Chapter 90

During the halftime break, what made Kaka most uncomfortable was that even the head coach, Osvaldo, looked at him and Rongguang with a "I knew you two would have chemistry" kind of gaze.

This made him feel very awkward.

He had just taken advantage of Rongguang's mistake, so how did it turn into Rongguang deliberately assisting him?

He wanted to explain but couldn't bring himself to speak.

He could almost predict the result if he tried to explain...

"Don't explain, explaining is just covering up, hahaha!"

Given that... it might be better to let the misunderstanding continue.

Rongguang, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to these ambiguous glances. He was still immersed in his frustration.

My goal! My thousand yuan!

As for the head coach Osvaldo's suggestion to increase communication with Kaka, Rongguang didn't hear a word of it...

***

In the home team's dressing room, the head coach of Internacional was not slow to react to the result.

Losing by just one goal still left hope for the team.

The key was to have a sharp enough offense.

He placed his hopes on Nilmar.

Nilmar was currently the team's strongest attacker, though young and lacking experience, he made up for it with his fighting spirit.

He even used Kaka to spur Nilmar on—having heard what happened in the players' tunnel before the match, he didn't blame Nilmar but saw it as an opportunity.

"You're not worse than Kaka, Nilmar. I believe in you!"

These simple words made the eighteen-year-old Nilmar's blood boil, eager to compete with Kaka.

What a simple-minded kid...

***

At the start of the second half, Nilmar was full of fighting spirit, determined to score on the field.

Like him, Rongguang was also full of fighting spirit, determined to score.

However, Internacional did not rush forward in a frenzy like they did in the first half. During halftime, the head coach of Internacional didn't just encourage Nilmar; he also did some practical work...

He was very aware of the speed of São Paulo's two attacking midfielders. If they really got going...

He couldn't rely on luck at all.

In the first half, his luck was good, and they only conceded one goal despite São Paulo's fierce attack. But would he have such luck in the second half?

Internacional no longer left too many gaps behind, leaving Rongguang with no options.

Kaka, on the other hand, was like a fish in water—facing different defensive situations, his ability allowed him to adapt without any problems.

Every time Rongguang saw Kaka playfully toy with the opposing players on the field, he gritted his teeth, feeling that he had too few weapons to use...

He still needed to work hard to improve himself!

***

Kaka enjoyed such a match. Although the opponents were closely marking him, he was not afraid.

He had many opportunities to get the ball and could play freely.

Every time he got the ball, he could threaten Internacional's goal.

This state had not returned to him for a long time. He felt that after sitting on the bench for a few games at the start of the season, he had lost this state.

Now he had finally found it again.

As for Rongguang... he didn't even think about him.

To avoid conflict with Rongguang, he deliberately moved to the wing—can't provoke you, but can I avoid you?

Of course, moving to the wing wasn't just to avoid positional conflicts and mutual interference with Rongguang. He had other considerations.

Unlike Rongguang, who was obsessed with scoring, Kaka was more calm and could think about the bigger picture.

He clearly knew that he was being closely marked in the center. If he continued to play in the center, there would be no way out. He couldn't contribute much to the team. It would be better to develop on the wing.

To open up the game through the wing.

He didn't care if he could score himself; as long as other players on the team could score, even if the goal had nothing to do with him.

He went to the wing to pull apart Internacional's defense, create opportunities in the center, and let Fabiano take advantage of the gaps!

***

"Kaka's form is really good. If this continues, Rong will definitely be squeezed out of the starting lineup..."

"Right, apart from that one breakthrough, Rong didn't have any other notable performances. Look at Kaka, consistently stable. That's the quality a true core player should have!"

"After all, Rong is just a rookie who has been playing football for seven months... It can't be helped. He has too little experience, and his ability can't match Kaka's. There's a gap of seven or eight years between them! Rong only started learning football at sixteen, while Kaka entered São Paulo's youth team at eight..."

In the media stands, reporters were evaluating these two young players.

They all favored Kaka and were pessimistic about Rongguang.

It had to be said that their judgment was quite reasonable.

Although Rongguang could occasionally surprise people, as a starting player, you can't always rely on him to shine occasionally. A player like Kaka, who performs consistently, is more reassuring.

Rongguang's characteristics made him more threatening as a substitute.

Actually, being a super substitute is pretty good.

Thinking of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who was famous for being a super substitute.

They didn't think it was bad for Rongguang to be a substitute. They even felt that making him a substitute showed how much they valued him. Some people couldn't even be substitutes, let alone super substitutes.

Only Coelho Alexandre Costa, sitting in the media stands, remained silent and did not participate in the discussion.

Rongguang's changes over these seven months had truly amazed him.

His colleagues were right; for someone who had only been playing football for seven months, achieving such results was already impressive.

But was Rongguang content?

Based on his understanding of Rongguang, he felt that Rongguang would not be content.

Actually, he himself was a bit discontent.

He always hoped that Rongguang would bring him more surprises, not just scoring goals on the field... He hoped Rongguang could firmly establish himself in the first team's starting lineup.

But looking at Kaka, who was in such good form...

His opponent was very strong!

***

"Kaka is breaking through on the wing! His speed is like the wind!"

As the commentator shouted, Kaka used a simple step-over to accelerate and break through Internacional's Chilean left-back, Perez, approaching the baseline.

His breakthrough was met with cheers from the São Paulo fans in the stands. However, these cheers were quickly drowned out by the boos from the Internacional fans.

Seeing their defense in danger, they naturally used boos to try to disrupt Kaka.

Such boos did not affect Kaka. He looked up at the penalty area.

He saw that Fabiano was already making a run towards the goal, an opportunity!

Without hesitation, he crossed the ball!

Fabiano was a versatile forward, with good speed, excellent shooting skills, and the ability to score from close range. He could also play as a center-forward and drop back to support his teammates.

But being so versatile also meant being average in everything...

Upon closer inspection, while he had no major flaws, he also had no standout qualities.

This might be why he struggled in Europe and eventually returned to Brazil in disappointment...

Although he struggled in Europe, he was still an outstanding center-forward in Brazil.

The physical play in Brazil was not as intense as in Europe, giving him more space to operate.

However, this time, Internacional's defense was very tight.

Seeing Kaka's cross, two Internacional players immediately closed in.

Fabiano was about to jump to head the ball, but he was sandwiched by the opponents and couldn't even get a chance to jump. He could only watch helplessly as the ball flew over his head...

Feeling regret that the attack had been wasted.

But as he turned to look behind him, he was surprised!

What did he see?

Rongguang was awkwardly airborne!

What was going on?

***

When Kaka crossed the ball, not only did Fabiano run towards the goal, but Rongguang, at the far post, did the same.

However, an Internacional defender was also closely following him, not letting him out of his sight.

The two of them were constantly jostling as they ran forward.

The opponent was pulling and pushing him, while Rongguang tried to shake him off.

As they approached the penalty area, the Internacional defender's grip tightened.

It seemed he wanted to stop Rongguang before he entered the penalty area.

He was even willing to commit a foul—better to foul outside the penalty area than inside.

Seeing that he couldn't hold Rongguang back, he decided to push him down using Rongguang's forward momentum.

But just as he applied force, Rongguang jumped!

This unexpected force from behind threw him off balance, and he flew out horizontally...

Damn, how despicable!

Rongguang cursed the person who pushed him from behind. At the same time, he flailed his limbs in the air, trying in vain to maintain his balance...

At that moment, he saw the ball flying towards him.

Although he had lost his balance, Rongguang still didn't want to give up this opportunity.

I want to score!

I want to score!

I! Want! To! Score! Ah—!!

Rongguang roared in his heart, using his core strength to twist his body in the air and kick the flying ball with a strange posture!

Bang!

His right foot made solid contact with the ball.

He then lost his balance and couldn't even see where the ball was going... before he crashed to the ground.

Damn! If this ball doesn't go in, I won't let you off!

As he fell, Rongguang still cursed the Internacional defender who had pushed him from behind.

The Internacional defender, who was being cursed, was now staring in shock at the ball flying towards their goal...

His teammate, the Internacional goalkeeper, made no attempt to save the ball, standing on the ground and looking up as the ball flew towards him, seemingly stunned.

Not just him, but the spectators in the stands, the reporters in the media stands, and the people on the coaching and substitute benches were all stunned.

The stadium suddenly fell silent, everyone staring at the ball in flight.

At the same time, a bizarre thought flashed through their minds...

A bicycle kick!

No—way—!