11月24日, 2022世界杯G组首轮第2场巴西对战塞尔维亚的比赛在距离多哈市中心20公里的卢赛尔球场拉开帷幕。

After the favorites to win the championship, Argentina and Germany, lost successively, and both were reversed after leading 1-0 in the first half, people are particularly concerned about whether the Samba Army will also fall into the curse of upset. After all, although this team is star-studded, it is still a young team.

The day before the game, Brazil head coach Zidane and captain Batistuta attended the press conference with Barcelona striker Rafinha.

"I think we are ready. We are ready to show the world a young, energetic and aggressive Brazilian team. I will not worry about telling everyone our goals. It has been 2002 years since 20. I think it's time for the World Cup to go home," said Batistuta.

The Manchester City king's answer was as arrogant as usual. He directly called winning the championship "going home with the golden cup". Although his eyes were full of arrogance, his expression was so natural that people seemed to think that the ending was supposed to be like this.

When talking about the team pressure and the players' mentality, Batistuta smiled and said that pressure is a good thing, as pressure brings motivation. There are no weak teams in the World Cup and they will not underestimate any opponent.

When asked if anyone was dissatisfied with him becoming the captain of the Brazilian team and hinted that the other party was Neymar, Batistuta made a surprising move - he fell on the interview table with laughter.

"Oh my god, sorry, sorry, I lost my temper, but - yes, this is really the most interesting provocative question I have heard this year." The Brazilian captain wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, "Neymar has never expressed dissatisfaction with me. He has been my player in the club for 3 seasons and called me captain for almost 1000 days. In fact, he blessed me in bed last night, we prayed together, and then went to sleep."

"Do you want me to call him now to prove it?" Batty asked reporters, pulling out his cell phone.

The reporter shook his head awkwardly.

Then, facing the surprised expressions of other reporters, the Brazilian captain shrugged.

"Don't be surprised, we often sleep together. We had separate rooms in the hotel during this World Cup. I'm sure he was afraid of sleeping alone so he went to find me," he joked. "By the way, we hung a photo of him as a child in everyone's room. Maybe he thought his photo was too silly and didn't want to face it."

Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere at the press conference became relaxed and harmonious again.

Afterwards, the reporters asked Zidane several questions that everyone was concerned about, such as how he felt about being the head coach of the Brazilian team as a Frenchman and possibly facing his own country in the future, what impact the reversals of Argentina and Germany the other day had on them, what to do about the cultural gap between South America and Europe, and what he thought about the Brazilian team dancing to celebrate after scoring a goal.

As we all know, shortly before the World Cup, Vinicius was racially discriminated against in La Liga for dancing after scoring a goal. At that time, all active and retired Brazilian players, including Batistuta and Neymar, expressed their support for Vinicius.

"Dancing after scoring a goal is part of Brazilian culture and everyone should respect it. I have had many Brazilian players who are happy by nature. Dancing is a natural way for them to release their emotions. The Brazilian boys respect their opponents and I hope their opponents can respect them as well," said Zidane.

As for the upsets against Argentina and Germany, he said: "It's a pity. (The defeat to Argentina and Germany) was indeed surprising and worth reflecting on. Just like Batistuta said just now, there are no weak teams in the World Cup. I hope the team can learn a lesson from it. To be the final one (champion) you must have some noble qualities."

"As for my nationality - we have talked about this many times, so I won't emphasize it here. Now I am the head coach of the Brazilian team. My responsibility is to make the Brazilian team better and better." Zidane answered the last question. "Of course, we may meet the French team on the way forward. I am looking forward to that day. I believe my players and I are looking forward to it as well. But first of all, we have to focus on the present and the first game against Serbia. Thank you."

……

[CCTV, good morning, dear audience friends, welcome to watch the last match of the first round of Group G of the 22nd Qatar World Cup, Brazil vs. Serbia. ]

[Currently, Brazil is the most successful team in the history of the World Cup, having won the championship five times in total. This is their 5nd participation, the same number of times the World Cup has been held. Brazil has never missed any World Cup. They have almost become a symbol of the World Cup. A World Cup without them is incomplete.]

【Serbia and Brazil are old rivals. In the World Cup group stage, Serbia, Brazil, and Switzerland, a total of three teams, entangled from Brazil to Russia, and from Russia to Qatar, for a full eight years. In the last group stage, Brazil defeated Serbia 3-8. In the 2th minute of the game, the then head coach Tite even replaced the three Brazilian goalkeepers to let him experience the World Cup. 】

[First, let’s take a look at the lineups of both teams——]

Zidane's lineup is almost the same as the one he used in the America's Cup.

Dynamic 4231, an offensive all-out attack and defense, with Ederson as goalkeeper; on the back line, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos are central defenders, Renan Lodi is left back, and Danilo is right back; in the midfield, Casemiro and Paqueta form a double defensive midfielder, with captain Batistuta in front of them, Neymar on the left, and Vinicius on the right; Richarlison is the lone striker.

Serbia fielded a relatively risky 352 lineup.

The goalkeeper is Savic; the back line consists of three central defenders: Velikovic, Milenkovic and Pavlovic; in the midfield, Zivkovic and Mladenovic are the two wingbacks, Lukic is on the right, Milinkovic is on the left, and Gudli is in the center; Mitrovic is the center forward on the front line, and Tadic is the shadow forward behind him.

"Gentlemen! This way, step back a little, the door will open automatically in a moment!"

In the passage, staff were directing order and players from both sides were making final preparations. Batistuta stood at the front of the team, with his hands naturally lowered and looking straight ahead.

There was a big door at the entrance of the passage about 15 meters away from him. Qatar's new stadium made the voices of the fans dim as if they were underwater, and it blocked out most of the outside sounds.

After 4 years, he stepped onto the World Cup arena again. He is still the same, but his mentality has changed.

Do you remember the first game in Russia? He was so nervous at that time, and it felt like a drum was constantly beating in his chest. Batistuta thought back to his past self and wanted to laugh for some reason.

and after?
The last thing he did before the game started was -

"Bati, armband!" Neymar's voice brought Batistuta out of his memories. He turned around and saw Neymar pointing at his arm. "The armband is about to fall off!"

Batistuta looked down and realized that the captain's armband had fallen to his elbow. He quickly pulled the armband up, and in his haste his fingers bumped into another person.

"You're nervous again, aren't you, Captain?" Neymar joked as he helped him fix his armband. "You didn't lose your armband many times in your entire season at Manchester City. You just came to Qatar and you almost made a fool of yourself in the first game."

"Only a fool would be nervous! I am the great King Batistuta!" Batistuta said arrogantly with his chin raised. Then he hooked Neymar's neck and did the last thing he did when he played four years ago.

"May God bless us and bless Brazil." He quickly recited the Bible and said his final prayer. "Good luck in the game."

Neymar raised the corner of his mouth and bumped heads with him.

"We are all God's children. Come on for Brazil."

……

[Are you ready? Follow me! 3, 2, 1——]

The DJ on the scene replaced the referee's opening whistle. As the last 1 was dragged out, Batistuta kicked the ball out. [Okay, now the game has started. Let's see what kind of story will unfold in the last game of the Qatar World Cup group stage! ]

Brazil played very actively after the opening. Although it did not have the absolute advantage in ball possession like Manchester City, it also tried to advance quickly through short passes.

However, Serbia's game strategy today was quite unexpected. When Brazil controlled the ball in the frontcourt, Serbia still pressed the entire team very high, putting pressure on the passing space of the Brazilian central defender and defensive midfielder.

Such a tactic is very risky, especially when facing a team like Brazil that is very aggressive in the frontcourt. Once the defense is breached, the Samba Army's forwards with a total value of nearly 10 billion euros will face the goalkeeper directly. Needless to say, the consequences will be.

[Serbia was really bold today. If you have watched the last World Cup, you must remember that the German team, which used the same style of tactics, was successfully retaliated by Brazil and lost 8 goals in the end. I wonder if anyone still remembers the hot search at that time: Brazil 8-1 Germany, all 9 goals were scored by Brazil. ]

[We have to say that the current Brazilian team's attacking power is terrifying. If Serbia makes the same mistake as the German team did back then, then the final result of this game is likely to be - here it comes!!]

Before the commentator could finish explaining the situation, changes occurred on the field.

Ederson passed the ball to the left midfielder. Paqueta seemed to be at ease in the confrontation with the Serbian defenders. He was very confident. He leaned his body against his opponent and headed the ball out like a seal. He then turned around and passed the ball to Neymar who was retreating to meet the goal.

Batistuta quickly looked back and saw a clear space behind him. Serbia’s right side… no, Serbia’s entire backcourt was empty (actually there were two defensive players but Batistuta automatically ignored them).

"Ney! This way!"

He immediately moved forward to remind Neymar, and at the same time pointed to the right, indicating that the large open space in front of Vinicius could be used well.

"Winnie, Winnie! Go up - watch out for the offside line!"

When Neymar received the ball and turned around, he was surrounded by as many as four defensive players, even though Batistuta's forward run attracted the attention of three players.

Human wave tactics?

foul?

No, no, no, these don't work now. Maybe they worked for Neymar four years ago, but for Neymar who has experienced the baptism of the Premier League, such a defense that relies solely on numbers and has no technical content can only cause him a little trouble at most.

"Buddy! Buddy!"

Neymar lowered his center of gravity to protect the ball, anxiously calling for Batistuta to come back and respond, and then before falling to the ground he passed the ball through the gap between the defenders.

[The referee didn't blow the whistle! The attacking side has an advantage! Look at this——]

When Neymar was surrounded, Batistuta was waiting nearby tacitly. Although the power of the pass was a little weak, it was not a big problem because the Serbian midfielder had lost control of it.

Damn it! The Serbian midfielder cursed in his heart, and then tried to use his physical advantage to push Batistuta away, but he still miscalculated. Batistuta did not confront him head-on. He pushed the ball away with his left foot and then lightly tapped it with his heel. He supported himself with his right foot to avoid the opponent's collision and turned around to continue advancing with the ball.

[Oh! Batistuta's dribbling! Less than 5 minutes into the game, we saw the Manchester City king's wonderful skills. He added quick switching to the original gorgeous samba dance steps to make this set of movements as smooth as flowing water! It is pleasing to the eye and practical at the same time! ]

[What to do, Batistuta? Keep dribbling or - maybe try to shoot?]

As the commentator analyzed, the Brazilian captain calmly raised his foot and kicked -

射?
[What? Batistuta missed the ball? The ball didn’t go towards the goal but went up into the sky, high up and invisible—Ouch! Hit it again! Batistuta!]

Witnessed by all the fans in the stadium, the Brazilian captain first kicked the ball into the air with his right foot, then turned around, as if wondering why the ball did not go into the net. He had no choice but to shoot again with his left foot, and the ball finally went into the net.

[The ball went in! ! 1-0! Brazil was ahead of Serbia in the first 4 minutes! The goal was scored by Batistuta! We were all wrong. The Brazilian captain did not make a mistake. This was just a trick he played! ]

"Bati! You little bastard!" Neymar rushed over and gave him a powerful hug and pinched his butt hard. "You almost scared me to death! I thought you really kicked it!"

Batistuta gave him a slightly odd smile, and Neymar was confused for half a second, but then he thought that Batistuta was unhappy with his pinching of his butt.

"Stop playing like that, okay? If you can score a goal, just score it!" He reached out and ruffled the little bastard's hair. "If you scare me like that again, I won't dance with you to celebrate!"

After listening to what Neymar said, the expression on Batistuta's face could hardly be restrained.

little tricks?
Deliberately kicking a goal?

No, it is not.

Everyone thought that Batistuta was pretending to kick the ball wrong to attract attention, but in fact only Batistuta knew that he really kicked the ball wrong. The moment he turned around, he really didn't know why the ball was there.

Out of courtesy, he kicked with his left foot.

Then the ball went in.

Do you think Batty was in the atmosphere? No, he didn't even reach the first floor.

But he still scores goals.

Are you angry?
Angry? No use, just bear it.

[With more than 80 minutes left in the game, Brazil leads 1-0. Will the exciting tragedy happen again? Let's wait and see! ]

(End of this chapter)

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