Chapter 3 Highlights and aftermath of last season

On June 6, the second day of International Children's Day, the weather in the northern suburbs of Milan was very cool and pleasant in the morning, especially suitable for sports!

After stretching, jogging, and strength and flexibility training, Ricardo began to practice with the ball. While dribbling the ball, he regretted: "I went to catch Andre at 7:7 and he ran away. He said he had a client meeting in the morning? He was out before 8 o'clock and had a meeting before o'clock? Who would believe that?"

"He must have discovered my intention last night... I was thinking about his own good. Being abused is to become stronger... You see, I have been abused by Ronaldinho's father and Eto'o's father for most of the season, and I never get tired of it, do I?"

Suddenly, he dribbled the ball, turned around, put his hands in a bow posture, raised his right leg and controlled the strength, and volleyed the ball with the instep. The black and white elf seemed to be hit by the whip of God, and turned into a black and white lightning, hitting the small goal of the three-person field 10 meters away with incredible speed and accuracy.

(Voiceover: The small gate for a 3-person field is about 2 footballs wide and 1.5 footballs high)

Ricardo made a yeah gesture, looking handsome and in good shape!

Unfortunately, the ball went through the hole in the net and went into the bushes not far away... Ricardo was only handsome for 3 seconds and had to jump into the bushes to pick up the ball.

After picking up the ball, Ricardo thought: "Is it time to hire a professional private coach? Can he help me improve and maintain my condition during the off-season or intermission? Can he also guide me to do extra training during the game period? Mainly, he can also help me pick up the ball, which can improve efficiency, right?"

"I usually have this training plan. I learned some training methods for strength, flexibility and flexibility from my rugby coach when I went to the United States to study during the summer vacation a few years ago. I also combined it with the ball training from my club coach. I think the whole training plan is perfect!"

But I still feel a little guilty, after all, I haven't been tested and evaluated by a formal scientific training system: "Well, after the World Youth Championship, I'll have to trouble Lapang to find someone for me."

(La Pang? Yes, that’s Ricardo’s agent)

Ricardo started dribbling the ball again, but this time he connected it with a push shot with his left foot. It wasn't so cool and handsome, but simple and accurate. This left-foot push shot was also the only way Ricardo scored a goal last season.

Yes, it wasn't some unstoppable violent volley or a stunning overhead kick as imagined, but a simple shot with the inside of his left foot, which accurately avoided the tackle of the backup player and the goalkeeper's diving save, and hit the far corner of the goal at a low 10-point angle...

Whenever he thinks of it, Ricardo still reminisces about the goal he scored against Villarreal in the penultimate round of last season. It was a goal that reversed the score when Ricardo, who had just come on as a substitute in the second half, received a cross from Ronaldinho's father and shot the ball from the edge of the penalty area with a calmness that didn't look like a young player.

Although the final result was a 3-3 draw, Barcelona had already won the championship in advance, so who cares about the result?

If the full score is 10, Ricardo thinks his performance in that game can be rated more than 8 points. Although Ricardo played for less than 30 minutes, he made almost no mistakes and scored a goal, which was the first goal in his career! Although Ricardo entered Inter Milan's first team training in the 1-03 season, except for a few injury time substitutions during the Cooper era, Ricardo did not get any statistics.

"Ronaldinho is the father on the court. He is so amazing. He attracts most of the defense and then feeds the ball like a nanny!" After recalling the goal, Ricardo also recalled the other two assists...

The two assists were given to the Swedish striker Henrik Larsson, who is getting better with age. There is no way around it, as both of them are destined to be substitutes. Larsson is still a regular substitute, while Ricardo is the last-ranked substitute among substitutes, and most of the time he gets a chance to play is with the substitutes.

The first assist came in the last 5 minutes of the first Copa del Rey match against Gramanet of Segunda B, as Barcelona were unable to score.

The head coach might be thinking that it is not worth trying so hard in the useless cup game. It is also good to focus on the league and Champions League after being eliminated. It is a good opportunity to replace the main player Xiaobai to rest and avoid injury. So Ricardo, who was actively warming up and sweating on the sidelines, had less than 10 minutes of performance time!

Less than 5 minutes after coming on the pitch, he received a long pass from Xavi and passed it to the side. Ricardo stopped the ball and made a short pass with Messi who was nearby to make it 2-0... Yes, the ball didn't go through any defensive players. The two little students just got closer to each other and kicked their feet, just a little closer to the top of the gourd.

But the position of the two young men's back-pass was crucial, right at the corner of the penalty area. Although the penalty area and the top of the penalty area were crowded with people, there was still some space in the corner... and this excessive back-pass gave Ricardo and Messi time to adjust, observe and think.

When the ball returned to Ricardo's feet, after an eye contact, Messi suddenly started to accelerate towards the baseline, ready to receive Ricardo's overhead pass and then go down to the bottom line!

Messi took away two defenders with his move, and the full-back and right center back were ready to follow. Ricardo looked at the defenders and wondered if they were so agile. Messi was going to fight two alone? His small body probably couldn't do that.

Ricardo's raised foot fell back down; at this moment, Ricardo felt as if time had stopped. He could clearly see Larsson's diagonal run, Giuly at the top of the pitch spreading his hands to ask for the ball, Xavi who had just passed the ball to the far end, and even the expressions and postures of Marcos and others who followed behind... and the white front teeth and hips of the opponent's midfielder who was about to press forward...

There it is! Ricardo used the arch of his right foot that had just been lowered to push the ball gently, and the ball just passed through the crotch of the opponent's midfielder who was trying to steal the ball... Because his vision was blocked by his own midfielder, the other defensive central defender didn't see the slow ball slipping past his feet. In just this short distance, the ball passed through a hole, passed over a hairy leg, and just met Larsson who was running diagonally in the corner of the small penalty area. Then Larsson pushed the ball into the near corner with his right foot, and the goalkeeper who was halfway out performed a big monkey split but still couldn't reach the ball...

Messi may never know that in another time and space, the only club Messi has never won in Spain was won by his new best friend Ricardo. But Ricardo doesn't care: "I'm not the kind of person who repays favors. It's nice to have an assist."

Unbelievable, right? Messi has faced 85 clubs in his career at Barcelona and defeated 84 of them, with the only exception being Gramanet. In the original history, this small club was relegated to the sixth tier after winning the game 1-0 in extra time. So Messi never had a chance to take revenge. It was a real hit-and-run, so exciting!

Another assist came in the last round of the league, in an away game against Real Sociedad. Ricardo, who came on as a substitute in the second half, took a corner kick, which accurately bypassed the goalkeeper and found Larsson who was lurking in the corner of the small penalty area at the far end of the goal. The latter scored with a header, bringing a perfect end to last season.

Ricardo thought about his own noble character: "Well, next season I have to talk to Larsson alone, show off my achievements, try to get close to him, and next time I can pass the ball back to him to increase my goal stats."

After finishing his approximately 2-hour football training class, Ricardo took a shower, had breakfast, and then set the alarm clock. Ricardo wanted to take a nap as he had an appointment with his uncle for lunch at noon, and then he had to go to UBS to do some work after lunch.

The need to take a nap after intense exercise or high-energy activities is one of the aftereffects of Ricardo combining the memories of old Richie from the future.

According to Ricardo's analysis combined with old Li Qi's knowledge system, the aphasia period that occurred at that time should be a self-protection of the brain from overloading information. During that one year, the brain slowly integrated the memory and information systems of two different life sources, constantly reconstructed key elements such as neurons and gray matter in the brain, retained the information that the brain considered useful, and temporarily blocked the information that might be useless or unnecessary.

So in this extremely complicated process, Ricardo is like a child with dementia or a computer crash. He has a dull perception of his surroundings and only retains the most basic life instincts, and aphasia is only the most obvious form of manifestation.

After the aphasia period, Ricardo also developed some sequelae, such as being unable to stay up late or sleep for long periods of time. When he stayed up late, similar to the intense exercise or high-energy activities mentioned above, Ricardo would appear particularly tired, and soon he would have a severe headache, accompanied by some stress-induced twitching of his hands and feet. In more serious cases, he would faint, and Ricardo was even sent to the emergency room for rescue.

The doctor concluded that the brain is prone to fatigue. When the brain is overly fatigued, it will automatically shut down and start protection. The solution is to pay attention to rest and drink more hot water... No, it is recommended to take a proper sleep or rest after intense exercise or high-energy activities. One to two hours is enough.

In addition, Ricardo wanted to try to see if he could rest for a long time and extend the brain's standby time, and then he discovered the problem. Ricardo found that he would wake up very easily after sleeping for more than 6 hours; if he took medicine to force himself to sleep, sleeping for more than 8 hours would cause Ricardo to have dry mouth, dehydration, and gastrointestinal cramps.

The doctor explained that when Ricardo was sleeping, his brain was also actively active at the subconscious level, constantly consuming nutrients and water. If he did not replenish water and eat to replenish energy in time, Ricardo would become dehydrated or even go into shock during sleep. The solution is proper sleep and good living habits...

Therefore, over time, Ricardo has developed a good habit of going to bed early and getting up early, taking a regular lunch break and taking a nap occasionally. Ricardo has tried it himself and found that taking a nap for about an hour before an intense race can ensure that he can maintain a good condition during the high-intensity competition of about 1 hours and the recovery period of about 3 hours after the race. In other words, charging for 2 hour can last for 1 hours without any problem.

(Voiceover: If Ricardo does not engage in high-consumption activities, he is not much different from a normal person, and his battery life can reach about 10 hours...)

In addition to not being able to stay up late and sleep for long periods of time, there are some other sequelae, such as not being able to drink alcohol. This is not alcoholism, but really not being able to drink alcohol. Ricardo has personally experienced many times that a little bit of alcohol is enough to make his face flush and his heart beat faster; a little more alcohol will give him a splitting headache, hallucinations, and even difficulty distinguishing between reality and illusion, and a little more alcohol will cause blackouts and fainting.

Well, some people say that this is the normal order of drunkenness, and the key is not the manifestation, but the little amount. How much is this little amount?

In the first stage, Ricardo discovered it when he went to eat Taiwanese food with his mother. He ate a dish called Three Cup Chicken and soaked the rice with a little chicken sauce; the dish contains a small amount of cooking wine.

In the second stage, Ricardo discovered it after he attended a dinner party with his father and drank half a glass of blue cocktail (I think it was called Blue Hawaii); poor Ricardo thought it was just juice at the time, and he was thirsty, so something went wrong after he took two big sips.

The third stage was a prank by the elder brother Andre. Knowing that his younger brother Ricardo could not drink, he wanted his younger brother Ricardo to "leave some precious and memorable moments" at his junior high school graduation ceremony, so he added some Chinese liquor into his brother's drink cup (Andre also heard from his father that the liquor was very strong).

Then Ricardo didn't make it to the graduation ceremony. The speeches and awards to outstanding graduates that were scheduled were all given to Andre, while Ricardo went straight to the hospital and stayed there for a day...

The doctor's explanation was that it was a congenital severe allergy to alcohol, and the solution was simple: quit drinking.

…………

After about an hour, Ricardo woke up and quickly packed up and prepared to go out!

Shave your beard, change into a black suit with dark blue patterns, a white shirt, a thin sapphire blue tie, a four-in-hand knot, black socks, black British-style pointed leather shoes, and a pair of cool sunglasses.

It’s so cool!

Ricardo hesitated before leaving the house: "Which car should I drive? Choose one from the car keys on the shelf at the door... Hmm? Dad drove one, Mom drove one, my brother also drove one, and the nanny also drove one to buy groceries?! The only thing left is a mountain bike... Damn!"

Well, Ricardo had no choice but to call a taxi: "Uncle Charles, he didn't come to pick me up... Which restaurant should we go to for dinner? It seems to be near Chinatown..."

Also, I just saw the reply to the text message I received this morning. Sarafina is not free tonight because she has piano lessons. She changed the date to Saturday, June 6th. She said she wants to spend the day with Ricardo, watch a movie, eat a big meal, go shopping, and choose a birthday present for Ricardo...

Ricardo, who was standing in front of the door waiting for the bus, made a decision without any regrets: "I can only play games with my brothers in the Internet cafe tonight! I have to let them see my strength!"

"The car is here, let's go first! Oh! I also need to bring a gift for Uncle Charles, I almost forgot..."

Ricardo quickly went back to the house to get the autographed photos of Ronaldinho and Messi for Uncle Charles, and got into a pure black FIAT brand taxi. He was still thinking in his mind: "I will meet with the banking experts from UBS in the afternoon, and arrange my own small treasury so that I can have a chance to spend money. Oh no, I want them to make money obediently..."