[Football] Bad Boy Batty

【The ball goes in! Batistuta scores from a small angle with Rodri's assist. This is his 100th goal in the Premier League. In less than 4 seasons, no one has ever done it before him. 2-1, Manchester City has overtaken the score. There are still 30 minutes left. Can they score another goal?】

As September approaches, the weather turns cooler and the summer transfer window has long closed. Griezmann's last-minute transfer to Barcelona is considered to have fulfilled his childhood dream. The annual drama "Where is Griezmann going?" has come to an end, while in the Premier League, another drama "Can Manchester City retain the Premier League title?" continues.

In the 6th round of the league, Manchester City faced Tottenham at home.

In the first half, the Blue Moon Army showed their terrifying dominance and created many opportunities, but unfortunately, Neymar, Aguero, and Batistuta seemed to have forgotten to bring their shooting boots today, so that the score between the two sides was still 50-0 until almost 0 minutes into the second half.

Subsequently, more problems in Manchester City's defense were exposed.

For example, lack of concentration.

In the 52nd minute, Tottenham's Argentine midfielder Lamela rushed forward with the ball. In the process of switching from offense to defense, Manchester City's central defense line was obviously one step slower than the opponent and failed to effectively restrict the opponent. Ederson didn't know whether he was looking at the plane in the sky or something. At the moment when Lamela shot, he seemed to be completely unprepared and stood too far forward, so the Argentine's shot from a not-too-tricky angle went into the Manchester City net.

Manchester City had the advantage but couldn't score.

Tottenham scored first at their home ground, the Etihad.

Fortunately, Manchester City's offense is still powerful and the best in Europe. In less than 10 minutes, Aguero made a beautiful pass and Neymar easily pushed the ball to equalize the score. De Bruyne assisted and scored twice, and Batistuta also scored his 100th Premier League goal.

But this game is destined to be full of twists and turns.

In the 61st minute, Manchester City's defense made another mistake. When defending a corner kick, Walker and Rodri were fighting for the ball, but the 5.6-foot-tall Lucas headed the ball into the net, tying the score to 2-2 and returning both teams to the same starting line.

After losing the ball, Walker was very dissatisfied with Rodri and complained with his hands spread out. Batistuta returned from the frontcourt to the midline and spoke out to stop Walker from venting.

"Go back, Kyle, and take your position!"

"Okay!" Walker raised his hands to his chest. "Don't yell at me, I'm going to--"

"Now! Kyle, go back now." Batty retreated and pointed to the backcourt and demanded, "Don't think about losing the ball, we still have time, keep attacking!"

Walker didn't continue to pester him and quickly returned to his position.

It is difficult to say who of Rodri and Walker was more at fault for the loss of position just now. Besides, they are on the court now and should not dwell on these things. Batistuta nodded at Rodri, gave him a thumbs up, and then signaled him to press forward a little in the next attack.

Most of the time, defenders are reluctant to press forward after losing the ball. Batistuta understands why, but the current situation does not allow them to waste any more time.

"Kun! Pass the ball to Rodri later, then find Kevin!"

Aguero nodded.

After receiving a positive answer, Batistuta exchanged glances with every teammate nearby, and he pointed his thumb at the goal in front of him: "Okay, let's keep working hard on this baby!"

The atmosphere on the field has been adjusted.

However, 5 minutes later Guardiola replaced Batistuta with B Silva.

The broadcast camera accurately captured his expression of disbelief.

[Oh? Substituting the goal scorer?] The commentator obviously didn't understand Guardiola's substitution. [It stands to reason that Batistuta had just completed his 100-goal achievement and was in good form. The team needed someone to go forward and make a push. Why was he substituted?]

I'm afraid no one knows the answer to this question except Guardiola.

Batistuta is not the kind of player like Kepa who would refuse to leave the field. He tried to high-five and hug B Silva as normally as possible, then came to the bench. The head coach stood there looking at him, as if he was waiting for him to come over.

"Pep!" He spread his hands. "Why! Why me?"

"You lost your position, Batistuta. Yes, when defending that corner kick, I told you that Alderweireld would pass from that position, but you didn't watch it at all. We practiced it, and you didn't follow my request!" Guardiola put his hand on Batistuta's shoulder, tried his best to block the camera on the sidelines, and spoke quickly.

"I scored a goal! I'm still trying to unite the team!" Batistuta still couldn't calm down, "But you replaced me because of this? Come on, Pep, we still need to score goals!"

"I know, I know! You did well, you scored goals, and your teammates like you, but I only have this one request, do as I say." Guardiola continued to explain, "If you are not where you should be, and your teammates are in their positions, then the original plan cannot be implemented, everything is disrupted, and I have to replace you."

"Come on! Why do you keep harping on this one point of mine? Haven't we been doing this for the past three seasons?" Batty retorted without giving in, but the game was not over yet and he didn't want to argue with the head coach, which would then make the headlines tomorrow.

"You are under too much pressure, Pep! Go to a psychologist and talk to him." He said as he walked to the bench. "The game is more important now. I know, the game!"

The argument ended unpleasantly.

Guardiola believes that Batistuta did not appear in the position where he should be, which challenged his nerves, while Batistuta believes that he often does that in the game, and the reason for being substituted today was that they had drawn several games in a row, and Guardiola was under too much pressure and his obsessive-compulsive disorder acted up.

Who can tell what happened on the court?

Batistuta sat in his seat angrily. Seeing that there was no one in front of him, he raised his feet up in a huff. Jesus behind him patted his chest to calm him down, and then threw down half a bottle of energy drink.

Who would like to drink this weird stuff?
He glanced at the energy drink with disdain and then threw it aside.

[3 minutes of stoppage time, does Manchester City still have a chance? 】

Time passed little by little, and Batistuta could no longer sit still. He came to the sidelines and squatted to watch the game. Come on, friends, just one more goal, just one more goal!
In the 92nd minute, Manchester City won a corner kick.
De Bruyne came to kick the ball, he chose the front point, the first point was grabbed by Tottenham, the ball came to the periphery, B Silva controlled the ball and then lifted it into the penalty area.

There was a melee in front of the goal. From Batistuta's perspective, he couldn't see clearly who touched whom or who pulled whom, but he still clearly saw Laporte make an assist before falling to the ground, and Neymar headed the ball into the goal with his knee.

[A lore! ! 3-2! Neymar won the game! ]

"Ahhhh!"
"Ney you are awesome!"

Manchester City's bench went crazy. Led by Batistuta, a group of little men in orange vests rushed towards the corner flag area, but before they got halfway, Batistuta was stopped by someone.

It was Guardiola who was equally excited.

"Don't blame me, Batistuta, it's all about the game." The head coach hugged him tightly, "I'm not a god, and I don't know everything. I will make mistakes, but I want you to remember that I love you and I love this team!"

"No one blames you, Pep!" Bati, overwhelmed by joy, smiled and patted Guardiola's bald head. "You are the head coach, this is your team, you can replace anyone, who cares, we win - wait!"

Manchester City's happiness is over.
Smiles froze on their faces.

[Did the referee cancel this goal?] The commentator was also surprised, [Oh, according to the VAR video ruling, Laporte committed a handball foul when he assisted.]

"What? Damn it!" Batty jumped up upon hearing the news, "There's nothing wrong with that goal! What a crap video you watched!"

Guardiola had the same reaction, roaring at the fourth official.

"Twice! Twice!!"

If Arteta hadn't stopped him, he would probably have received a yellow card and been forced to direct the next game from the stands.

Neymar over there was also very frustrated. There was nothing more sad for a player than having a goal blown off just after he had celebrated it. It was originally a wonderful knee goal, which he had never completed in his career.

The devastated Manchester City failed to recover.

After several passes, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

【The game is over. Thanks to goals from Neymar and Batistuta, Manchester City tied with Tottenham 2-2 at home. The Blue Moon has drawn three games in a row this season. This is the worst start since Guardiola took office. Last week, they were unexpectedly tied by relegation team Norwich. Now the league points have dropped to fifth place, which is very rare. The league's big devil Guardiola has never fallen out of the Champions League zone at the beginning of the season.】

……

No one expected Manchester City to have such a bad start to the season, not even Manchester City’s internal staff. After all, they underestimated the impact and aftermath of the departure of defensive star Kompany.

To make matters worse, after the draw with Tottenham in the 6th round, Laporte, whose assist was called off, was found to have a meniscus injury in his knee. He needed surgery and would not be able to return until January at the earliest.

During this period, Manchester United only drew one game, which was a 5-1 draw with West Ham United in the fifth round. Mbappe contributed the only shot and goal for the team, and the debate about him and Batistuta intensified.

Manchester United is currently ranked second in the Premier League, with Liverpool at the top. They have not lost a single game since the start of the new season. Combined with Manchester City's poor performance at the beginning of the season, this is undoubtedly great news for Liverpool, who have never won the Premier League title. If they can maintain this state, they will lift the Premier League championship trophy for the first time by the end of the season!
The season is still long and Manchester City still needs to work hard.

Of course, there is good news. Just before the start of the seventh round of the Premier League, FIFA sent a message that the Blue Moon once again became the biggest winner, and half of the FIFA best team came from Manchester City.

At the same time, this year's FIFA Best Coach will be decided among three Premier League coaches: Guardiola, Klopp and Pochettino, while Alisson, Ederson and Ter Stegen will compete for the title of Best Goalkeeper.

The most popular World Footballer of the Year is——

Batistuta, Neymar and Ronaldo are among the final candidates.

Among them, Neymar has the highest voice. Last season, he helped Manchester City win the Premier League and the Champions League, and led the Brazilian national team to the America's Cup in the absence of Batistuta. Although Manchester City's performance in the new season is not good, his performance is obvious to all.

It is reported that he has been nominated for three major awards: World Footballer of the Year, Best Team and Puskas Award. After being suppressed by Messi and Ronaldo for six seasons, the Brazilian superstar is expected to make a comeback at this awards ceremony, win three awards and become the biggest winner.

……

At 9 a.m. on September 23, Neymar's home was in chaos. Stylists, costume designers, filming crews, and various teams totaling nearly 9 people all gathered on the first floor of the villa. They had to make adequate preparations for the award ceremony in the evening.

But among so many people, the only one missing is today's protagonist.

"Damn it, where is little Neymar?" Neymar Sr. was pacing around the room anxiously. He made several phone calls but no one answered. "How could he not take such a big occasion seriously? What does he want? Does he still think of himself as a child and can do whatever he wants?"

"Maybe he was just too excited and had too much fun." A friend who has worked with Neymar for many years consoled him, "Neymar has been nominated and is expected to win. He is an adult and he knows what he is doing."

"He's the best!" Neymar Sr. poked at the screen of his mobile phone angrily. This was the 35th call he made to his son. "This brat is making a fool of all of us in this house. When he comes back, I will make him pay!"

As he was speaking, someone came to the door.

It’s not Neymar, it’s Rafina. She was carrying a bag, dressed in casual clothes, and had just come back from outside.

"I thought you were still sleeping, Rafina," Neymar Sr. said.

"No, I just drove my brother home." Rafina took off her sunglasses from her head. "Why are there so many people? What are you doing?"

"The FIFA awards ceremony is waiting for you tonight - wait!" Neymar Sr. grasped the point and then asked three questions in a row: "You said you just went to see your brother off? He was still here this morning, right? Where did he go?"

"Yes, he went to Batty's place and asked a Hollywood team to style him." Rafina said very naturally, as if this was something very common and everyone should know it. She looked around and said, "Why, don't you know?"

It’s more than just not knowing.

Old Neymar's face almost fell to the ground, he understood everything, Neymar had calculated that his sister would not be punished, and he tied her together by force, and he did it without authorization, so as a father, he could not say anything.

"What's wrong?" Rafina knew nothing about it.

Old Neymar waved his hand and let his daughter go up. He took a deep breath, turned around and looked at the people in the room. Suddenly, he understood Guardiola's difficulties.

……

On the other side, Neymar, whose plan had succeeded, was happily choosing a dress with Batistuta. The room was also full of people, including stylists, barbers, and nutritionists, and everyone was busy.

"Sweetheart, I think that pure black American suit suits you very well." Qiaolin commented. She was squeezed on the sofa with Loach, watching Batistuta and Neymar walking back and forth in front of the mirror as if they were watching a fashion show. At the same time, she kept talking and eating a bag of corn chips happily.

"Unfortunately, we can't reach an agreement this time." Batty turned around, raised his chin, and spoke in a deliberately dramatic and arrogant voice. He was wearing a light gray double-breasted European suit, and perhaps because of the material, it made him look more refined.

"Okay, I admit that you do have good taste." Qiao Lin threw another corn flake into her mouth. "But to match this outfit, you'd better give up the hairstyle you wanted. It's too crazy. Black curly hair doesn't suit your naturally light-colored hair."

"Why?" Batty raised an eyebrow. "I think it's quite suitable."

"Come on, honey, you're just addicted to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Next month, I'm afraid you'll be so ugly that you'll have to wear a hat all the time when you compete." "Nonsense, I'm not at all - and what I want are dreadlocks. Have you played League of Legends? The latest skin of Ekko in it is True Damage. Dreadlocks like that are so cool, not the black curls you mentioned."

"Is there a difference?"

"There's none?"

"Have it?"

“No?!”

Just before the two were about to engage in a repetitive argument, Neymar came out wearing his new tuxedo.

"Hey! Take a look at this, what do you think?"

He immediately attracted the attention of the whole room. Most people were hesitant to speak, but Batty and Qiaolin immediately stopped arguing. They looked at each other and decided to face the outside world together.

"My dear Neymar, don't tell me you're going to wear this to receive the award." Batistuta gave a fake smile, "You look like a red pepper who just escaped from Mexico and repainted himself."

"Yeah, that's not okay, friend." Qiao Lin pursed her lips tightly to hold back her laughter. "It's too popular, really. It might be okay for Paris Fashion Week, but this kind of fashion is still a bit too, uh, too advanced for a football award ceremony."

Neymar stopped in the middle. He was dressed in red from head to toe, wearing a bright red suit, sequined shoes, and even the legs of his sunglasses were red.

As Jolene said, it was so ahead of its time.

"No one likes it?" Neymar spread his hands.

It was quiet.

"-Is it that bad?" Neymar said, a little frustrated. "I like being conspicuous."

"No, no, it's not terrible, it's just a little - you know, most people would wear dark or plain colors at this kind of award ceremony." Qiao Lin tried to comfort him, "You are too fashionable, it's not appropriate."

"Oh, don't, Qiaolin, you don't have to be so careful." Batty crossed his arms, a fake smile on his face, and he looked Neymar up and down again, "It's ugly. And I can tell you very clearly that if you wear this to receive the award, I will change my seat, seriously, I'm not lying to you."

Neymar made a crying face.

"You're too straightforward." Qiao Lin complained. She pushed Niuqiu. "Tell me, isn't Batty too much like a dictator?"

The loach, who was trying to reduce its presence, said: …

Batty looked away.

"Anyway - it's better to wear a skirt than this, it's just as conspicuous." He glanced at Qiao Lin who was thinking of something strange when she heard the word "skirt". "And you, eat less corn flakes, otherwise you'll look like you have a balloon hidden under your dress when you walk on the red carpet tonight."

Neymar obediently turned around to change his clothes, and Qiaolin cried and said goodbye to the corn flakes.

Batty raised the corners of his mouth and winked at himself in the mirror.

Ah, the smell of victory.

……

After lunch, Batistuta and his friends boarded a private jet to the fashion capital of Milan, where the ceremony would be held at the Milan Scala Theater.

In order to cater to the atmosphere of a football award ceremony, the organizers replaced the red carpet on the ground with a green carpet, and the surrounding lights were also changed to green. It was clearly dusk, but after walking on the 'red carpet', there was a strange feeling of attending a late-night dance party.

Neymar changed into a dark suit. Although he was no longer obsessed with the bright red one, the one he was wearing was still not Batistuta's favorite.

After leaving the interview area, Barty approached Wang with some disdain: "You don't care about my advice at all. Why did you come to me before the award ceremony? It's meaningless."

"How can it be meaningless? I see you." Neymar smiled particularly sweetly. I don't know whether it was because he could stay with Batistuta all day and all night or because he was about to step onto the podium.

Although no one explicitly told him that he would win the award, the moment he received the call from the FIFA President, he knew that this year it was his.

Batty rolled his eyes at him and said, "What nonsense."

However, although he said this, his body was still honest. He took a small step towards Neymar and stood next to him again.

"By the way, Ney, did you see where the French were just now?" he asked in a low voice, "Be careful, I don't want to run into them."

"You mean Killian and Augustus?"

"Killian?" Batty frowned at him. "I didn't know you two knew each other so well."

"We were teammates for one season and he's a good guy."

what!
Batistuta opened his eyes wide and patted Neymar on the back of the head.

"Hey! Why did you hit me?"

"I'm going to hit you." Batty quietly raised his middle finger at him. "You saw what people said about him and me online. We've been tied recently, and that guy is getting praised to the sky!"

"I thought you didn't care about this." Neymar touched his nose, "But it seems that, baby Batistuta, you really care about Kylian."

"You're crazy! How dare you say I care—"

"Okay, you don't care."

"Yes, I don't care at all, listen carefully, I don't care at all!"

Batistuta was angrily about to raise his hand again, but Neymar dodged with a sly smile. Batistuta hit again, and Neymar dodged again. So the two of them became more and more competitive, and the problem that could have been solved in an instant became a situation where one had to hit and the other had to dodge.

The two men quarreled from one end of the field to the other, and almost knocked down Pochettino, Guardiola, and Klopp who were chatting.

"Ah, so energetic." Pochettino smiled.

"Yeah, how great, it reminds me of when I was young, I was also carefree, hahaha!" Klopp smiled and showed two neat rows of teeth.

Guardiola pinched his nose with a headache, "Energetic? Good? Do you want this good thing?"

"Are you serious, Pep? Those are Batistuta and Neymar." Klopp's eyes lit up. "If you're willing to let them go, I'll take them no matter how big of a troublemaker they are!"

Guardiola: …
Guardiola: “I was joking.”

Then he gave the German coach a look that said 'dream on'.

one way or another--
He was the only one who could be so pissed off by the little bastard.

……

Soon the award ceremony began. As candidates for the best team and Footballer of the Year, Batistuta and Neymar came backstage to wait. The host had already mentioned the World Footballer of the Year in his award speech. It seemed that the women's football competition was about to end and the men's football competition would soon come.

"Hey, Batistuta." Neymar touched his shoulder. "I've been thinking--"

"What are you thinking about?" Batty tilted his head to look at him, and raised the corner of his mouth frivolously, "A crazy party after winning the award?"

"No, I'm thinking about the skirt." Neymar lowered his head and whispered, "A red, floor-length skirt, like a mermaid's tail. Would you like to wear it?"

"what?"

"I mean, if I ever win the prize, would you wear a dress like that for me?"

what!
That's a crazy idea.

Batty chuckled, not a loud one.

Who standing here now doesn’t know that Neymar is the Footballer of the Year this year?

But that's okay, Batty thought, he liked this.
And he was willing to make it even crazier.

"If you can become the World Footballer of the Year, why can't I wear a skirt?" Batistuta bit his lips. "If you want, I will give you the award again when we get home. After that, you can do whatever you want."

"Really?"

"Really, but there is one request, you can't damage the skirt."

"why?"

"Once I'm done, I'm going to take it off very carefully, and then I want you to put it on, with your back to me, and I'll zip it up for you, and then we'll do it again."

"What—" Neymar was stunned, "Do you want me to do you in a skirt?"

"Why, can't it?"

Neymar paused, then burst out laughing.

"Okay, anything is fine." He reached out and adjusted the buttons of Batty's dress. "As long as you like it, I like it too."

……

【Three players, three excellent, incredible players, their performances often made us feel like our hearts stopped beating. Everyone can play football. The key to playing good football is not whether you are tall, strong, or where you were born. Football is equal to everyone.】

The FIFA President walked onto the stage and the final winner was about to be announced.

[The winner of the 2019 Best Male Football Player and World Footballer of the Year is Neymar, congratulations. 】

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

Neymar held his pounding heart as he walked up to the podium. It is no exaggeration to say that the moment he received the trophy from Infantino, his eyes were blurry.

The broadcast camera was turned to Batistuta, which disappointed some media with bad intentions. Batistuta was filled with joy for Neymar's award.

"Thank you! Thank you to everyone who decided to give me this award. I'm very happy to be here. 2019 has been amazing for me, but I couldn't have done it if I was alone. Thank you to the people who are with me, my teammates, coaches, and friends. I'm here, looking at my family and the people I like and who like me. This moment is unique!"

Neymar read his prepared speech and glanced at the audience. His father, mother and sister were all there. Rafina almost jumped up and screamed, and his mother was already crying with excitement. Only his father remained calm.

The atmosphere on the scene was heightened to its peak.

Amid the applause, Neymar could no longer control his tears, and in a daze, he saw Batistuta smiling and waving at him.

"Special thanks to Batistuta for always being by my side. Without you, I wouldn't be here today!" He squeezed the microphone. "I hope we can keep this momentum going. Also - even though you're an asshole, I love you!"

I hope that one day I can stand here again and say this with confidence.

I love you.

(End of this chapter)