Chapter 85: Grenade

Although many people did not see the whole process of the first goal, everyone knows that São Paulo will not be satisfied with just winning one goal, and there will definitely be more attacks to come.

The Botafogo players were also a little nervous, but the head coach did not order a change in tactics, so they could only attack fiercely as planned before the game. 

And to be honest, they can't afford to lose by hiding in front of the home fans.

So based on the principle of waiting to die rather than committing suicide, they set up an attacking formation with the encouragement of more than 40,000 fans at home, and it seemed to have achieved good results. They almost broke through the gate guarded by Ceni at the beginning of the game. If it's not that the striker's finishing kick was substandard, maybe São Paulo would have been tied as soon as they took the lead.

Ceni was disappointed with the performance of the defenders and shouted a few words at the two central defenders, Belletti and Lugano, before kicking the ball away.

Kaka caught the ball in the midfield, but the stop of the ball was a bit... I can't say bad, it was relatively average. Anyway, he couldn't stop the ball cleanly. He just barely controlled the ball, and then passed it back to Baptista who came up from behind.

Baptista pretended to knock the ball back to Kaka, but the moment his right foot was about to touch the ball, he suddenly dribbled, burst past the defender, and then took the ball from the center.

Kaka quickly pulled to the wing and ran with him. After a consecutive one-two, Baptista came to the front of the penalty area.

Botafogo's front line was too forward, giving Baptista space to shoot. Without any hesitation, he gently moved the ball forward, took two steps, and then shot furiously.

Kaka could clearly hear a "bang" sound from the side, and the football flew towards the left side of the goal as if it was about to be kicked by him.

The goalkeeper reacted quickly and immediately dived sideways, hitting the football accurately with both hands. However, the force of the kick was too great, and he failed to catch the ball and instead let it go.

The goalkeeper immediately jumped up, preparing to pounce on the ball again, but Fabiano in front of the goal nimbly reached the goal and tipped the ball into the net with his toes.

"GOAL!!! Baptista and Kaka launched a long shot after continuous cooperation. The goalkeeper hit the football, but failed to confiscate the ball. Luis Fabiano made a supplementary shot and scored! This is the game in the seventh minute! The São Paulo team completed two attacks and scored two goals! Is this really the same São Paulo team that conceded seven goals at the Morumbi Stadium? How many goals will they score in this game? Eight? Nine? Ten? This is the Martin Stadium, and 40,000 fans are watching them..."

Fabiano ran towards Baptista, pointed at him, and then jumped up. Baptista quickly hugged him, and the two of them walked to the sidelines in a very eye-catching posture...

This goal did not frighten Botafogo. Instead, it inspired their passion. Even the two full-backs came out, causing a lot of trouble for the São Paulo team, and São Paulo failed to take advantage of them. The defense was empty again, and the two sides played lively. The number of shots and breakthroughs increased, but the score did not change.

At the end of the first half, São Paulo took a throw-in in the frontcourt. Aruka picked up the ball and was about to serve it quickly when Baptista suddenly shouted and came over.

"I'll do it."

Aluka shrugged and threw the ball to him.

Baptista took the football and walked a few more steps outside the court before turning around, holding the ball high with both hands above his head, and took several steps to run. When he was about to step on the sideline, he suddenly stood still and kicked fiercely, throwing the ball into the court.

Among the specific rules for serving sideline balls, in addition to the well-known fact that both hands must be raised above the head, the most important one is that both feet must be close to the ground—even the heels cannot be separated.

Under this rule, the server can only rely on the strength of his arms and upper body to complete the serve. It is difficult to throw the ball very far. Only some real strong men can turn the side ball into a grenade.

From now on, Baptista will be nicknamed The Beast, so you can imagine what kind of physique he has.

Kaka and Fabiano ran quickly towards the penalty area when Baptista went to serve. The Botafogo players who were guarding them quickly chased after them, but before they could catch up, Baptista's super-long throw-in flew over.

He was looking for Kaka's location.

Kaka braked suddenly, turned around, jumped high, and headed the football.

The goalkeeper thought he was going to shoot, so he ran in front of him and also jumped.

But Kaka tilted his head slightly and flicked the ball to Fabiano.

Fabiano accepted the gift and scored the ball easily.

3:0.

He pointed at Kaka and walked towards Kaka.

Kaka was startled. Before he jumped up, he raised his hands and slapped his four palms hard in the air.

As soon as Kaka praised his wit, Baptista suddenly rushed over and jumped on his back...

The whole Martin Stadium suddenly became eerily silent.

Of course, no matter how quiet a crowd of tens of thousands of people is, it will never be truly quiet, but what the audience in front of the TV felt was a strange atmosphere as if everyone had their mouths tightly covered.

At the end of the first half, Alvarez praised the performance of his players.

He knew that the fighting spirit of the team members was very high, and he also knew that the hope of victory in this game was high. Naturally, he also fantasized about winning by a big score to get revenge, but now, the fantasy seemed to be showing signs of becoming reality.

However, as happy as he is happy, he still needs to pay attention. He solemnly reminded offensive players such as Kaka and Fabiano to protect themselves.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.

The indecision among the Botafogo people is palpable.

On the one hand, he wanted to score a goal to save face, but on the other hand, he was afraid that the score gap would widen further and the loss of face would be even greater.

Compared to them, the São Paulo team is much simpler.

We will never withdraw our troops until we win seven goals against them.

Except for Ricardinho, all the eleven players in São Paulo's field were the main players from the last time the two sides faced each other. The memory of that shame is too deep.

Such a stain can only be washed away with a brilliant victory.

But it was Botafogo who posed the first threat in the second half.

Baptista made a low-level mistake. He did not play the ball immediately after stealing the ball. Instead, he planned to dribble the ball forward again. As a result, the opponent snatched it back and immediately launched a sharp counterattack.

Belletti and Lugano cursed secretly and rushed to block it.

The forward of Botafogo looked up and found that there was no teammate in front of him. He was about to take the ball back and let the midfielder reorganize the attack, but he saw that Ceni was standing very high.

He had an idea and lobbed the ball directly towards São Paulo's goal.

Ceni uttered a version of "Fuck" in his heart and ran back quickly, but was still a step too late, and the football flew over his head.

"No progress, no progress, no progress..."

As if hearing Ceni's prayer, a "duang" sound came.

Thank god the crossbar!

(End of chapter)