The game crept into the 35th minute. In the previous 34 minutes of the game, both sides were obsessed with hand-to-hand combat and did not get too good chances.

Ricardo has tried to push forward frequently, he has tried to drop back to catch the ball very deeply, and he has tried to set the edge. But no matter where he goes, Melo will not leave an inch and will never give Ricardo a chance to receive the ball comfortably.

This treatment is even higher than that of Fabiano and Kaka. Neither Fabiano nor Kaka was specifically targeted. Enough to see Nielsen O. How much Baptista valued Ricardo.

In fact, this move did hit Osvaldo's goal. In São Paulo's existing attacking system, Ricardo is tasked with connecting Ricardinho and Kaka and Fabiano forward, and when Ricardo is heavily defended, São Paulo's offensive is reduced by half of the threat and the operation becomes sluggish.

At this time, after all, Ricardo is still only at the peak level of the national level, and under this level of defense, it still seems a little difficult.

If he is two or three years older, a little more physical, and more confrontational, this kind of defense will not affect him too much, and he can completely eat his opponent raw with his body and speed.

But at the moment, he can only outwit.

And to outwit, it takes timing.

Now that Sao Paulo is ahead, it is the opponent who is anxious, as long as this score is maintained, Flamengo will sooner or later make a mistake in the rush to equalize, and the time that Ricardo has been waiting for will finally come.

But football is round, and on a football field, any accident can happen at any time.

In the 37th minute, Sao Paulo's right-back Simplicio fell to the ground in pain, clutching his ankle after colliding with opposing striker Andrew Zinho.

São Paulo's team doctor soon came in and carried him to the sidelines for treatment. In a short period of time, Flamengo launched several waves of attacks in a row, and even Ricardo, who rarely returned to defense, had to come back to participate in the defense, and finally withstood the opponent's offensive.

But Sao Paulo couldn't wait for Simplicio to come back on the pitch. After a brief examination by the team doctor, he was deemed to have suffered a severe ligament strain and would not be able to play the remainder of the game, so Osvaldo had to use up a substitution in the first half to bring on young Gabriel to replace Simplisio.

Although Gabriel joined the first team last year, he has few appearances and is relatively inexperienced. As a 21-year-old, he is still relatively good, but against Flamengo's experienced players, he is completely at a disadvantage.

After he came on the pitch, the situation in Sao Paulo did not improve, but the defense became tighter.

However, Flamengo had their own problems, as they failed to capitalise on the chaotic Sao Paulo defence in those few minutes, with the score remaining 1-0 until the end of the first half.

After returning to the locker room, Osvaldo hid his inner uneasiness, praised the players' performance on the field in a calm and even somewhat witty tone, emphasizing that he would continue to play defensive counterattacks in the second half.

"Little Ricardo, are you alright?" As his gaze shifted to Ricardo, Osvaldo couldn't help but ask.

Ricardo was gasping for breath and looked very tired.

"I'm fine." Ricardo shook his head. In fact, since his first start, he has never been so tired in the first half of a game.

In order to run out of space to receive the ball under Melo's marking, his physical consumption is very serious, not to mention being violated by Melo many times, fighting against Melo physically, and actively returning to defend many times near the end of the first half, which are very physical.

But it doesn't matter, it can survive. Ricardo gritted his teeth. In the absence of beating Felipe. Before Melo gave him a resounding slap in the face with a goal, Ricardo would not admit it.

Osvaldo retracted his worried gaze and looked at Kaka again: "Little Ricardo is closely guarded, Kaka, you have to take on more offensive tasks in the second half. When counterattacking, you have to be resolute and play the ball to Rico's side. ”

Kaka nodded in understanding. In the first half, he and Ricardo did not play a few combinations, and his and Ricardo's confrontation ability was a little lacking, and he was too thin in front of the opponent's midfield and backfield muscular men's defense, and was often interfered with and led to passing errors.

Osvaldo didn't say much new things, just "play defensive counter-attack", "hold on to the ball", and "don't let up until you win the final victory." ”

Ricardo couldn't help but compare Osvaldo to the coaches he had met in his previous life.

Osvaldo is 52 years old and was born in Rio de Janeiro. He has a lot of coaching experience, having coached strong teams such as Corinthians and Fluminense, and has had his highlight moments, but most of the time he is a bit mediocre.

From the perspective of coaching philosophy and tactical thinking, Osvaldo has been somewhat out of touch with the mainstream thinking in Europe. This is not just Osvaldo's problem, it can be said to be a common problem of Brazilian coaches, immersed in the dream of the football kingdom, stubbornly sticking to the old-school style of football.

At least in Licardo's view, Osvaldo's thinking is a little rigid, the on-the-spot command is not flexible enough, the style of play is too old-fashioned, the offensive routine is relatively simple, and the defensive system is not formed, especially when defending set-pieces, it always makes people worry.

In his time at Sao Paulo this season, Osvaldo's greatest credit has been to discover and boldly use himself – not just for Ricardo himself, but also for many media outlets. He didn't inject anything new into Sao Paulo, who stumbled in the national championships, and if it weren't for the excellent performance of the Trident, Sao Paulo might have had a hard time getting into the playoffs.

Therefore, for Osvaldo's tactical arrangement, Licardo only agreed on the surface, but actually had other ideas in his heart.

He's just an ordinary player and can't argue with the manager's will. But he can play freely on the court a few times in a few times as he wants, and Osvaldo wouldn't have a problem with that.

As he left the dressing room and walked through the players' tunnel, Ricardo pulled past Kaka and Ricardinho with a mysterious look.

"What's wrong?" Kaka asked curiously. Ricardinho also pricked up his ears.

"When it gets to the field, I'm going to stand on the sidelines, that Felipe. Melo will definitely come after me and empty the middle. Kaka, you have to step forward resolutely and attract the attention of the opposing centre-backs. At this point, I'll suddenly thrust in the middle. Ricardinho, when the time comes, you pass the ball to me, it's okay to give a little more advance. ”

Ricardinho hesitated: "But we haven't tried such an offensive line. ”

Ricardo smiled: "Let's try, anyway, we are ahead, even if we waste one or two offensive opportunities, it is not a big deal, do you think?" ”

Ricardinho hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "That's fine, let's try it." ”

"I'm fine," Kaka said with a smile, "I'll pull a gap for you, and you'll have to take advantage of it." ”