The Day I Played with Ronaldo

"We tried our best, but we don't have Ricardo." At the press conference after the game, Luxenberg said helplessly.

"Pereira did a great job. He resisted the pressure and called up Ricardo, injecting fresh blood into the Brazilian team. But if it were me, I would give Ricardo more playing time." At the Olympic Games in 2000 After the defeat to Cameroon, Luxenberg, then coach of the national team, was deeply involved in a series of scandals such as derailment, tax evasion, false age reporting, and even collecting favor fees from players selected for the national team and their agents, and had to resign sadly. The success of the season in Cruzeiro made him high-spirited again, pointing the country up.

"I think Ricardo's best position is not as a striker, but as a winger. He has very fast speed and excellent technique. His inside shot is very threatening. Rojas misplaced him. location."

Rojas countered mercilessly: "Luxenberg forgot, he is not the coach of Sao Paulo, and my team does not need him to dictate."

"In this victory, Ricardo did make a lot of contributions, but we can't ignore the contributions of other players. Football is a game for 11 people, and a game cannot be won by one person."

"There is no need to repeat it. Ricardo is the core of Brazil's future. He, Ronaldo, Adriano, Ronaldinho, Kaka, etc. will support Brazil in the next ten years. I will try my best to Use him, don't let him get too tired and get hurt."

After winning the game, Rojas gave the team two days off, allowing the players to fully relax.

Ricardo also reduced some of his training. After all, after half a season of hard work, his muscles have exhausted to the limit, and now is the time when he is most likely to get injured.

Fortunately, he is considered a rich man now, so he hired a private masseur with a high salary to give him massages and relax every day.

The massage therapist's techniques were several times better than the team doctor's. After two days, he washed away his fatigue and became a hero again.

In the next few games, Sao Paulo continued to play triumphant songs, and Ricardo also scored or assisted every game. Sao Paulo's points have been tightly biting Cruzeiro, waiting for Cruzeiro to make mistakes.

After Cruzeiro was tied by Flamengo at home, Sao Paulo beat Brazil International 4-2 in an away game and finally reached the top, leading Cruzeiro to lead the standings by two points. Ricardo contributed an assist for the team, but unfortunately he suffered a calf muscle strain and had to sit out for two weeks.

In mid-November, the national team assembled again, and Ricardo was not selected due to injury. Also absent due to injury are Ronaldo, Emerson and other generals.

November 16,

Barcelona and Porto played a friendly match. This game did not attract the attention of professionals, nor did it attract the attention of fans, but it was a moment that can be etched in history.

Messi, who was only 16 years old, played for the Barcelona first team for the first time and started his career.

The next day, Brazil, without Ricardo and Ronaldo, drew 1:1 with Peru in an away game. Three days later, they were tied 3:3 at home by Uruguay.

Two wins and two draws in 4 games, this result is not bad, but it still does not satisfy the Brazilian fans.

The proud Brazilian considers himself number one in South America, and it would be a shame not to qualify as the number one in the group!

There is not much left in the Brazilian League, Cruzeiro did not recover from a setback, but struggled to grab points, and the pressure was all on Sao Paulo's side.

But Sao Paulo withstood the pressure tenaciously and firmly held on to the 2-point advantage during Ricardo's absence.

In the 42nd round of the league, Cruzeiro finally fell behind. In that game, they lost to Juventud in the relegation zone in an away game. Juventud broke out of the relegation zone with these 3 points.

Sao Paulo's opponent was Victoria, who missed the South American battlefield and was not in danger of being relegated. In the end, relying on Ricardo's brace, he defeated his opponent 5:1 at home, widening the points gap with Cruzeiro to 5 points. .

For this sake, the ownership of the league champion has basically been determined.

In the next 4 rounds, Sao Paulo did not lose the chain, won 3 games in a row, and won the 2003 Brazilian League Championship one round ahead of schedule.

The media did not hesitate to praise Sao Paulo, especially praised the performance of Rojas in the first season of leading the team, as well as the contributions of Ricardo and Fabiano to the team.

Sao Paulo achieved 31 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses in the first 45 rounds of the league, accumulating 100 points, scoring 109 goals and conceding 65 goals. It deserves to be the first in the league in attack power.

Santos, who scored the second most goals, only scored 93 goals, and the gap is very obvious.

Sao Paulo also conceded the most goals among the top 6 teams, and there is no shortage of big-scoring games this season. This is also an irony. Although Rojas is conservative in tactics, he has scored so many goals and conceded so many goals.

Of Sao Paulo's 103 goals, Ricardo's 34 goals accounted for nearly a third. Fabiano contributed 21 goals. The number of goals scored by the two together accounts for half of Sao Paulo's total goals.

What is particularly valuable is that Ricardo scored these 34 goals in only 35 appearances, and 4 of these 35 appearances came off the bench, which shows how efficient he is in scoring.

In addition, Ricardo also contributed 17 assists. In the process of winning the championship in Sao Paulo, it can be said that he has made great contributions.

In the last round, Sao Paulo played at home against Figuelen. This game has no meaning, and Sao Paulo sent a substitute. Before the game started, the fans of the home team had already celebrated in advance, and the game was once interrupted by fireworks thrown into the field.

In the end, Sao Paulo and their opponents shook hands 0:0. When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, a large number of fans jumped out of the stands and rushed forward to celebrate the championship with the players.

The president of the Brazilian Football Association and others have already arrived at the scene, and awarded the championship trophy to Sao Paulo as soon as the game ended.

When Captain Cheney raised the trophy, the Morombi Stadium suddenly became a sea of ​​joy!

However, after this game, Sao Paulo's season is not over.

Three days later, they will participate in the 24th Toyota Cup at the Yokohama International Stadium in Japan, challenging the European champion AC Milan!

Before heading to Japan, "Reims Sports" made a summary of Ricardo's season.

He played 9 times in the São Paulo State League, including 6 starts, scoring 12 goals and assisting 7 times.

Played 35 times in Brazil, including 31 starts, scored 34 goals and assisted 17 times.

He played 9 times in the Copa Libertadores, scoring 13 goals and assisting 8 times.

Played 2 times in the Brazilian Cup, including 1 start, 1 goal and 1 assist.

He played 4 times in the South American Cup, including 3 starts, scored 2 goals and assisted 3 times.

So he played a total of 59 games for Sao Paulo this season, scoring 62 goals and assisting 36 times. This result has surpassed that of the 17-year-old Ronaldo when he played for Cruzeiro!

As soon as this dazzling record came out, it immediately caught countless eyeballs! Many people originally only knew that Licado was awesome, very awesome, but they didn't know how awesome he was.

Now they know.

Sao Paulo State League Top Scorer! Copa Libertadores Top Scorer! Top scorer in Brazil! Ricardo is simply a walking scoring machine!