[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"Don't relax, scoring 6 goals against South Korea doesn't mean anything. Spain scored 7 goals against their opponents, but they are back home now!"
"Croatia is weird. Belgium almost knocked them out of the group stage. Japan almost pulled them off the stage. But now, we are standing here facing Croatia! Their resilience is extraordinary!"
"Our opponents are ready for a tough battle. They want to drag the game into overtime or even penalty kicks! What we have to do is not let them succeed!"

In the Brazilian team's locker room, Zidane clapped his hands and loudly emphasized to all the players that although they had designed and tested tactical strategies against Croatia in the past few days, and it could be seen from the previous games that the defense of the checkered army was not solid, they still could not underestimate the opponent.

With 30 minutes left before the start of the game, both sides announced their starting lineups.

On the Croatian side, perhaps out of concern for Brazil's tactical design, head coach Dalic chose the most stable lineup.

The official formation is 433, with Livakovic as goalkeeper; on the defensive line, Gvardiol partners with Lovren, Sousa and Juranovic are on the left and right; in the midfield, there are their famous ceremonial three midfielders Kovacic, Brozovic, and Modric; on the front line, Perisic is on the left, Pasalic is on the right, and Kramaric is in the middle.

Brazil's performance exceeded some people's expectations. Zidane's lineup did not have any personnel changes from the last match against South Korea. It was still a 4141 formation that was both offensive and defensive, requiring high levels of cooperation from the players. This lineup only appeared once in this World Cup.

Goalkeeper Ederson; Renan Lodi on the left, Danilo on the right in the back line, the central defender combination of D. Silva and Marquinhos remains unchanged; Casemiro is the single defensive midfielder, with Neymar on the left and Paqueta on the right in front of him, Vinicius and Batistuta occupying the left and right flanks; Richarlison is the center forward at the front.

However, although Brazil's lineup this time is the same as the last match against South Korea, the main purpose and method of action have been adjusted.

For example, the main attacking direction was changed to the right, Renan Lodi made more assists, Neymar retreated to limit Modric, Batistuta stood on the right to contain Perisic, reducing the number of times Kovacic retreated to the middle, and at the same time focusing on the wing defender Sousa.

From the last match between Japan and Croatia, we can see that the various breakthroughs of Japan's right winger Jun'ya Ito caused great trouble to the checkered army. At the same time, in that game, Croatia's right striker Pasalic was in good shape, and the right back Juranovic was a fast player.

Therefore, if the Brazilian team's main attack is still on the left, they may fail to break through and then double-steal and counterattack.

Of course, the Brazilian team must also be careful about Croatia's defense against them. Casemiro's single defensive midfielder interception and sweeping effect will definitely decrease. If Neymar and Vinicius cannot effectively restrict Modric, Brazil's center is still very dangerous.

"Just wait on the right, captain, watch me steal the ball from Modric and give it to you." Standing at the door of the locker room, Paqueta seemed very confident in defending the Real Madrid midfielder. "Just block his passing point and use your body to resist him. It's not that difficult to steal the ball."

As soon as he finished speaking, several Real Madrid players in the Brazilian team and players who had played against Real Madrid in the Champions League all laughed.

"What's wrong?" Paqueta was a little annoyed and was about to retort, but Batistuta covered his smile with a cough and patted his arm.

"It's not difficult to steal the ball from him. As long as a few people go up to steal the ball, even the biggest star may lose the ball." Batistuta said seriously, "The difficult part is that he may have predicted it before you steal the ball and reminded his teammates to be ready. Otherwise, ask Casemiro how many times Real Madrid scored goals after being intercepted and then counterattacked."

“Yes, Luca can indeed do that.” Casemiro, who was still putting on his shin guards, looked up in agreement.

"Also, Paqueta, if you think he's easy to bully and you can take advantage of him in physical confrontation, you're wrong." Speaking of Modric, Rodrigo, who calls him 'Dad' and 'Son' in Real Madrid, also reminded him, "Modric is in very good physical condition and is almost the best in the team in turning around and getting rid of people. He is also very accurate in tackling people. It's best not to fight him one-on-one, or you will be humiliated badly."

"Modric just looks too harmless." Neymar also joined the discussion. "When Manchester City met Real Madrid in the Champions League final, I once got the ball in front of him and got rid of him. Later, he met me and joked with me, saying: Are you trying to shake me again? Then not long after, he got rid of him in front of my nose in a similar way to mine."

"That's right, his appearance doesn't match his playing style." Batistuta adjusted the captain's armband and continued, "It was also in that final. After Manchester City won, the referee blew the whistle and I went to celebrate. I passed by Modric and heard him swearing in Portuguese. I thought it was interesting and looked at him a few more times. Then he glared at me with a sullen face. I doubt he would have paid attention to me if I had asked him to exchange jerseys at that time."

"Haha! Vinagre is like this." Vinicius laughed. Then he explained to everyone that Vinagre is the nickname given to Modric by the Real Madrid locker room, meaning that he is competitive and has a bad temper, and he will put on a bad face when he loses a game.

"That sounds very Batistuta." Ederson jumped out and joked, "I mean - well, Batistuta in all stages. He was like that before he became the King. He restrained himself later, but it is easy to get upset if he is targeted or something."

"Absolutely right." Affirmation from Neymar.

"Hey!" Batty rolled his eyes. "Don't talk nonsense in front of me. I'm still here."

After this commotion in the locker room, the topic was changed and Paqueta, who was being criticized at the beginning, didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore.

"Okay, okay, I won't underestimate him." The Brazilian midfielder crossed his arms. "I swear to God that I will use all my strength to stop him, so that you won't blame me later."

"Listen, this is the correct attitude before the game." Batistuta hooked Paqueta's neck and waved his arms, "Everyone! Croatia is strong, but we are not a weak team that can be bullied! Be wary of their blocking, don't get surrounded by the opponent, always look for teammates, and play our style! Hit the vital points!"

"Ohhhhhhh!"
"Goal! Goal! Goal!"
"VAMOS!!"

……

[beep——]
At 6 pm local time in Qatar, with the referee's whistle, the first match between Brazil and Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals officially began.

After the opening, both sides cautiously tested each other, but soon entered a fast-paced offensive and defensive battle. Croatia kicked off first, Brozovic dribbled the ball forward from the midfield, and the checkered army as a whole entered the high-pressure pressing mode in advance, while Brazil was the first to retreat to defense under Zidane's tactical arrangement.

In the 3rd minute, Croatia made a mistake in passing the ball from the wing and the ball was switched to Brazil. Marquinhos got the ball in the backcourt, and after passing the ball back and forth with Casemiro to attract the Croatian defense, he suddenly made a long pass to the right side of the frontcourt.

Batistuta stopped the ball lightly and turned around. As there was no Croatian defender around him, he easily and quickly reached the edge of the penalty area.

“Go, go!”

Paqueta and Neymar immediately followed up in the middle, and Vinicius also moved forward at the back.

The full-back Sousa, who was facing Batistuta, immediately went out to defend one-on-one, but that was Batistuta after all, and it was impossible for him to block him alone. At this time, the central defender Gvardiol beside him also stepped forward to assist in defense. At the same time, he quickly observed the situation in the middle, and then waved to his teammates to keep an eye on the good guy.

This is where Croatia's defensive advantage lies.

Batistuta did not find a good attacking route to enter the penalty area at the first time, nor did he find an empty receiving point in front of the goal. In the few seconds of hesitation, Croatia's defense was already in place.

There were suddenly 6 or 7 Croatian players in the penalty area, which provided depth, and the Brazilian attackers seemed to be trapped inside. They could no longer dribble blindly.

Batistuta took the ball back a few steps, trying to trick Croatia's defense into spreading outward, but the experienced Croatian team did not give them any chance and still deployed layers of defense in front of the goal.

"It's over, B!" Casemiro reminded.

Seeing that Brazil's fast break failed, Croatia planned to counterattack on the spot. Although Perisic was not fast, he was already in place at this time, and he and Kovacic went forward to press Batistuta.

To be on the safe side, Batistuta protected the ball with his back and then passed it directly back to goalkeeper Ederson.

Brazil's attack is over.

But it was not bad. Through this attack, Batistuta was able to temporarily understand the habits and tendencies of the defensive players he faced, while Zidane on the sidelines confirmed that there was nothing wrong with his tactical arrangement.

Croatia will not be able to train mainly on the right side for long. Facing Batistuta's attack, Sousa will have difficulty coping and must have the support and help of his teammates. However, the forwards on his side can retreat very quickly, so only the midfielders can help. Then Croatia will no longer have an advantage in the number of people (number of players) deployed in the midfield.

But the situation on the court was unpredictable and soon, the situation changed.

……

In the 5th minute, Brazil completed the first shot of the game, still launching an attack from the backcourt. On the right, Batistuta slightly moved into the midfield and made a small-scale continuous wall pass with Danilo. Then Batistuta dribbled the ball to the baseline, resisted Sousa in the confrontation and sent a cross.

Richarlison was blocked and couldn't turn around. Neymar and Modric competed for the ball, and both of them fell down. The ball hit their calves and refracted.

"Go over there, over there!"

Brozovic wanted to continue controlling the ball, but before he could do so, Paqueta made a powerful shot.

【Shot! Ah——The ball was caught by the goalkeeper. Paqueta's shot was of high quality, but Croatia's goalkeeper Livakovic performed well, predicting his shot and flying to save the ball. However, Brazil's attack this time was very beautiful, and it seems that they carefully studied the matches between Croatia, Japan and Belgium. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper did not give them a chance. Let's see next time.】

"-Damn it." Paqueta complained, waving his fist. He didn't hit the ball well enough just now. It should be higher, so that the goalkeeper couldn't save it even if he flew fast.

Batty didn't seem too emotional.

His play on the right side is getting smoother and smoother. This is just the beginning and there will be more opportunities later.

"Nice shot, Pachi!" Batistuta gave Paqueta a thumbs up from a distance, helping him to quickly dispel his negative emotions. "It's not much left, just a few more and it will be almost there!!"

This was Brazil's first missed shot.

At this time, they did not realize the seriousness of the problem.

Then in the 11th and 17th minutes, the Brazilian team frequently used long passes to threaten Croatia's goal from the flanks, with the second and third shots coming from Vinicius and Batistuta respectively.

There were also a few shots that missed the frame.

But today Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic was in surprisingly good shape, making high catches and blocking shots. Gradually, after the first 20 minutes of the first half, Brazil's strong counterattack at the beginning gradually weakened.

At the same time, the Croatian head coach also realized that Brazil's offensive power on the wing was increasing. He immediately sent a message to the field, asking the players to increase their intensity in the midfield and focus on intercepting in the space where Casemiro and Danilo were pressing forward.

So a few minutes later, Batty found himself unable to get the ball.

[——Brozovic actively rushed forward, Casemiro passed the ball, but the quality was not high. Croatia intercepted the ball, Modric organized the attack, Juranovic went up, the wing tried to speed up, Renan Lodi cleared the ball, Croatia got the ball out of bounds.]

[At the beginning of the game, Brazil played well on the wing, but after several unsuccessful shots, Croatia strengthened the midfield, Brazil's ball possession rate began to decline, and the situation on the field reversed. Now it's Croatia's time. ]

This won't do, Batty thought.

"Paqueta, Paqueta! Come up!" After taking a few quick glances at Zidane on the sidelines and getting permission (Bati thought he had gotten permission), he decisively switched positions with Paqueta and returned to midfield.

This was not a short tactical change of position, but a few minutes at the end, or the entire game, Batistuta would keep his position of retreating to the midfield to get the ball and organize the ball. In the 37th minute, Croatia advanced from the back.

Richarlison rushed forward to interfere, Gvardiol passed the ball directly to Modric, Modric quickly organized the midfield, and under the pressure of Neymar, he passed the ball to Kovacic.

"Paqui! Dani! Hurry!"

Batistuta immediately stuck to Kovacic, blocking his position to prevent him from turning around and passing the ball, with the aim of pushing him out of the sideline. Of course, it would have been even better if he could have directly intercepted the ball with the help of Paqueta and Danilo.

But Kovacic was also very smart. With the help of Danilo's foot, he turned his back and knocked the ball out between Batistuta's legs. Although the pass was not good, his teammates barely received the ball, but they never gave the ball to Brazil.

and--

He even dribbled past Batistuta! The famous Manchester City king in Europe and the world!

"It must feel good to be penetrated in the crotch." Kovacic couldn't help but quickly criticize Batistuta. He remembered that one of the famous dribbling moves of the light-haired Brazilian player on the opposite side was like this.

Tsk tsk.

What's there to be proud of about a striker getting penetrated?
Batistuta rolled his eyes at Kovacic and said, "My defense rating on my FIFA card is only 33."

After saying that, without even looking at Kovacic's torn expression, he turned back to midfield and continued to play the game.

……

At the same time, a few kilometers away, in the hotel where the England team was staying, the Three Lions players were sitting in the lounge watching the match between Brazil and Croatia.

"Why do I feel that Brazil is in a bad situation?" Sterling, who was lying on the carpet eating an apple, suddenly said, "It's been a few minutes, Batistuta went back to midfield and couldn't get the ball on the right."

"Croatia controlled the game," Henderson agreed from his sofa. "More than half of Brazil's passes were back passes, and successful advancement was rare."

"Maybe it's because Croatia defended very hard. In the first half, they were in position very often," Saka said, but he decided not to take sides. "Brazil also has its own way. Neymar and Batistuta's cooperation was able to penetrate the front several times. I have to say that no matter who wins, they will be a tough opponent in the end."

"It's only the first half, how can the outcome be determined in the first half?" said Stones, who was sitting on the other side of the sofa. He was obviously more optimistic about the Brazilian team. "Brazil had a clear advantage at the beginning. I remember that many people in this room were optimistic about them. Why did they change now?"

"Oh - little Johnny, are you missing his captain? I mean Manchester City's." Walker, who was sitting on the back of the sofa in an unusual way, teased his friend by tapping his knee.

Stones turned around and gave him a classic Broke Girl Max puzzled look: "How did you get that connection, Kyle?"

"I don't know, maybe because you were always on your phone and only looked up at Batty when the camera was on him." Walker continued to tease, "Don't be shy, it's nothing."

Grealish didn't understand Walker's good-natured sarcasm, but he still found it funny and laughed out loud. His throat had been uncomfortable from the air-conditioning these past two days, so when he laughed he looked like Donald Duck.

"He's right, John. There's nothing wrong with supporting Brazil, and there's nothing wrong with liking to watch Batistuta." He brought the topic to a new direction, "Do you know what you should do next? You should join us in beating France first and then Argentina or Portugal and wait for Batistuta in the final."

"Hey, Jack! I like your idea, 2022! World Cup final! England vs. Brazil! It's so cool, but I still have to say--" Bellingham, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa next to him, raised his hand and reminded him with a long laugh, "We won't play Argentina before the final. If we beat France, our next opponent will be Portugal and Morocco."

"Ah?" Grealish was stunned for a few seconds, "Is that so?"

"You've never taken a good look at the grouping and zoning, right? Believe me, you need it." Walker made a shooting gesture with three fingers, signaling Grealish to look at the grouping table hanging on the wall at the door.

Grealish really went over to take a look obediently.

Just then, the Brazilian team launched an attack.

"Look, look!" Sterling shouted as he held the apple core that was almost finished.

Batistuta took the ball in the midfield and made continuous small-range passes and cuts with Neymar all the way to the front of the penalty area. The camera switched back and forth between him and Neymar. Soon, Neymar made a cross pass and Batistuta passed the ball through the Croatian defense.

"Beautiful!" Sterling cheered. "Sorry, my mistake! I should have favored Brazil! Our BBB scored a goal - huh?"

As it turned out, he cheered too early.

The TV camera zoomed in on the goal, Batistuta faced the goalkeeper and chose to shoot a safe shot into the near corner. But then, the Croatian goalkeeper quickly got down to the ground and stretched his legs to block the shot.

The ball hit his calf and bounced back into the field. Richarlison stared at the ball and wanted to make a follow-up shot, but he was a step too late. Center forward Kramaric, who retreated deep in front of the goal, quickly cleared the ball out of the baseline before him. Richarlison failed to brake and almost hit the goal post.

Brazil's goal turned into a corner kick.

Sterling was stunned.

"This, this, this - which one is this?" He widened his eyes in disbelief.

Grealish and all the Manchester City players in the room also opened their mouths wide in disbelief that the ball was saved. They knew that Batistuta rarely missed a one-on-one shot like this.

"This goalkeeper is cheating." Bellingham shook his head and sighed.

The camera on the field was focused on goalkeeper Livakovic, who had gained confidence in saving a sure goal, and then immediately cut to Batistuta, the owner of the ball.

A close-up.

Batty's delicate face was magnified on the screen. His blue eyes, which usually carried a hint of flirtation, were now half-hidden under his trembling eyelashes, making him look inexplicably solemn.

"My God, he's so good-looking." Bellingham changed his posture and leaned on the sofa. Obviously, his attention was no longer on the game. "I didn't feel it in the last game (Manchester City played Dortmund), but this time I really felt it - maybe I wasn't close enough to him that time?"

Walker whistled. "Look, Johnny, another kid who's been seduced."

Stones ignored his friend's teasing and lowered his eyes. He saw the Manchester City king's chapped lips move slightly. He was probably cursing or complaining about how he missed such a good opportunity.

Come on, Batistuta, Stones thought, meeting in the final is not just talk.

……

The first half ended very quickly, and surprisingly, both sides drew 0-0 and went into the halftime break.

It is worth mentioning that in the 44th minute of the game, captains Batistuta and Modric had an interesting physical conflict.

Yuranovic took the ball from the wing and made a cross pass. He wanted to pass it to Modric, but the pass was not made well, as the height was exactly half a person's height, and Batistuta happened to be next to Modric, so it was not easy to receive the ball.

Batistuta also saw this and quietly moved half of his body over to try to block Modric, delaying him for half a second, and then it would be easy to steal the ball.

But he didn't expect Modric to not buy it. In order to catch the ball, the Croatian captain raised his leg and stretched his foot to reach it. So Bartika was left alone, and he was unlucky to watch Modric's shoes on the opposite side scrape across his nose, and by the way, a pile of mud was thrown all over his face.

"You--damn it!"

Batistuta was dazzled and subconsciously shrank back. Knowing that Modric was behind him, he took advantage of the unstable balance and fell backwards.

"Hey! What do you want to do--"

Modric finally received the ball, but before he could pass it, a shadow fell in front of his eyes, and then his face was covered with the Brazilian captain's light blue hair.

The ball went out of control and the two captains fell into a heap.

Of course, Modric was under a lot of pressure. Although Batistuta had someone to act as a cushion, Modric was made of bones and still hurt him a lot.

"Did you have to grab that one?" Batty turned over and sat on the ground, touching his aching lower back and complained, "If I didn't grab it, the ball was ours. Now you fouled, the ball is still ours."

"Who told you to try to be clever and squeeze me?" Modric held Batistuta's back and glanced at his face. After making sure that he had not kicked him just now, he continued the conversation and retorted, "Even if I kicked you just now, you came here to take it yourself."

He said as he stood up from the grass and held out his hand to Batty.

"Huh?" Batistuta stood up from the ground with Modric's help, then stared at him with wide eyes, "You are such a scapegoat! It's clearly your responsibility."

At this time, the referee blew the whistle for a dead ball.

Before he could go over to negotiate the ball, he saw the two captains quickly stand up and point at each other, as if to say, "Your fault!"

It just so happens that there is a picture of Spider-Man pointing fingers at each other that is widely circulated in Europe and the United States. Batistuta and Modric pointed their index fingers at each other in unison, which is exactly the same as the picture.

So in the referee team's headphones, everyone clearly heard the referee's uncontrollable laughter.

"--puff!"

(End of this chapter)