The match began quickly, with the Brazil team launching a fierce attack on the France team right from the opening whistle.
Fernandez, the theory buff, had analyzed things quite accurately. The Brazil team was a ferocious American Lion.
But no one knew whether France's defense through the middle and back lines was simply too outstanding, or whether Brazil had bled itself dry on the way to the final and was a little worn out.
Brazil was unable to break through France's defense for a long time. Even Ronaldo seemed powerless, and at one point, his legs even cramped up.
Gradually, the situation on the field began to change. France shifted from defense to offense, leaving Brazil scrambling to defend.
Before the end of the first half, Zidane headed one into the net, helping France take a 1-0 lead.
The score made the Brazilian fans at the stadium clutch their heads, and left many viewers in front of their televisions unable to believe it.
Because of Brazil's dominance, and because of Ronaldo, many people had believed Brazil was certain to win the final.
Quite a few had even treated it as an investment, betting all their money on Brazil.
The odds were low, but it was guaranteed profit!
Only now, the situation was somewhat unfavorable for them.
By halftime, their choice was... to borrow money and keep betting.
If you did not advance against the current, you would fall behind. They could not afford to lose, so they could only hope Brazil would turn the tide.
Brazil had Ronaldo. They believed the situation would change in the second half!
During halftime, the fans at the stadium finally got to rest for a while.
They had not stopped for a moment during the match, shouting themselves hoarse.
Sun Hao and Fernandez put down their binoculars and began eating snacks and drinking water.
Neither could hide the delight on his face.
Fernandez was proud of his prediction. After all, there were very few people who had foreseen the result of this match;
Sun Hao, meanwhile, was simply waiting to collect his money and secure his starting fund after transmigrating.
"Excuse me, could we borrow your binoculars? My wife wants to watch the halftime performance."
Just then, a voice came from beside them.
Sun Hao turned his head and finally noticed that a young couple was sitting next to him. Judging by their features, they seemed to be from somewhere around Yugoslavia.
The man was the one speaking.
Sun Hao agreed.
After a while, the binoculars were returned, along with a small bottle of liquor.
Communication between people was actually very simple. Once one side showed goodwill, conversation naturally began.
Sun Hao had lent them the binoculars, and the couple beside him began chatting with him.
Sun Hao learned that they were from Serbia, in the Yugoslavia Union.
The Balkan Peninsula produced all kinds of fruit, which led to all kinds of fruit-infused liquor known as Fruit Whiskey.
This little bottle was infused with raspberries.
Sun Hao took one sip and immediately choked.
One taste was enough to tell how strong it was. He did not dare drink much more. It was more enjoyable to chat about the match while eating snacks.
During their conversation, Sun Hao learned that they also supported France and were die-hard Zidane fans.
And this young man named Sasha was actually a basketball player too.
That gave them even more to talk about, and by the end, they were talking about everything.
The famous Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini was his favorite, while Fiorentina was his favorite football club.
Women might need a lifetime to go from strangers to confidantes, but men might only need a few minutes.
After halftime, the second half officially began.
The couple beside them had already become fast friends with them, and the binoculars became something they shared.
The comeback drama many fans had been hoping for did not appear in the second half. In fact, the second half was downright shocking.
It was not just Ronaldo. The entire Brazil team seemed to collectively sleepwalk after falling behind.
What they had experienced in the first half seemed to have robbed this American Lion of its sharpest claws and fangs, turning it into a cat with little offensive threat.
France began repeatedly charging Brazil's back line.
At this point, the weakness of Brazil's midfield and defense began to show.
Sampaio repeatedly lost position, Dunga was no longer up to the task, and Baiano showed his true colors as a complete bust.
Brazil's goal was breached! Brazil's goal was breached again!
Seeing the 3-0 score on the field, the Brazilian fans in the stadium had fallen completely silent.
Though there was still some time left in the match, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
The French fans at the stadium had already started celebrating.
Sun Hao was in a great mood as well. His first pot of gold was already in the bag.
In the remaining regulation time and stoppage time, Brazil finally woke up and began fighting back, but there was not enough time left.
They ultimately failed to break through France's goal, and the score remained fixed at 3-0.
When the final whistle sounded, Ronaldo looked up and dropped to his knees, while the Stade de France erupted into a frenzy.
The players on the field began shouting and running, while the spectators began shouting too.
Before long, Sun Hao heard the French national anthem rise around him.
France's star player Zidane could not hide the smile on his face.
How happy it was to win a championship on home soil!
Scenes from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games involuntarily surfaced in Sun Hao's mind.
He understood even more clearly why Yao Ming had returned to play despite knowing it might end his career.
Lifting the Championship Trophy in front of your own fans, on your own doorstep—that was an athlete's greatest pride!
At that moment, Sun Hao set himself a Small Goal: he had to Lift the Championship Trophy on his own home court one day.
The match had ended, and the fans only began leaving after more than an hour of nonstop celebration.
Sun Hao left with them, and outside the stadium, they even asked others to help take photos together.
When it was finally time to part ways, Sasha exchanged contact information with them and asked a question that showed he truly considered Sun Hao a friend.
He and his wife were trying for a baby, and since he felt he got along so well with Sun Hao, he wanted Sun Hao's opinion.
Sun Hao liked traveling. After arriving in Spain, especially after buying his big-ass computer, he had looked up plenty of travel guides online.
From their earlier conversation, he knew that although Sasha was Yugoslavian, he loved Italian opera composers and Italian football clubs.
This guy was only missing being born in Italy.
"Lucca."
That was the suggestion he gave in the end.
Lucca was a well-known Italian city, very close to Florence. Giacomo Puccini, whom they had mentioned earlier, was also from Lucca.
And Lucca was also a fairly common name in Europe.
"Lucca, Lucca..."
Sasha repeated the name, clearly liking it.
Just then, the taxi they had called arrived.
After getting out, the driver smiled at them.
"Are you Mr. Doncic?"
"Yes, that's me. Sun, let's keep in touch."
Sasha said goodbye to Sun Hao.
But he noticed that Sun Hao had frozen in place.
Sun Hao's expression was as strange as could be.
Right now, it felt like a herd of alpacas was stampeding through his heart.
Doncic?
Saša Dončić?
Luka Doncic...
Had he... chosen Doncic's name?
Fernandez shoved Sun Hao, finally snapping him back to his senses.
He smiled and waved goodbye to Sasha.
After Sasha and his wife had left, he remembered the serious historical novel he had read in his previous life, A Step into the Past.
In that novel, the protagonist Xiang Shaolong's son was eventually named Yu, becoming Xiang Yu.
Though the novel had merely been fabricated and designed by later generations, he had fucking done the exact same thing today!
He wondered what Doncic would think once he grew up and learned how he got his name.
Back at the hotel, Fernandez was still animatedly talking about his prediction.
A thirteen-year-old kid who had accomplished something would not stop showing off anytime soon.
Only after Fernandez talked himself tired and fell asleep did Sun Hao turn on the computer and log into his account.
When he saw the post-tax figure displayed there, he could no longer hide his smile.
13 million Pesetas! That would be 80,000 Euros in the future!
For a kid who was still "sixteen," this was already an enormous sum.
In fact, forget kids. Given Europe's economy at the time, this was three or four years' worth of income for a white-collar worker!
He had become a little rich overnight!
Sure enough, making money was as easy as lifting a hand for a transmigrator.
He was now very glad he had not given up on his dream back then.
If it was only about making money, living life again would be far too boring.
After all, once money reached a certain amount, it was just a pile of numbers.
Money seemed omnipotent, but there were some things it could not buy.
Such as a young body, and time.
Time flew by. Amid the intense training, the long Offseason was over in the blink of an eye.
Sun Hao finished training one week before the season started, then reported to the first team early.
But after arriving at the first team, the first thing he did was not meet his teammates, but choose his jersey number for the new season with head coach Laso.
Back when he was on the Youth Team, Sun Hao had chosen the same jersey number he had worn back home: number 6.
When he and Yi Jianlian were on the court together, the sight had been especially fierce.
Later, at Plata and Oro, he had stayed only briefly, so his jersey numbers had all been different.
Now that he was on the first team, number 6 was already taken, so he had to choose a new number.
Thanks to Ren Taitao, Idle Person 2006, Duanqiao Canxue, and Fate Has Always Been Shallow, Yet Love Runs Deep for the rewards. Thank you, bosses, for your support~
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