[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[With less than 10 minutes left in the game, the players on both sides were getting impatient and their movements were getting bigger and bigger. From the moment Argentina lost the penalty, we heard more foul whistles than in the previous 80 minutes combined. If the referee hadn't intervened, the situation would have been out of control.]

Is it likely to get out of control?

No, no, it's actually out of control.

Batistuta supported himself on his knees to adjust his breathing, and kept raising his hands to wipe the sweat sliding down his forehead with his sleeves. He was already tired before 90 minutes were up. The matches against Argentina were always so high-intensity that the players had to give themselves double insurance, both physically and mentally.

"Hold on a little longer!" Neymar passed by and patted him on the back, "We are about to win."

"Understood." Batistuta nodded, straightened up, took a deep breath, and looked up to see Di Maria and Renan Lodi, who had just come on as substitutes, arguing not far away, probably about the issue of 'delaying time'.

A few minutes ago, Brazil made the first substitution. Jesus ran desperately for 80 minutes, played a crucial role in restricting the opponent's backcourt, and scored a goal, completing his task brilliantly. Now he is exhausted, and Zidane replaced him with Richarlison.

Argentina replaced Enzo with Di Maria, changed to 433 and attacked Brazil's left side.

Batistuta quickly observed the situation and said, "We can't let them push this side back. Ney, come with me to the middle and get ready for a counterattack."

Messi's missed penalty had a huge impact on Argentina. The team, which had been calm for most of the game, could no longer remain calm, and impatience was the biggest manifestation of their emotions.

Although from the field it seemed that Argentina's all-out attack forced Brazil to retreat, and Batistuta and Neymar were even forced back to their own half to assist in defense, but in fact, Argentina's pressing did not have any effect and their attack was chaotic.

That penalty made Messi very upset and angry with himself. To some extent, this motivated him, but his teammates paid too much attention to him, magnifying the impact of the missed penalty, which was equivalent to limiting themselves.

That's why Argentina was unable to launch an effective attack.

Brazil should make good use of this opportunity, just like they did when playing against Croatia, defending steadily and counterattacking. With all the Argentine players pressing forward, maybe Brazil could steal a goal in the end and completely end the game.

But the prerequisite is that they have to maintain the current score and maintain their advantage.

In the 84th minute, Argentina made a large-scale transfer and switched to attack from the right. Di Maria took the ball and tried to connect with Messi who was wandering to the flank.

Batistuta was in the middle near the defensive midfielder at this time. He quickly turned his head to observe the situation. D. Silva and Militao both stood in their positions, leaving no room for Alvarez to operate; Casemiro and Guimaraes were blocking Messi, and McAllister was also defended by Rafinha at the back.

Then what remains is——

"Pigeon! Over there! Go stick to him!" Batistuta loudly reminded Richarlison to help Neymar limit Paredes, while he quickly retreated to guard De Paul.

[Di Maria took the ball to the wing, Neymar went back and double-teamed, Brazil stole the ball and gave it to -- this speed was a little slow, Brazil's defense was very good so there were not many players in the front court during the counterattack, Argentina stole the ball again, organized on the right, Messi pulled to the wing.]

Batty frowned fiercely.

The counterattack was interrupted, which instantly turned them from active to passive. It has to be said that Argentina played the cooperation to the extreme in less than 1 minute. The ball possession did not change, but Brazil's defense was disrupted, and it also gave Messi the opportunity to support Di Maria.

No, we still have to tear the formation out.

"Lafite——"

Batistuta kept a close eye on De Paul in front of him and Messi who might come in at any time on the right side, and at the same time frantically reminded Rafinha on the right side to stay in the defensive position and stay still. Once Brazil grabbed the ball, he would rush to the front court to provide a support point.

Rafinha nodded in understanding.

At this time, Argentina's right attack also started. Messi and Di Maria played a wall pass and then immediately moved to the middle.

"Don't let him pass!"
"Bruno! Bruno! What the hell! How did you get there?"
"Go back! Go back quickly! I'm here!"

Di Maria passed the ball back to Messi, and seeing that he was about to make a move, Batistuta immediately asked them to keep an eye on the Argentine midfield and not leave any passing opportunities for Messi.

"Ed!"

Militao understood what he meant and pressed forward from the back line, stealing the ball and passing it to Batistuta. Messi fell to the ground in pain, but Batistuta didn't care about anything else. He kicked the ball past De Paul with his heel and gave the ball to Guimaraes, who quickly passed the ball to Neymar.

[Okay! Brazil's counterattack! This time they learned their lesson and quickly passed the ball to Neymar, and Rafinha also came up on the other side! ]

Run, Ney! Run!
At that moment, Batistuta seemed to have transformed into the little girl Jenny in "Forrest Gump", shouting wildly at Neymar who was holding the ball.

Sudden--

"Get out of the way!"

Batty was pushed on the back, and he didn't care who did it, he immediately made a small move to stop it. When the two had enough of the fight, Batty had time to look up, and then he saw clearly that the person was DePaul.

The next second, over De Paul's arm, he saw Neymar, who had just advanced the ball, fall to the ground. Paredes stood up from the tackle and the ball flew out of the sideline. It was not certain whether it was passed by Neymar or tackled by Paredes.

"Get out of the way!" Batistuta pushed De Paul away and wanted to go over to check on Neymar's condition.

De Paul was not willing to suffer any loss, so he pushed and shoved Batistuta to slow down his pace and finally dragged Otamendi over.

"FUCK OFF! You disgusting slug! Get off me!"

Batty shook off DePaul's arm and rushed over.

Batistuta still remembers clearly what Otamendi did to Neymar who was lying on the ground last time. Damn the Argentine! He will not let that violent way of standing up happen again!

"Don't waste time, just give me—"

"Nicooo!" Batistuta interrupted Otamendi by shouting his name angrily, then forced himself in front of Neymar and deliberately pushed his shoulder, "Back off! Stay away from him!"

"Hey! Do you want to come too?" The hot-tempered Otamendi didn't care about that. Time was running out, and he wouldn't allow these Brazilians to play weak and fall to the ground to waste time. "You also committed a foul! Keep your people away from Rio!"

The Argentine defender said as he pushed back.

Don't always talk about how cruel they are to Brazil. Neymar was knocked down, but why don't you mention that Messi didn't get up yet? Wasn't Militao's move just now rough enough?

"Double-standard bastard!" Otamendi cursed back in his dialect.

When it comes to double standards, Batistuta is a habitual offender.

He knew this when they were teammates before, but that was one thing. He thought Batty was cute at the time, but now they are opponents, which is another thing.

"What are you doing?"

next second.

Otamendi had just finished a push and hadn't finished his words when he saw Batistuta fall backwards to the ground with pretended surprise on his face, covering his face and rolling over in pain.

"Ah! It hurts! Referee, referee!" Batistuta complained loudly, "He pushed me! The Argentine No. 19 pushed me! You have to do something! It hurts!"

Otamendi was stunned.

Then he immediately became annoyed again.

He should have known that the little bastard would do this, but he still couldn't help but take action. This was a trap, a trap aimed at him.

"Stop pretending! I didn't use any force at all!" Otamendi said as he bent down to pull Batistuta, "Get up! You swindler, you're easier to knock down than a rabbit!"

Batty refused to get up.

Since the counterattack failed, he had to regain some advantage from other places. Otamendi was like a gift to the door, and it would be a waste not to provoke him.

"Barty! Ney! Oh my God—"
“Back off, back off!”
"They've already fallen to the ground, what are you complaining about?"

"Falling down? That's clearly diving!"
"That guy just tackled Leo! We need to settle this score together!"
"Who, who pushed me!"

The players from both teams quickly stood together.

[The situation was a little out of control, and the core players of Argentina and Brazil fell to the ground one after another. However, the two No. 10s were fouled tactically, while the Brazilian captain, hiss, well, Batistuta should have played a higher role in the performance.]

"Everyone, move back! Move back!" The referee separated the players from both teams with difficulty. "Pay attention! You are still on the court! Stay rational!"

In order to quell the chaos, the famous Italian referee Orsato, who had been lenient in enforcing the law throughout the game, took out yellow cards and gave them to Batistuta, Otamendi, De Paul, who made the most noise, and Casemiro, who came to watch the fun.

Casemiro: ???
The camera was focused on the Brazilian midfielder, whose innocent look with his hands spread out added a lot of comedy elements to the tense friction.

Richarlison escaped a penalty, as the yellow card should have been given to him.

But it’s not a big problem. As long as they can enter the final, the yellow cards in the semi-finals will be cleared immediately.

The time came to the 89th minute.

Including the extra time, there were still 7 minutes left until the end of the game.

……

"What are you thinking about, Batistuta!" Neymar stood up and quickly complained in a low voice, "It's fine if you delay time, but why did you get yourself a yellow card?"

"That's not the point," Batty retorted just as quickly.

As he said this, he lifted up his socks and took out a rubber band he had prepared in advance. He quickly gathered all the hair that was in the way and tied it into a small bun on top of his head.

"The point is that Nico also has a yellow card now." Batty pulled Neymar over and covered his mouth and said, "Don't worry about the assisting defense for a while. Go and cause trouble for him when you have the chance. You know how to provoke him."

Neymar understood that Batistuta wanted a red card. Although this approach was a bit risky, it was the best option given the current situation.

"What about you?" he asked. "Me too." Batty said, "Let's take turns. Don't let him really hurt you. Wait for you to make a signal and we'll switch positions. Nico can't handle it."

Neymar understood.

"Understood. We'll see."

……

In the next few minutes, Batistuta and Neymar were committed to taking advantage of Otamendi. The defensive pressure on Brazil's midfield and backcourt increased suddenly, and several balls were missed one after another. It was only thanks to Alisson's superb performance and decisive attack that the Brazilian goal was protected from threat.

But soon, this comeback reaped results.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Otamendi, who was provoked to the point of losing his mind, made an obvious pulling and blocking action in the penalty area and knocked down Batistuta. The referee showed a second yellow card and sent him off, and awarded the Brazilian team a valuable penalty kick.

[This action was actually unnecessary. Batistuta had no space to kick the ball, and even if Otamendi didn't touch him, he would have fallen. What a pity! If Argentina had a chance to equalize the game just now, now there is no chance at all. ]

Batty sat on the floor and checked his sneakers.

What they did was neither fair nor honorable, so he didn't look at it when Otamendi left the field, and he doesn't want to look up now.

Even though everyone on the field knew that the match was coming to an end.

At this moment, a shadow fell in front of his eyes and Batty looked up.

"Come on?" Neymar held the ball and stretched out his hand to him. "I remember you were one goal away from tying the German's record."

Batty stood up and stamped his feet to feel it, then glanced at Martin who was preparing in front of the goal, then shook his head: "I'm out of strength, I can't guarantee a hit, you come on."

"Okay." Neymar wiped the football with his jersey, stopped refusing, grabbed the little hair on Batistuta's head, and walked to the penalty spot with his signature smile.

Once, twice.

Batistuta stared at the goal and counted his heartbeats.

When he counted to the 40th time, he saw with his own eyes Neymar kick the ball into his comfort zone in the way he was most familiar with.

[The ball goes in! Neymar scores the penalty kick, and Martin guesses the direction and almost saves the ball. Brazil 3-1! The winner is decided, and the one who enters the final is——]

decided?

No, no, no, the time has not come yet, we can't jump to conclusions. Many teams have died because of their laxity in the last few minutes.

Batty looked at the timer on the screen and saw 1 minute and 40 seconds left.

Fight!

Near the end of the game, the field was in chaos. Richarlison retreated to pass the ball to Batistuta, but Batistuta was knocked to the ground when he started to pass the ball. After he rolled twice and quickly got up, he was knocked over again before he could see where the ball went.

Argentina didn't waste a second.

Batistuta didn't care about anything at this moment. After being knocked down, he got up and continued to assist in defense. He also cooperated in knocking over the Argentine. He knew that if he continued to lie on the grass to waste time at this time, he would be beaten.

30 seconds left.

Di Maria switched to the left and took advantage of the Brazilian defender's failure to keep up with the rhythm to quickly launch an attack. The newly replaced Lautaro was full of momentum. Alisson stretched his legs to block his shot, but the ball only changed direction slightly and did not deviate from the goal.

【Ohhhh! Wonderful! It was really wonderful! At the end of the game, Argentina scored again, and now the score is 3-2! The Brazilian team is getting nervous again! There are still 20 seconds left, what will be the final sad result?】

Brazil kicked off from the center circle and tried their best to prevent Argentina from stealing the ball.

15 seconds left.

"Come here! Don't retreat!"

There was a small melee near the center line. Batistuta tried hard to prevent the ball from being snatched away. Even if he kicked the ball out of bounds, it would be better than giving it to the other side.

5 seconds left.

It’s almost over, it’s almost over, it’s almost over!
Why haven't you blown the whistle yet!

1 seconds left.

Messi was really forced into a corner. He pushed away Batistuta next to him like a tank, dribbled the ball to create space, and shot with the last second left.

【Argentina!!】

The ball flew towards the Brazilian goal.

At this moment, the hearts of people all over the world were gripped. Like the players on the field, they all stared at the trajectory of the ball.

The timer resets to zero.

"Ding——"

The ball hit the crossbar!
Alisson failed in his first dive, and seeing that the ball was still in bounds, he immediately got up and jumped again to grab the ball, then lay down and held the ball under his body.

[beep——]
The whistle for the end of the game sounded, the giant fell down, and Argentina had no chance.

[The game is over! 3-2! The battle between Brazil and Afghanistan has finally come to an end. The first team of the 2022 Qatar World Cup final has been decided. They are Brazil! ]

Argentina's supporters were devastated.

In contrast, it was a sea of ​​joy in Brazil.

From the moment the referee blew the whistle, Ederson led the atmosphere group (bench) on the sidelines into the field to celebrate this hard-earned victory with all his teammates who fought hard.

The pressure that Batty had been under in this game was also released at this moment.

He turned his head and searched among the players, and soon found Messi, who was about to leave the field with sadness written all over his body. From a distance, before walking back to the player tunnel, Messi subconsciously turned back and met that blue gaze.

No one moved.

After a few seconds, Batty smiled.

"Look, Leo, I told you," he said, "next time we meet, we won't lose."

I did it.

Messi smiled slightly, but soon he stopped smiling, waved to Batistuta and later Neymar to tell them not to bother with him, then turned around and went back to the locker room.

Go ahead and get the trophy.

The one who defeats Argentina must be the champion.

……

Here, just as Batistuta was holding his teammates' hands to thank the fans, Loach ran over like a tablet rocket and gave his boss good news.

"Bati, Batti! Everything is fine in Rio! Your Godfather and Bloodhound are safe, and the Butcher is fine too! He faked his death! The traitor was not caught, but was executed on the spot! Now your Godfather and Bloodhound have signed an agreement with the government and are already in the hospital!!"

Batty grabbed the tablet and read the news carefully. He didn't miss any words and even read the punctuation marks clearly.

[The Brazilian government has reached an agreement with the Losinga Group, a slum community, to provide protection in exchange for intelligence. Currently, Hollywood director Edmundo and group leader Delane have been sent to the hospital for treatment, and the 16-day cleanup operation has come to an end.]

The matter is resolved.

Really.

never mind.

At that moment, Batty felt that the thin cocoon binding his heart broke with a snap, and his heart finally regained its freedom and returned to its original normal operation.

First, they defeated their old rival Argentina to get a ticket to the finals. Later, everything was fine in Rio. The gunfire stopped, the butcher was not dead, the bloodhound was safe and sound, and the Godfather was with him.

Batty laughed while holding the tablet.

Then he started to cry while laughing, of course, tears of joy. It was as if he wanted to vent all the negative emotions he had in the past few days.

"Let's go, crybaby." Neymar took off his bangs and ruffled his hair. "Let's go back to the hotel first. We'll celebrate tonight! Don't go with swollen eyes!"

With red eyes and blurred vision due to tears, Batty rolled his eyes at him without any deterrence: "You are the crybaby! You were secretly wiping away tears just now, when you blew the whistle, don't think I didn't see it!"

But.

Although I was harsh in words, in my heart——

Nothing could be better than this, Batty thought.

(End of this chapter)