Chapter 65: Born to be King, Why Fear the Storm?

July 8th, 2001, in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. It was the final match of the FIFA Youth World Cup at the José Amalfitani Stadium. 

This stadium could hold almost 50,000 people watching. But even at its fullest during the tournament, there were still some empty seats left. Today though, tickets for the final were very popular and hard to get.

The weather was nice, with clear skies and a warm sun shining down. Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President who had recently dealt with some problems, was sitting in the VIP area. His tired and a little overweight look showed how tough things had been for him. Many famous people from Argentinian and Brazilian football were also there to cheer on the young players.

Kaka had played in two other finals before, but neither the Rio-Sao Paulo Cup final nor the Brazilian Championship final felt as important as this match. It wasn't about how many fans were watching or how strong the other team was. It was about his mindset.

In Sao Paulo, no matter how well he played, people still saw him as a promising young talent for the future, not so much for the present. Fans could calmly judge if he did good or bad. For a young player, this wasn't necessarily bad - poor games wouldn't get much criticism, while good games would get praise. It was almost like a dream scenario. But for an ambitious young player, being seen as not that vital to the team was far from ideal. There was a lack of true involvement and importance. 

But now, things were different here. He wasn't wearing that replaceable number 23 jersey, but the iconic number 10 - the absolute star player. Not only would he get criticized for his own mistakes, but he'd be blamed for his teammates' failures too. One small error, and he could be ridiculed heavily.

Kaka enjoyed this level of responsibility though. You could call it vanity or call it accountability - either way, he liked having this role. Not because of being captain, but because he was now recognized as a vital core member of the team. Any ambitious person can understand and even want to be in that position.

In life, you can have an attitude of not desiring anything and just being content. But in competition, you must be willing to take responsibility and really go for it. To wear the crown, you must bear its weight. But for those born to be kings, why fear the challenges?

Kaka was seen by the media as the future star of this Brazilian youth team. On the Argentine side though, the leading responsibility was not on their captain Colonic but on their top scorer "The Rabbit" Saviola. In this youth tournament so far, he had already scored 10 goals, tying the individual scoring record set by the Brazilian Aderton in 1997. If Saviola could score just one more goal in this match, he would break the record outright.

In the players' tunnel before kickoff, Kaka could see the fiery determination in Saviola's eyes. He was familiar with this player - someone who had a good career, but not a legendary one. At least based on his current status and reputation, Saviola's future didn't seem to live up to what people originally expected of him. 

Seemingly aware of Kaka staring at him, Saviola turned his head and looked right back at the Brazilian. Saviola was around the same pretty short height as Messi. Given the distance between them, he would have to tilt his head upwards a bit to make eye contact properly.

In any case, the people around them suddenly felt like they were watching a comic book scene. It was like you could actually see sparks of energy and tension crackling between the two players. However, the exchange between them was quite friendly. While their auras may have been clashing intensely, their attitudes were very calm. 

Kaka simply smiled, nodded at Saviola, and looked ahead again. He respected all opponents and would never disrespect or underestimate anyone. Saviola was formidable, the biggest threat to Kaka and Brazil in this match. But Kaka knew Saviola would not be the highest mountain he'd eventually have to climb in his career. After all, they were just about the same modest height.

In contrast to Kaka's calmness, the Argentine captain Colonic seemed a bit resentful and annoyed. As a central defender who had already signed for AC Milan before this tournament, Colonic was the absolute hero who got Argentina to this final stage. His main marking job today wasn't just against the strikers Adriano and Robert, but also included keeping an eye on the dangerous attacking midfielder Kaka.

As captain, Colonic had hoped Kaka would treat him as a formidable opponent too, rather than acting like "Only Saviola is my rival". Kaka was unaware he'd already been labeled as arrogant in Colonic's mind. Colonic ended up losing the coin toss to Kaka, so couldn't choose which end to defend but did get to kick off first.

The commentator's voice boomed out: "Welcome friends, to the final of the 13th FIFA Youth World Cup! The match is about to begin, let's look at the lineups. Brazil continue with their 4-4-2 formation, featuring top scorers Adriano and Robert up front, with captain Kaka behind them as the attacking midfielder. The wingers are Leo and Costa, holding midfielder is Baptista, and the back four defenders are Maicon, Anderson, Angelo and Edua in front of goalkeeper Rubinho.

"Argentina stick with their 3-3-2-2 shape from the previous game. Lux is in goal, with the three centre-backs Burdisso, Colotto and captain Colonic. The midfield three are Alca, Romagnoli and Andreas Alessandro, with Maxi Rodriguez and Poncio as the two attacking midfielders behind the strike partnership of Saviola and Herrera. 

"It's worth noting that Argentine player Domingos, who scored the late winner against China, misses out on the squad today. He suffered a nasty injury versus France after that horrible tackle from their player Mendy - an incident burned into memories of those who saw it. Let's hope both teams show restraint in this fiery final between the big rivals Brazil and Argentina..."

The match kicked off, with Brazil getting it started. Adriano passed to Robert, who laid it off to Kaka. Kaka went wide to Costa, and after a few touches it came inside to Baptista. Rather than going backwards, Baptista pushed it forward to the advancing Kaka. 

However, Kaka's first touch wasn't the smoothest as Alca had immediately closed him down hard from the start. Just as Kaka went to control it, Alca made a sudden tackle. Luckily Kaka stayed focused and took a couple of extra touches to properly regain possession. 

After a brief midfield tussle where Kaka used his skills to shield the ball well, he spotted Rodriguez getting ready to close him down too. So Kaka played it wide right, not to the winger Costa but to the overlapping right-back Maicon instead.

Anyone familiar with watching this Brazilian team had the same thought

- here we go again

(end of chapter)