On August 10, the 2002 Brazil National Championship kicked off. Sao Paulo will face Bottafogo at home.

This is Sao Paulo's first appearance in the National Championships.

Because they won the Rio-Sao Paulo Championship in the first half of the year, Sao Paulo's performance in the national championship has attracted much attention.

At a press conference the day before the game, Osvaldo announced the list of Sao Paulo's starting lineups in the pizza.

World Cup champion Kaka is not on this list.

Glory is replaced!

This result is somewhat beyond the expectations of the media.

Although Rongguang performed well in the first half of the year, he still couldn't compare with Kaka in terms of strength alone.

Kaka won the World Cup championship at the time of confidence. They really couldn't think of any reason not to let Kaka start.

"... Kaka unexpectedly missed the starting lineup, and the Chinese player Rong, who replaced him, started the lineup. The starting lineup released by Osvaldo has aroused controversy among the media. Osvaldo's explanation is that Kaka's physical fitness is not very good and needs rest. But Ricardinho, who also participated in the World Cup, appeared on this list. Is Ricardinho, who is older than Kaka, better physical fitness?"

"...It seems that Rong has won the trust of head coach Osvaldo through his outstanding performance in the Rio-Sao Paulo Championship. But how will Kaka who plays in the same position as Rong be arranged? Now Kaka's physical fitness has not returned to its best condition... What will happen in the future? Kaka cannot always have poor physical fitness, nor can it always be in repeated injuries, right? What will Osvaldo do then?"

"...Yong had not started before this, but that was always with Kaka's absence due to injury. Now this is the first time that Rong has been replaced by Kaka's absence without injury or illness..."

Cui Hao put down the newspaper and said with a smile: "It's really impressive. In just half a year, Rong has firmly taken the position of St. Paul's main force..."

The daughter, Corris, who was sitting opposite the dining table, rolled her eyes: "Dad, do you understand football? It's just a starter in a game. How can you be considered a main player? You have to start continuously like Kaka to be considered a main player!"

Cui Hao knew that his daughter was a loyal fan of Kaka and naturally disliked Rongguang, Kaka's opponent, so he just smiled and did not refute his daughter's words.

The daughter was still chattering: "When Kaka gets rested, she will immediately regain her main position! Then, he will wait to return to the bench! That is where he should stay!"

Cui Hao said: "That's the future. At least he is the main force now. I'm going to watch the game tomorrow. Are you going?"

Corris turned his head and snorted from his nose: "I don't want to go! Kaka doesn't play!"

"Kaka is also on the roster. What if he comes on as a substitute?"

"Ah... I'll just let it go!"

Seeing his daughter say this, Cui Hao laughed.

※※※

On the eve of the game, in the hotel room, Rongguang was making the same city call with Godot through the hotel's free phone number.

"Good job, Rong, you have already obtained the 2,000 yuan appearance fee, do you know?" Godo encouraged Rongguang on the phone, but he was different from others. The way he cheered for Rongguang was not to say "play well" and "for your dream", but to talk about money directly.

It sounds cheesy, but it works very well.

Especially for people like Rongguang.

"Is it true, Godot?" Sure enough, Rongguang felt energetic when he heard this.

"Of course, if you start, it means you can definitely play. As long as you appear, the two thousand yuan will be stable. Next, you have to strive to get both the goal bonus and the assist bonus, and you will be lucky! Of course, it is also good to only get one. Don't have any burden, just play it casually!"

"I will try my best to get it all, Godot!"

Glory is always very positive about money-related matters.

Unlike the salary paid annually or monthly, the bonus is paid according to the competition, and the bonus for this game will be paid after the game is over.

Moreover, the bonus is sent to everyone in cash, and the colorful stack of notes is quite visually impactful.

This is the money you can get right away.

It is more attractive to glory than the illusory annual salary, although it is huge but illusory.

So Rongguang is now full of fighting spirit.

Ricardinho, who lived in the same room with Rongguang, was very strange to see Rongguang so excited. It was just a phone call, and it was nothing strange to listen to Rongguang's words.

Why did this Chinese boy suddenly seem to be burning after making the phone call?

He even felt the heat!

What's going on with this kid?

※※※

"Okay, prepare to play. But Rong stayed." After finishing his pre-match speech, Osvaldo left glory again.

Now all idiots know that the head coach values ​​glory very much. Before the game, in order to make the rookie perform well, he specially gave him some special training.

Soon, only Gengguang and head coach Osvaldo remained in the locker room.

"Have you read the news, Rong?" asked Osvaldo.

Rongguang shook his head: "I rarely read the news."

"Well, there are many different opinions in the media about me getting you to start, not Kaka. I can imagine that the reporters in the media will watch every performance with a magnifying glass. As long as you make any mistakes, they will be infinitely amplified in tomorrow's newspapers, TV and radio. This will be a reason why you are inferior to Kaka. You will be under tremendous pressure in this game. Are you ready?"

Rongguang nodded without hesitation: "Of course, I'm ready! I'm not afraid of pressure!"

Not as good as Kaka?

What a joke?

I'm the one who wants to defeat him!

Seeing Rongguang so confident, there was no tension or panic, Osvaldo was also very satisfied.

No wonder this kid can always become the key gentleman of St. Paul, because he has a big heart!

"Play according to the training path, your task is to hide behind Luis Fabiano and wait for an opportunity to score. Of course, when playing corner kicks and free kicks in the frontcourt, don't forget to surprise them with your speed." Osvaldo made his final advice.

"Look, sir!"

Glory gave a thumbs up.

※※※

"In the first game of the national championship in the new season, Sao Paulo faced Bottafogo at home. This is Sao Paulo's first home game, so the game is full. But I think most fans are coming for Kaka, and they want to witness the exciting performance of the world champion at close range. But this game is destined to disappoint them... Because just at yesterday's pre-match press conference, Osvaldo announced that Rong replaced Kaka as the starting midfielder of Sao Paulo in this game!"

In the stands, Correll was on the left and her little friend on the right. She was sandwiched in two completely different opinions, becoming the piece of meat in the sandwich.

"Oh, Rong must work hard! The starting position is not easy, so we must strive to stabilize it!" This is his father.

"Bastard! They are all that damn rookie! We can't see Kaka because of him! He'd better score an own goal in this game and get out of the starting lineup!"

"How is it enough to score an own goal? Of course, you have to score three! Owner hat tricks!"

"That's great! I pray to God!"

This is the voice of Correll's friends.

Correll was caught among them and kept silent.

On the one hand, she didn't want to support her father, but on the other hand, he felt that his friends were too vicious...

※※※

Amid the cheers of the fans at the scene, Rongguang followed his teammates out of the passage and walked onto the stadium.

He wore Sao Paulo's new jersey, and even the number was new. During the Rio-Sao Paulo Championship, the number of glory was very large, number 33, which symbolized that he was a player on the edge of the team. This number generally belongs to players who entered the team midway, because the numbers in the front were all divided in advance, so naturally there were only those very back numbers left.

But after his performance in the Rio-Sao Paulo Championship, he has won recognition and his number has naturally changed.

From No. 33, we moved ten numbers and became No. 23.

It's a coincidence that this happened to be the number Kaka wore in the Brazilian national team...

For Kaka, this number symbolizes that he is the last person in the Brazilian national team.

For Glory, it means that his position in St. Paul is becoming more and more important.

Lucas, who watched the game in the stands, also noticed the change in the number on the back of Glory.

What this means, he is probably clearer than glory.

Half a year ago, I was still a layman, but now I have begun to become a member of the St. Paul's regular first team...

But this time, Lucas did not simply think that glory is outstanding talent.

In addition to his talent, he also saw the efforts that Glory put in. He thought of the special training that Glory was far from humans on the beach, the shorts that were wet with sweat over and over again, and the suffocation of the old man as he pressed his head into the water.

Because Rong desires to become stronger just like longing to breathe, he is today.

I want to catch up with him, too!

Lucas clenched his fists and regarded a rookie as his target.

※※※

The referee whistle sounded and the game began!

Luis Fabiano passed the ball out of the middle circle and landed at the feet of glory.

Chinese boy...

Fans in the audience, reporters in the media, Kaka sitting on the bench, and Osvaldo standing on the sidelines... Almost everyone focused their attention on this No. 23 rookie.
Chapter completed!