But these are not the real reasons for his bad form.

The real reason is that he didn't get the rhythm right.

He was not yet fully familiar with the condition of this body. So it leads to a small peak prematurely, and there will inevitably be a trough next. This is true for physical fitness, including the level of nervous excitement, etc.

But it doesn't matter, now he's back in shape. The four goals scored in the intra-squad competition are proof of that.

And before the home game against Santos, Osvaldo also announced in a high-profile press conference that Ricardo will continue to start.

"I don't know if you guys are watching the same game as me," Osvaldo said solemnly, "and I see a player who has done his tactical duty brilliantly. Yes, he didn't score, but that's only four games in total, and only two of them were starts, so he didn't score for a total of 187 minutes, so what is that? I'm willing to bet Pele has a record of going without scoring for longer and Ronaldo has too. ”

"You're being too him, he's just a 16-year-old and he's amazing to get to where he is. You can't compare him to 28-year-old Pele, you can't compare him to 26-year-old Ronaldo. If you really want to compare, let's compare 16-year-old Pele and Ronaldo. ”

'Yes, he's going to start and I have full confidence that he can bring something different to the team.'

"Yes, I looked at Adrien. The Jesús report is full of nonsense. Whether a person can play football well or not has nothing to do with his pedigree. Jesús should be ashamed of his racist views. ”

"Tomorrow's goal? Winning, of course. Santos is a very good team, but we are even better. Don't forget, in the last 10 meetings with Santos, we have five wins, three draws and two defeats. And the last 5 home games against Santos? We have four wins and one draw. There's no reason for an exception tomorrow. We're going to beat Santos and get to the next round, that's it. ”

His opponent, Celsorot, remained low-key and modest.

'Sao Paulo are very strong, we only drew at home and it's going to be tougher away and the lads have to be mentally prepared.'

"Ricardo? Lions also have times when they take a nap. He remains one of the most dangerous players in Brazil's domestic league. ”

'I'm not going to compare Robinho and Riccardo, I think they're different types of players. Robinho is more able to please the audience, can make some unbelievable moves on the field, and is full of imagination. Ricardo is different, he is more pragmatic and more lethal. But in crunch time, I think Robinho and Ricardo are equally reliable. They are all natural killers who are able to step up and deliver a fatal blow to their opponents when it matters most. ”

Morumbi Stadium. Flags are unfurled, and fireworks are all over the sky. A huge wave of sound washed over the entire pitch like a tangible substance, impacting both players as they warmed up on the turf.

The difference is that for the players in São Paulo, these voices are like a stimulant, giving them a lot of power.

And for Santos' players, these voices are pervasive harassment and malice, and even the faint of heart can feel weak.

Ricardo was doing passing practice in a small circle with Kaka, Rico and Fabiano. They tried to pass the ball in the air and keep the ball from hitting the ground.

"How are you feeling, Licardo?" Kaka was a little worried, "Don't let those bastards affect you. ”

"Thank you, but I'm not going to be affected," Ricardo said with a smile that was formed by his inner self-confidence, "and today we will definitely win." ”

Rico shrugged: "I thought you would say you would score today. ”

'Of course it's better for me to score, but it's important for the team to win.' Ricardo replied.

"You'd better score a goal," Fabiano said, "to make that Jesús feel like he's been slapped in the face." ”

Ricardo smiled: "I don't care about him at all, and I don't deliberately want to slap him in the face." Now all I care about is getting the team going, everything else is out of my mind. ”

In the original time and space, Sao Paulo was eliminated by Santos in the first round of the playoffs, and the latter was even more vigorous, even defeated strong opponents, and stepped on the corpse of Sao Paulo to the championship.

Ricardo would never allow this to happen on this plane.

Now that he's here, he's got to bring something different. Reliving a lifetime, getting a precious chance to start over, every breath and every heartbeat of his life, is to win. And not to watch others walk up to the podium gloomily.

After the warm-up, both sides returned to the dressing room for the head coach to make the final arrangements.

Ricardo looked at Osvaldo who was spitting in front of the tactical board, and was very grateful to Osvaldo for his support, but still had reservations about Osvaldo's tactical rigidity and stubbornness.

Admittedly, Sao Paulo only need to hold on to a 0-0 draw to advance to the next round. But passive defense is never safe.

And the team once again lined up a back three 4321 formation, Alessandro was back on the line-up, and Rico was back on the bench.

In the face of Santos' aggressive 433 formation, can 4321 really hold a draw? Ricardo was skeptical.

However, he sensibly did not interject, not wanting to be seen by Osvaldo as "challenging the manager's authority" and "questioning the manager's decision".

After the set-up, everyone stood up, and the captain Cheney took the lead and pushed open the door to the locker room. The fans' singing came in:

"You are strong, you are great, number one among the masters, oh, the tricolor!"

"St. Paul, dear club, you have our love, you have honor and brilliance, glorious colors, oh, the tricolor!"

Stepping on the beat of singing, the players of São Paulo walked out of the players' tunnel, and their vision suddenly widened, countless figures swayed, colored paper flew in the sky, tens of thousands of people sang together, and the sound of convergence made the whole stadium tremble, and the ground under their feet shook.

As soon as he arrived, Ricardo jumped up and down, moving his body to get himself into the groove as quickly as possible.

After a series of pre-match preparations, the captains of both sides guessed the side, and the captain of São Paulo Cheney guessed the coin, and he chose to tee off first.

Standing outside the center circle, Ricardo stretched out his hand to sense the breeze blowing. It's a good day. He's in great shape as well. Every cell of the body is crying: score, score!

He squinted and looked at the opposing goal. Fabio. Costa was bouncing around in front of Santos' goal to warm up.

After two encounters, Ricardo has roughly grasped the goalkeeper's characteristics. It depends on whether there is an opportunity to make a fuss about these characteristics in the game.