Chapter 30

The Guarani football team, although in the same state of São Paulo as São Paulo FC, is located in a different city.

The Guarani Football Club is in Campinas, north of São Paulo.

Guarani's home ground, the Brinco de Ouro da Princesa Stadium, is located on the east side of Campinas. It is an old stadium built in 1953, capable of holding over 32,000 fans.

The most distinctive feature of this stadium is the east stand, a towering, curved stand with a steep slope, offering a great view of the game. However, sitting there always gives people the illusion that they might fall forward if they lean too far.

Today, the stadium, which can hold over 32,000 people, saw about 10,000 fans from both teams. For a stadium of this capacity, it seemed quite empty, with most of the stands unoccupied.

This is the current state of Brazilian football.

Except for the home grounds of a few top teams, the home grounds of most other teams are often empty.

Due to the incompetence of the state football associations, domestic competitions are poorly organized. Additionally, most famous Brazilian players have moved to Europe, leaving behind no stars with enough box office appeal. Therefore, people are not very interested in the domestic league.

Another important reason is that television broadcasts in Brazil are very advanced, especially in broadcasting European football. Brazilians have gradually gotten used to watching matches at home and are unwilling to go to the stadium.

Thus, most stadiums appear quite empty.

Even the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo is no exception, with only about 80% occupancy during important matches like the "Clássico Paulista."

In the modest away team dressing room, Oswaldo de Oliveira was giving the players their final instructions.

"Our strategy for this match is simple: tighten our defense and launch quick counterattacks. When you have the ball, it's simple—just kick it forward! Find Rong! Don't pass the ball to his feet; pass it in front of him, kick it hard forward. It's better to kick it to the opposing goalkeeper than to Rong's feet. We need to get Rong running and build up his speed!"

If it weren't for a week of practice, the São Paulo players would surely think their coach was crazy—how could anyone arrange tactics like this?

However, after a week of training, everyone realized that this seemingly amateur strategy was the most suitable for the current São Paulo.

Fabiano, who was still the main attacker in the match against Corinthians, would now play a supporting role to Rong. His task on the field was to help Rong attract the opposing team's defensive attention.

From the beginning, head coach Oswaldo de Oliveira made it clear that Rong would be the star in this match against Guarani.

Everyone else would revolve around him.

Letting a rookie who has only been playing football for a little over a month be the star, leading the entire São Paulo first team, sounds ridiculous.

But after seeing Rong's jaw-dropping speed and performance against Corinthians, no one on the São Paulo first team would oppose it—least of all in front of head coach Oswaldo.

However, the fact that no one else could have thought of this is precisely São Paulo's opportunity.

Currently, São Paulo is severely affected by injuries, and the club's management no longer talks about defending the title. However, they do require the team to reach the semi-finals.

To achieve this goal, they must start accumulating points from now on.

Every victory is crucial for São Paulo, and they must fight for every three points, by any means necessary.

What does it matter if the tactics are amateur? As long as they win!

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"Yunyun, the match is about to start. Aren't you going to watch?" Cui Hao, sitting in his spacious living room, was watching the live broadcast of the match between São Paulo and Guarani. Seeing his daughter get up to leave, he asked curiously.

As a Corinthians fan, she was so enthusiastic about watching a São Paulo match, which was largely due to Rong's influence...

Korel snorted, "Kaka is injured. What's the point of watching?"

"But there's Rong." Cui Hao pointed to the TV screen, where the broadcast had just given Rong a close-up.

The commentator, Cafure, was introducing Rong with the close-up: "The Chinese player Rong, who emerged in the last 'Clássico Paulista,' has faced many doubts and debates over the past week about whether he is a genius. But I think this match might put an end to these debates... With Kaka injured and his excellent performance against Corinthians, Rong has been given his first start in a match... Let's see how he performs!"

"Who wants to watch him!" Korel grumbled, turning and walking straight to the stairs. She was going upstairs to her room; she had no interest in a boring match without Kaka!

※※※

Although the stadium was only one-third full, the noise from 10,000 fans was still quite impressive. For Rong, a mountain boy who had never seen such a scene, it was quite a shock.

However, he only glanced around the stands when he came onto the field and then put it out of his mind—after all, he had already experienced the "Clássico Paulista," so why worry about this match?

Fifteen minutes into the game, São Paulo had three offensive opportunities, and Rong got one of them, but he failed to capitalize on it.

The ball landed perfectly at his feet, and he stopped it. For Rong, who had no dribbling skills, this offensive play was over.

He tried to dribble, but his feet got tangled, and he almost fell over.

Naturally, he lost possession of the ball.

The Guarani fans in the stands burst into laughter.

After the "Clássico Paulista," Rong had become a celebrity in São Paulo. Everyone knew who he was.

Previously, the media had been saying that Rong was a rookie who had only been playing football for a little over a month, and some people were still skeptical. Now, seeing Rong almost fall over, tripped by his own ball, no one doubted it anymore—this kid was truly a beginner!

For Corinthians to be defeated by such a rookie was indeed embarrassing.

※※※

"This idiot!" Korel's cold snort echoed behind Cui Hao.

Cui Hao, still feeling sorry for Rong's mistake, turned around and saw his daughter standing behind him, staring at the TV screen with a look of disdain.

"Hey, Yunyun, weren't you going upstairs?" Cui Hao was puzzled.

"I want to see how he embarrasses himself!" Korel pointed at Rong on the TV and snorted.

Cui Hao smiled and shook his head.

He knew his daughter all too well; what she said and what she thought were often different...

※※※

"Rong almost tripped over his own ball... His poor performance has caused the fans in the stands to burst into laughter... After his sudden emergence in the match against Corinthians, the media has thoroughly investigated him, and everyone now knows that he has only been training in formal football for a little over a month, making him a complete rookie. His excellent performance in the match against Corinthians might have been just luck. It's puzzling why Oswaldo de Oliveira insists on starting him..." Jek Cafure's commentary was calm and objective, with detailed analysis and information, but it lacked a bit of passion.

In contrast, Bueno's commentary was much more fiery.

"After saving the team in the match against Corinthians, Rong has been thoroughly investigated by the media. Now everyone knows he is a rookie. Rookie, you have lost your mysterious veil and are now exposed to this cruel professional world. Are you ready? Are you ready to face the challenges? If you're not prepared, you'll suffer a lot! Being laughed at is just the mildest of your troubles! It's not too late to quit now!"

※※※

How could Rong quit? He had come out of the mountains with his agent, Godo, and had no intention of returning in disgrace.

After almost tripping, he just cursed in his heart and got back into the game.

His emotions were not affected.

He was not the type to dwell on setbacks and failures, unable to move on.

The environment shapes the person. A mountain boy who grew up happily running in the mountains has a simple mindset and an open personality. His heart is as vast as the sky and the mountains; it's not easy to be defeated.

Just as he didn't care about the noise from the opposing fans in the stands, he didn't care about the laughter.

Although it was an away game, Godo still came to Campinas with the team. He watched every match Rong played, and if there were any issues, he could be by Rong's side immediately.

When he saw Rong almost trip over his own ball and heard the unfriendly laughter from the stands, he frowned.

He hoped this mistake wouldn't affect Rong and wouldn't be a bad omen.

※※※

Gregson sat in the press box, a laptop in front of him. Seeing Rong trip over his own ball, he sneered.

Then he spread his hands and said to the other journalists, "See that? See that? What did I say? A rookie, a complete rookie. Would a genius trip over his own ball? It's really embarrassing!"

The journalists who agreed with him also laughed in agreement.

Rong's performance was indeed embarrassing, showing none of the talent praised by the "L'Équipe."

He looked clumsy, like a complete outsider.

On the other side, Coelho Costa couldn't help but laugh when he saw Rong's awkward moment.

But his laughter was not mocking.

He was simply amused by Rong.

This kid...

He clearly hadn't learned yet, but he wanted to do it.

He had the talent, but he acted like a rookie.

※※※

Rong's poor performance seemed to affect São Paulo's attack. For the next ten minutes, São Paulo did not have any good offensive opportunities. Whether it was Rong or Luis Fabiano, they could only roam in the midfield, symbolically defending.

On the other hand, Guarani, playing at home, maintained control of the game.

They learned from Corinthians' mistake. Although they pressed São Paulo, they did not give the São Paulo midfielders much space to receive the ball.

If they lost the ball in the front, they would quickly press in the front, either directly intercepting the ball and launching a counterattack or disrupting São Paulo's counterattack.

Unlike Corinthians, Guarani did not focus on defending Rong. Instead, they paid close attention to São Paulo's midfielders, especially Baptista. After the injuries to Ricardinho and Kaka, Baptista took over the responsibility of organizing the attack. In the last match against Corinthians, he had orchestrated Fabiano's goal.

Guarani believed that São Paulo's counterattacks were only threatening because of Baptista.

As long as they contained Baptista and cut off his connection with Rong, preventing him from easily passing the ball to Rong, Rong's speed would be useless.

So far, after more than 20 minutes of play, the strategy seemed to be working well.

Guarani's head coach, Giba, sat on the bench, arms crossed, a faint smile on his face, looking calm and confident.

Dealing with a rookie didn't require much effort; this was enough.

A rookie who can only pass and receive the ball, who can't even shoot, scored against Corinthians by luck. What use would he be if he got the ball in the front? Look at how he almost fell over his own ball...

Giba wasn't worried about Rong shooting, as he had clearly stated in interviews that Rong hadn't even started shooting practice!

Gregson had also clearly analyzed that Rong's goal against Corinthians was just luck!

Such a player, even if you give him the ball, he can't score!

So there was no need to be too nervous.

Being too nervous would only make the Guarani players focus on the wrong threat.

The real threat was Luis Fabiano and Baptista.

If Oswaldo had put the rookie on the bench as a wildcard, he might have been more worried about when he would come on.

Now, the problem was simpler.

Giba believed that a rookie didn't have the ability to start from the beginning and play the full 90 minutes.

※※※

Under the pressure of Guarani's front-line pressing, São Paulo's players struggled to launch counterattacks. Often, they could only kick the ball forward randomly, which didn't look like a counterattack but more like a clearance.

Then Rong and Luis Fabiano would chase after the ball, to no avail.

In Giba's eyes, such an attack couldn't even be called an attack.

It lacked any technical content.

He couldn't help but look down on Osw