[Football] Bad Boy Batty

On this day, there was no music, no joy, and no one even talked in the base.

The hall was filled with heartbroken players.

But morale had to be restored, and Batistuta gathered them all together, including the main players, substitutes, coaching staff, team doctors, and all staff.

"Everyone, we lost the game in the Maracana. I think we need to talk about it. It's like an open wound. We have to open it, disinfect it, wrap it with gauze, and finally get over it."

Batty stood in the center and spoke. He spoke slowly but with a firm voice.

"I don't want you to make excuses, such as the referee was unfair, there was no momentum without fans, the opponent had more help than us, no, those are excuses, losing is losing. I won't say we should have won this game, we didn't. Think about what we have done, how can we lift the trophy like this?"

He was sharing his ideas while also processing them. He had read many people's speeches, some of which were suitable for them and some of which were not. He picked out some of the essence and incorporated it into his own speech.

Of course, we can't always take a serious tone.

That suits the Germans, or the British, but not the Brazilians.

"Football is very complicated. It is not something that can be successful just by playing hard. We have to use the methods of smart people and use our brains. This is why great coaches are bald, because they think a lot."

Batistuta's words implied the three famous bald coaches in today's football world, Guardiola, Zidane, and Ten Hag (Ajax).

There was laughter in the hall, not too loud but very cheerful.

"Friends, don't close yourself off, as if not talking about our loss will fix the damage in our hearts. People always say that sadness will fade with time, but the truth is, sadness will not fade, and each of us will grow up in sadness."

"In the last Copa America we beat Argentina and won the championship. This time Argentina beat us and won the championship for the first time in 28 years. Do you know what we have to do next? We have to do the same thing as Argentina, find the shortcomings, make up for it, and never make the same mistake again."

"Just like Batman, we love him not because he can always defeat his enemies, but because he never gives up. Even if he is defeated by his opponent this time, he will not be discouraged. What will he do? He will study the guy's weaknesses day and night, analyze where he went wrong, repair his armor, and then take out the prepared customized weapons in the next battle to defeat the damn opponent!"

“This is what we should do!”

Batty ended the first half of his speech with a powerful summary.

"Now--"

The timing was very accurate. Different cell phone alert sounds rose and fell in the hall. Not just one person's phone rang. Everyone's phone rang. They received a message at the same time.

Yes, it was sent by Bhatti.

To be precise, he asked Qiao Lin to help produce the content and send it to a group.

"I think you all have seen the content of the message." Batty also took out his mobile phone and shook the screen. "What is it? Can anyone tell me?"

"It's a heart," Neymar said.

"Yes." Batistuta turned and smiled at him, "A red, bright red, beating heart with 'Long Live Brazil' written on it."

This was an idea he came up with on his own, without borrowing from anyone else.

"We are Brazilians. We have five stars on our chests, each of which represents a world championship. We are the one and only five-star Brazil," he said.
"So, we can be sad and in pain, but don't wallow in pain. If you can't overcome the sadness, then how can I believe that you can beat other teams with us and get the sixth star."

Not finished yet.

Then Batty took out a stack of folded yellow five-pointed stars from his backpack. They were not completely folded, as a corner of each star was left unfolded.

This is exactly what he did on the bus when he pulled Mario while his teammates were down.

Fortunately, Mario was not involved in this defeat, and his mental state seemed to be good, at least much better than when he actually played on the field.

"Everyone has one. Mario and I made one for everyone." Batty handed the yellow origami stars to them one by one. "It takes us different times to get out of sadness. Some people need a day, some need a week, and some need a month, so I leave the choice to you."

Richarlison looked at his star over and over again.

He didn't know how much this thing could fill the void in his heart caused by losing the America's Cup, but at least from the moment he got it, he felt his blood started flowing again.

"What should we do?" Richarlison asked.

"It's very simple. When you know clearly that you have completely overcome it and will no longer suffer from this failure, and can freely talk about your experiences and feelings on the court, fold the extra corner in and make it back into a complete star." Batty held up his own star to show, and then folded the winning star in public.

"Just like this, see, it's very simple." He smiled and showed the star again, his tone light, "And then it's gone! Remember it, and remember your mood at that time, until the day we really embroider it on your chest."

There was silence in the hall for a while.

Some people, like Batty, folded the corners in immediately, but some did not. They put the stars away and waited for the day when they could fold them in.

After a while.

I don't know who started it, but applause broke out in the room, soon followed by whistles and shouts. The sounds continued for a long time, as if celebrating the birth of the king.

……

Only after the speech did Batty's heartbeat begin to rise.

He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing.

So much so that he began to recall the entire process over and over again, trying to check everyone's expressions from his memory to determine whether he had done anything unsatisfactory.

This is not like Batty.

But he couldn't help doing it.

"You're good, in fact, I've never seen anything better than this!" Neymar's voice pulled Batistuta out of his endless self-doubt. They stopped by the window, Neymar gave Batistuta a hug, and then kissed his neck in the sun.

It was game day, there was no one else in the hallway, and he could do whatever he wanted.

"I love your heart messages and origami stars. You are a genius, Batistuta. People love you. You almost make me forget the pain of losing," he said. "No one can think of what you think. I swear, you are sent by God to save us!"

Neymar's words had a certain exaggerated tone, which made Batistuta laugh and feel better at the same time.

He needed this, unconditional, unadulterated affirmation of himself and what he had done.

"Thank you." Batistuta gave Neymar a warm kiss in the sunshine.

"But Ney, I want to ask you, why almost?" He changed his tone to a joking one, "If I were really good enough, I should be able to make you completely forget the pain."

"Oh, about this." Neymar suddenly took two steps back and turned serious. "Look."

Batty watched him pull two from his trouser pockets—

Uh, two earrings? "What are these?" Batty asked.

"I specially prepared these Mickey Mouse earrings." Neymar held the fixed part of the earrings with one hand and shook them in front of his eyes. "They look good, right?"

They were two co-branded earrings, tied by a short silver chain, with a completely gold-plated large Mickey Mouse head underneath.

Haha, very funny.

Batty took the two earrings as a sign of acceptance.

But Neymar said regretfully: "Forget it, Batistuta. I had planned to have each of us wear one to receive the award after we win, but now it's not possible."

"Who told you not to?" Batty raised his eyebrows.

Neymar was puzzled.

"I like it, I just want to wear it." Batty said, taking off his original diamond studs and replacing them with the Mickey Mouse earrings. "Why, I don't deserve to wear it if I don't win?"

As he said this, he shook his head, and the earrings swayed with his movement, looking full of childishness.

"No, of course you can wear it if you want." Neymar laughed, "Don't tell anyone where it came from. When we really win the championship, we will wear them to receive the award and then announce the answer."

"Good idea." Batty leaned against the windowsill. "You're not going to wear it?"

"Yes, but the sun is too bright and I can't do it."

"It's funny, the sun will make you incapable of action." Batistuta taunted as he put the mask on Neymar. "Look, now we are all Mickey Mouse."

"Ah."

"As for winning the championship, I think it won't be too far away."

"What a coincidence, I thought so too."

……

After dinner, Zidane's assistant notified Batistuta again to go to his office. Batistuta thought that he would probably announce whether he would stay or leave.

At about the same time, the European Cup ended.

Although the French team lost to Italy in the final battle, they performed well and there is no sign that Deschamps' position as coach will be unstable because of this.

Batistuta pushed the door open and saw Zidane leaning on the table like he did last time.

But this time he wore a suit.

"It's quite formal." Batty teased and sat on the sofa opposite. "What's the matter this time, sir? Are you announcing your departure or staying?"

Zidane did not answer the question.

"You amaze me, Batistuta, seriously," he said. "I'm not talking about your skills, your talent, or your ability to read tactics. I knew that long before I became your head coach."

"You said this on your third day in office," Batty replied lazily.

"No, no, that time we were talking about your personal charm, now we are talking about another aspect. You know, pre-match mobilization is simple, most people can learn to do it, but how to gather the team together after a defeat, few people can really do it." Zidane said seriously.

"How can you be sure I did it?" Batty asked.

"I'm not sure," Zidane admitted. "But I saw what was done, and that's what a true leader does, and the end result, time will tell."

Ha, time.

Barty rolled his eyes.

"Time is the most useless thing to play - wait!" He put down his legs and looked at the temporary coach in surprise, "Are you telling me in this way that you will stay?"

"Yes." Zidane straightened his collar, left his desk and walked towards the sofa. He stood in front of Batistuta, waiting for Batistuta to stand up, and then solemnly extended his hand, "I have decided to stay. I will become the official head coach of the Brazilian team."

"Haha, is it because you saw the result of the European Cup and found out that you have no chance to join the French team that you decided to stay?" Batistuta shook hands with him, then sat back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and made a joke.

"That's part of it," Zidane said, walking behind his desk. "The main thing is, I see our future, world champions."

"Our future." Batistuta repeated this sentence several times. A Frenchman said this to a Brazilian, who was also his player. If they were not talking about football, Batistuta would have thought that this sentence had a deeper meaning.

"Okay, I understand, Mr. Head Coach." He waved and stood up. "Anything else? If not, I'll go back and pack my things."

"Yes." Zidane opened his mysterious drawer again, "Come here."

"What?" Barty raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that another caramel pudding in there, sir?"

Zidane shook his head.

He placed what he took out on the table.

Batty felt his heart skip a beat the moment he saw it.

It's the captain's armband.

"I think it's time to give this to you." Zidane tilted his head to indicate, "How about it, can I trust you?"

"Of course! Um—" Barty bit his tongue, "I mean, it's my pleasure."

Zidane waved again and Batistuta walked over.

The captain's armband was actually handed to him.

"Let me introduce myself again. I'm Zinedine Zidane, a Frenchman, the new head coach of the Brazilian team." He stretched out his hand.

"I'm Batistuta, the new captain of the Brazilian team, your captain." Batistuta shook the head coach's hand. "Hello, coach. Maybe I should call you Zidane."

This time it was far more sincere than before.

"Let us work together to help Brazil take the six-star throne."

(End of this chapter)