If São Paulo wants to gain some honors this season, Santos is a test paper they must face.
Can São Paulo capture this dark horse away? Ricardo has no assurance of victory. But he will do everything he can to curb the momentum of Santos.
"The Twin Stars Showdown", this is the title used in the latest issue of "Scoreboard" to predict the war between Santos and São Paulo.
Robinho and Diego are Santos' twins. 17-year-old Diego is a forward, full of imagination of passing and running, and also has the ability to shoot his own.
Robinho, 18, is like Ricardo of Santos. He is known for his technical delight, known as "New Bailey" and "world-class master of dribbling." But to put it bluntly, it is "fancy", too many flashy moves. But in Brazil, where his defensive tactics are lagging behind, his playing style is quite open and even more popular than Ricardo's.
The two scored 16 goals for Santos in the national championship this season.
数据 From the data point of view, it is not as good as the combination of Kaka and Rika. Kaka and Ricardo have contributed 27 goals for São Paulo in the national championships.
However, the scoreboard said that the gap was not as large as people think.
Although in the first half of the Sao Paulo State League, Sao Paulo defeated Santos and won the state league championship, and has won in recent games, showing a good competitive status.
But Santos has a home court advantage, and their average age is only 22 years old, and physical fitness has the upper hand.
So in this Gemini contest, it is likely that Robinho and Diego laughed to the end.
Ricardo just smiled slightly. He has absolute confidence that the rapid rise of Robinho and Diego, which have never reached their ideal heights, is definitely not as good as the twins of themselves and Kaka.
Robinho and Diego's development after landing in Europe is not ideal. They have the characteristics of typical Brazilian players, have dexterous steps and skilled skills, play pleasing artistic football, but have difficulty adapting to pay more attention to defense, Tactics, discipline and running European modern football.
比 Robinho joined Real Madrid in 2005 at a high price of 24 million euros, wearing a No. 10 jersey, and had a high-gloss performance, but never met people's expectations for him. It was subsequently bought by Manchester City for a record 42 million Euros in a Premier League transfer fee and became the king of 2008.
But in Manchester City, he gradually lost his main position, was loaned back to Santos, and then passed around the already declining AC Milan, where he had a short period of revival, helping AC Milan to win a league title, and quickly fell again. Then went to the Super League to rush for gold. In 2017, the Italian prosecutor was charged with a crime and sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Diego's growth trajectory is not so tortuous. He is considered to be the core of the Brazilian midfielder in the next ten years. He moved to Porto in 2004, but did not play out. Then he came to Bremen, Bundesliga, and experienced ups and downs for several seasons. Finally adapted to European football, transferred to Juventus for 24.5 million in 2009. However, in Juventus, he failed to prove himself again, his value fell sharply. After moving through Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid, Fenerbahce was completely shocked.
Such a "Gemini", the highest peak of his career is just an intercontinental level. Why is it comparable to Kaka, and why is it comparable to itself!
Kaka also had at least one "Mr. World Football" and a golden ball. This pair of "Geminis" is empty-handed.
As for myself? Ricardo is not sure if he can become a world-class star, but it should be no problem to reach the peak of the intercontinental level.
On the day of the game, the entire team of São Paulo took a bus to the same state of São Paulo in the morning, in Santos, southeast of São Paulo.
The journey is about 100 kilometers. After experiencing 20 kilometers of congested city traffic, what appears to the players is a beautiful green hills, one after another.
I walked through a section of more than ten kilometers of light tunnel, and when the light was shining in front of my eyes, I saw the light of the lake in my eyes, clear and soft like the waves of a peerless beauty.
Even the most energetic players are quiet at this time and enjoy the lake and mountains.
Santos is a small city with a population of only 400,000, but the white sandy beaches, resort hotels, and villa areas are comparable to Rio de Janeiro, and it has the purity and comfort that Rio de Janeiro does not have.
However, São Paulo's players obviously didn't come here for vacation. After two hours of rest in the hotel, they couldn't wait to get used to the training in the field.
瑞 Rike, who has been starting for several consecutive games, seems quite active. He keeps telling jokes and is quite relaxed.
卡 Ricardo had to remind him to train carefully to avoid getting warmed up and getting injured during the game.
"It's okay," said Riko proudly. "Well, Santos, how could it be our opponent."
"It's just Fabiano interface said," You didn't enter the first team in the first half of the year, so it's unclear, we played them in the state league. That team is too young and immature. "
My teammates seem to be a bit undervalued, which is not a good sign. But Ricardo couldn't say much, and he was not the locker room leader. The 16-year-old is too young after all. Although he has won the starting position and gained the love and respect of his teammates with his performance, he is still understated in the locker room.
Looking around at the Urbano Caldera stadium, which can accommodate 20 million fans, Ricardo took a deep breath.
Here is the place that once witnessed the legend. The king of the ball, Bailey, in 1964, in Santos' 1-0 victory over Botafogo, kicked eight goals in this stadium, setting a football myth.
It is also at this stadium that the ball king Bailey held his farewell match, announcing the end of an era.
If there are no accidents, this stadium will witness the rise of Santos again at the end of this year and witness the great revival of the Santos Youth Army.
I was an accident myself.
I came to this era by myself, and I must bring something different to this era. Let's start by taking this trophy from Santos.
"What are you thinking?" A hand rested on Ricardo's shoulder.
Ricardo turned back and Kaka gave him a sloppy smile.
卡 Ricardo laughed: "I'm thinking about the ending of this 'Gemini Showdown' that the media has been hyping."
Kaka raised her eyebrows: "Do you still have to ask, of course, our victory is the end."
"I think so too." Ricardo extended his arm, and Kaka grabbed under his elbow and shook it hard.