[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In the end, Batty didn't change back. He just went on the court with a head of brown curly hair.

At 7:11 p.m. on July 21, local time in Moscow, the first match of the 2018 Russia World Cup semi-finals was held at the Luzhkini Stadium in Moscow.

It rains a lot in Moscow in July, but this is the first time that Brazil has to play a rainy game in this World Cup. The temperature is not too high, and the rain is getting heavier with only a few minutes left before the start of the game.

Batty stood in his position and looked up at the sky.

The sky was gloomy without a single star. The rain was falling very fast, and it hurt on his face. Batty smoothed his hair with the rain, and for some reason he had a bad premonition in his heart.

Playing in the rain is always difficult, especially when the opponent is Croatia.

He recalled the match between Croatia and Russia that he analyzed with his teammates yesterday. All he could feel after watching the whole game was shock. To be honest, Croatia's playing style was very ordinary, because the lineup was not young, so they based their tactics on defensive counterattacks, and made slight changes to the tactical direction for each different opponent.

The level of this Croatian team is relatively average, with no outstanding players and no obvious weaknesses. If we only analyze from a purely tactical level, it would be difficult for them to beat Brazil, which plays offensive football. But one thing is that this Croatian team has a strong mental strength.

Yes, no matter who the opponent is or what tactics they use, Croatia always plays tenaciously and romantically.

Forgive him for using the word "romantic", but there is really no better or more appropriate word. When he saw Croatia's offense and defense in the coaching staff's analysis class, he could feel the tenacity that was about to show through the screen.

Never give up until the last moment.

And from the penalty shootout between them and Russia, we can see that they did not give up even at the last moment.

In the words of the fans -

Croatia has the potential to be a champion.

And his damn dream, overtime and penalties, what on earth was that… No! Damn it! How could he think of such a deadly thing before the game!
Batty clenched his back teeth and shook his head vigorously, throwing away all the inappropriate things, and then quickly reviewed the game with Germany.

No big deal, he told himself, we'll win this game easily.

[beep——]
With the referee's whistle, the game officially begins!
……

There were no changes in personnel deployment and formation for both teams.

Brazil still uses a 433 formation, with Alisson as goalkeeper; Alves and Marcelo as left and right backs respectively in the defense, Marquinhos and Thiago Silva as central defenders; Casemiro as the single defensive midfielder, Coutinho and Paulinho as midfielders; Neymar on the left, Batistuta on the right, and Jesus replaced Firmino at the front.

Croatia maintained a 4231 formation, with Subasic as goalkeeper; the back line from left to right were Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, and Strinic; Rakitic and Brozovic partnered as double defensive midfielders; in midfield Modric was in the middle, Perisic on the left, Rebic on the right; Mandzukic was at the center position.

[It seems that the heavy rain in Luzhniki did not dampen the players' fighting spirit. After the opening, the two sides fought fiercely. Brazil maintained their usual offensive, while Croatia tried to make a fuss about ball possession. In the match against Argentina 3-0, they eroded the opponent's defense step by step. ]

[I don't know if the Brazilian team has made corresponding arrangements for Croatia's midfield pressing and counterattack. Let's take a look at this ball first - Alves came up and passed the ball to Batistuta in the frontcourt. Oh, the handling was a bit sloppy. Batistuta seemed a bit impatient today. From the first few shots, the smile seemed to have disappeared from his face... Corner kick. ]

In the 6th minute of the game, Brazil won a corner kick. Neymar took the kick. While going to the corner flag area to kick off, Neymar rubbed Batistuta's curly head.

"Don't be anxious, stay calm, it will be fine," he said.

Batistuta did not answer, but simply nodded, then turned and ran towards the goal. The expression on his face was still solemn and did not improve because of Neymar's comfort.

After a corner kick, Thiago Silva got the first point, but Lovren was in a good position and did not give him room to head the ball, so the ball was cleared near the midfield.

Batistuta was pulled to the ground in the melee. Although he didn't see who the instigator was, he raised his hand to the referee to complain about the foul, "Someone locked me, sir! I'm not lying, that's definitely a yellow card!"

"No one is touching you! You are a reed that falls down with a single blow!" Brozovic taunted Batistuta with his head down, "Get up, you diving king! VAR is here!"

"So it was you who locked me up just now, right?" Batty got up from the ground with difficulty, "Stay away from me, you bad guy!"

Brozovic's eyes widened. "What! How dare you - Sir! You heard him call me a bad seed! This guy didn't feel wronged at all, he fell down by himself!"

Croatian goalkeeper Subasic came up to act as a peacemaker, Marquinhos and Thiago Silva also came to calm Batistuta, and the two were soon separated. The referee did not look at VAR (this kind of thing is too common and not worth wasting time). He asked the referee on the baseline for his opinion and ultimately did not show a yellow card to anyone.

"Stop it, that (behavior) is already on the verge of being warned." The referee warned Krozovic, "If you do it a few more times and more players complain, I will have to show you a yellow card, do you understand?"

Krozovic responded, turned around and waved back to his seat.

The referee then went to find Batistuta and asked him to keep his composure and not to always argue with his opponent. If the situation escalated into physical conflict, it would be disadvantageous to both sides.

Batty grumbled a few times in dissatisfaction, and finally nodded reluctantly in the referee's disapproving gaze.

"I see."

The game continued and the ball came to the Croatian side.

……

In the 10th minute, Croatia controlled the ball in the backcourt. Subasic signaled his teammates to tighten the defense, and then passed the ball back to Strinic. As a result, Strinic made a low-level mistake in his own half. Neymar intercepted the ball and passed it straight to Croatia, but unfortunately Jesus was in an offside position.

In the 16th minute, Paulinho passed the ball to Jesus from the frontcourt throw-in, Jesus knocked it back, Neymar quickly passed the ball to the middle, Coutinho took the ball near the center circle and passed it to the right. Batistuta, who was supposed to be in that position, was not there. Casemiro quickly headed up and shot directly in the far corner. Subasic flew to block the ball, and the ball bounced back to the court. Neymar made a supplementary shot, but unfortunately the linesman raised the flag to indicate that he was offside.

Five minutes later, Croatia counterattacked. Modric's cross from the right was cleared with a header by Casemiro. Perisic got the ball in front of the penalty area on the left and shot hard. The ball hit Alves and was cleared. Croatian players complained that Alves was suspected of handball, but the referee said there was no foul after watching the VAR replay.

[Bati was a little out of form today. He made a poorly handled pass at the start, and then almost got into a fight with the opponent's defender. Now that the game has been almost 30 minutes, his attack has not yet caused any crisis for Croatia.] The commentator commented very pertinently, [Perhaps it was because of the rain in Luzhniki today that his supercar had a 'short circuit' phenomenon.]

In the distant Eastern continent, the two Brazilian fans got together again to watch the game late into the night.

"Looking at the situation, it's another tough game with no goals. Is it the system?" The curly-haired boy wearing Neymar's jersey sat cross-legged on the sofa and said jokingly, "Croatia is really amazing this year. Maybe they will go into overtime or even on penalties."

"You have such a bad mouth, can't you say less?" said the friend.

"It's better to blame your dear Batistuta than me. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that he was in extremely bad shape today." The curly-haired boy shrugged. "They say Brazil has a luxurious forward line this year, bullshit. It's all supported by a few star players. If there is a slight problem, the bench depth will not be enough."

"Which team are you a fan of? Take off your jersey." The friend kicked him and said.

"I'm just telling the truth. These days, Ronaldo and Messi fans are rampant. Now there are also BBB fans like you who only care about looks. Rational fans like me are rare." The curly-haired boy said disdainfully.

"Fuck you..." The friend threw the sofa cushion at me in anger. "When Batistuta scored amazing goals and buzzer-beater goals and ran rampant in the Premier League and Champions League, you were screaming too. Why didn't you say I only looked at faces?"

"One thing for another." The curly-haired boy stuffed the pillow under his buttocks and pointed at the TV screen. "Your dear Batistuta is strong, but even the strongest players can have bad days. Look at this yourself. Under normal circumstances, he would definitely not shoot from this angle. Don't you claim to have watched all his games? Don't you agree?"

My friend stood on the sofa, furious, but he couldn't deny that what he said made sense.

"Let's wait and see." The curly-haired boy said, "If Batistuta can adjust back and help Neymar share the pressure on the left, then Brazil still has hope. Otherwise - this game is really hard to predict."

……

What the fans can see, Batistuta can naturally notice as well.

But knowing that you are in bad condition is one thing, and whether you can adjust is another. The rain was a little lighter, and Batistuta tugged at his wet jersey, his brows still furrowed. Near the end of the first half, Brazil also made a pass error. In the 41st minute, Batistuta went to the middle to cooperate, but when he passed the ball horizontally, he did not see the position of his teammates clearly and was intercepted by Rakitic.

【Perisic! A one-on-one opportunity! 】

Batistuta couldn't believe that he was the one who made such a low-level mistake, but it was too late to say anything now. He clutched the hem of his jersey and looked at Alisson nervously, praying that the other party could show bravery and block this one-on-one shot.

Don't come in, don't come in, don't come in--

"Ding!"

[The ball hit the post! Perisic, you were too focused on the angle. You could have hit the ball when Alisson attacked. Unfortunately, you wasted an opportunity.] The commentator said regretfully, and the next shot was Batistuta who made a mistake. [Brazil escaped a disaster, and Batistuta was obviously relieved. He really needs to thank the post for its contribution.]

Batty finally put his heart at ease. He took a deep breath and scolded himself in his heart.

"Thank God the ball didn't go in!" Jesus was still in shock. "If it had gone in, I think Batistuta would have killed himself by hitting the billboard!"

"Well... that's very Batistuta." Neymar pursed his lips, his eyes showing worry. He had encountered this situation before, so he knew the result very well.

There is no quick and effective way except waiting for Batistuta to adjust himself.

Come on, Batistuta! Neymar encouraged the young man in his heart, saying that they had agreed to win the sixth star together, so they couldn't fail here.

The first half ended with a 0-0 draw. Both sides had several good chances but neither of them seized them. Perisic almost changed the score, but luck did not seem to be on his side.

Tite folded his hands on the sidelines, making it hard to guess what he was thinking.

Before returning to the locker room, Loach found the head coach. He knew Batistuta too well and knew that if nothing was done to change the current situation, the Brazilian team would be in danger.

"I need about 3-5 minutes." The black teenager took out a pair of headphones and shook them. "I can't guarantee that Batistuta will be able to return to his best condition after listening to this, but at least it will help him recover a little."

Tite took 20 seconds to think about it, and finally he nodded in agreement.

"Don't even mention 3 or 5 minutes. If this thing can make Batistuta better, I can give you all 15 minutes in the half."

……

[Huff-Huff, Huff-Huff, follow me, don't panic, baby, you're doing great]
Batty sat in front of his locker, wearing headphones and closing his eyes, listening attentively to the sound in the headphones.

"What is he listening to?" Neymar nudged Loach with his elbow and asked in a low voice.

"His mother's recording." Loach replied.

"Recording? Is it something like encouragement?" Neymar asked again.

Loach hesitated and shook his head: "In fact, that was the only voice his mother left."

Neymar was shocked.

"The only, voice?"

"Yeah." Loach said, "Before a game, Barty was upset and refused to play. The coach asked me to persuade him. What could I do? I could only call his mother. I accidentally turned on the recording. I didn't expect..."

Neymar looked at Batistuta with some complexity, not knowing what to feel.

"...This is really, too crazy." He muttered to himself.

Loach looked at the watch, then at Neymar: "There is about 1 minute left. If you can hug him when he takes off his headphones, it might be helpful."

Neymar nodded.

The moment Batty opened his eyes and took off his headphones, he hugged him directly with such force that Batty almost fell into the cabinet behind him.

"We will win, I swear to you!" he said solemnly.

Batistuta tensed up instantly, but soon relaxed when he realized the other person was Neymar. He hesitated for half a second, and finally reached out to hug him back.

"I know." He lowered his head and answered softly, "We will definitely win."

……

At the start of the second half, neither team made any substitutions and no obvious tactical adjustments.

However, Batistuta's condition has improved a lot. He has stopped making low-level mistakes, is more aggressive in fighting for the ball, and his fierce momentum has returned.

Brazil's attack focus was tilted towards the □□, and it was obvious that Croatia began to look overwhelmed.

However, the change in the situation did not bring immediate results. The score on the field remained 0-0. The Checkered Army was as tenacious as bamboo shoots after the spring rain. When defending, the whole team retreated and tried their best to prevent the goal.

In the 68th minute, Brazil attacked. Strinic cleared the ball in front of the penalty area but did not kick it far enough. Coutinho started with the ball quickly and passed it to Neymar on the left side of the penalty area. Neymar suddenly changed direction and shot with his right foot. The ball passed between the legs of the defender. Subasic's sight was blocked and he did not have time to make a save.

"Ding!"

Neymar's shot hit the post.

The ball bounced back into the court.

It just happened to arrive at Batistuta's feet, while Rakitic, who was closest to him, was almost a body length away from him.

This is an excellent opportunity!

But Batty didn't catch it.

He hesitated at the moment of shooting, and failed to rely on muscle memory to complete the shot. The power was not strong and the angle was very straight, so Subasic got the ball directly.

"Ahhhh! Batty! What are you doing? Cheer up! Don't be so weak in front of the goal!"

Damn it!

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Batistuta staggered to his knees in the shooting posture and pounded the turf hard a few times, feeling extremely annoyed.

Just a little bit closer!
(End of this chapter)