CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51 – SILENCED

Thiago’s studs caught briefly on the turf with each step, the friction biting just enough to remind him: this is real. The scoreboard still glared: Palmeiras 0 – 2 Bragantino. The fans murmured in uneasy rhythm, that space between hope and resignation.

But the ball had started listening to him.

Minute 60: he broke down the flank with a delayed burst, Rafael feeding him a slide-rule pass between the left back and center half. Thiago didn’t waste it—he took a tight touch to wrong-foot the defender and squared across the box. The cut-back missed Nando by inches.

A gasp from the crowd. Not disappointment—expectation.

Minute 62: Bragantino’s counter came fast, but Thiago didn’t retreat mindlessly. He tracked the route. When the pass curved toward their winger near halfway, Thiago pressed in. He didn’t lunge. He positioned. He read. He intercepted with one touch and transitioned the moment into offense—ball snapped back inside to Rafael, who rotated play forward.

They didn’t score. Not yet. But the rhythm was changing. Palmeiras had stopped reacting. They were beginning to shape.

Minute 65: The coach on the Bragantino sideline shouted furiously, arms slicing air. His team had lost structure—by fractions, but enough. And Thiago felt it. That subtle off-balance. That edge between poise and collapse.

He floated between lines now. Not hugging the touchline. Not hugging instruction. He lived where problems needed solving.

Rafael saw it, too. Minute 67, Thiago drifted central and received a disguised ball from midfield. Defender lunged. Thiago’s heel flick let the ball roll behind him. He turned and chipped it wide with his second touch. The cross came in—Nando rose—but it was caught.

Still, the Bragantino back line barked at each other. One shouted, "Where the hell is he coming from?"

By minute 70, the stadium had shifted. Not loud yet—but watching. Palms pressed against mouths. Cameras pointed. The crowd sensed the storm pulling in.

Then it came.

Minute 72. Palmeiras won the ball deep after a strong challenge by the center back. Quick outlet to Rafael. Thiago pointed before the pass arrived—cutting in from wide, angling between the fullback and center-half. Rafael obeyed the signal and pinged it low and fast.

Thiago met it in stride. His first touch killed the ball dead, second opened his body. The keeper advanced—but Thiago had already chosen.

He slid it under him.

1–2.

No celebration. Just a glance upward. Camila would be watching. João. Clara. Maybe even his coach back from the Vila Cup.

He turned, let Rafael punch his shoulder in praise, and reset.

The ball was back on the center spot. But something else had shifted.

Bragantino looked at him differently now. Eyes tighter. Shape stiffer. Fear curling at the edge of their play.

Minute 75: Palmeiras pressed again. Thiago didn’t touch the ball—but his runs bent the opposition lines. He dragged defenders with him, creating pockets for Rafael and Nando to slip into. One shot skimmed the post. Another forced a diving save.

Eneas stood on the sideline with arms crossed, nodding once, barely.

Minute 78: Thiago dropped deeper to receive and spun quickly off a challenge. He threaded a through ball down the channel for the overlapping right-back. It didn’t result in a goal—but it led to a corner.

Every second now felt like a threat.

Minute 80. Bragantino tried to slow the game. Delayed throw-ins. Casual touches at the back. But they were playing against the pulse, not with it.

Minute 82. Thiago received a switch from Nando and trapped it with a velvet touch near the sideline. The defender bit.

Too hard.

Thiago dipped a shoulder and breezed past, cutting inside. This time he didn’t look for help. He struck with his weaker foot—low, curling.

It forced a block.

But the rebound spilled, chaos inside the box.

Thiago kept moving. Always moving.

The clearance was weak. Rafael took a touch, lifted it toward the edge.

Thiago had already reset his feet.

Volley.

Caught clean.

Net rippled.

2–2.

The stadium erupted—this time a roar, not a gasp. Arms raised. Eneas pumping a single fist on the sideline. Players swarming Thiago.

And for the first time, even Nando reached out. Not a hug. But a tap on the back.

"Let’s finish it," he said.

Thiago didn’t smile. Not yet. There was still time.

The System hovered quietly into view—he’d almost forgotten about it:

SYSTEM UPDATE

Goal Involvements This Season: 6

Stat Reward Unlocked: +1 Finishing

Coach Impression: Rising

Club Confidence: 89 / 100

He blinked it away. Not the time.

Bragantino kicked off again. They pushed, desperate to regain footing. Palmeiras pressed as a unit. Rafael harried the ball carrier, and Thiago closed the next passing lane. The moment turned.

Minute 86: A mistake from Bragantino. A loose pass intercepted at midfield.

Rafael again.

He threaded it quickly to Nando, who turned—but the space was narrow.

Nando spotted Thiago flashing wide and sent a delicate pass into the pocket.

Thiago took it in full stride. Defender trailing. Keeper stepping forward again.

One chance.

One moment.

He clipped it.

Over the keeper.

Into the top right.

3–2.

The stadium broke. Thunderous. Chaotic. Beautiful.

Thiago sprinted to the sideline, this time allowing himself a shout—arms wide, head tilted to the night sky. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear Clara yelling at the screen. Could hear Camila’s quiet "yes" over the phone in some far corner of the city.

He had done it.

The hat-trick.

Not just goals. But goals under pressure. From behind. With the eyes of the city watching.

Palmeiras held firm for the final minutes. A couple of tactical fouls. A clearance into the stands.

Final whistle blew.

Palmeiras 3 – 2 Bragantino.

Thiago stood near the center circle, not running, not gasping—just standing. As if trying to memorize the silence beneath the noise.

The silence inside him.

In the locker room, Eneas walked over and gripped his shoulder.

"You didn’t just answer pressure. You redefined it."

Even Nando clapped him on the back. Rafael gave him the match ball.

Thiago held it in his hands like it was heavier than it looked.

In the dorm room later, he sat cross-legged on his bed. The System shimmered into view again:

SYSTEM UPDATE

Match Rating: 9.5

Goals Scored: 3

Stat Rewards: +1 Finishing, +1 Composure

Confidence: 92 / 100

Achievement Unlocked: "Under the Lights" – First Senior Hat-trick

Quest Progress: 3/3 Goal Involvements Completed

He didn’t blink it away immediately this time.

He let it stay, just for a moment.

He wasn’t out of Neymar’s shadow.

But for tonight—

He was no one’s shadow at all.