The Champions League was in full swing, and the League was also proceeding in an orderly manner.
Real Madrid managed their three-front campaign very well; due to their deep bench, they didn't face issues of losing matches due to a shortage of players.
Coupled with Suker's 'uninjured' super combat power, their overall performance and display were exceptionally outstanding.
After defeating Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid players also rarely got some rest time.
Most of the players' rest time was spent at home with their families.
Suker was also at this age; on his rest days, he had much less personal time, having to take his child out for walks whenever he was free.
Of course, he wasn't alone.
Since Sukic had a good relationship with Kaka and Marcelo's sons, the three of them almost always went out together.
This day, Suker and Kaka took their children to the zoo.
The two little ones played wildly, running left and right, making a lot of noise.
Suker and Kaka found an outdoor cafe to sit down, waiting for the two little rascals to expend their energy before taking them home.
It must be said that children have boundless energy; even if they are professional players with more stamina and energy than ordinary people, they cannot compare to children.
"They've been jumping around the house since morning, and it's still the same here!"
Facing the bright sunlight, Suker, wearing sunglasses, held a cup of coffee in one hand, took a sip, and exhaled.
Kaka also smiled wryly and shook his head: "It's the same at my house."
After speaking, the two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
They were once single young men, but now they have both become fathers.
Thinking back to when they first met, it was somewhat amusing.
"Ha~~~" Suker exhaled again, leaned back in his seat, and looked slightly up, saying: "You know, it would be great if you could play for Real Madrid a bit longer."
Kaka did not respond to this.
Suker would occasionally complain, and he had already grown accustomed to it.
"But Milan is also very good," Suker said with a smile; "When I go back, we can play football together again."
Kaka smiled and nodded.
Although he believed it would be difficult for him to last until then.
He had clearly felt his physical condition rapidly declining, and perhaps within one or two seasons, irreversible problems would appear.
Currently, he was pushing through with extensive training, which was also in preparation for the 2014 World Cup.
This would also be Kaka's last World Cup.
He had already thought it through; after this World Cup, he would hand over the Brazil Team captaincy and then retire from the National Team.
In fact, Kaka was under great pressure.
When he first entered the National Team, the Brazil Team was filled with stars, with world-class players in every position.
Even the current Croatia couldn't compare to the Brazil Team of that time.
One could say it was an All-Star lineup.
Kaka naturally knew his own ability was strong, but in the Brazil Team at that time, he was merely a substitute.
Unlike the current Brazil National Team players, he had witnessed that incredibly strong Brazil Team, and thus felt he should do better.
Suker also noticed the change in Kaka's expression; he knew very well what this guy was thinking and said softly: "Don't put too much pressure on yourself; lie flat when you need to. We are all old guys now; leave the charging work to the youngsters."
Suker looked at Kaka: "You still have Neymar, Pato, and these youngsters, what are you afraid of?"
Kaka looked at Suker: "You're still an old guy? You're always charging forward, aren't you?"
Suker sighed: "There's no one to follow up! I also want to play more easily."
Suker's generation was Croatia's strongest on paper and the most brilliant in terms of skill.
This generation had its historical mission!
It could even be said that this was Croatia's closest approach to the World Cup title, to that golden trophy.
In fact, they were also under great pressure, but with mutual support and backing, they could still bear these pressures.
For example, Srna, Vukojević, and Dujmović.
They definitely counted as old guys!
They were no longer young.
But now they were still using extensive training to mitigate their declining condition; from a certain perspective, the training methods they adopted were overdrafting their remaining future.
They could have played longer, but for this World Cup, they were all giving their all!
Under such circumstances, how could Suker possibly relax?
The entire team, and even Croatia, had so many eyes on him.
They were eagerly anticipating his excellent performance, and Suker would crawl to the World Cup podium if he had to.
As the two chatted, Sukic and Luca came bouncing over.
"The elephant's trunk is so long!"
"They drink water with their trunks!"
"It's amazing, and there are tigers, they look so cool!"
"I like koalas, they are so cute!"
The two little ones ran until they were drenched in sweat. Kaka took out tissues from his bag to wipe the children, while Suker maintained a lazy sitting posture and raised an eyebrow, saying: "Are you done playing?"
"No!"
"No!"
The two little rascals said in unison.
They had finally gotten out to play, how could they go back so easily?
Suker shook his head and said nothing more.
The two little rascals continued to make noise for nearly two more hours before they finally ended their zoo trip for the day.
In the car on the way back, Suker was driving, and Kaka was in the passenger seat.
The two children were sleeping soundly in the back seat.
"Today's mission is accomplished, no more fussing!" Suker looked at the sleeping Sukic through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but laugh.
Kaka also nodded.
"Tomorrow we should also enter Champions League preparations; we still need to be careful playing Borussia Dortmund."
Suker: "Borussia Dortmund has lost some combat power this season, but we definitely need to be vigilant. Klopp's team is crazy when they get going; if they build up morale, they're a pack of mad dogs!"
Kaka grimaced: "Your analogy!"
Suker shrugged: "It's true, sometimes I even wonder if Klopp injects them with something; these guys are too hyped during matches, and it's really hard to break their morale."
What Real Madrid was best at was breaking the opponent's morale.
Using strong offense and control of the game, they would constantly wear down the opponent, causing them to suffer a double blow physically and mentally.
Just like playing Arsenal, in fact, after the first half of the second leg, Arsenal was almost completely devoid of morale.
But Borussia Dortmund was different; they would become even more hyped, their eyes red, ready to charge.
And playing against these guys was exhausting!
Many people said that Real Madrid during Mourinho's era was a track and field team, but the true track and field team was Klopp's team.
Each of these guys had a very long average running distance, forcing their opponents to run along with them.
Not only that, the game pace was also fast; it could be said that if they hadn't undergone specialized physical training, Borussia Dortmund could run many teams to death just by running.
Back at the villa, Sukic rubbed his eyes, went upstairs, and immediately lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Suker, on the other hand, lay on the sofa watching TV.
He had been busy all day; it was supposed to be his holiday, but after a day of taking his child out, he thought he could rest in the evening, but Florentino's call summoned him again.
"Veteran's match?"
Suker, inside Florentino's estate, looked at Florentino, Zidane, Raul, and others gathered together, his face full of confusion.
He knew about veteran's matches; they were charity events inviting star players who had played for the team to return and play.
They could increase exposure and also earn a substantial income.
However, such matches were usually held during holidays; it wasn't appropriate to hold them during the League season, but why was he called here?
He hadn't retired yet!
To this, Florentino explained: "We conducted a survey on our official website, asking fans to vote for their most desired historical Real Madrid lineup!"
"Excluding those old guys who can't run anymore, the highest demand was for you and Ronaldo to play together."
Suker was stunned for a moment: "Me and Ronaldo? We've played together before!"
During his time at Milan, Suker and Ronaldo were teammates, but at that time, Ronaldo's condition was no longer what it once was, so he mostly served as a substitute.
"Real Madrid fans haven't seen it!" Florentino said with a smile; "So, we plan to organize a veteran's match and also invite you, an active player, to play an exhibition match. Of course, the match won't have much intensity."
Upon hearing this, Zidane and Raul couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"We give Suker intensity? Come on, this guy should be giving us intensity!"
If they were still active players, they might have had a competitive mindset.
But now that they were retired, why would they compete with Suker, a top active player?
To be honest, Suker's stamina could run them to death.
And then there was Ronaldo; if they played at normal game intensity, given his physique, he'd be done in three minutes!
Suker felt helpless. He glanced at Florentino, who was full of anticipation, and wanted to refuse, but since Florentino had impulsively organized such an event, he couldn't refuse.
"I'll only play one half!"
Suker said.
"One half won't do!" Florentino didn't speak, but Raul said with a smile, "You have to play for both sides in both halves, otherwise, whoever loses will be embarrassed!"
Zidane, who was standing nearby, laughed and said, "Don't let him play forward; let him play defender. Playing forward might make us collapse!"
"Are you sure he's not on our side?"
Even Florentino said with a smile, "If I were a few years younger, I'd join you all in playing!"
Looking at the three men's expectant faces, Suker was completely reeled in.
Moreover, Suker could understand Florentino.
The Real Madrid president, who was chasing trends, had indeed been quite troubled recently.
No matter what activities or promotions he organized, they didn't achieve very good results.
The reason was simple: Real Madrid's performance had always been very stable, so no matter how much they boasted, it had no effect.
In short, people were getting a bit aesthetically fatigued.
For this reason, Florentino gathered these retired stars to prepare an old-timers' match and add some more buzz to Real Madrid.
As for the old-timers' match, which was supposed to take place during the holidays, being moved up, the reason was also to make way for the World Cup.
After all, during the World Cup, who would watch your old-timers' match!
But delaying it too long would easily cause it to lose its buzz, and they had already released the news and done the promotion.
If it was delayed until next season, fans' expectations would also decrease.
"When are you planning to hold it?" Suker compromised.
Zidane: "We looked at the schedule, and there's only one match next week. We can prepare an exhibition match on Wednesday."
Suker frowned, "So urgent?"
In response, all three said that with the promotion and hype in place, they were just waiting to unleash it.
They couldn't keep the fans waiting forever.
Helplessly, Suker could only nod and agree.
"What kind of charity match is this!"
The next day, Ancelotti grumbled discontentedly at the training base.
Didn't they know the schedule was tight?
He didn't even have time to let the players rest, and now Suker had to be pulled to participate in an exhibition match.
But it was a request from the higher-ups, so he could only compromise.
Fortunately, only Suker was pulled, and he had already rested for a long time, so his physical condition was fine.
If they wanted to pull other Real Madrid players, Ancelotti would be the first to refuse.
From the moment the decision was made, Real Madrid legends began to arrive in Madrid one after another.
In addition to the charity match, they would also participate in a series of activities.
For example, Florentino specifically found the media and gathered Real Madrid legends like Ronaldo, Raul, and Carlos to build momentum for Suker.
On a Spanish television interview program, these three Real Madrid legends commented on Suker.
Ronaldo: "We are two generations of aliens, but sometimes looking at Suker, I feel like my alien identity is fake. Of course, I'm not saying I'm not that great, but Suker's physical condition is excellent. If I had his physical qualities, I would definitely have won more honors."
Raul joked in response, "You should be able to get more women, right? That guy can maintain his physical state; in addition to his natural talent, training is also a part of it."
Carlos: "The Suker I know, his life is very clean. He gives me the feeling that he was born purely for football! To be honest, when football becomes part of work and brings immense pressure, it's easy to start getting tired of it. But I don't see any of that in Suker; I think he still retains that love for football!"
Ronaldo: "He earns so much. If I had that, I could do it too."
Raul and Carlos scoffed at this; they didn't believe the fat Ronaldo could be disciplined.
Besides, Ronaldo earned a lot back then too, and he wasn't exactly disciplined!
The entire interview was a segment praising Suker, but it also attracted a lot of attention, and Florentino achieved the effect he wanted.
In addition, they were invited to watch the match at Bernabéu.
With the legends present, the Real Madrid players played beautifully, winning cleanly and giving the opponent no chance whatsoever.
And watching such a Real Madrid, Ronaldo and the others were filled with emotion.
This was the effect they had wanted back then, gathering so many stars to play crushing matches.
But in the end, it was top-heavy, and the tactics were severely distorted.
Soon, it was Wednesday.
Suker took the club's business car to the stadium.
This was his first time meeting Ronaldo and the others; previously, he couldn't get away due to being busy with matches.
When he saw Ronaldo, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey! You need to lose some weight!"
The current fat Ronaldo was truly fat!
With such a big belly, his jersey was almost pushed into a ball by him.
Ronaldo didn't care at all, smiling happily. He patted his belly, indicating that he had retired and it was time to enjoy himself.
Suker also greeted Raul, Beckham, and the others.
Almost everyone here was familiar, so there was no awkwardness.
Ronaldo and Suker both wore the Real Madrid number 9 jersey.
However, this time Suker made a concession; he let Ronaldo wear the number 9 jersey, while he wore a number 99 jersey.
Back then, Ronaldo had made a concession to him when he was in Milan, so he didn't mind making a concession here.
Ronaldo was very grateful for this. In fact, he also wanted to wear his old number to play, and Suker fulfilled his wish.
In terms of lineup, Suker was arranged at the full-back position.
In short, he could attack and defend, and among all the old guys, he was made to do more work and show off more.
Throughout Suker's career, he had played as a full-back once.
That was back in Bosnia and Herzegovina when, due to a shortage of defenders, Van Stoyak had him fill in at the full-back position.
At that time, Suker wasn't considered a core player and didn't have enough status.
He just did as he was told, and that was the only time he had played as a full-back in his career.
However, this was an exhibition match, and both sides were old guys. If Suker went all out, he could easily make the game collapse.
Moreover, he wasn't a hothead and didn't need to be so competitive in such a match.
Playing as a full-back could both weaken some of his attacking ability and allow Suker to participate in defense.
Having the most offensive player in football play defense made fans very much look forward to this exhibition match.
Since it was an old-timers' match, it was held in the evening.
This was also to accommodate fans after work. There was a League match on the weekend, so it had to be given way, thus it could only be held on a weekday evening.
But even so, the fans' enthusiasm was still very high.
After all, this match had given enough hype.
The arrival of retired Real Madrid stars, Suker playing defense, and so on...
Furthermore, Raul, the Ring King, returning after retirement also made many nostalgic fans look forward to it.
The entire stadium was packed, and even before the match began, waves of cheers erupted from the fans.
They cheered happily; there were no enemies in this match, everyone was on their side.
Therefore, they all cheered for their favorite players.
Of course, Suker's starting appearance at the full-back position also brought continuous cheers from the fans.
Especially in the pre-match interview, Suker stated that he had sought advice from Ramos, and therefore was confident in playing that position well.
Upon hearing this, the old-timers assigned to the opposing team felt a chill in their hearts.
Seeking advice from Ramos?
This meant he was going to slide tackle!