After the game, when Messi was asked by reporters what he thought of the game, he was a little depressed and couldn't control himself: "The opponent dominated with a shit-like goal, which was completely unexpected by us, thanks to Aguero's equaliser, but this is not something to be happy about, because we failed to turn the situation around and achieve the goal, I feel very sad." ”

But he quickly reacted, "Actually, we are doing okay, but we have to continue to grow, continue to improve, and stay calm and not dwell on the emotions of losing." It didn't go the way we thought it would, but we can't lose our minds, it's just the first game, we have to look at the next games and we have to win. ”

The rest of the national team spoke in much the same way, expressing regret for the result of the game, optimistic about the upcoming game, and hoping that the fans would not lose confidence and continue to support them. Even if they are worried, the players will not allow themselves to pass on this emotion to the fans.

When Batista attended the post-match press conference, Messi also received the official award of the best player of the match trophy, even if it was an affirmation of his performance in this game, he was not very happy, but felt that his face was hot, and the shame, depression and depression almost made him scold.

"What does that mean?" he blurted out a rhetorical question that embarrassed the staff member.

In the end, Messi boarded the team's bus with a black face and a rare wave of anger, sitting alone in the corner of the last row and sulking. The teammates who got on the bus behind all tacitly bypassed him.

Raphael, who had just been accidentally caught by a reporter and caused a slow man, to get into the car saw this scene - the surroundings of his friend were like a vacuum field, and the loneliness on the field spread to the field, which was particularly pitiful.

Messi, who just wanted to lick his wounds silently alone, soon felt that someone was sitting on the seat next to him, who was so ignorant of the rules, didn't you see that even Ah Kun sat in front?

A glance out of the corner of his eye, a certain golden head made his anger not rise but fall, he was a little discouraged, too, and only he would come to comfort himself.

The little angel took out a red fluttering apple from his pocket and looked at him expectantly, and Messi pulled the corners of his mouth: "Thank you, I don't want to eat it." ”

Who knew that Raphael blinked in surprise: "I mean, do you mind if I eat an apple next to you?"

Messi, who was self-proclaimed, suddenly didn't want to speak, and turned his head to study the curtain cloth pattern.

"I acquiesced to you. Raphael rested his head on the cushion in the front seat, snapped and took a bite of the apple like a thief, and after eating it contentedly, he lowered his voice and explained, "You know, in winter people are always hungry, and I would have liked to eat in the dressing room, but you were not happy, and if I ate alone, would it be too conspicuous? It's better to be here, the last row, no one can see it. ”

“…… Am I not human?!I want you to consider my feelings!!" Messi protested.

"I just remember someone telling me that if you're in a bad mood, eating food and playing games are the easiest way to relax. We can't play the game now, and the impact is not good, but we can have snacks. ”

Messi was silent for a moment, as if this was the advice he gave Rafael when he was not in good shape. He softened a little, and turned his head back: "But I don't like to eat apples." ”

"I know, so I don't plan to share it with you, just watch me eat, my parents say that watching me eat will make me feel good and relaxed. ”

Messi took a deep breath, it didn't work, he was still half angry with the angel, he gritted his teeth: "No, I won't, I swear! I just want to hit people now, you'd better stay away from me!"

He simply closed his eyes, out of sight and out of mind. Until there was a rustling sound in my ears, and then the surroundings were quiet again.

Let's go?

He couldn't help but be more irritable, and suddenly opened his eyes, but what greeted him was a honey and peach flavored lollipop, don't ask him why he knew the taste as soon as he saw the packaging. Because this is the Jumbo Orb that he has always loved.

He didn't react for a moment, but he heard Raphael's voice with a smile: "How is it now?"

"How did you have this?" Isn't he finished eating the Christmas presents?

"I'm still waiting for your ransom!

"What a night attack, can you speak!" Messi's face was a little red, especially when he heard the little pony in the front seat couldn't help but choke, the lollipop that was already in the palm of his hand was stuffed back into Raphael's hand, "Don't do this either." ”

Raphael looked at him a little confused.

"You're right, lollipops are for children," Messi sighed, remembering the scattered sand on the field, the newspaper criticism of him for his lack of leadership, and the little excitement that had just risen was gone. Although he brought the jewel orb, he hadn't eaten it for a long time.

Raphael didn't persuade him, and began to unpack the wrapper, Messi looked at his hands in a daze, this dead kid wouldn't plan to eat it for him again.

Halfway through the dismantling, Raphael twisted the white stick, and the lollipop was separated from the beaded stick, "It still seems to be a little big." He muttered, fingertips straining. The wrapper was opened, and the sugar beads had been neatly split in half.

"What are you doing...... Messi didn't finish speaking, and half a candy was stuffed in his mouth.

Raphael put the other half of the candy wrapped in the wrapper in his hand, clapped his palms, and there was a hint of cunning on the corners of his mouth, he didn't speak, just lip-synched: "Now rest assured? No one can find out if you are a child or not." ”

He got up sharply and said, "The coach is coming back soon, I'll go back to the front." ”

The fresh and sweet taste of the peach fell from the taste buds into the esophagus, and in a trance, there seemed to be a stream of heat flowing into the limbs, dispelling away the chill around him.

Messi came back to his senses and pouted: "People are small and big!"

At this time, Mascherano turned his head and looked at him: "Leo, are you okay?"

Messi put the half of the candy under his tongue and smiled slightly: "I'm fine." ”

The next day, Messi woke up very early, and Ah Kun was still sleeping on the other bed. Speaking of Rafael, who is still on the team, it stands to reason that the two of them should still be roommates, but the prank that night somehow spread to Batista's ears, maybe Checho felt that the two of them were too immature together, and after the 23-man roster was officially confirmed, his roommate changed back to Ah Kun.

I really don't know what the coach thinks, it's clear that he lives with Ah Kun to play games every day......

Rafael, on the other hand, lives with his teammate Carrizo at River Plate.

Messi couldn't sleep and didn't want to play with his phone so as not to see the reports that were destined to be bad, so he decided to go for a run on the training ground. When he came out after washing, he unexpectedly found that a certain one was already there.

Rafael was running laps with the ball, and the ball remained two meters in front of him, not far away, just right, perfect as if measured by a ruler.

He didn't have the habit of wearing headphones to listen to songs and run, but this kind of mastery of training also made him seem a little careless, he was just about to kick again, a small man suddenly jumped out behind him, snatched the ball from his feet and walked away, Raphael raised his eyebrows, and hurriedly caught up.

The two of you chased me, you robbed me and ran a few laps, Messi, who played the whole game yesterday, was the first to surrender, and the ball he just grabbed was knocked back to Rafael: "Don't play, I still have to save some physical strength for afternoon training." ”

Batista gave the whole team a half-day off, and today's training session didn't start until 5pm.

Rafael resumed his previous slow dribbling training, Messi jogged side by side with him, and from time to time received the ball pushed by Rafael, and the ball passed back and forth at the feet of the two, moving forward at a uniform speed.

The two tacitly ran two more laps, and Rafael's training came to an end, holding the ball and coming to the sidelines to drink water.

"I woke up so early today and couldn't sleep?" Rafael asked Messi, who came along.

"Hmm. Although Messi himself said to the outside world to stay calm, he is really in his position, but it does not mean that he can calm down if he is calm. Yesterday he didn't sleep very well, and all he was thinking about was the replays.

He was silent for a while and said: "Every time I come to the national team with confidence, but it won't be long before this confidence becomes a heavy shackle and I can't breathe. He didn't know how he could say this, these thoughts that should have been hidden in the depths of his heart and couldn't be declared, obviously the other party was so much younger than him, but as soon as he touched the other party's clear eyes, he couldn't force himself to endure alone.

"Especially the official competition, I feel very tired, not physically, but mentally. Every time Checho told me, saying that I didn't have to retreat so far to get the ball, let me go to the front, I thought he was telling a joke, I didn't retreat where the ball came from!"

"Checho also said that we should strengthen the bond in the front court, have more cooperation, it is really easy to say......" He wanted to laugh sarcastically, but it was not what he was good at after all, and there was only bitterness on his face.

"Argentina is not Barcelona, I can get 10 points in Barcelona, in Argentina, passing has become my pursuit, I really want to know what else I can do, what else can I do! I did everything the coach asked, he said that he hoped I could take more responsibility for organizing the attack, yes, Argentina does not have Xavi, I will be Xavi, and then, the media, the fans, began to say again, saying that Messi disappeared, Barcelona's Messi returned to Argentina and became invisible again, where did Messi go? Yes, where did Messi go? Messi became Xavi... … However, he doesn't have Iniesta by his side, Villa, Alves, another Messi!"

"Kempes said I owe Argentina, yes, I'm so good at Barcelona, why do I behave like when I return to the national team, the fans say I'm not patriotic, say I'm not willing to do my best for the national team, yes, I don't want to put the Hercules Cup, I don't want to put the glory of the Copa America champion, I'm just going to drag the whole team back, I'm going to be moved by my spirit! Why do I owe Argentina, why am I not patriotic! Just because I haven't played in China?!I'm X......"

What he said was a bit upside down, and in the end, he kept speaking foul, which shows how excited he was.

This surprised Rafael a little, it turned out that the good-tempered Messi was not without a temper, but no one cared, so he couldn't talk about it.

complained a lot, Raphael just listened silently, and the depression that had been held back for too long poured out, Messi felt a lot happier in his heart, but he began to feel a little embarrassed, he didn't want to let the little angel have any bad thoughts because of this.

He poked Raphael: "Why don't you speak?"

Raphael, who just wanted to be a qualified listener, looked at him and said, "Hmm...... Well...... That, me, I don't have lollipops anymore. ”

Messi is a little confused.

Raphael was very sincere: "Look at the way you want to cry, maybe it would be better to eat a lollipop?" ”

This dead kid is a little cuter when he doesn't speak...... Messi was annoyed and angry: "I didn't want to cry!"

Rafael didn't argue: "Well, in fact, I just remember someone once told me that if my teammates can't be relied on, you might as well try to be alone, carry the victory and defeat with you, no matter the thorns and flowers in front of you, just carry the weight forward, although there is no regret." ”

Messi froze, and this seemed very familiar.

Why does this kid have such a good memory!

"I'm sprayed like this everywhere I put out fires now...... Do you think I'm a people's player?" he blurted out, "Football is still an 11-a-side sport after all. Diego rode the Savior five in a row, and how many times did that happen?"

Rafael wanted to laugh at the end of the day, you just don't have the courage to do so, but then I thought about it, it's a different style, Leao is a team player, he likes to cooperate and is keen to cooperate, this style of playing alone, he doesn't like it, and there is no need to change it.

As for Rafael himself, he is actually in between, which is why Messi suggested that he be unique, of course, there are also reasons why the strength of his teammates is too out of touch with him.

"Maybe some people really think that. Raphael told the truth.

Messi is in a bad mood again, the position of savior, everyone wants to sit, even if it is Ah Kun, when facing the goal, even if his position is better than him, he will choose to shoot with his feet.

It's hard for him to blame anyone for this, maybe it's the instinct of the shooter, maybe it's ...... Or perhaps, he has never established his prestige in this national team and won the trust of his teammates......

It will be something that will make him sadder than not winning the last game.

"Don't think about it so much, Leao, it's just the first game, and when everyone gets together, everything will be fine. Such blunt comfort is something Raphael is not good at, and he is somewhat awkwardly expressed.

"I'm much better. Messi smiled, "Actually, I always think that if Checho doesn't change his lineup, I really ......"

"You can talk to the coach privately. ”

"I have it, but it's useless. Messi frowned slightly, he didn't really want to mention this, looked at Raphael's hand, and changed the subject, "Where's your apple painting, washed off?"

"It's useless, of course it's washed off, what are you keeping it for? ”

"I'm sad that you're like this......" Rafael's bluntness hurt Messi a little.

Raphael realized it afterwards and explained: "I think it didn't work because I appeared in the national team, there is a saying in my hometown that doctors don't heal themselves, hexagrams don't count themselves, generally like this kind of metaphysics, it doesn't work when it comes to yourself." If you want me to say, how can I really be good at apple painting, don't you say? A genius like me doesn't even appear on the court, I really can't stand it. ”

Messi was silent, and he asked: "Rafael, has anyone said that you are shameless." ”

Raphael shrugged: "Do you have a bad memory? You've said it many times." ”

Messi slapped him on the head.

The two quarreled for a while, and Messi said with some sighs: "Actually, I really want you to play as my partner, I think we can cooperate very well, but unfortunately Checho ignored my opinion." ”

Raphael's eyes widened, "Wait, when did you want me to play?

"No, but I hinted at it, I was training and pulling you every day during that time, and anyone with a discerning eye can see it. "Messi is very reasonable.

Raphael's emotion immediately turned into foam, and he was speechless: "Aha, it seems that I should really go with a pair of eyes." ”

He laughed at his friend, "Don't you say that I really haven't found out, don't tell me that this is how you communicated with your husband, let me mourn for him for a second, it's really scary to have such a sullen core player...... Balabala...... It's not that you draw me guess, be honest, be straightforward...... Balabala...... I found out that what you lack is the courage to show your true thoughts, and I have to say that you are still single, and it is not without reason......"

Messi's face was black, silently holding up his anger, Raphael was talking but there was no sound, he looked up, but saw that the angel was in deep thought.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Rafael was awakened, but a bright smile appeared on his face, and Messi gave a big hug: "I was wrong, Leao, not only you, even I lack that courage." You say this kind of competition for posts, how can I let others take the lead, if I don't fight for it, then what qualifications do I have to say that I really tried my best!"

He put the ball back in the net pocket and ran out, Messi was confused and asked him in a loud voice: "Why are you going?"

Raphael waved his hand, full of life: "Tell Mr. to get up!"