[Football] Bad Boy Batty

The Brazilian Olympic team's first group match opponent was the South African Olympic team. According to the international rankings, this should have been a one-sided match for Brazil. However, the fact was that the two sides played back and forth on the field, and the South African team even suppressed Brazil at one point.

It’s so ugly!

Before the game, all those who were optimistic about the Brazilian Olympic team agreed.

Batista was the same. He sat on the bench, leaning back in his chair with a bored look on his face, closing his eyes to rest from time to time.

Yes, the coach did not start Batistuta to punish him for missing training and being hungover. Batistuta sat on the bench with a blank expression on his face.

This decision was terrible for the Brazilian Olympic team. All the tactics related to Batistuta were extremely bad. The man who replaced him seemed to be sleepwalking, and head coach Mikael could not stay on the bench for even a minute.

The situation on the field is not optimistic now. Even those who don’t understand football the most can see that the South African team has the upper hand.

[The Brazilians underestimated their opponents! South Africa's style of play has always been known for its toughness, but this time they learned to be smart and took advantage of the Brazilians' back pass errors to quickly counterattack. There were already two such opportunities in the first half. If the Brazilian Olympic team does not take it seriously, the consequences may be devastating! ] The commentator's pertinent analysis.

"The gap is too big, as long as they are not offside, it will be a one-on-one shot." Brazil's substitute goalkeeper Ederson criticized in a low voice. He sat next to Batistuta and kept discussing the (one-sided) game with him. In contrast, Batistuta was so indifferent that he looked like an outsider.

"If we let South Africa take the lead, we'll be scolded," Ederson said worriedly.

Jesus on the field made a very confusing pass directly to the opponent. Neymar was extremely dissatisfied. On the sidelines, they could hear the complaints of the Brazilian players which were drowned out by the cheers of the audience.

Ederson wanted to interact with Batistuta all the time, and he nudged Batistuta next to him with his knee. "You are also a striker, can you guess what they are thinking, such as Jesus' pass just now?" he asked.

"You play like shit, you don't need to think at all." Batty finally responded to Ederson. He sneered: "If you keep going like this, South Africa will definitely score a goal."

Ederson looked at him in surprise. The substitute goalkeeper had never expected Batistuta's comments to be so merciless. He pursed his lips and said encouragingly, "I don't think we should lose in the first game of the group stage."

Batistuta looked back at him in surprise. "You seem to have a lot of confidence in them. Let me ask you, looking at their poor defense, how did you, as a goalkeeper, hold back from cursing?"

Edson: “…”

"It's been years since South African football has participated in the Olympics. Think about it." Batty's hair was curled up due to static electricity, and his expression at the moment was even more rebellious. "The last time I saw them was 16 years ago, when I was only one year old."

Ederson's attention was diverted and he couldn't help but reach out to help Batistuta tidy up his hair.

"What's wrong with you? I'm talking to you about the game." Batty rudely knocked his hand away. "Just now you looked like you were too embarrassed to face anyone because we were going to lose."

"I was just thinking." Ederson took his hand back. "I used to be a striker, so I often subconsciously think about the psychological activities of strikers. I just want to get the answer."

"There is no answer." Batty replied quickly, "If we can't attack, it will be easy for them to sneak attack. Look, South Africa almost scored a goal just now, and that guy almost knocked away our defensive general."

Ederson shook his head. He disagreed with Batistuta's 'sneak attack'. "The South African is very strong. Marquinhos only weighs 145 pounds."

"Then he (Marquinhos) should play in the midfield. A center back who is physically inferior can't win the game." Batistuta sneered. He was in a bad mood and kept saying foul things because the game was not good enough. He patted Ederson's arm and said, "You are a goalkeeper. Can you feel safe with a center back who can't stand up to the opponent's striker in front of you?"

"My sense of security comes from the confidence in my own abilities." Ederson puffed out his chest.

"Ha! How bizarre." Batistuta taunted, "The person who said that is a substitute goalkeeper, can you believe it?"

Ederson shook his head. He didn't get angry but changed the subject. "Brazilians have the most beautiful football skills in the world. Maybe we should change our tactics when facing the fierce South Africans."

Batista didn't appreciate it at all: "There is no tactic to begin with, changing one won't be any better, and what can Mikael arrange? To be honest, our formation now is an offensive formation, why does he keep emphasizing defense over and over again? Look at the first few, except Neymar, who dares to attack? He has been standing there shouting for so long, it's all useless."

"Shh - don't talk about the head coach here." Ederson was quite nervous. Players should not talk about the head coach, at least not in public during the game.

"So what if I made some comments? He continued to suppress me and lost the first game."

Batista's words made Ederson's eyes go dark. How could this kid be so outspoken? If others really heard it and reported it with exaggeration, the Brazilian Olympic team would obviously face another dispute.

"Who asked him to put me here?" Batty said indignantly.

"That's because you sneaked out and missed training." Ederson said helplessly.

"What kind of a bullshit excuse is this? Are we playing like shit and you're blaming me for missing an afternoon of training?" Batistuta's words got worse and worse, and began to turn into a complaint without any logic. "The head coach can't interfere in my private life. Besides, he doesn't care about Neymar, who missed more training sessions."

"That's Neymar, how can we compare with him? Neymar also has a personal physiotherapy team and assistants." Ederson thought. He thought that Batistuta and Neymar had the best relationship in this Olympic team. Apart from the fight that day, the two of them were almost always together. Neymar even stayed at the training base for lunch just to sit at the same table with Batistuta.

"Wait and see, maybe the coach will let you go in the second half." Ederson decided to change the subject, "Do you want a sports drink?"

"He has to replace me if we still want to win." Batty first answered Ederson's first sentence, then he tilted his head with disgust, "I don't want it, that thing looks like poison, who wants to drink it?"

Edson, who likes to use sports drinks to replenish his energy, felt like he was shot in the chest.

Near the end of the first half, Neymar made a beautiful break and shot, but perhaps because the distance was too far and the Barcelona star was too impatient due to the defense, the ball went softly into the arms of the opponent's goalkeeper.

If that escape was worth 90 points, then the shot would probably only be a pitiful 20 points.

At the end of the first half, the score was still 0-0. …

1
What kind of football is Brazil playing! The lineup is a mess, Jesus and Barbosa are all piled in the middle, they can't hold the ball, and they can't pass the ball to the right place. It's so difficult to play against South Africa, they might as well go home in the group stage!
2
Brazil is like this, technically awesome, but tactically weak
3
Jesus is a midfielder and likes to move to the middle.

4
Of course Brazil has a tactic, and that tactic is to pass the ball to Neymar.

5
Neymar is also pitiful. He has no teammates to support him. The forward is not strong enough to stand still. He always makes mistakes when passing back to the backcourt. He brings three or five people forward and is instantly covered with big men.
6
So why doesn't he come here to the Centennial America's Cup (a commercial competition hosted by the United States)? Isn't this asking for trouble?

7
Brazil is just one Olympic gold medal away. Neymar led the team in 2012, but it didn't work out. Now they are back to prove themselves.

8
The key is that Neymar can't hold up the whole team. You see, South Africa has figured out the pattern by passing the ball to him. Now Brazil can't open the situation and keeps defending. South Africa is the same. The field is like lukewarm water. Neymar is even targeted at the edge of the penalty area.

9
In 2010, they didn't win the World Cup with such a good lineup, so they will definitely fail this time.

10
Brother, that's the World Cup and this is the Olympics, how can they be compared? Do you think that the number of players in the Olympic team can enter the national team? It's the same concept, right?

11
Why not let Batistuta play? Isn't it the case that we need someone who is fast and can get forward?

12
Missed training, was punished
13
why?

14
Because his scumbag dad was messing around and ran over without saying hello. He wanted to repair the relationship with his son but he didn't even show the most basic respect.
15
To be honest, I don't think this kid is promising. He is unique and can break through, but what's the point if he doesn't pass the ball? There's already a Neymar on the field, we can't have another one.

16
Your words remind me of Robben (Dutch star, plays for Bayern Munich, plays as a winger)
17
Why are you comparing a 17-year-old kid to Robben? Robben played in the World Cup and the Champions League, and won the championship in 13. Batistuta may be able to do it in the future, but now he is just a little brother.

18
Just be alone, there are so many lone wolves on the court. It's a good thing that Batistuta doesn't stick to the ball. He even scored a goal in the warm-up match.

When the discussion was heated in the forum, the Brazilian head coach Mikael took action and asked his assistant to inform Batistuta to warm up. The on-site cameraman was quite tactful and frequently focused the camera on Batistuta who was warming up on the sidelines. In a sense, the 17-year-old young player saved the dull game.

The game is not interesting, but the handsome guy is not good-looking either.

……

60 minutes into the second half, the score was still 0-0, and many Brazilian fans had already begun to leave the stadium. Batistuta adjusted his shin guards, high-fived his substitute Luan, and trotted off.

The assistant coach said to Batistuta: "After you go up, we will adjust the formation to two strikers, that is, 442. Batistuta, tell Jesus to go to the middle and let you go to the wing."

This tactical arrangement is very reasonable. When the situation is difficult to open up, a small and fast winger is needed to tear apart the opponent's defense line. However, the assistant coach forgot to mention one thing, that is passing. He did not emphasize passing with Batistuta, although Batistuta might not do it even if he said so.

Now Batty has completely lost trust in his teammates on the field.

[Oh! My God! Batistuta, what are you doing!] The roar of the commentator woke up some of the sleepy fans, [It's the 65th minute, that was the best chance for the Brazilian team since the start of the game!]

This commentary successfully led many fans to mistakenly believe that Batistuta had wasted an excellent opportunity, but that was not the case, at least not entirely.

What the commentator did not make clear was that this 'best chance since the start' was created by Batistuta's single-handed breakthrough. He simply chose to continue dribbling and shooting after the successful breakthrough. When he finally kicked the ball, there was no angle left, and the South African goalkeeper flew to save the ball.

Batistuta saw the performance in the first half and naturally developed a distrust of his teammates, which ultimately led to them missing good opportunities.

"Pass the ball! Pass the ball!"

"What the hell!"

Barbosa was impatient, and he swung his arms vigorously while shouting to express his dissatisfaction. Batty had a blank expression on his face, and had no desire to pay any attention to Barbosa. If it were any other time, he would have gone up to his clubmate and started swearing at him.

Neymar went up and patted Batistuta's arm. Batistuta thought he was going to scold him and tensed his muscles.

But what he didn't expect was that Neymar smiled at him and praised him.

"You did a great job, Batistuta." Neymar praised his breakthrough with the captain's demeanor, "With a few more times we will score a goal!"

Batistuta said nothing, he looked at Neymar, who gave him a thumbs up. Batistuta pursed his lips, his mouth filled with sourness.

Neymar doesn't ask him to respond to him enthusiastically. He just needs Batistuta to remember him and trust him. Trust is a big deal on the court.

The boy smoothed his wet hair. "I was wrong just now."

Neymar shrugged. "Don't think about it. What matters now is that we need to score goals." He said, "Can you do it?"

"Yeah." Batty nodded.

"Let's continue." Neymar showed his signature bright smile, "Let the South Africans see how powerful we are!"

(End of this chapter)