Chapter 155: The match video goes public, triggering discussions across the network.
Alberto is a die-hard fan of the Brazilian national team. Like many Brazilians, since childhood, he loves football and firmly supports his national team.
The Confederations Cup this year is held in Brazil, naturally attracting the attention and discussion of countless Brazilians.
As a faithful follower of the Brazilian national team, Alberto never misses a single match. If there's a Brazilian national team match, he'll be there to watch it in person.
Before the last group stage match of the Confederations Cup between Brazil and Italy, Alberto, as usual, arrived early at the stadium and sat in his seat.
There was still some time before the match started, so he took out his phone and started browsing social media to see the latest news about the players and public figures he follows.
The topic of who is better between Neymar and Lin Quan has been attracting increasing attention and discussions online.
Brazilian fans naturally side with Neymar, considering him superior.
While most European fans support Lin Quan, believing that he is better.
As a Brazilian fan, Alberto has always been attentive to Neymar's performance.
So he has full confidence in Neymar's ability!
What kind of new Spanish star is this? Can he match Neymar?
He's not even worthy to tie Neymar's shoelaces.
With this thought, Alberto left a comment in the discussion:
"Haha, the Spanish should learn more skills before boasting. Only when they can perform bicycle kicks, bull's tail dribbles, and feints on the field like Neymar, they can compare themselves to him!"
Alberto hasn't watched Lin Quan's matches, but he's heard others say that he has no skills, so he looks down on Lin Quan a bit.
This viewpoint is quite popular in Brazil.
Brazilian players have refined technique and are creative on the field.
While European players value discipline and have fewer tricks, they seem like robots and lack distinctive features.
This style of play is not appreciated by Brazilians.
After leaving his comment, Alberto found a video.
It was a video recorded by a tourist on the beach with their mobile phone.
The video showed a group of people playing a beach football match.
This sport is common in Brazil, where Brazilians love to carry a football even when they're enjoying the sun on the beach and play an impromptu match.
At first, Alberto wasn't very interested in this type of video; he just opened it at random.
But when he discovered that those playing beach football were Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, he was immediately drawn to the video.
Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, one called the alien and the other known as the field elf, are very popular among Brazilian fans.
They once played together to win the World Cup for Brazil, and that generation of Brazil is also known as the strongest national team in history.
Thinking of this, Alberto couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic in his heart.
He thought that with the presence of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, the team they're on should win easily.
But after seeing the final score, Alberto was stunned:
3-2, the team with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho unexpectedly lost.
How is this possible?
Was the other team made up of professional players?
So, he patiently watched the full video, and after watching it, Alberto was amazed:
Did this young player on the other side really dare to use the bull's tail dribble and the feint in front of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho?
And he succeeded!
Wait, why does this guy look familiar to me?
Where have I seen him before?
Oh! This is the Spanish winger who is as famous as Neymar in the Spanish team!
How is it possible that he can also do the feint and the bull's tail dribble?
Remembering the comment he made online earlier, Alberto felt as if he had been slapped in the face, a burning sensation on his cheeks...
Alberto wasn't the only one who discovered this video. Due to him tagging Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Lin Quan, this video received a large number of views and shares.
The number of views on the video quickly exceeded one million and even ten million, and it spread rapidly from South America to Europe, attracting the attention of more people.
"Damn, is this Lin King? This bull's tail dribble is incredible!"
"Haha, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are perplexed. Who would have thought that the bull's tail dribble could be used in this way?"
"Lin King's feint is also great."
"Haha, now those who said Lin King couldn't do the bull's tail dribble and other skills are feeling a slap in the face?"
"I really didn't expect that Lin King could do so many things, but why haven't we seen him use these skills in a match?"
"Because he has even better dribbling skills, right? In the end, isn't it all about helping the player to get past the defender?"
Lin Quan doesn't even need to use these moves to achieve this, why bother using these skills?"
With the continued spread of this video, Lin Quan's popularity keeps increasing.
Several sponsors approached Pérez, wanting Lin Quan to be the ambassador of their brands.
...
"Neymar, do you see this?"
Inside the Brazilian team's locker room, Neymar's teammate handed him his iPad, on which the beach football match between Lin Quan and Ronaldo and Ronaldinho was playing.
"What are you watching?"
Neymar received curiously the tablet and took a look; his gaze immediately froze!
It seems I underestimated him, this guy is much more skilled than I imagined! But no matter, I'll show in the upcoming matches who is the standout player in this Confederations Cup!
Half an hour later, the match between Brazil and Italy began.
In this match, Neymar showed an exceptionally serious attitude and an extremely active performance on the field.
Not only did he frequently take the ball into the opposing area, but he also retreated to the border of his own area to defend when Italy launched attacks.
He even received a yellow card for excessive defensive fouling.
This active attitude immediately caught the attention of fans in the stadium and the Brazilian coaching staff.
"Is Neymar motivated today? Why is he so active?" Scolari curiously asked his assistant beside him. In just twenty minutes, he had already seen Neymar participate several times in the team's defense.
This used to be rare!
"I'm not sure, maybe he was provoked by that Spanish kid?" The assistants didn't know what was going on either, so they could only guess.
Neymar was often compared to Lin Quan on the outside, maybe that provoked this change in Neymar.
"Haha, if that's really the case, maybe it's something good for both!"
Scolari said with a smile.
Extremely talented young superstars like Neymar, because of their outstanding performance among their peers, often develop an arrogant and haughty attitude.
This attitude will undoubtedly hinder their progress.
If they can realize that there are more powerful opponents, change this bad habit, and become more active and enterprising, then it would be a good thing for both the player himself and Brazilian football as a whole.
In the stands, Joseph Mingreia, an experienced Barcelona talent scout, after seeing Neymar's attitude on the field, nodded satisfactorily and said to the Barcelona sporting director, Markel Zubizarreta, beside him:
"We made a great signing. Neymar has top-level talent and skills; his arrival will definitely help the team a lot!"
With Messi at his peak and Neymar as a new star, Barcelona could consider reclaiming the Champions League that has eluded them for so long next season!
Upon hearing this, Zubizarreta was extremely surprised and instinctively asked:
"So, who do you think is better between Neymar and Lin Quan?"
Letting go of Lin Quan was destined to become an indelible stain on him and Rosell.
And as Lin Quan became stronger on the field, the pressure on both naturally increased.
Therefore, Zubizarreta longed more than anyone for Neymar to completely suppress Lin Quan.
So, he might even support Brazil to win, directly abandoning his own homeland, Spain!
Mingreia frowned slightly, apparently not liking people comparing Neymar to Lin Quan.
But given the current performance of both, Mingreia said sincerely:
"Lin Quan is stronger, but if Neymar partners with Messi, maybe they can achieve a one-plus-one effect greater than two!"
Zubizarreta only heard the first half of the sentence, and his face suddenly became very ugly.
...
On the field, Neymar, who was showing an active attitude, finally had his reward near the end of the first half.
In the 45th minute of the first half, Neymar took a free kick, assisting his teammate Dante to score a goal.
Brazil temporarily leads 1-0.
Although Neymar did not score this goal by himself, it was he who made the assist, and it was also he who created this free-kick opportunity.
In the second half, after the break, taking advantage of a free-kick opportunity, Italy managed to equalize the score with a goal from Giaccherini.
After equalizing the score, Italy's defense became more solid, and the power of the counterattack began to manifest.
Seeing that the match was about to become tense, Neymar stood out again.
He seized another free-kick opportunity to beat Buffon, directly scoring and changing the score to 2-1.
After this goal, Neymar achieved the accomplishment of scoring in three consecutive matches, becoming the first player in this Confederations Cup to achieve this feat.
And in the top scorer table, he also tied with Lin Quan with three goals, sharing the first place.
After Neymar scored, Brazilian fans fell into a frenzy of celebration.
In the stadium, more than seventy thousand fans chanted Neymar's name in unison, as if they were crowning him king right then and there!
Since Ronaldo's retirement and Ronaldinho's disappearance from the major leagues, and after Kaká lost his peak due to injuries, the shining Brazilian team has gradually lost its luster.
Although they still have many star players playing in the major leagues, they lack a higher-level superstar like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
For the football kingdom, Brazil, this is unacceptable and intolerable!
At this moment, Neymar's emergence gave them hope. Therefore, countless Brazilian fans pinned their hopes on Neymar.
They hope Neymar can lead Brazil back to the top and reclaim the championship throne that belongs to them.
Alberto, like other Brazilian fans, was excited. He shouted so much that he almost lost his voice, and his hands were red from applauding.
After calming down a bit, he couldn't help but think: How would that Spanish kid behave against the Italian team?
In a box at the stadium, the Spanish players who came to watch the match, after seeing Neymar's performance on the field, began to comment.
"This guy seems to be very good!" "No wonder Barcelona spent 57 million euros to buy him; he has some talent!"
Previously, they didn't pay much attention to Brazil's matches, but the result of the match between Brazil and Italy would directly decide who their next opponent would be.
Therefore, the Spanish team had to pay attention.
Even if they hadn't seen Neymar's previous matches, just with this match, they could see his talent and skill.
His style of play was very spectacular, full of overflowing imagination, typical of the playing style of a South American player.
But compared to those South American players who are just for show, his playing style, although spectacular, was lethal.
The reason Italy found themselves at a disadvantage in the scoreline was largely related to Neymar.
"Can Italy equalize?" "I don't know, they have that crazy Balotelli on their team. If he gets going, no one can stop him, but if he's not in form, he really has no effect."
David Silva, who had been Balotelli's teammate for a while, couldn't help but mock.
Balotelli had exceptional talent, with first-class technical and physical skills.
But he was just lacking a smart brain!
If only his head were a little more level, his achievements in football would definitely surpass his current level.
Hardly had David Silva finished speaking, Balotelli fell in Brazil's penalty area and the main referee saw the foul, immediately blowing his whistle.
But the moment the referee blew the whistle, Giorgio Chiellini followed the ball and put it into the net.
The referee was momentarily stunned, still not sure how to qualify that goal.
Balotelli had already jumped up from the ground and, excitedly, took off his shirt and ran to celebrate.
Finally, the referee decided that the goal was valid.
This decision left the Brazilian team very dissatisfied. Their goalkeeper, César, said he hadn't acted because he had heard the referee's whistle.
So, that goal shouldn't count!
But the referee felt that, at the moment he blew the whistle, Chiellini's shot was already in motion, so he decided the goal should count.
Boos from Brazilian fans echoed in the stadium, and Brazilian players were very agitated, protesting against the referee for a long time.
Although there was controversy, the referee did not change his decision, and the match continued.
Leading twice and being equalized twice, Brazil's momentum was thought to receive a blow.
But unexpectedly, the furious Brazil scored two more goals in the next five minutes, changing the score to 4-2.
Now, Italy was completely powerless.
Finally, the match ended with Brazil winning 4-2, with three victories in three matches and qualifying for the semifinals as group leaders.
Italy, second in the group, would face Spain in the semifinals.
The highly anticipated showdown between Spain and Brazil will have to wait until the final to take place!
(END of chapter)
Thanks for all the support friends. Go to my Patreon to read the chapters in