Chapter 99: A Place

Everyone looked at the football that Kaka had pushed into the empty goal, a little stunned. 

Although there were various reasons, such as the two midfielders failing to intercept in time and the two central defenders not taking it seriously, the fact before everyone was that Kaka had dribbled the ball from the midfield, bypassing all the opponents he encountered, and scored in a jaw-dropping manner.

Dribbling like Ronaldinho, shooting like Ronaldo. 

The one with the most complicated emotions was, of course, Cheney, who definitely knew Kaka better than anyone else.

Is Kaka awesome or not? Awesome.

Is Kaka a genius? No.

His athletic talent was great, but his football talent was average. This was the unanimous perception of Kaka when Cheney and his Sao Paulo teammates chatted privately.

But now it seemed they didn't know enough about Kaka.

"Kaka, when did you become a genius?"

"Last night."

...(!!)

Kaka's answer was, of course, a joke; it was actually several days ago.

What was his previous situation like?

Brain: I know it.

Feet: No, you can't.

—It's so embarrassing.

Now he was finally fine. His original talent combined with the ball feel given by the system and his outstanding physical condition. Kaka 2.0 was finally released. It was definitely a new version that was even better than Baggio at his peak. It was fresh and tender, no less than a newborn.

It was completely reborn.

The main team's star players collectively showed their strength, trying their best to teach the younger guys on the opposite side how to behave.

There were also a few strong players on the bench, but apart from Denilson, the most powerful players such as Junior and Kleberson were all defensive-minded. The main focus on offense depended on Kaka.

His bronze trumpet did not tremble in front of the full-level boss but fearlessly fought head-on. Although in the end, the substitute team was still pinned to the ground at 2:6 without any suspense, the players were all improved in terms of their level and style of play, and their belief was strengthened. The most important thing was that Kaka showed his true value in front of Scolari.

Not only could he be a steel warrior with strong bridges and strong horses, but he could also be a green magician with magnetic feet.

You see, I can do much more than you think.

Scolari clearly received this signal and put Kaka into the main lineup many times in subsequent training matches. In some games where the main team and substitutes were mixed, he further proved his ability to stand alone.

...

On May 22, all members of the Brazilian team flew to Malaysia and played a friendly match against the Malaysian team.

This was also the national team's last game before the World Cup. The main lineup had been determined beforehand, and everyone basically knew the head coach's ideas.

It was 4-3-3 when playing against a weak team and 5-2-2-1 when playing against a strong team.

The first three naturally had no changes. Ronaldo came forward, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo were half-forward and half-attacking midfielders. Anyway, the offense basically relied on the three of them plus Carlos or Cafu.

Then down, if it was 4-3-3, it was the four backs Carlos, Cafu, Lucio, Edmilson, two defensive midfielders Gilberto Silva, Emerson plus an offensive midfielder, and this offensive midfielder was Kaka or Juninho. As for who it was, it could be seen that Scolari was also very confused.

If it was 5-2-2-1, then Junior would play, forming a five-guard, and there would basically be no problems with Kaka and Juninho.

Malaysia was naturally not a strong team, so it played 4-3-3. Brazil led 2:0 in the first half, and then Kaka replaced Juninho at the beginning of the second half.

It could be said that both of them had their own advantages. Juninho was more experienced and had stronger command and control ability, while Kaka had stronger individual combat ability and an unbelievably sharp impact. But in this way, Kaka's positioning overlapped a bit with Ronaldinho, so Kaka should still be on the bench after the official start of the match.

Kaka showed his characteristics to the fullest as soon as he came on the field.

The Malaysians looked at Kaka's youth and only regarded him as an ordinary newcomer who was put in for training and didn't pay much attention to him. As a result, Kaka went straight to the heart of the battle as soon as he got the ball and completed a long shot from a tricky angle on the penalty area line. Although the shot missed the crossbar and flew out, it still shook the mountain and shocked the tiger, scaring the Malaysians into a cold sweat.

Malaysia had the ball, and they used the goal kick from the goalkeeper to launch a good offensive. After three consecutive long passes, they passed the ball to the left baseline.

Carlos failed to block the opponent's cross from the bottom, and the Malaysian forward grabbed the ball in front of the goal and scored, turning the score into 2:1.

Scolari was very dissatisfied with this conceded goal. Everyone from Carlos to Lucio and Ceni seemed to feel his death gaze from the sidelines.

The Brazilian players on the field did not dare to neglect, and immediately launched a fierce attack after the game started again.

Kaka and Ronaldinho became the protagonists on the field. There was little cooperation between the two of them, but they used their personal abilities to mess up the Malaysian midfield.

In the 71st minute of the match, Kaka passed the ball to Carlos, who came up from the left. Carlos directly fired his trademark heavy shot, and the football flew straight into the net;

In the 79th minute of the match, Kaka and Ronaldinho came to the penalty area after a one-two and sent Ronaldo a through ball.

Ronaldo caught up with the football, passed the goalkeeper, and succeeded in pushing the ball into the empty goal.

In the 83rd minute of the match, Rivaldo's shot hit the goalpost. The rebounded football was cleared by the Malaysian defender and reached the midfield. Gilberto Silva grabbed the football and passed it to Cafu, who was advancing forward. Cafu dribbled the ball along the right, passed two opposing defensive players, and then passed the ball across the middle.

Ronaldinho passed the ball without looking at anyone, deceiving the defender and giving the ball to Kaka.

Kaka's fake shot passed, and he broke into the penalty area directly.

The Malaysians dared not look down upon this young man with a face full of collagen; two defenders immediately ran over.

Kaka didn't wait for them to get close and directly pushed the ball between them, and the man also flew past them.

It was too late for the two defenders to close the door. They couldn't even find a chance to commit a foul. They could only watch as Kaka flashed past.

Kaka caught up with the football and faced the last defender.

He didn't force it but passed it across to Ronaldo. Ronaldo didn't take credit and immediately knocked the ball behind the defender.

Kaka followed up with a light push, turning the score into 5:1.

This was not the final goal. In stoppage time, Rivaldo was fouled while dribbling the ball at the edge of the penalty area and fell to the ground. The referee awarded a direct free kick.

Ronaldinho stood in front of the penalty spot and hit a high-quality dipping shot.

The football was saved by the goalkeeper with one hand, but Kaka cleverly shot the ball into the net.

6:1.

Kaka made two passes and two shots in the half, and the light even overshadowed Ronaldo, who had scored a hat-trick, making Scolari's determination waver again.

Kaka used a series of extraordinary personal performances to change his once-transparent destiny in the national team and successfully occupied a place in the national team that was still known as the strongest Brazilian team many years later.

(End of chapter)