Chapter 43

"Rong, go warm up!" Mauro ran to the bench, pointed to the warm-up area, and shouted to Rong Guang, who was sitting on the bench with his teammates.

Reinaldo was also sitting on the bench. When he saw the assistant coach come over, he thought he would be called to warm up and then be substituted in...

Isn't this critical moment the perfect stage for me to shine?

I will turn the tide when the time comes!

He was lost in this fantasy when he didn't expect Mauro to call out Rong Guang's name.

He was stunned for a moment, snapping out of his daydream.

Then he watched Rong Guang quickly put on his training vest and run to warm up.

His eyes instantly narrowed—why is it that kid again?!

Clearly, his performance has been so poor, yet why does he always get the chance to be substituted in?!

What's so good about him?!

What can he do on the field?

Can he even score a goal to secure the win for the team?

Don't be ridiculous!

***

Seeing Rong Guang run out from the bench to warm up, Godo knew Rong Guang was about to be substituted in again.

This scene has been repeated in the last two matches.

With fifteen minutes left, going to warm up, he might get ten minutes of playing time.

But why substitute him in at this moment?

Does he hope Rong Guang will score a goal?

Santos isn't stupid; they won't let Rong Guang break through their defense...

But regardless, there's another chance to play.

Although the time is short, he must perform well, Rong!

***

After five minutes of warming up, São Paulo was still being pressed by Santos.

During this process, Diego's shot from outside the penalty area hit the crossbar, causing both sets of fans to scream in excitement.

"Crossbar! What bad luck! Santos almost equalized!"

But even this sudden noise didn't distract Rong Guang; he was fully focused on warming up. He remembered the coach's words: if you don't warm up properly, you can get injured!

Although Diego's shot didn't go in, it made Santos even more frenzied, as if they saw a goal just ahead. They were determined to score!

Kaka no longer had the ability to bring the ball forward; he could only retreat to defend like his teammates, using his body to block Santos' attacks.

***

At the five-minute mark, Rong Guang was finally called back by Mauro.

Time was tight, so Oswaldo didn't go into detailed tactics with Rong Guang. He just asked, "Santos is pressing us, so there's a lot of space in their backfield. Do you know what to do, Rong?"

Rong Guang nodded.

It's the same as when we played Corinthians!

Indeed, only I can save São Paulo! Humph!

"Very good, then go on!"

Oswaldo patted Rong Guang's back and pushed him out.

***

When the fourth official raised the substitution board, Coelho only then noticed Rong Guang standing next to him.

That bastard is going to be substituted in again?

Then she heard her friends exclaim, "What's going on?!"

"Why is Kaka being substituted out?!"

She then noticed the numbers on the board: 8 and 33. The former was Kaka's number, and the latter was Rong Guang's.

Rong Guang was substituting for Kaka!

"Bastard! Why substitute out my Kaka? Does São Paulo's coach not want to win? Only Kaka can bring victory to São Paulo!"

"It's that annoying Chinese guy again! Why is he substituting for Kaka? Is he better than Kaka?"

Coelho's mouth dropped open; she didn't understand this substitution either.

But she didn't curse out loud like her friends.

***

No matter how much Kaka's fans cursed, it couldn't change the outcome.

The exhausted Kaka turned and saw the substitution board, paused, and frowned.

Clearly, he didn't want to be substituted out.

Especially when the team was in crisis.

But the good boy Kaka didn't defy the coach's decision and slowly walked off the field.

It wasn't that he was too tired to run; he just wanted to waste some time for his team. He was a good boy, a devout Christian, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use the rules to his advantage...

The Santos fans on the stands were unhappy with Kaka's actions and booed loudly.

Rong Guang, on the sidelines, was bouncing around, like a tiger about to be released, eager to get on the field.

He was very dissatisfied with Kaka—wasting my playing time, bastard!

Rong Guang didn't understand why Kaka did this, thinking Kaka was targeting him...

What could he do, a rookie who had only been playing football for three months?

***

Finally, Kaka walked to the sidelines, and Rong Guang didn't even acknowledge him, running straight onto the field.

This left Kaka, who had planned to high-five Rong Guang, somewhat awkward.

But Kaka reacted quickly, raising his hands to wave to the fans on the stands.

In response, the Santos fans booed even louder.

And the São Paulo female fans cried out, "Don't leave, Kaka—!"

Their cries were in vain; Kaka eventually walked off the field.

"If São Paulo loses this game, you're responsible!" the angry fans shouted at Oswaldo, who was standing on the sidelines, reaching out to Kaka.

Oswaldo was consoling Kaka, "You did your best, Kaka. Rest now."

Kaka wanted to say something but, seeing Oswaldo's expression, swallowed his words.

After shaking hands with the coach, he walked back to the bench and sat next to Reinaldo.

"Oswaldo must be crazy!" Reinaldo leaned in, speaking softly for Kaka. "That rookie has been studied thoroughly. What can he do on the field?"

Kaka didn't respond, just stared at the field, his gaze fixed on Rong Guang.

***

"At the 80th minute, São Paulo made their final substitution of the game, with Oswaldo bringing on Rong to replace Kaka! Kaka's physical exhaustion from the previous game makes his substitution understandable. But bringing on Rong... this substitution is questionable..." Bueno said.

"Bringing on Rong is clearly to use his speed to break through Santos' defense and score a goal to secure the win. If São Paulo leads by two goals, they will win the game. But Rong's strengths are well-known, and it's easy to limit him. This substitution is meaningless..." even Cafu agreed.

As the commentators questioned, the TV broadcast focused on São Paulo's coach, Oswaldo Oliveira, expressing the TV's view: what was this famous coach thinking, substituting a rookie for Kaka at this critical moment?

"A blunder! A complete blunder!" in the media stands, Grayson huffed. "If São Paulo doesn't secure a top-four finish, this substitution will be the last straw for his dismissal!"

At the other end of the media stands, Coelho, seeing the substitution, straightened up, leaning forward, focusing intently on the field, or more precisely, on Rong Guang...

He felt Oswaldo wasn't that stupid; he wouldn't substitute Rong Guang just to waste a substitution slot when he knew Rong Guang would be easily neutralized.

Oswaldo must have his reasons.

"Mr. Oliveira's substitution is hard to understand... what is he trying to do?" a fellow reporter from L'Équipe was also puzzled.

"Watch Rong."

They were surprised to hear Coelho say this, turning to look at him. He was supporting his chin, staring intently at the field, as if he hadn't just spoken.

Watch Rong?

Watch Rong for what?

Does he have some secret?

But Coelho was a famous Brazilian journalist and the head of L'Équipe's football department. His words couldn't be questioned by other L'Équipe reporters. Since he said to watch Rong, they would watch Rong, trying to see if they could spot anything...

***

After Rong Guang came on, he stood in the attacking midfielder position, with only the forward, Luis Fabiano, ahead of him.

He kept raising his hand, signaling his teammates to pass him the ball, showing no awareness that a rookie should touch the ball less.

São Paulo launched an attack. Without Kaka, this attack progressed layer by layer. Ricardinho controlled the ball, gradually pushing it past the midfield.

São Paulo's attack finally showed signs of revival.

As long as they could压制住桑托斯的进攻，圣保罗的球门就会相对安全得多。

连法比亚诺都冲到了对方的罚球弧顶地带，可见圣保罗这次进攻有多给力了。

这在之前的十几分钟里是很少出现的情况。

荣光并没有继续顶在前面，而是回撤找里卡迪诺要球——经过这三场比赛，他倒也知道自己冲到最靠近球门的地方就是死路一条，完全没有空间给他施展速度。

所以他主动后撤。

在看台上看到荣光这么做，戈多松了口气。

这是一个正确又聪明的选择，荣光确实在这三场“失败”的比赛中学到了一些东西。

“干得不错。”奥斯瓦尔多看到这一幕也点了点头。

毛罗面带微笑。

这个菜鸟每场比赛都在进步啊……

***

因为荣光回撤，桑托斯的球员并没有跟上来防他。对付荣光很简单，死守后场就行了，不给他一击穿透防线，直达禁区的空间就行了。

所以不要跟上去，跟上去反而会被他利用身后的空间。只要死守禁区就可以了。他再能跑，到了禁区前，没有空间冲刺也就没威胁了——就他的带球能力，根本别想在缺乏冲刺空间的情况下过掉任何一个人！

里卡迪诺本来是不打算把球给荣光的。但他发现荣光身边确实没有桑托斯的球员，是最好的传球对象。反倒是他自己还面对桑托斯球员埃拉诺（后来邓加时代的巴西国脚）的骚扰。

于是他迅速将球传了过去。

当然，他也很讲究传球的后续效果。针对荣光的特点，他并没有直接把球传到荣光的脚下，而是传了一个提前量，让荣光可以在跑动中接球，发挥他的速度。

虽然未必有什么用，但总比让他原地控球好。

荣光往前跑，接到了球。

随后他想到了自己脚下绑着足球在湖畔公园林荫道上奔跑摔跤。

他最近摔跤的次数已经越来越少了……

一个大胆的念头在他的脑海中冒了出来——

我要试一试！

他把右脚踢向足球。在触球的刹那，他的身体记起了特训中的感觉，虽然只有一刹那！

然后他将足球趟了出去！

足球并没有一趟十米远，而是在他前方两米以内的距离滚动着，离荣光并不远！

以荣光的速度来说，那是一个很合适的距离。既可以让他不减速，也不会让他脱离对足球的控制！

“咦？”在教练席上的奥斯瓦尔多和毛罗同时发出了低低的惊呼。

荣光的这个趟球完全出乎了他们的意料！

在媒体席上的科埃略也睁大了眼睛。

似乎……和之前看到的那个菜鸟不一样了？

***

荣光心中狂喜——我成功了！我成功了！啊哈哈！我成功了！

一时得意忘形让他忘记了控制自己的身体节奏。于是接下来第二脚，足球被他趟出去了十米远……他又趟大了！

“这个笨蛋！”

看台上的戈多看到这一幕，忍不住大声喝骂起来，把旁边的人吓了一跳。

看到这一幕，毛罗和奥斯瓦尔多的表情出人意料的一致——全都垂下了头，不忍目睹。

看来刚才只是幻觉……

媒体席上的科埃略则笑了起来。

哎呀，真不愧是菜鸟……

在荣光前方收缩防守，本来准备拦截荣光的桑托斯中后卫阿莱士（后来效力于埃因霍温、切尔西和巴黎圣日耳曼），没想到足球就这么直接被荣光趟到了他的脚下，愣了一下才反应过来。

“谢谢。”他迅速将足球传给了回来接应的中场球员迭戈。

桑托斯发动了快速反击！

与此同时看台上响起了桑托斯球迷们的哄笑声。

“哈哈哈哈！那个白痴！”

“传得好啊！圣保罗的三十三号！”

“干得漂亮，卧底！”

科瑞尔她们也在大骂荣光：“你以为你是卡卡吗？白痴！”

“混蛋，你究竟是哪边的？！”

“靠靠靠！”荣光没在乎看台上的哄笑和骂声，他一边低声骂着，一边转身回追！

绝对不能再因为自己而丢球了！

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After Rong Guang came on, he stood in the attacking midfielder position, with only the forward, Luis Fabiano, ahead of him.

He kept raising his hand, signaling his teammates to pass him the ball, showing no awareness that a rookie should touch the ball less.

São Paulo launched an attack. Without Kaka, this attack progressed layer by layer. Ricardinho controlled the ball, gradually pushing it past the midfield.

São Paulo's attack finally showed signs of revival.

As long as they could suppress Santos' attack, São Paulo's goal would be much safer.

Even Fabiano charged to the edge of the penalty area, showing how strong this attack was.

This was a rare occurrence in the past ten minutes.

Rong Guang didn't continue to stay up front but retreated to find Ricardinho for the ball—after these three matches, he realized that rushing to the area closest to the goal was a dead end, with no space to use his speed.

So he took the initiative to retreat.

Seeing Rong Guang do this, Godo on the stands relaxed.

This was a correct and smart choice; Rong Guang had indeed learned something