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.