portugal's two forwards Pauleta and Nuno had already pressed towards Azerbaijan's restricted area. He made a long pass with the outside of his foot and the ball quickly drew a beautiful arc on the green field and quickly moved towards the frontcourt.
Pauleta and Nuno quickly caught up. Nuno got in front of the Azerbaijani defender and kicked the ball towards the net. The ball hit the side post and bounced back.
Cristiano had already rushed to the wing. He quickly grabbed the ball and walked along the sideline trying to bypass the defender in front of him and pass the ball.
Cristiano's fancy bicycle kick was rated as one of the most humiliating dribbles by Sky Sports, which can easily provoke the anger of the opposing defenders, and this time was no exception.
There was a round of boos from the spectators in the stands, especially the Azerbaijan fans, who booed Cristiano loudly, hoping that the boy would make a mistake.
Figo trotted up the field and tried to receive the ball. He frowned as he listened to the loud boos from the sidelines. The noise he heard at the scene was much more spectacular and terrifying than the video that Costa had sent to the group.
He looked at Cristiano.
Cristiano rode his bicycle swiftly and quickly, tossing the ball around in a dazzling and playful manner, making the defender in front of him look like a funny turtle, stretching and shrinking, swaying from side to side.
The boos in the stadium became louder. Perhaps they were dissatisfied with the fact that their defender was dragged down by the young Portuguese player for so long and failed to make an effective steal. There were all kinds of boos, including booing Cristiano and booing the defenders.
The Azerbaijani defender couldn't help but push the opponent in anger, but Cristiano seized the space created by the opponent's anger and passed the ball out.
But he was cleared by the opponent's teammates.
Portugal wins a corner kick.
Cristiano shook his head with some regret. He was about to run to the net, but unexpectedly he was hit hard by the Azerbaijani defender who had just defended him. He took two steps back and retreated to the linesman to keep his balance.
He was a little slow to react, panting slightly as he looked at the man, frowning: "What are you doing?"
The man was obviously angry and took a step forward. Just as Cristiano was about to step forward, he was blocked by the linesman.
The linesman blocked Cristiano with one hand and the opposing defender with the other: "Don't be impulsive in front of me, young man, you don't want to get a card, right?"
Figo ran up quickly and saw Cristiano pouting and moving two steps to the side, as if he didn't intend to argue with the other party.
As a result, the fans in the stands booed continuously. The Azerbaijani defender was even more annoyed by the boos and the previous teasing. He pushed Cristiano's shoulder away with his hand in frustration. Although the force was not strong, it was obviously provocative and malicious.
Figo rushed over immediately and pulled Cristiano away, while the linesman also stood in front of Cristiano, with his arms outstretched to protect him like a mother hen - the Portuguese boy fell back several steps after being pushed, and there was no comparison between him and the strong bald defender who was at least 1.9 meters tall, he would be beaten badly.
The linesman was not happy to see such a thing happen within his sight, so he frowned and gave another stern warning. The referee also came over at this moment.
After a verbal warning, players from both teams ran over to pull their respective teammates apart. Nuno grabbed Cristiano's hair twice and whispered to comfort him: "Don't pay attention to it. Some people are just fragile."
Cristiano was amused by the power forward's words.
He grinned, then pursed his lips. He couldn't smile too obviously, otherwise who knows what would happen if he was caught on camera.
Seeing that his young teammate was in a better mood, Nuno patted him on the shoulder and stood in front of the penalty area together.
Corner kick taken!
"Nuno heads the ball like a lion! The ball goes in!!! Portugal leads one to zero!"
Cristiano cheered. He was closest to the striker who scored the goal. He turned around and jumped onto Nuno’s waist: “We scored!”
Figo, Costa and others ran up to celebrate, and quickly returned to the midfield to continue kicking the ball.
The second goal opportunity came too late to react. In less than ten minutes, after Portugal resolved Azerbaijan's attack, it launched a quick counterattack, organized by Figo, and Costa passed the ball from midfield to Nunie on the wing.
Nunie ran forward quickly with the ball under the defense of the Azerbaijani defender, then suddenly stopped and made a long pass across both sides, sending the ball to the left rear side of the penalty area!
Deco immediately rushed forward, used his shoulder to stop the ball flexibly and in time, and passed the ball to Cristiano who had already keenly sensed the attacking point.
Cristiano trotted two steps, lightly hooked the ball with his toes, and the ball flew up into the air. Cristiano looked up, staring at the ball, and jumped up almost instinctively -
"Cristiano Ronaldo hook!!!!"
"The ball hit the crossbar and bounced twice off the goal line!! The Azerbaijan goalkeeper caught the ball! Is this goal valid?!"
Cristiano quickly got up from the ground, raised his arms high and ran towards Scolari and the referee on the sidelines, with his eyes wide open and loudly emphasized: "It's in! It's in!"
Scolari hesitated for a moment, then chose to believe his young player and immediately turned to tell the referee about the goal.
If this goal was scored, Portugal would have scored two goals in just 25 minutes at the start of the game, and the gap in the game would have been widened instantly.
The referee seemed a little hesitant about this controversial ball.
The commentator in the broadcast room also analyzed: "Look at the slow-motion footage, the ball did fall into the goal line! But it mainly depends on how the referee on the scene decides."
"With the goal-line Hawkeye technology, this ball should not be misjudged." Another partner commented.
"It's hard to say. Nowadays, most games rely on the referee's on-site decisions. Due to various factors such as on-site pressure, it is not uncommon for the referee to make wrong decisions... Wait, the referee has signaled!"
“The goal is valid!!!”
"This hook worked! Portugal scored two goals in the first 25 minutes!"
The commentators in the broadcast room exclaimed, and then shouted loudly.
Cristiano stared at the referee's gestures until he saw the opposing team signal to kick off towards the midfield. He covered his face with excitement and surprise, it was a little unbelievable - the world's first successful overhead kick!
Deco rushed up and hugged Cristiano, and Figo, Costa, Nunie and other main players also rushed up to celebrate, leading by two goals! This almost laid the foundation for victory in this game!
"Let's watch this goal again!"
The big screen in the broadcast room played back the video.
"Deco made a clever pass! Ronaldo picked up the ball and hooked it! The posture and movements were very beautiful! It can be said to be a textbook level of physical strength! Very aesthetic..."
"Well, I mean, this jumping height! Incredible jumping height! Just look at the comparison with Deco next to him! Cristiano Ronaldo's jumping ability is definitely the most terrifying among active players!"
“…”
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