[Football] Bad Boy Batty

After returning to the player tunnel, Batistuta saw Modric, who seemed to be waiting for him and immediately went over to him.

Batty tugged at his collar and said, "Want to change your jersey?"

"Well, but..." Modric said slowly and hesitantly, "Before we change jerseys and shake hands, Batistuta, I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Batty looked at him strangely and asked.

"This is a bit strange, but I promise I'm not talking nonsense." Modric took off his headband and smoothed his hair. "I received an anonymous email last night, which contained a lot of things about your godfather in Rio. The person called it a gift. He said that if I told you these in the game, you would definitely perform poorly."

Upon hearing this, Batty was stunned for a moment, and then immediately thought of the phone call two days ago. If Michelle didn't lie to him, then it was basically certain that the anonymous person was Lucy.

"So - that guy told you something about Rio and then wanted you to use it to piss me off and make me play poorly," Barty concluded.

Modric nodded: "And it's not just me, several people in our team have received it."

"But I didn't hear anything during the game just now." Batty looked over.

"We are not a team that wins games by crooked means," Modric shrugged. "It is very ungentlemanly to threaten the other party with family members, and no one can be sure that what is said in the email is true."

Croatia, an honest and respectable opponent.

Batistuta looked at Modric with more respect in his eyes. He gave him a sincere hug again: "Thank you, thank you all for not doing that."

"It's nothing, anyone would do the same." Modric rubbed his back comfortingly, "Someone doesn't want Brazil to win or for you to be happy, so be careful in the next few days."

"Yes, I will." Batty calmed down, "So - jersey?"

The Real Madrid midfielder readily took off his jersey and handed it to him. Now they could talk about something more lighthearted: "That goal line save at the end was great. I didn't expect you to go straight back from the baseline."

"I had to do that. You would have done the same." Batistuta shrugged and exchanged jerseys with Modric. "If I hadn't blocked that, we would have to play overtime now."

Modric smiled: "What a pity."

The two exchanged a hug.

"You deserve this victory," Modric said. "I wish you the final victory. I am really curious about where the sixth star will be embroidered."

"Don't worry, we will satisfy your (curiosity)." Batistuta smiled brightly at the Croatian midfielder, "But your attitude also makes me curious, isn't it vinagre? I thought you would be very unhappy."

"Since you mentioned this, I certainly can't let you see my ugly face as you wish." Modric patted Batistuta's arm in a friendly manner, "Speaking of which - what do you think of Real Madrid?"

Huh? What does that mean?
Batistuta raised his eyebrows and looked over in surprise: "Do you want me to go to Real Madrid?"

"Yeah, I like you very much." Modric did not answer directly, "Courtois and Vinicius always talk about you in the locker room, I have to find a way to make myself quiet."

"Haha, your solution is to really put me into the Real Madrid locker room. Believe me, if that happens, you will be annoyed to death." Batistuta sneered a few times, "We will talk about the club in the future. Now, I only think about the trophy."

The two exchanged another hug.

“Good luck in the next game.”

"I will, thank you."

……

It was almost 10pm when the Brazilian team returned to the hotel by bus. Zidane dismissed the team after a few simple words, as the players needed to recover from a tough match.

Batty planned to go to the restaurant to get two puddings or jellies, enjoy them, then go back to the room to take another bath, lie back on the bed comfortably to listen to music, chat with people to relax, and then go to bed early.

"But the match between Argentina and the Netherlands is coming up in less than 20 minutes. Don't you want to watch it?" Neymar asked after hearing his plan.

Oh, almost forgot about this.

Of course we have to watch Batistuta, because that is Argentina and the Netherlands. The two teams have a history of grudges, so the game will definitely be exciting.

but--

"I have to clean myself up first." Batty touched his neck, which had become sticky again, and said, "Where are you going to watch it later? Have you decided?"

"In Maki's room."

"Okay." Batty nodded. "You go first. I'll come find you when I'm done packing."

Looking at the tired captain, Neymar gave up the idea of ​​going over and taking the opportunity to do something. He pulled Batistuta by the collar and kissed him on the forehead: "Go, we'll wait for you."

……

But the truth is-

Ten minutes later, Batty was lying comfortably in the bathtub, almost falling asleep, completely forgetting about watching the game.

"The massage function of this bathtub is really nice. If you were here, maybe we could enjoy it together." He squinted his eyes and looked at the tablet fixed on the bracket next to him. There was a video call going on on it, from Stones.

"That's such a shame." Stones held up his face and looked at the little king in the camera with a smile, taking screenshots crazily without showing any emotion.

Then he joked: "Why don't you take an Uber and I'll come find you right now."

The low, slow voice of the England defender made Batty even more sleepy.

"Unless you can also massage my legs like a masseur, there is no point in your coming here." Barty yawned loudly and for a long time, then he leaned deeper into the bottom of the bathtub, and raised his hand to gather all the bubbles on the water surface to his chest.

"The match against Croatia tired you out, didn't it?"

"Hmm, so I'm not interested in anyone now." Barty complained with half-closed eyes, "Unless you are willing to take off your shirt and do a lap dance for me."

When he was tired, his whole being softened, even his voice softened, and he spoke like a spoiled child.

Stones fell silent, as if he was actually considering the feasibility of performing a striptease for the little king (mistakenly) to amuse him via a video call.

"Okay, no kidding, this game was more strenuous than I thought." Batty lowered his head and blew bubbles. He thought it would be perfect if there was another bottle of champagne here. "But I have to say, Johnny, you contributed at least 5% to my successful clearance of the last ball."

Whether on the training ground or elsewhere, he had seen the opponent clear the ball countless times, almost imprinted in his mind, so he was able to subconsciously move his body to kick at that time.

"Thank you for the compliment. It's a great honor to be part of Brazil's crucial clearance." Stones smiled and joked, "But Batistuta, apart from my part, the remaining 95% was entirely your personal performance!"

"Yeah."

"Of course! It's so beautiful, and so difficult to succeed. If you can let me do it once, I'd do anything for you," he said.

"profound--"

"It's not a compliment or anything, we watched the game and all the City players were there and you know what, Raheem just jumped off the floor!"

"Yeah, that's his style..." Batty in front of the camera nodded at him, but as he nodded, his head lowered completely, and his light eyelashes gradually covered the blue underneath.

There was silence for about a minute, then Stones whispered, "Bati, are you asleep?" "Yes, I am asleep." Batty suddenly woke up, raised his head and continued to squint at him jokingly, "Are you stupid, Johnny? How can I answer your questions if I am asleep?"

profound--

Batty looks as cute as an angel in this state.

"Ewww! Someone's tail is wagging again! From now on I'm going to call you Propeller John." As soon as he walked in the door, he saw his best friend smiling at the screen like a fool, and Kyle Walker made an exaggerated retching gesture.

Stones waved his hand at Walker like he was shooing away a fly, signaling him to go away quickly.

Walker ignored him. After closing the door, he walked directly to the screen and greeted Battie, "Hey, Battie, why are you taking a bath alone? Why aren't you celebrating with your teammates?"

"The celebration is over." Batty blew a bubble at Walker. "I heard you watched our last game. There will be another game between Argentina and the Netherlands soon. Are you still watching? We can keep going."

"Nah, we have a heavy task tomorrow." Walker pressed Stones' shoulder from behind, "and if we want to understand the opponent by watching the game, we only need to watch yours, right?"

"Really? It sounds like you are determined to conquer France."

"Of course! We will beat France," Stones said. "I don't know if you saw Augustus' interview, but don't worry, we will teach him a lesson for you."

"Thank you, you are so thoughtful." Barty narrowed his eyes and raised his right leg. After wiping off the foam on his thigh, he showed them a graffiti-style pattern representing victory, using it to express his blessing. "Then I will wait for you in the final!"

……

After hanging up the phone, Batty left the comfortable bathtub with difficulty. But when he changed his clothes and went to Marquinhos' room, he accidentally tripped in the air and fell on the bed. He was entangled by two terrible monsters named pillow and quilt and fell into a fantasy.

When he woke up from the illusion, well, from his sleep, the match between Argentina and the Netherlands was almost over.

After scratching his messy hair, Batistuta yawned and came to Marquinhos' room. As soon as he entered, he found that everyone was standing in the room excitedly, as if something big had happened.

He hadn't seen any coverage of the game yet and had no idea what was going on.

"Hey, where is the game?" Batistuta squeezed on the carpet next to Neymar. The screen showed that the game was now in the 115th minute and the score was 2-2. "Is it overtime?"

"It was 90-2 in the 2th minute and there was no goal in the extra time." Neymar said as he stretched out his hand to pinch Batistuta's nose. "You slept so soundly, you don't know how many exciting plays you missed!"

"Really?" Batty turned his head away from his hand. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I didn't call you because you were sleeping so well." Neymar pulled out a packaging bag from under his butt and threw it to his teammates not far away, "Hey! Where are the things I asked you to leave? Take them out quickly, the pudding killer is coming!"

After he reminded them, the people in front realized that Batti was coming.

"Hey, captain! You're awake!" Richarlison jumped off the table and ran to the inner room to bring out a plate and handed it to Batistuta, with three puddings on it!
"You didn't see it just now, these people are crazy!" He squatted there excitedly to explain the game situation to the captain, "They look like they are here to fight, the referee is also confused, and he has already given 17 yellow cards!" (In fact, in the end there were 18 yellow cards and 1 red card, which was not captured by the broadcast camera)

"Really?" Batty scooped a large spoonful of pudding into his mouth, and at the same time widened his eyes in surprise. At this moment, a foul whistle was blown again on the court, and at the same time, someone's scream was heard.

"Oh, it should be De Paul." Rafinha said. He and De Paul both play in La Liga and are quite familiar with each other.

"DePaul?" Batty quickly searched for this guy from his memory bank, then he frowned, "DePaul was kicked like this, what is the Netherlands doing——"

"Today's game was like a Dutch pea, in terms of fouls," Paqueta interjected. But even so, it was clear that he disliked Argentina more. "At the end of regular time, Paredes shot at the Dutch bench. I swear, if he dares to do that to us, he won't be able to leave the court in peace."

Batty made a surprised expression, "So irritable?"

"Yes! And the referee hasn't said anything yet. I would say he should be given a red card." Paqueta snorted coldly.

Tsk.

Barty crushed the pudding with his tongue and swallowed it slowly, refusing to comment on the matter.

[beep——]
At this time, the whistle for the end of overtime was blown on the field. Argentina and the Netherlands were tied 120-2 after 2 minutes, and the two sides were about to enter a penalty shootout.

"Who do you think will win?" Richarlison asked.

"I would like it to be the Netherlands," Paqueta replied without hesitation. "But they are so dirty. I don't think anyone in this room wants to play against them."

"You have to choose one," Richarlison added. "Who would you rather see as our opponent, Argentina or the Netherlands?"

"No one." Paqueta waved his hands in annoyance. "If possible, I really hope to eliminate them all in this game."

Richarlison made a 'you're boring' face, then he turned to Batistuta: "What about you, captain, who would you rather play?"

As they were talking, the first round of the penalty shootout began. Van Dijk's penalty was saved by the goalkeeper, but Messi scored. Argentina 1-0 Netherlands.

"Well, no need to guess." Barty raised his chin to indicate, "The Netherlands lost."

The first penalty kick in a penalty shootout usually represents the fate of the entire team. If it is scored, they may make it to the end, but if it is missed, there is a more than 80% chance that they will lose.

It's not just about losing points, missing the first free throw will also affect the condition of the entire team.

Sure enough, in the second round of the penalty shootout, Berghuis' shot from the Netherlands was again saved by the Argentine goalkeeper, while Paredes scored the penalty from the Argentina side. Argentina 2-0 Netherlands.

"Ow—"

The Brazilians in the house made strange noises.

They know that if they continue like this, it will most likely be Argentina.

In the third round of the penalty shootout, the Argentine goalkeeper miraculously saved the penalty from Kupmenas of the Netherlands, and Montiel scored again with a powerful penalty. Argentina beat the Netherlands 3-0, and the penalty shootout ended! Argentina qualified!

This time Batty had to stand up.

Saved three penalties in a row? This Argentine goalkeeper has something.

As if knowing what Batistuta was thinking, the camera cut to the goalkeeper's face. Oh, Batistuta remembered that this man was Villa's goalkeeper. He still remembered that he was the one who blocked the most of his shots in the league last season, and he had helped Villa beat Manchester City in the past two seasons, and even almost saved his penalty.

hiss--

It seems necessary to study it carefully.

If there is another penalty kick in the semi-finals, no, no, Batty refuted his bad idea in his heart, if there is another penalty kick in the semi-finals, they must seize the opportunity, he thought.

"Okay, everyone, it looks like our opponent has been determined, Argentina!" Batistuta stretched his shoulders, then clapped his hands and said to everyone: "I believe this is an opportunity God has given us, an opportunity for revenge! We lost the Copa America final, but this is not the Copa America, we are stronger! And this time, I swear I will never let those Argentines take anything from us again!"

"Yes! Take back the honor that belongs to us!"
"Ohhhhhh! Battle of revenge! Battle of revenge! Battle of revenge!"
"Let's defeat them!!"

The first semi-final of the 2022 Qatar World Cup has been confirmed, Brazil will face Argentina.

The world is boiling.

(End of this chapter)