Chapter 22: Who Will Wake Him Up

For the ancients, being talented and good-looking was probably the highest praise they could imagine for a person. Although the prestige of this description may pale slightly in comparison to lofty states like internal saintliness and external kingliness, if given a choice, people would undoubtedly wish for good looks and talent as their initial attributes. Cultivation, depth, demeanor, and refinement could be developed later.

While reality has taught us that wealth is the true victor in life, with multiple talents playing second fiddle to multiple millions, for the young and inexperienced, possessing both talent and good looks is the greatest truth and justice.

This is Kaka's current persona – possessing both the elegance of an idol and the overflowing talent of a true master, he's practically perfect, with no flaws.

Although he only shone briefly towards the end of the first half, his performance fading again in the second half under the opponent's tight defense, being substituted by Burgess with half an hour remaining, Kaka's popularity soared at an unprecedented rate after the match.

"There's no doubt Kaka performed exceptionally well, but he could be even better. The victory was mainly due to the team's efforts..."

"Deciding who starts depends on their form, um, about the tactics for this match..."

"Currently, we see him as a midfielder, but we're not ruling out playing him in other positions. Let's talk about that second-half substitution..."

On TV, the post-match press conference from the previous game was being replayed. The reporters asked only about Kaka, Kaka, Kaka, while Alvares tried to emphasize the team, team, team. The two sides engaged in a harmonious yet mismatched back-and-forth.

Kaka showed little interest in the news coverage, but the remaining three members of his family watched with relish.

"Kaka, you've really made it big this time. But I still think you should have kept dribbling, preferably taking on the goalkeeper like Ronaldo loves to do," said Rodrigo Izecson dos Santos Leite, Kaka's younger brother, a boy not yet sixteen but already catching up to Kaka's height of over six feet.

Following Brazilian tradition, Rodrigo had a shorter everyday nickname: Digão.

It was Digão who first called Kaka by that name, as he couldn't pronounce "Ricardo" properly as a child, instead babbling "Kaka." Now Digão could say Ricardo accurately, but everyone called his brother Kaka.

As the magazine World Soccer put it, "Little did they know that this brotherly nickname would become known worldwide just over a decade later."

Kaka and Digão shared a deep bond. When Kaka received his first paycheck, instead of getting himself a fancy car like other young players, he paid Digão's school fees first.

If history remained unchanged, Digão would also become a professional player. But without a system, he would have a tougher time, his most famous experience being signed by AC Milan as an investment in Kaka's motivation, earning a million Euro salary despite never playing for the first team. He later drifted through a few clubs without any notable achievements.

The kid did seem to have some fame, though, with over a thousand threads about him on online forums.

This was likely a classic case of a sibling being misled about their own talent by a more gifted brother, spending almost their entire career in Kaka's shadow, only gaining a chance at being a protagonist in fiction due to being Kaka's brother.

Not exactly a tragedy, but certainly underwhelming compared to expectations.

Digão played as a defender but was thoroughly outclassed by Kaka from a young age, clearly not cut out for the game. So Kaka didn't want him to continue down that path, but the decision ultimately rested on Digão's own desires, as it involved dreams, future prospects, and brotherly feelings – complicated matters not easily resolved with a few words. Their parents would likely need to step in, perhaps waiting for Digão to hit a wall first before intervening.

Of course, the parents were unaware of the evil brother's schemes to crush the innocent sibling's football dreams. They too weighed in on the shot.

Although an engineer and a teacher respectively, in a place like Brazil, not knowing a bit about football was unlivable.

"No, he should have passed. Continuing to dribble was too risky. Kaka needs space to break through. Even if he could get past one defender, he wouldn't have time to get past the keeper too. Luis was in the perfect position, already opening up an angle for a comfortable shot," said Bosco, advocating a safer approach, believing Digão's idea was too idealistic.

"But the facts have already proven it was best to shoot, that goal was so beautiful," countered Simone, representing the typical mother's view that her son was perfect in every way.

"No, no, no, that was a lucky shot. The ball almost grazed the post on its way in. If it had deviated slightly, it would have been wasted. Passing was the best option," Bosco shook his head sagely.

"Uh-huh, yeah, yeah," Kaka responded dismissively. He too had once enjoyed armchair criticism of players and coaches, but after experiencing the "Why don't you try it" mentality firsthand, he realized how ignorant he had been.

Bosco was dissatisfied with Kaka's attitude and was about to assert his patriarchal authority when Kaka signaled Digão and found an excuse to make his escape.

Having just played yesterday, Kaka avoided strenuous exercise today, instead practicing technique and regaining his touch at a local park. The next day's team training would also focus on recovery. To Kaka's surprise, Alvares didn't comment on his performance in the previous match.

It's worth mentioning that after coming on as a substitute, Burgess scored again, this time a spectacular side-volley just before the final whistle. Though his shooting technique was a bit ungainly, the difficulty was nearly maxed out.

This boosted Burgess's confidence to the brim. With the coach not assigning any particularly demanding training, the players enjoyed relative freedom today. Finding himself at loose ends, Burgess kept pestering Kaka with "challenges" and "one-on-ones", refusing to leave him in peace.

His tone was half-joking, half-serious, annoying but not quite irritating enough to be openly hostile.

Kaka frowned, while the other players observed from the sidelines.

One had scored four goals in three games, the other two in two – their efficiency was nearly equal. But in terms of overall performance... well, if choosing a teammate, most would vote for Kaka.

Not for any particular reason – he was just easier on the eyes and ears.

"Your competition is Luis, you should challenge him. Why are you always coming after me?" Kaka snapped in exasperation, trying to divert the storm eastward.

In the youth team, Kaka had been the substitute while Burgess was the starter. But in terms of overall attacking ability, Kaka was clearly superior. As for this "challenging" business, was it some kind of martial arts contest?

Probably because Kaka's performance in certain technical areas had noticeably declined recently, giving this little black guy the illusion that "I'm better than him now." So he responded naturally, "It's different, I feel like I've improved a lot lately..."

The three great illusions in life: your phone is vibrating, they're secretly in love with you, and you're better than them (more handsome, prettier, taller, whatever).

Kaka didn't understand this mentality, shaking his head helplessly.

"Whoever peed the darkest yellow, come wake this guy up... Diabetes is one thing, but being delusional is no good."

(end of chapter)