In the dressing room, São Paulo's players hung their heads one by one, like defeated roosters.

Ricardo pursed his lips and clenched his fists hard. He wasn't happy with his performance in the first half. With Renato and Almeida alternating, he barely managed to get the ball well, with zero breakaways and zero shots on goal.

However, Osvaldo did not criticize him, but rather sharply criticized the backline. Only Osvaldo's angry voice echoed in the locker room, and the grievances and anger in the hearts of the players were fermenting. From the crack in the door, the excited singing of Santos fans was heard, knocking on the hearts of the players one by one, like nails of shame, nailing them to the wall for public display.

After scolding, Osvaldo took a sip and began to lay out the tactics for the second half.

After the arrangement, he looked at Ricardo: "I don't know what you're afraid of, football is a man's game, and physical confrontation is inevitable." If you can't take it anymore, I can let you go back to the youth team and continue to play home. ”

Ricardo's fist rested on his knee, trembling slightly. The previous life was seriously injured many times, and it inevitably left a shadow on his heart. Although he thought in his heart that he should not be afraid of confrontation and foul play by the other party, every time the opponent rushed towards him with great momentum, his body would instinctively dodge.

No world-class star is afraid of confrontation, and Ricardo knows very well that if he does not overcome this demon, he will not be able to become a world-class star in his lifetime.

There's only one way to get hurt again, and that's to never play again.

Can I stop playing football again? Of course it can't be.

He looked up, looked Osvaldo in the eye without flinching, and said simply: "I'll do well in the second half." ”

"Okay, I'll give you another 20 minutes. If it doesn't improve, I'll replace you right away. Osvaldo said sternly.

In fact, he didn't understand that in the first half of the year, when there was no Ricardo, the team was able to beat Santos 3-0. Why is it that now with Ricardo, the strength of the team has obviously strengthened, but it has succumbed to a disadvantage.

Interestingly, two live TV commentators are also exploring this issue.

"In the first half of the meeting, Sao Paulo won 3-0 against Santos, and at the time, Santos was simply powerless. Why did the situation reverse half a year later? ”

"First of all, I think Santos's strength has strengthened in the past six months. Their personnel have not changed much, but their proficiency in cooperating with each other has increased considerably. And they only played one game last week, but Sao Paulo played two games a week, and Santos has the absolute upper hand in terms of fitness, and can press with impunity. ”

"Sao Paulo's strength has actually increased compared to half a year ago, and the sudden rise of Ricardo has raised Sao Paulo's attack line to a higher level. But the problem is that in addition to being more proficient with Kaka, Ricardo does not have enough tacit understanding with the rest of the players. Sao Paulo only started using their current formation against Palmeiras, and there are still problems with the team-ups. ”

"So so far in this game, Santos is 2-0 ahead, I am not surprised."

'So what's the key in the second half if Sao Paulo want to equalise?'

'I think Sao Paulo's chances of equalising are very slim. But if they want to equalise, they have to settle the ball first. In the first half of the game, we rarely saw the footage of Ricardo holding the ball, and we don't know if this was Osvaldo's tactical arrangement or Ricardo's own choice. In fact, Ricardo can hold the ball, but he reduces the time he holds the ball, which will make Kaka's task heavier, and Kaka, who has played the whole game for many consecutive games, has shown obvious fatigue, and the breakthrough is not as sharp as before. ”

"You mean that Ricardo has to step up, take the ball and use his dribbling skills to open things up?"

"Yes, that's what I meant."

……

At the end of the break, the São Paulo players stepped onto the tunnel to prepare to play again. Judging from the momentum, they still didn't seem to be uplifted, and they all hung their heads and their eyes were confused.

The Santos players on the other side of the aisle were talking and laughing, and they were on their toes, creating a stark contrast.

It also seemed to foreshadow the direction of the second half.

After the restart, Santos no longer pressed the whole court, but retracted his own half of the court and honestly played a defensive counterattack.

In the face of Santos's dense defense, Sao Paulo appeared hesitant, not decisive enough, not bold enough, and constantly missed fleeting opportunities in order to seek stability, so angry that Osvaldo shouted on the sidelines, constantly waving his players to press up.

São Paulo, who should have fought hard in the cauldron, actually thought about it at such a time, wanted to attack and was afraid of being counterattacked, and kicked into a ball of scattered sand.

Although he also played a few decent attacks, he was never able to take advantage of the goalscoring opportunities. The game has been played to the 58th minute, and the score is still 0:0.

"Rico breaks through to the bottom line, crosses! Kaka flanked in the middle and kicked too right, Fabio. Costa holds the ball firmly. Kaka looked frustrated. ”

Kaka shook his head, shuffling back with heavy steps. He was really tired and didn't get enough rest, and while the rest of the players were resting before, he was busy shooting commercials and attending some necessary social occasions. That's the price of fame.

Now the team needs him the most, but he finds himself more than he can do.

At this time, he urgently needed someone to help him. He looked up to find Ricardo, and saw that Ricardo's face was expressionless, and his whole person looked a little stiff.

"Little Ricardo, hurry up!" Kaka said silently in his heart.

The São Paulo fans, who had been silent for most of the game, also knew that the team had reached the most difficult moment, and they began to sing the team song in unison to cheer up the players, and for a while they overpowered the voices of the Santos fans.

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

"You bring glittering honor, immortal Paulista, you bring from the forest, shining traditions."

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

Ricardo stood still, closed his eyes, and felt the song. He had always thought that he had no feelings for São Paulo. But when the song passed through his eardrums and trembled into his internal organs, he suddenly felt an inexplicable power in his body.

A voice was saying: Go, go, fight for them! Go and be their hero and make them proud! Don't be afraid to get hurt, don't be afraid to bleed!

Ricardo couldn't figure out for a moment whether this was his inner monologue or if there was still a remnant of the original owner's soul.

He opened his eyes again, and felt his lead-filled legs light again with the strength that had erupted.

He looked at the east stand, at the sea of flying tricolors.

At this moment, he forgot the injuries he had suffered, and the pain of his broken leg.