The Day I Played with Ronaldo

If Sao Paulo wants to gain some honor this season, Santos is a test paper they must face.

Can Sao Paulo capture this dark horse away? Ricardo has no certainty of victory. But he will do everything in his power to contain Santos' momentum.

"Gemini Showdown", this is the title used in the latest issue of "Scoreboard" when predicting the big battle between Santos and Sao Paulo.

Robinho and Diego are the twin stars of Santos. The 17-year-old Diego is a midfielder with imaginative passing and running. He also has the ability to score goals. He is equivalent to Kaka of Santos.

The 18-year-old Robinho is like Santos' Ricardo. Known for his technical pleasing to the eye, he is known as "New Bailey", "world-class dribbling master". But to put it bluntly, it is "fancy", too many flashy movements. But in Brazil, where defensive tactics are backward, his style of play is quite acceptable, even more popular than Ricardo's style of play.

The pair have combined for 16 goals for Santos in the national championships this season.

From the data point of view, it is not as good as the combination of Kaka and Licado. Kaka and Ricciardo have already combined for 27 goals for Sao Paulo in the national championship.

But the scoreboard says the gap is not as big as people think.

Although in the Sao Paulo State League in the first half of the year, Sao Paulo defeated Santos and won the state league championship, and they have won the last few games, showing a good competitive state.

But Santos sit on home court advantage, and their average age is only 22 years old, fitness prevails.

So in this twin star contest, it is very likely that Robinho and Diego will have the last laugh.

Ricardo just smiled lightly at this. He has absolute confidence that Robinho and Diego, the pair of twin stars who have risen rapidly but have never reached the ideal height, are definitely not as good as the twin stars of himself and Kaka.

Neither Robinho nor Diego developed ideally after landing in Europe. They have the characteristics of typical Brazilian players, with dexterous steps and skilled skills, playing pleasing art football, but it is difficult to adapt to pay more attention to defense, Tactics, discipline and movement of modern European football.

Robinho joined Real Madrid at a high price of 24 million euros in 2005. He wore the No. 10 jersey and had some outstanding performances, but he never met people's expectations for him. He was later bought by Manchester City for a Premier League transfer fee record of 42 million euros, becoming the bid king in 2008.

But in Manchester City, he gradually lost his main position, was loaned back to Santos, and then moved to the already declining AC Milan. Here he had a brief revival, helping AC Milan win a league championship, and quickly fell. Then I went to the Super League to pan for gold. In 2017, he was charged with rape by Italian prosecutors 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 team's midfielder for the next ten years. He moved to Porto in 2004, but failed to play, and then came to the Bundesliga Bremen. After several seasons of ups and downs, Finally adapted to European football, in 2009 he moved to Juventus for 24.5 million. But at Juventus, he failed to prove himself again, and his value fell off a cliff. Then moved to Wolfsburg and Atletico Madrid, Fenerbahce, completely lost everyone.

Such a "gemini star", the peak of his career is only the intercontinental level, why should he be compared with Kaka, why should he be compared with himself!

Kaka has won at least one "World Footballer" and a Golden Ball. This pair of "Gemini stars" is empty-handed.

As for myself? Ricardo is not sure whether 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 match, the entire São Paulo team took a bus to Santos, which is located in the southeast of São Paulo, in the same state of São Paulo.

The journey is about 100 kilometers,

After experiencing 20 kilometers of traffic jams in the city, what appeared in front of the players was a piece of beautiful green hills, one after another.

After passing through a lighting tunnel that is more than ten kilometers long, when the light is shining brightly in front of the eyes, what is imprinted in the eyes is the glimmering lake, which is as clear and soft as the autumn waves of a peerless beauty.

Even the most energetic players quiet down at this time, enjoying the scenery of the lake and mountains.

Santos is a small city with a population of only 400,000, but its white sandy beaches, resort hotels, and villa areas are comparable to those of Rio de Janeiro, and it has a cleanliness and coziness that Rio de Janeiro does not have.

However, the Sao Paulo players obviously didn't come here for vacation. After resting in the hotel for two hours, they couldn't wait to get involved in training to adapt to the venue.

Ricko, who has started several games in a row, seemed very active, kept telling jokes, and his mood was quite relaxed.

Ricardo had to remind him to train seriously, so as not to warm up in place and get injured during the game.

"It's okay," Riko said triumphantly, "Santos, how could it be our opponent."

"That's right," Fabiano interjected. "You haven't entered the first team in the first half of the year, so I don't know. We played them in the state league. The team is too young and immature."

The teammates seem to underestimate the enemy, which is not a good sign. But Ricardo couldn't say much, he wasn't the leader of the locker room. After all, 16 is too young. Although he has won the starting position and won the love and respect of his teammates with his performance, in the locker room, he is still a soft-spoken person.

Looking around at the Urbano Caldera Stadium, which can accommodate 200 million fans, Ricardo took a deep breath.

This is the place where legends were once witnessed. In 1964, in Santos' 11-0 victory over Botafogo, Pele scored 8 goals with his head and kicks in this stadium, creating a football myth.

It was also in this stadium that Pele held his farewell match, announcing the end of an era.

If there are no accidents, this stadium will witness the resurgence of Santos at the end of this year and the great revival of the Santos youth army.

But it was an accident.

I have come to this era, and I must bring something different to this era. Let's start by taking away this trophy from Santos.

"What are you thinking?" A hand rested on Licado's shoulder.

Ricardo turned his head, and Kaka showed him a shy smile.

Licado smiled and said, "I'm thinking about how this 'Gemini Star Showdown' that the media is hyping up will end."

Kaka raised his eyebrows: "Do you still need to ask, of course it ends with our victory."

"I think so too." Licado stretched out his arm, and Kaka grabbed his elbow and shook it vigorously.