[ sixteen ]
Mariluz explained the situation to the President's daughter while they watched the teams go out onto the field. They were all surprised to see the entire team was changed, replaced by youngsters who had recently been moved up to the first string. Others were players who were normally on the bench. The commentators talked about Ronaldo and how he had refused to play because his mates were unable to. Since he was the front man of their group and most of the team admired him, the rest of the team was now refusing to play with the exception of eager youngsters.
The guys saw Cristiano on the bench, with arms crossed over his chest in annoyance. A couple of seats down was Mourinho, who remained unchanged in his decision to leave key players out. But there was a hint of worry etched across his face.
With his key players, he knew they could easily win in an embarassing defeat for A Corunya, but now he wasn't so sure. Cristiano, his goal scorer was refusing to play. The rest were left behind to protest their friend being left out of the starting xi.
Ricardo's phone rang loudly and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Its a text from Cris," He hummed, reading the words on his screen to them. "I know I took too long to decide, but I won't play if my best mates don't play. Besides, without all of you on the pitch, I'm sure they're gonna get killed out there. Get ready to watch a massacre."
"He's just looking out for himself." Mariluz scoffed.
The game began shortly after and it wasn't much longer when she recieved a response from Florencia.
florencia: daddy says he can't do anything for you now. cause the game started.
florencia: but he said he'll talk to mou when they return to madrid and have him put you all back in the starting xi by the clasico game.
michael: thank you, flor ^.^
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Mariluz and the guys all agreed there was a point in the game when it was even painful to watch. The team was an unorganized mess out on the pitch and were getting killed by the rival team. All the commentators could talk about was how the Merengues performance without its key players was pitiful, everything short of what Madrid fans were used to watching. They even compared it to babies playing against grown men.
By the end of the game, it was evident Cristiano's prediction was correct. And the final score was 6-0 in favor of A Corunya.
The guys left their television on to watch the post game show and Cristiano was interviewed. He was asked why he refused to play in tonight's match and replied with, "My mates were not allowed to play, so I thought I wouldn't play either. Honestly, the team deserved to lose after this injustice."
"We were all told the boys who stayed behind were sick?" The interviewer wondered.
Cristiano shook his head. "That was just a lie they said to hide the team's internal problems over something childish." He explained. "Our newest team mate--Michael Bartra--was late as we were leaving for the airport and Mourinho wouldn't let him on the plane. So Kaka, Gonzalo, Sergio, and Mesut, went on strike. I refused to play without my best mates." That was the one thing Mariluz actually appreciated about Cristiano Ronaldo--he wasn't a hypocrite or a liar. If he hated you--as he hated Mariluz--you would know. And if he loved you--as he loved Marcela and the rest of the boys--you would know. He wasn't one to hold back the truth.
