The Three Stars Shine in Suwon

The results from other matches were also revealed one after another. We don't need to discuss teams like Slovenia, South Africa, and Denmark. The relatively cold matches were Germany 1-1 Ireland, Italy 1-2 Croatia, and Uruguay 0-0 France.

The focal battle was between England and Argentina in Group F. These old rivals from the 1998 World Cup met again this year, staging a difficult and intense clash that ultimately ended with England winning 1-0 on penalties.

The penalty was earned by Owen, and the scorer was Beckham—England has always had the best squad on paper, but in those years, only these two were relatively reliable, along with perhaps Scholes. As for the other so-called stars, no matter how great they were at their clubs, they tended to become a bit shaky when playing for the national team.

Overall, the tournament has progressed relatively normally so far, except for the excessively brutal playstyle of the host team South Korea, the South Korean fans displaying racist banners in the stands, the political tensions between the host nations South Korea and Japan leading to various squabbles during their cooperation, and the arbitrary scheduling of matches, which didn't give some teams enough time to prepare, among other minor issues.

As the saying goes, the days without arrogance always pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was June 13th, and the third round of Group C began.

In Suwon, South Korea, at the Suwon World Cup Stadium, Brazil faced Costa Rica. This stadium had an interesting wing-shaped roof design and 43,000 seats. It would later become the home ground of the K-League club Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

The match kicked off on time at 2:30 pm, and Kaká finally got his wish to start.

Brazil lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

The four defenders were Cafu, Lúcio, Edmílson, and Roque Júnior, with Carlos out due to injury.

The four midfielders were Gilberto Silva, Kléberson, Kaká, and Ronaldinho.

The forwards were Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Just from the starting lineup, it was clear that the usually conservative Scolari had attacking intentions in this match, despite fielding four defenders and two defensive midfielders. This was, of course, due to the inclusion of the trickster Kaká.

Rivaldo was already enough to strike fear into opponents, and with the addition of this dribbling wizard, anyone who said Brazil didn't intend to attack would be talking nonsense.

The match unfolded in a way that confirmed this speculation.

Just one minute in, Rivaldo received a pass from Ronaldinho and tried a long-range shot, which went high over the crossbar but signaled the start of the onslaught.

However, Costa Rica didn't back down either and courageously engaged in counter-attacks.

They had won their first match against China and drawn with Turkey in the previous one, already accumulating 4 points. Even if Turkey won against China in this round, they would only have 4 points with one win, one draw, and one loss. If Costa Rica could force a draw against Brazil through extreme defensive resilience, they would end up with 5 points and potentially qualify as the second-place team in the group.

But this small Caribbean nation chose to play their familiar style of football, going toe-to-toe with Brazil, which is admirable in the modern game where only results matter.

With Rivaldo roaming up front, Kaká and Ronaldinho saw more of the ball, naturally becoming the most active players on the pitch.

The issue of two strikers not being able to coexist that plagued England didn't seem to be a problem for them.

"Kaká's rapid breakthrough, with Ronaldinho supporting from the side, another two-on-one situation. Will he shoot? A feint, Kaká passes to Ronaldinho again..."

Ronaldinho dribbled along the left side of the penalty area, suddenly playing a diagonal through ball. Ronaldo darted in with lightning speed, ready to shoot, but Costa Rica's defender Marín was also quick, charging in from the side and kicking the ball into his own net before Ronaldo could take a shot.

An own goal, Brazil 1-0 Costa Rica.

Marín stared at his team's goal in disbelief, looking utterly devastated.

Although everyone knew Scolari's tendency to play conservatively, with fancy attacking being a far-fetched dream for him, everyone also knew that a Brazil match would never lack goals. However, no one expected the first goal to come in this manner.

This goal wasn't credited to Ronaldo, but everyone still ran over to celebrate with him, patting his partially shaved head with a casual smile before walking away.

After the restart, Costa Rica played more cautiously, packing the midfield with plenty of players to engage in a tussle with Kaká and Ronaldinho, appearing locked in a stalemate, but in reality, the two Brazilians were leading them by the nose.

Ronaldinho's trickery was infamous, but unlike Denílson's pure showboating, his tricks were practical. Rarely would you see him purely showcasing skills in a match, almost turning the World Cup stage into a street football court, with an array of flicks and tricks.

Perhaps because qualification was almost certain and the opposition wasn't strong, Scolari sat calmly on the bench, letting him play around.

With the head coach's intentional indulgence and the players adopting this mindset, this match was destined to become a goal-fest.

In the 23rd minute, it was Ronaldinho's turn to put on a show in the midfield. He bent slightly, using his right shoulder blade to control a long pass from Cafu with impressive precision, drawing applause and cheers from the crowd.

Of course, the defending players couldn't just stand and watch him perform. They immediately charged at him, but Ronaldinho spun elegantly on the spot twice, leaving the defenders behind him while the ball remained perfectly balanced between his shoulder and collarbone, showcasing technical ability and ball control so good that it was hard to feel envious.

As the ball dropped, Ronaldinho flicked it up and juggled it twice before finally passing to Kaká.

Ronaldinho's skill show raised the atmosphere to a fever pitch, and Kaká, inspired, couldn't resist the temptation. However, his style was different from Ronaldinho's—he couldn't pull off stationary spins and the like. As soon as he received the ball, he wanted to surge forward.

"What am I seeing? These two Brazilians are treating the World Cup like a playground. Ronaldinho controlled the ball with a high-difficulty shoulder trap, followed by consecutive flicks to beat defenders, and now Kaká, after receiving the ball, hasn't let it touch the ground, constantly juggling it as he rapidly advances."

Kaká's dribbling was reminiscent of Henry's style.

The ball would drop and then be immediately juggled back up, with the nearby Costa Rican players stretching out their legs to try and dispossess him but unable to reach the ball, left to merely run alongside him, looking silly.

Kaká juggled the ball all the way to the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a powerful volleyed shot toward the goal.

The ball flew like a cannonball, smashing against the crossbar and rebounding, leaving everyone to lament the lack of a better ending to such a brilliant display. Suddenly, Ronaldo appeared out of nowhere, seemingly teleporting behind the ball.

He had run in from the side and behind the ball, so his back was to the goal. The defenders immediately charged at him to prevent him from turning, but he had no intention of turning. Instead, he swung his right heel over the ball from above, deflecting it through the gap between the two defenders, giving the goalkeeper no time to react as it rolled into the net.

2-0.

(End of Chapter)