Chapter 29

Rongguang's performance impressed the coaches of the first team, showing that his learning speed was as fast as his running.

Two days later, Rongguang's shots were rarely off target; he made sure to keep the ball under control.

The fixed shooting practice gradually turned into moving shooting practice.

Rocha passed the ball from behind to Rongguang, who would accelerate, receive the ball, and shoot while running.

Two days before the match, the training included a goalkeeper.

The team's substitute goalkeeper, Flavio, assisted Rongguang in his training.

Every day, besides the necessary team training sessions, Rongguang focused on this particular training.

His progress surprised not only his coach, Rocha, but also his teammates.

It even surprised the head coach of the first team, Oswaldo Oliveira.

By the last day of training, Rongguang's shooting practice had already progressed to pressure training!

In principle, the prerequisite for pressure training is that the player has mastered the technique, meaning Rongguang had to have learned how to shoot. Otherwise, the value of pressure training would be lost.

If Rongguang couldn't even perform basic shooting, pressure training would only make him worse.

Now, Rongguang was doing pressure training in a 20x20-yard square. Four players at each corner continuously passed the ball to him, and he had to complete the shot.

Rongguang was in the center of the field. Under Coach Rocha's direction, the four players at the corners began passing the ball to him. The type of pass—ground or air—was decided by the passing player, and even the coach did not interfere. Rongguang had to choose the appropriate technique based on the situation to complete the shot.

If he didn't know the basic shooting techniques, he wouldn't be able to practice at all.

Although Rongguang was still a bit flustered, it was clear that his mistakes were decreasing, and he had indeed mastered the shooting technique.

Even the four teammates who were assisting him in training were surprised.

They clearly remembered what Rongguang's shooting looked like on the first day of training this week.

"Rong's progress is really as fast as the youth team coach said, astonishingly fast!" Assistant Coach Mauro exclaimed. "Just like his running speed!"

Oswaldo Oliveira didn't speak but watched Rongguang's training intently.

Although the pressure training only lasted one day, which was too short, the fact that he had reached this level was already a significant surprise to Oswaldo.

He originally thought that Rongguang would just master the basic shooting techniques in this week.

Who would have thought that Rongguang's progress would be so fast, far exceeding his expectations.

However, this was good, as it increased the chances of success for the away match against Guarani...

***

The victory over Corinthians halted São Paulo's decline, and their ranking in the Rio-São Paulo Championship rose to seventh place.

The Rio-São Paulo Championship is a significant tournament in Brazil.

Because São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the two strongest states in Brazilian football, seven of the thirteen founding clubs of the famous "Thirteen Clubs" organization are concentrated in these two states.

As the two most powerful states in Brazil, they naturally had the idea of competing to see which state's football was better.

Thus, the Rio-São Paulo Championship was born.

It started in 1933, with multiple interruptions and even once expanded into a national-level competition.

Now it has returned to its original meaning, being a competition between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states.

This is one of the most important championships in Brazil.

It is also one of the most important competitions for teams from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

This season, due to the dense schedule and the upcoming World Cup in the summer, several strong teams from São Paulo withdrew from the local league to focus on the Rio-São Paulo Championship, highlighting the importance of this competition. They would rather give up the state league than this competition...

Since it is a championship, it does not follow the league format.

The Rio-São Paulo Championship uses a single round-robin plus knockout format.

First, a single round-robin determines the final league standings, and the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals, where they play home and away matches. The two teams that advance to the final compete for the championship.

Last season, due to Kaka's outstanding performance, São Paulo won the Rio-São Paulo Championship. This season, as the defending champions, São Paulo is struggling, mainly due to numerous injuries and a lack of players.

This is closely related to Brazil's competition format.

Brazil's domestic competition format differs from the familiar European format.

Due to historical reasons, in Brazil, local football associations developed first, and then the national association was formed, so the local associations still have more power and the national association cannot afford to offend them.

This might be because football in Brazil has two origins.

In 1894, Charles Miller disembarked in Santos with two footballs, introducing football to São Paulo.

Almost simultaneously, in Rio de Janeiro, another Anglo-Brazilian, Oscar Cox, brought football to Rio de Janeiro.

So football first developed in the states of Brazil.

Due to Brazil's vast territory and dense tropical rainforests in the interior, it was impossible for Brazilians to travel long distances to play away matches before productivity improved, so national-level competitions did not develop in Brazil.

For a long time, each state organized its own league. The São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro leagues developed in this way.

Even now, in the hearts of Brazilian fans, the state leagues are more important than the national league. The same is true for the clubs.

Due to Brazil's complex and special situation, the domestic competition format is also very complex—chaotic in the eyes of Chinese fans.

Actually, it can be summarized quite easily.

Brazilian domestic competitions are mainly divided into state leagues and the national league. The state leagues take place in the first half of the year, from January to May, including the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro leagues. The Rio-São Paulo Championship also takes place in the first half of the year, overlapping with the state leagues, from January to May. Additionally, there is the national cup, the Copa do Brasil, held from February to June.

Besides domestic competitions, Brazilian clubs also participate in South American competitions, with the famous Copa Libertadores taking place in the first half of the year.

In the second half of the year, it is the time for the Brazilian national league, which runs from mid-May to early December, seamlessly connecting with the state leagues. In the second half of the year, there is also a South American competition, the Copa Sudamericana, which runs from August to December.

From this, it is clear how dense the schedule is for Brazilian clubs, especially those that can participate in South American competitions...

Taking São Paulo as an example, in the first half of the year, they participate in their state league, the Rio-São Paulo Championship, the Copa do Brasil, and the Copa Libertadores. After the state league ends, the Brazilian national league begins.

Such a dense schedule is the norm in Brazilian football, and many players have not had a break for several years.

This year, because it is a World Cup year, to ensure that players are not too fatigued before the World Cup, the major clubs in São Paulo withdrew from the state league and only participated in the Rio-São Paulo Championship.

After the World Cup, the Brazilian national league will resume, and to make up for the matches postponed during the World Cup, there will be many double-headers, placing even higher demands on the players' physical condition.

Under such fatigue, widespread injuries are inevitable...

Kaka performed well last season, contributing to São Paulo's victory in the Rio-São Paulo Championship. He also played 27 matches in the national league in the second half of last year, with such a dense schedule leaving him with almost no rest. At 19, his body was still developing, and such high-intensity matches naturally made him very tired.

Finally, the accumulated fatigue led to injuries this year.

Fortunately, none of the injuries were particularly serious, and he just needed some rest.

However, after he was injured, São Paulo's performance became uncertain.

Everyone knew that Rongguang was just a beginner and could not possibly shoulder the responsibility of replacing Kaka.

What would São Paulo do next?

***

The pre-match press conference was held the day before the match.

At the press conference, Oswaldo Oliveira announced the starting lineup for São Paulo's match against Guarani.

Rongguang's name, number 33, was prominently listed.

When the journalists received the list, they were all surprised.

Although Rongguang performed well in the previous match, helping São Paulo defeat Corinthians,

No one expected him to start in this match. For a rookie, this promotion was too fast, even faster than his running speed!

After a week of hype, everyone knew what kind of player Rongguang was—a beginner who had only been playing football for less than three months. Why was he starting?

In the previous match, he played because there was no one else available, and he had to come on as a substitute.

Even if he performed well, with a full week of preparation for this match, couldn't they find a better replacement for Kaka and Ricardinho?

The journalists originally thought that Rongguang would continue to be on the 18-man roster and that Oswaldo Oliveira would decide whether to bring him on as a substitute based on the game situation.

This would have been the best approach.

They also planned to observe Rongguang's performance as a substitute...

But they didn't expect Oswaldo Oliveira to be so bold and directly start the rookie!

Was his solution to replace Kaka to promote the rookie?

Did he really believe in the rookie that much?