When Rafael returned, his teammates, who had just returned from Brazil, were not very enthusiastic, but they welcomed his return.

Captain Almeida patted him on the shoulder: "Welcome back, I watched the match between you and the Brazilian chickcomb, hahaha, it's so beautiful, it's just to make them lose aggrieved, which is more exciting than convincing them." ”

Raphael was a little confused: "Huh?

"Dear Matthias, I will say that no one can understand your humor but yourself. Ferrari pushed the captain away, then pointed to his hair, "It's that Moxican head, that Neymar." ”

Rafael didn't understand what Moxi meant, but he put the cockscomb and Neymar together, and immediately understood, and he laughed cooperatively.

When Capa brought them together, Rafael looked at it and found that it was still his familiar face, those who left in the transfer period were all marginal figures from last season, and it seems that Passarella also knew that if he didn't bring in new signings, and dared to let go of the team's main players, then the fans would not let him go.

But no one will want to leave if he wants to, unless it is an olive branch from Europe.

After all, the team still has the Copa Libertadores to play, for South Americans, this competition is equivalent to the European Europa League Champions Cup, is the highest honor of international football competition between the top clubs in South America, and it is also the championship that all teams dream of, if they can win the championship, it is also an opportunity for players to make a name for themselves.

In addition, some players from the reserve team have been brought up, although they are not familiar enough, but Rafael also knows them.

It is precisely because of this that the age difference in River Plate is simply intoxicating, either old or young, and there are few players who are just in their playing years.

At the end of the training, Capa called Raphael to his office.

This is the first time Raphael has come to the coach's office, the office style is minimalist, with a large stack of materials on the table, and Capa rubs his brow with a sleepy expression.

"Sir, are you looking for me?"

Capa looked up at him, smiled and sat him down, "After a few days of rest, how are you feeling lately?"

But before Rafael could speak, Capa smiled and waved his hand again: "No, no, no, forget it, how can I ask you this, I'm sure you will say that you don't have any problems, and you are waiting to play." ”

Raphael pursed his lips and smiled.

"I asked you to come, first of all, I want you to send me a copy of your training plan, I don't think you can train as much as you want this season, Rafael, you have to focus more on the game, you can't let your training overdraw your fitness. ”

Last season, River Plate only had to play in the league and the time was relaxed, so how Rafael practiced, as long as it did not damage his body, Capa did not interfere. But now it was different, and he frowned at the thought of the other party's varied and lengthy training.

Raphael was stunned for a moment and wanted to refuse: "Sir, I have a sense of proportion." ”

"Either way, your training plan should be visible to me, and I need to know it. ”

Raphael bowed his head: "Yes, sir. But he already knew that anyone who looked at his training plan would definitely modify it, it was too heavy, and others didn't know that he still had internal strength and medicinal baths.

"Also, you should know that we are facing the Copa Libertadores this season, and what are your thoughts on this competition?"

Rafael didn't quite understand what the coach meant, but he was honest and said, "I want the championship, sir." ”

Capa was opening his glass to drink when he almost choked on it: "Ahem, okay, okay, but if we can really make it to the end, it means we need to play 14 more games this season, and you ...... It's too young and I'm glad you have an idea for the Copa Libertadores, but we have to make a trade-off and choose the league...... Or choose the Copa Libertadores. ”

In fact, when Capa said this, he couldn't help but feel the urge to scold his mother, if he changed to a sane and sensible chairman, and added more people this season, he wouldn't think about making trade-offs at all, after all, double championships sound more beautiful, don't they?

Rafael came out of Capa's office, still thinking back to what his coach had told him.

Capa said that in the next game he will come off the bench in the league as he did at the beginning of last season, but in the Copa Libertadores he will start if there are no surprises.

This shows that Capa is still not reconciled, so he puts the Copa Libertadores in the first place.

It's not a hard choice.

River Plate has only won the highest honour in South America twice, and that was in the last century, in 1986 and 1996.

River Plate's best results in this competition in the last decade were in '04 and '05, reaching the semi-finals.

If River Plate is held in his own hands for the third time, it will be to write history. Compared to the league title that was just won last season, this is more challenging.

It's not just Capa who thinks this way, all the players think this way, but Rafael thinks a little bit more beautifully, he thinks, why can't you have both?

Soon he ran out of energy to think about it, and Kappa did adjust his training plan, cutting out a lot of strength training and replacing it with special training and physical training against close foul defense.

"Originally, I planned to let you start special training in the preparation for the competition, but you went to participate in the Southern Youth Championships, and there was no choice but to catch up now, and I asked Matthias to stay and accompany you in special training. ”

This training is an enhanced version of what Rafael has taught him how to deal with fouls correctly after the Super Derby.

Unlike the previous training just to let him learn to protect himself, now, what he has to do is to respond in the right place, resist pressure when it is time to resist, and not hesitate to fall when it is time to maximize the interests of the team.

"The more important the tournament, the easier it is for your opponents to be unscrupulous, you need to be in good shape and you need to deal with it right," Almeida said during his training session. This requires you to combine elements that can be leveraged. ”

Of course, translated into another sentence: survival of the fittest.

After that, Almeida showed him a variety of defensive means, he is not a delicate and coquettish type of midfielder, and in the face of Rafael, he is not soft on fouls, and it is even more common to use his body to collide.

In addition to the goal, there are many character models on the field divided into ABCD sequences, as Rafael's teammates, when Almeida defends, Rafael will be asked to pass the ball to a model in front of or next to it, because it is Almeida's order, of course, it is easier for him to defend, otherwise if Rafael really wants to play at will, he may not be so simple to intercept the ball again and again or foul to destroy.

This kind of training made Rafael a little confused at first, because he likes to think and make his own choices, but this time it was not intended to test his insight, and after getting used to it, he began to focus more on dealing with Almeida.

Lamela, who consciously stayed to practice free kicks, watched the special training of these two people every time and was terrified, he felt that Almeida really showed no mercy at all, wasn't he afraid of Rafael being injured?

When Almeida asked Rafael to pass the ball to the C point behind him, Rafael started to pedal his bicycle unhurriedly in front of him, and when he stepped on the second, he made a breakthrough, Almeida was unmoved, Rafael faked it, burst straight over, and then was hooked to the ground by Almeida who reacted.

"That's not going to work, Rafael, I want you to pass the ball, I don't want you to break through. ”

"I can pass the ball after I break through. ”

"So you're hooked by me. If your team-mates have better chances than you in that moment, you need to pass the ball in the first place. I told you before, now it's a simulation of a lax referee, you see, now not only are you missing opportunities, you're also increasing the likelihood of injury. ”

Raphael embarrassed: "Well, I was wrong. ”

At the end of the day's training, Raphael's training clothes were so dirty that he couldn't distinguish the original color.

But the first thing Rafael did was to thank Almeida: "Thank you, captain. ”

After all, for someone of Almeida's age, the extra training was no longer in his plans, and he sacrificed his rest time to hone Raphael.

Raphael wouldn't be so ignorant.

Almeida smiled heartily and touched his head: "It's nothing, but Raphael, you are really the most cunning child I have ever met." He had wanted to say this sentence for a long time, but he had the deepest experience in the past two days, "I think, when you leave the army, you will definitely make all the enemies anxious." ”

Rafael smiled, but he seemed a little preoccupied, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Captain, is the coach ...... Do you really want me to transform into a midfielder?"

Look at what he practiced, he always passed the ball, passed the ball, and obviously let him shoot.

Although he has been very generous since his debut, and he has also shown good as a forward midfielder, he really never wanted to be a professional playmaker...... It's just that they prefer to shoot themselves and then win for the team compared to other goalscorers. Rafael put the victory first and then shot himself.

This makes him look selfless and extremely mature, but no one can have no dreams, his dream is to score one goal after another, step by step to win the title of king of the ball.

No king is not a goal-scoring organization.

Almeida understood what he meant and comforted him: "The coach didn't mean that, but you have to know that sometimes the team always has to make a trade-off, whether you let your teammates cover for you or you cover your teammates, it's up to you. ”

Almeida went home after taking a shower, Rafael thought about it for a long time in the dressing room, he was never stupid about the understanding of football, he knew what the captain meant, he didn't cover his teammates in the game, in River Plate, in the South Youth Championship...... He has done a lot.

But if he's always been a bait......

Sorry, he can't.

Unbeknownst to Capaco, he was just trying to turn Rafael's previous sharing into a habit to diversify the team's attack, but he managed to arouse his vigilance.

After all, I am willing to do and being forced to do it, these are two concepts.