Because of the calf muscle strain, Licardo's training schedule in the past few days is mainly based on recovery training and upper limb strength training.

He didn't want this little wound to become an old wound that lingered.

The team doctor checked him every day and his recovery was going well, but the game waited for no one, and it was soon time for São Paulo's home game against da Gama. To be on the safe side, Osvaldo still put the unhealed Ricardo in the squad, but did not arrange for him to start.

Vasco da Gama has won four Brazilian national championships, the most recent of which were in 1997 and 2000 under the leadership of the legendary Romario. And in 1998 he won the Copa Libertadores once. The current strength is still considerable, with an intercontinental star like "Beast" Edmundo, but the state is not very good, and he has lost hope of entering the playoffs.

Vasco da Gama did not rest on his laurels because of the power of St. Paul. What's more, Ricardo did not start due to injury, which is a major positive for da Gama, and Miguel, who replaced Ricardo on the left wing, is too mediocre to pose a substantial threat to da Gama's defense.

Da Gama, who owns "The Beast" Edmundo, used a free kick to give Sao Paulo a dismissal in less than five minutes. Midfielder Da Silva quickly took a free-kick in front, Edmundo took the ball and skilfully shook off Baptista and fired a long-range shot from 25 yards out, which bounced off the crossbar and scared Cheney into a cold sweat.

And that's just the beginning. Under the strong pressure of São Paulo, da Gama always maintained high-quality counter-attacks, and each counterattack was like a sharp knife into São Paulo's soft underbelly, which made the home fans of the Molumbi Stadium tremble.

They give their own support a song without listening, and boos and noise to the away team.

Whether it was distracted by the fans or if the gods of luck abandoned him, the da Gama goalkeeper was out of his hands when Fabio received a good long-range shot from Baptista, and the football bounced towards the baseline. But a figure in a São Paulo shirt arrived just in time before the ball flew off the bottom line and fired a shot from a tight angle that pierced da Gama's goal.

It was also the only goal of the first half. Sao Paulo worked hard to extend the scoreline, but Ricardo's absence made their attack look much sluggisher than usual, and there was one less explosive point up front. Carlos. Miguel is a good wide player, with a lot of skill, a good cross, a good pass and a long shot, but he is too slow to make an effective breakthrough and needs to be fed the ball instead of attacking himself.

On the right side, Rico and Kaka are still a little lacking in tacit understanding, and it is difficult to play a quick advance. When Ricardo is on the field, he often plays a heart-to-heart combination with Kaka, and the three or two passes hit the opponent's penalty area, which Rico does not have for the time being.

At the start of the second half, da Gama began to exert his strength, and with a 3232 formation, they made effective use of the width of the field, and the combination of side and center attacks made the Sao Paulo defence crumble. And "The Beast" Edmundo finally scored in the 66th minute, he received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and shook continuously, and then broke Cheney's ten fingers with a tricky angle and powerful shot, which ended the attack perfectly.

Osvaldo was not willing to accept a draw and replaced Ricardo in the 74th minute.

Ricardo's appearance did take São Paulo's attacking up a notch, but by this time da Gama was starting to shrink the defence, with the two wing-backs reducing their assists and putting almost all of their energy into defence.

In the face of such a dense defense, Ricardo, who has not recovered from his injury, can't come up with too good a solution. In the match against Santos, Ricardo has basically overcome his inner demons and is no longer afraid of fouls and physical confrontations.

But that doesn't mean he has to do it when he's hurt.

This is not a romantic youth campus drama, and it is not a simple and beautiful sports teenager in Anda Chong's comics. It is a cruel competitive sport, and only those who know how to protect themselves and know how to make appropriate trade-offs can continue the competitive state for a long time and continue their careers.

So Ricardo didn't do his best, if this game was a Champions League final, or a game of great significance related to the team's relegation, whether it could win the championship, and related to Champions League qualification, of course he would spare no effort. It's a pity it's just an inconsequential game.

He's only 16 years old, his career has just begun, and the bright future awaits him, so why fight for an unimportant match?

Osvaldo could see Ricardo's stroke, and he shook his head, disappointed. But he couldn't waste another substitution to replace Ricardo, so he could only sulk and raise his leg to kick away a bottle of mineral water on the sidelines.

The photographer next to the stadium keenly captured this scene, and it is conceivable that after the game, various media will use this topic to interpret a lot of content.

But soon, the photographer focused his lens on a certain spot in the stands. Appearing in the camera is a beautiful woman with long chestnut hair, even in the frenzy of the court, her smile is still so charming, and her low-cut vest is covered with a São Paulo scarf, which can't hide the spring light.

Alessandra. Ambrosio.

She's back at the Molumbi Stadium, obviously not to watch an inconsequential game, so why did she come? The answer is already on the horizon. Definitely for Ricardo. And there must be some deep connection between her and Licardo, who is 5 years younger than her.

When the match ended with a score of 1:1, the players of Sao Paulo were weak and walked back to the players' tunnel in twos and threes.

Instead of going back to the dressing room immediately, Ricardo offered to exchange shirts with Edmundo. The rumored unruly "Beast" looked amiable against Ricardo, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Your brother is the greatest player I've ever met, Ricardo, but you're not bad, hopefully you'll be 100 per cent healthy the next time you play." ”

"Thank you," Ricardo said, "your goal was quite spectacular. ”

He was a beat slower than his teammate due to the move to change his jersey and was stopped by a fieldside reporter in front of the players' tunnel.

"What is your assessment of your performance in this game?"

"It was obviously not my best game." Ricardo said with a shrug.

"Edmundo scored a beautiful goal today, what do you think of it?"

'Edmundo is a fantastic player and I think he's a strong contender for top scorer.

After casually asking a few questions, the reporter quickly threw out the question he was most interested in: "Ambrosio went to the scene to watch the game again today, are you dating?" ”

Hearing this, Licardo was stunned for a moment before he said, "No, we're not familiar to that extent." ”