Chapter 98: The Heaven-Defying Ball Sense

On May 6, 2002, the day when the Brazilian team announced its twenty-three-man squad for the World Cup. 

Kaka's reputation was not big enough for the coaching staff to call him in person, so he could only get the final answer through live TV like ordinary fans.

Kaka's friends gathered at his home again. Everyone was in front of the TV, nervously waiting for Scolari to announce the final result.

After rambling a lot, Scolari on the screen finally raised an open notebook in his hand. He could vaguely see some names listed on it, but the poor picture quality did not allow people to read it. Fortunately, his voice was clear enough for everyone to hear each name clearly.

"Ronaldo, Inter Milan." 

"Rivaldo, Barcelona."

...

"Kaka, Sao Paulo."

Everyone jumped up as if they had won a big prize, and the kind-hearted Kaka also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled like a child.

They all thought that the matter had been settled and Kaka's first World Cup was a foregone conclusion, but they all underestimated the media's ability to stir up trouble.

A player's defeat and Kaka's selection caused some controversy, but the controversy was not big. After all, it was the player who sought death first. Most people were happy that Scolari complied with the "fans' choice", but the absence of another name almost pushed Scolari to the opposition of the entire Brazil.

Romario.

Even though he was thirty-four years old, this lone wolf whose scoring rate could still make all the active strikers in Brazil call him daddy was so popular in Brazil that future fans will never imagine. Just after Scolari announced the final roster, hundreds of fans immediately gathered at the door to protest and demonstrate. Various media outlets criticized Scolari verbally, and even the president of Brazil personally came forward to intercede.

But Scolari was a tough guy and didn't care about anyone else. 

Then Kaka was pushed against many fans because after reporters read the list, they decided that the person to replace Romario was Kaka.

A forward, a midfielder, who knows how they came to this conclusion, this is probably the disadvantage of being too famous, everyone wants to touch him.

Kaka and Romario, twenty and thirty-four years old, rookie and legend, future and past. Scolari chose the former, but in the eyes of many people, the latter was the better choice.

Kaka guessed that if Romario was selected and he was not selected, the same group of people might come out to cause trouble.

Lest there be no chaos in the world.

This topic was very hotly debated in Brazil. Fortunately, although Romario had many fans, Kaka also had many fans. After a while, the two parties gradually died down. After all, whether it was the old Romario or the young Kaka, neither could be the protagonist of this World Cup.

So Kaka was very open-minded and had no psychological burden at all. No matter what was going on outside, he happily reported to the national team.

The training location this time was not in Brazil. All players would gather in Spain, train there for about half a month, and then fly to Malaysia for the final warm-up match, and finally leave for South Korea.

This Brazilian team was almost full of acquaintances. Except for the famous ones, the others had all been opponents even if they had never been teammates, so there was no problem of difficulty in integrating or bullying.

It is worth mentioning that thanks to Sao Paulo's outstanding results in the past two years, Ceni not only appeared on the squad but also wore a vest symbolizing the main player in the team's first training match.

Also affected by the Kaka butterfly effect was Oliveira. He moved from Portugal to Santos in the second half of last year and performed very well. In addition, he had the World Youth Championship and the goal in the friendly match against Iceland as chips to succeed. Squeezing out a player from the original timeline, he entered the twenty-three-man roster of the Brazilian national team. 

Of course, he was just a substitute.

The game was about to start, and Kaka was very excited. 

This was his first actual game since he gained his natural feel for the ball. Although it was only a training match, looking at the people standing opposite, he was still eager to try.

Ronaldo, Juninho, Emerson, Gilberto Silva, Cafu, Carlos, Edmilson, Lucio, Ceni, if nothing else, these eleven people were Brazil's main lineup for this World Cup.

As for the other side, Kleberson, Oliveira, Belletti, Vampeta, Denilson, Junior, Dida, etc., Kaka looked around and suddenly realized that if you only talk about fame and worth, he turned out to be the biggest player on the bench. Whether it was Dida who played for AC Milan or Vampeta who just transferred back to Corinthians from Inter Milan last year, etc., they were all one step behind him when he was in the spotlight.

"Although it is a training match, I hope everyone will adopt the attitude of a formal match. Of course, there can be no malicious actions..."

The guest referee was assistant coach Paul Tura, who blew the whistle after Scolari finished speaking.

The main team kicked off first.

Ronaldo passed to Rivaldo, Rivaldo passed to Ronaldinho, and then Ronaldinho took the ball forward.

Although his fame had not reached its peak now, he had matured enough in his personal skills and easily surpassed Oliveira and Kaka. However, when he faced Kleberson, he was too confident and was dispossessed by the latter. The ball was knocked away.

Ronaldinho hurried to chase the ball, but Kaka also arrived at the same time. He stepped and pulled lightly, and used a wonderful spin to snatch the ball from Ronaldinho, and at the same time successfully turned around to face the main team's half.

Kaka did not pass the ball after getting the ball but took it forward himself.

Not the iconic striding to the ball, but a very ordinary-looking high-speed dribbling. Although the speed was also very fast, the football was very close to the feet. The whole style was completely different from the Kaka that people know. 

The first defender Kaka encountered was Juninho.

Juninho was actually between the main player and the substitute because Scolari sometimes played five defenders, and the extra central defender replaced his midfielder, so he also worked hard in training matches.

But Kaka made a move that shocked everyone's jaws and almost knocked the veteran to the ground.

The ox's tail is wagging.

The outer instep and inner instep of the right foot touch the ball quickly one after another, completing two changes of direction in an instant. This is the so-called "ox tail".

Is it difficult to make an ox tail? 

For this group of players, it is not difficult, but only those who can use it in actual combat and achieve results are the best among them. Naturally, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were the best.

Their ox tails were different. Ronaldinho's ox tail moved faster and smaller, which was more suitable for getting rid of quickly when being pressed closely. However, Ronaldo's movements were wider and more entertaining, even from the front. Breakthroughs could also achieve good results.

Kaka's ox tail swing this time looked more like a combination of the two. Of course, it's not that he was so awesome that he combined the technical advantages of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to create a more powerful tail, but that his tail was more suitable for his body characteristics and technical style. In terms of visual effects, it looked fast, elegant and high-end.

I don't know if he was suppressed by Kaka's ox tail, but Gilberto Silva didn't come up to intercept him immediately, allowing Kaka to speed up a little and quickly enter the penalty area.

Lucio and Edmilson came together to fight, while Cafu ran towards Oliveira.

In Cafu's view, Kaka's only way to break through the defense of Lucio and Edmilson was to pass and receive with his teammates, but Kaka used an extremely simple left-right foot interaction to break his cognition.

The left and right feet touch the ball alternately, commonly known as fried balls. It is a difficult but absolutely practical passing movement. Kaka used it quickly and flexibly. The football seemed to be glued to his feet. After a flick and a dunk, he passed between two of the world's top defenders.

Only Ceni was left.

(End of chapter)