[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"Calm down! We are not at a disadvantage yet! Mario, Mario! Believe in yourself. The coach substituted you in for a reason. This is the final! You can do it! You must be full of confidence, understand? Show the same energy that the madman on the other side used to disgust me!"

Taking advantage of a dead ball, Batistuta retreated slightly to Mario Bekalos to encourage him, and even made a little joke at the end, hoping that he would not be too nervous.

"Pfft--cough, um, okay!" Mario smiled at the captain, looking much better than the tense look he had when he first came on the court.

Batty patted him on the back and returned to his seat.

To be honest, he didn't understand the meaning of the head coach's arrangement.

This is the kid's first World Cup, and his second time in the starting lineup. It's a bit too early to put this opportunity in the final.

Moreover, Mario is an introvert and his cooperation with the team cannot be said to be very compatible. Although his one-on-one defense ability and passing accuracy are indeed good, we have to take into account that he is facing Mbappe on the right. If the French team seizes even the slightest opportunity to explode him, the consequences will be disastrous.

But the coach's arrangement could not be changed. Now all they could do was -

"Bati!"

After the ball changed quickly dozens of times on the field, Upamecano made a mistake under high pressure. Brazil launched a counterattack on the spot, and Rafinha called on the captain to press forward together.

But, that's not right.

This is not a good opportunity.

Just like there was a chessboard in his mind, Batistuta quickly simulated the possibilities based on the situation on the field. Now Rafinha got the ball on the wing, France's Lucas fell back to face him, Huppert also chased back to a nearby distance, Rabiot followed closely behind to guard Jesus, Neymar was at the back post, a little far away, Griezmann retreated very deep, and it was impossible for Guimarães to keep an eye on both him and Augustus at the same time.

and so.

In the half second that Batistuta hesitated, Lucas and Huppert double-teamed him from the front and back. Rafinha wanted to change his strategy and pass the ball out. Lucas anticipated his choice and raised his leg to intercept. France stole the ball and the ball possession changed again.

Before Batistuta turned around to join the defense, Rabiot had successfully received the pass from Huppert, moved forward and passed the ball to the wing.

The decibels of the cheers from the French fans at the scene rose instantly, and there was only one situation that could make them do so.

[Okay! Mbappe got the ball and started to speed up! Brazilian teenager Mario Bekalos tried to block him, but Mbappe was in surprisingly good shape today, and he passed it with a rage! ]

Damn it.

Batty cursed in his heart and chased back towards the ribs.

This is the situation they least want to see. He would rather give the ball to Augustus or Griezmann in the French core trio than to Mbappe.

[Mbappe still got through despite the defense of many Brazilian players! See if he did it this time - he hit it directly! Mbappe got past three Brazilian defenders until Batistuta came back to interfere. He couldn't get through, so he chose to use his last chance to shoot. The ball went over the goal frame and Mbappe fell to the ground. ]

Brazil defended successfully.

"Come on! Cheer up! Don't let them pass!"

Batistuta, the biggest contributor, loudly explained to his teammates, then reached out to Mbappe on the ground, showing goodwill while saying some trash talk.

"It was a good performance, but unfortunately, the judge didn't believe it." He said, his tone full of teasing, "You should go for further studies, Kiki."

Mbappe didn't care much about Batistuta's trash talk, but the last word, the nickname that was obviously called out deliberately, brought back bad memories, and Mbappe's face suddenly turned dark.

'Snapped'

The French striker ignored Batistuta's outstretched hand, turned over and got up by himself, and in the process intentionally or unintentionally waved away the seemingly friendly hand with his arm.

"Ah! Don't you like it?" Batty was startled, then he moved closer with a wicked smile.

Of course, this is the World Cup final. As long as it is useful and within the rules, he will use it, even if it is a trick that is despised by the mainstream.

"Stop." Mbappe frowned and stepped back, "Don't call me that."

"What?" Batty went forward again, continuing to trash-talk the opponent, "What can you do to me?"

"If you do that again—"

"What do you mean? Come back to defend your shot? Or - call you Kiki?"

"If you try to provoke me with that childish name again, I will treat you the same way." Mbappe said expressionlessly, "I will call you Titi."

Batty: ?
"you……"

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle in time to stop the two people's quarrel in the final, and asked them to separate directly. Batistuta used a series of ambiguous mutters and rolled his eyes to indicate that he understood. Mbappe lowered his head to adjust his shoes and said nothing more.

The two looked at each other, then turned around at the same time and went back to their respective positions.

[It can be seen that the two candidates for the best player in football just had an interesting interaction. Judging from their expressions, combined with Mbappe's previous angry breakthrough, there may be some connection between them off the court, haha, but it depends on the fans to discover it themselves. ]

In the 23rd minute of the first half, the ball returned to Brazil.

……

Alisson passed the ball to the frontcourt, Batistuta and Jesus switched positions to the front to receive the ball, while reaching out to remind the goalkeeper behind to change direction.

The ball came to the Brazilian left wing. The French team was not fully prepared. Right-back Kounde had no time to come back. Varane came out to clear the ball and overpowered Neymar to win a header, but failed to control it. Batistuta seized the opportunity to retreat and steal the ball. He dribbled sideways to the middle with his back to the goal. Unfortunately, he was unable to turn around and hit the ball with strength under the double-team of Huppert and Augustus, and the ball went out of the baseline.

This wave of attack is over.

But enough to explain something.

"You've been asking us to pass the ball over here for the past few minutes. That's not how we train." Neymar ran to Batistuta and said, covering his mouth.

"I know." Batty quickly replied, "But the right side was too aggressive and Mario couldn't handle it. I can't always go over to help him. You know what I mean."

Neymar certainly understands.

Since France has to rely on Mbappe to blast Mario to open up the right side and counterattack, they will change their offensive strategy, play the ball to the left or the middle, and not give Mbappe the ball. In this way, no matter how fast he is or how strong his change of direction is, it will be useless if he can't get the ball.

Theoretically this is feasible, but as for the head coach... Neymar quickly glanced at the coaching bench.

Zidane was not angry because Batistuta changed their main tactical strategy. He stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, not looking flustered at all, as if he had acquiesced.

Neymar is relieved now.

"Okay." He reached out and ruffled Barty's hair. "Let's do it."

……

However, this change made by the Brazilian team did not bring about an immediate effect. Perhaps it was because the intention was too obvious, or because there were players on the opposing team who understood the core of the Brazilian team. The French team strengthened their midfield interception, and the Brazilian team's passing was hindered, so the tactics naturally could not proceed smoothly.

Halfway through the first half, the Brazilian team was a little confused and the French team began to gain momentum.

In the 31st minute, Batistuta was restricted by Augustus and Griezmann in the midfield. Guimaraes changed the direction of the ball, but he did not notice Giroud approaching behind him. Due to a pass error, Rabiot made a forward move and acted as a transfer station, quickly knocking the ball to Mbappe who had been waiting on the left for a long time.

The French team intercepted the ball and counterattacked.

[Brazil made a mistake in attack and the ball was intercepted by France! Mbappe! Here he comes again! Brazil's defense line is very forward, and Batistuta can't go back to help this time. He is entangled by Augustus in the midfield. Look at this - he fell to the ground and shot! The ball went in! ! ]

Casemiro tried his best to chase back.

But he couldn't guard both Mbappe and Griezmann at the same time, and he was powerless in the face of this near-one-on-one opportunity.

Just that one time, there was a problem with the Brazilian team's overall defense, and it was this time that the supercar started to accelerate and he seized the opportunity.

【经过了前30分钟几乎势均力敌的对抗！第32分钟，巴西队的城门最先失守！姆巴佩打进本届世界杯个人第7粒进球，帮助法国队1-0领先！】

……

"Hold on! Everyone! Stay awake! It's just one goal, it's nothing!"

After clapping his hands to encourage the whole team, Batty pinched himself hard, then calmly returned to the center circle and kicked the ball out.

It's not a big deal. It's just one goal.

He has encountered any score gap before, so it's nothing big.

They still have chances, lots of chances.

……

Soon, the first half came to an end.

The Brazilian team did not become anxious because of falling behind. They tried hard to find loopholes in their opponents and look for opportunities to equalize.

"Try a long pass. I just noticed that their right-back is very forward, so we can start from that point." Taking advantage of a foul and dead ball, Batistuta found Neymar to discuss countermeasures.

Move Guimarães forward to help counter Augustus' interception, move the passing route further to the left, and use long passes to find weaknesses.

Except for the right back.

"And the one in front of him—"

That is the right winger of the French team, Ousmane Dembélé.

He was once introduced by Barcelona as a replacement for Neymar, but the effect was not ideal. He was also reported by the media many times for strange reasons, such as being late for training late at night due to playing games.

What impressed Batistuta the most was a Champions League match between Barcelona and Liverpool a few years ago. Batistuta was away from home and had the last chance. Messi delivered a precise assist despite being double-teamed by several people. As a result, Dembele suddenly had a brain short circuit and kicked the ball into the goalkeeper's arms without being guarded.

Oh, I almost forgot.

That goalkeeper is today's Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson.

Therefore, when the Brazilian team switched from defense to offense, the French team's formation generally leaned to the left, the right back pressed too high, and Augustus in the middle led his men to focus on defending Batistuta. Then the only one left for the French team to assist in defense on the right was Dembele.

"He looks stupid," Batty said. "You can fool him, Ney, yellow card, free kick, penalty, don't pick, any one is good for us."

Neymar glanced at Dembele from a distance.

"Oh, I see."

……

It turns out that Dembele is indeed no match for Neymar.

Soon, the Brazilian team gained the advantage on the left, with Kounde and Dembele giving the Brazilian team three corner kicks in succession.

Neymar walks to the penalty spot.

Batistuta was ready in the penalty area. He looked at the timer above his head, which showed 44 minutes and 13 seconds. There was not much time left in the first half, and this might be their last chance.

Going into halftime with the score at 0-1 and going into halftime with the score at 1-1 are two completely different situations.

But that's it.

"Hey, see you again, Barty."

Augustus' voice sounded from behind, and along with it, his body was visibly tensed. It seemed that he was going to use his body to prevent Batistuta from jumping for the header.

Barty rolled his eyes.

"Get away!" He pulled away the hand on his waist, "Stay away from me! Foul! This is a foul!"

Of course, Batty was exaggerating. This was a normal confrontation.

"I think you should have other things to worry about than falling behind." Augustus did not respond to Batistuta's question. Instead, he smiled and leaned close to Batistuta's ear and said to him, "Remember what I said before? You will regret not letting me finish telling you before the game."

what!
Batistuta was sneering undisguisedly, his eyes fixed on Neymar in the corner area who was ready, without even glancing at Augustus behind him.

Regret?

He has nothing to regret.

If I have to say something, it would probably be (a little regretful) being nice to someone in the new season and getting his logo tattooed on my body.

next second.

"How can you be sure that your family in Rio is safe? Just because they went to the hospital?"

Batty's heart skipped a beat.

But he still had his sanity.

"Shut up!" Batty turned his head and showed his canine teeth to Augustus, "Don't try to use this to distract me, I know everything! This is not--"

"At least that's the intelligence I got. Look, those people are waiting for you to let down your guard, take down your weapons, and show your softest side." The French midfielder's voice was so low that it seemed to be soaked in venom. "When will that be? Guess?"

When are they most vulnerable?
Batty had the answer in his mind.

That was - when they were in the hospital.

Augustus touched Batty's ear with his lips. "Think about it. Your godfather Bloodhound is lying on the bed receiving an IV, and your godfather is sitting next to him browsing his phone or watching the game. If someone shoots from the corridor at this time, how are they going to resist?"

How to resist?

They couldn't resist.

Can only——

"boom!"

a bit.

"boom!"

Two times.

Augustus crudely simulated the sound of a gunshot.

"Two shots and you'll never see them again, alive," he said.

This doesn't work.

No.

Batty's breathing began to rapid, his chest heaving violently, and it seemed as if several tons of seawater were filling his ears and lungs. He was about to sink into the cracks on the seabed and couldn't breathe.

"But it doesn't matter, Batty." Augustus's gentle voice suddenly sounded, "When you have nothing, look back and you will realize that you still have me."

These words were like a huge, cold harpoon, piercing through tens of thousands of meters of sea water and piercing Batty's chest.

Undersea volcano erupts.

A wave of scorching air hit his body, and Batty felt himself expanding.

He's about to explode.

"You fucking-"

[Neymar takes a corner kick, Casemiro gets the first spot at the back post, Brazil almost equalizes the score! There's more outside, pass - oh? Wait, there seems to be a dispute in front of the goal, Batistuta and Augustus? ]

[beep——]
[The referee blew the whistle for a timeout. It seems someone fell to the ground. Should he give a card? ]

(End of this chapter)