Seeing Cristiano Ronaldo angrily rushing toward the referee to argue, Kai immediately stepped in and pulled him back.
"Enough," Kai muttered. "You'll just get yourself sent off."
In truth, Ronaldo's fall inside the penalty area could have been given as a penalty.
But it also wouldn't have been outrageous to call it a dive.
The probability of either decision was almost fifty-fifty.
Because Ronaldo was in what referees call a "passive confrontation" state.
And this highlights one of the biggest differences between football and basketball.
From time to time, the NBA produces era-defining players.
The Four Great Centers.
Michael Jordan.
The Four Great Point Guards.
LeBron James.
Then came two players who changed basketball's direction entirely.
One was Stephen Curry. He ushered the league into the three-point era.
The other was James Harden.
He dragged basketball into the "porcelain" era.
Before Harden, drawing fouls in basketball was similar to football — it came from direct confrontation. If you forced contact, you also paid a physical price.
It was a double-edged sword. A gritty, high-value tactic. Stars rarely relied on it as their main weapon.
But Harden's "King of Porcelain" style was different.
He initiated unnatural contact.
He hooked arms.
He jumped sideways into defenders.
He turned rule exploitation into an art form.
For a time, defenders were afraid to come within a meter of him.
Movements that weren't even genuine shooting motions kept earning him free throws.
Technically legal.
Spiritually anti-basketball.
It drained fans' passion for the sport and accelerated the arrival of what many mockingly called the "glass basketball" era.
The NBA eventually had to introduce rules against abnormal shooting motions — such as leaning unnaturally into defenders — to curb the trend.
And that raises a bigger question:
Are we playing the sport — or are we playing the rules?
This debate exists everywhere, not just in sports.
"Absolute rule-following" sounds fair.
But in practice, it's often idealistic — and easily exploited.
If ordinary people can exploit loopholes, capital can exploit them infinitely more efficiently.
An individual might find a loophole once.
Capital can mass-produce it through systems, automation, and hired labor.
Who profits more?
What looks like fairness becomes structural unfairness.
On public platforms, as capital-backed accounts flood in, real individual voices disappear.
That's the crushing weight of capital.
On the other hand, "subjective regulation" seems dangerous and prone to corruption.
But at least it blocks rule-abuse to some extent.
It allows human judgment to protect the spirit of competition.
Even if subjective refereeing sometimes leads to scandals — black whistles, controversial calls — statistically, it still causes less distortion than systematic loophole exploitation.
That's why European football tolerates gray-area decisions.
Because the referee is not just enforcing rules.
He is defending the spirit of the game.
Back to Ronaldo.
Under an "American-style literal interpretation,"
leg contact + attacker falls = penalty.
Even if the attacker hooks the defender first.
But in European football logic, it's different.
If the attacker doesn't fully control the ball…
If the contact is within a reasonable physical contest…
If the attacker initiates or exaggerates the fall…
No penalty.
Sometimes, even a yellow card.
Ronaldo's action?
American ideology: penalty.
European ideology: dive.
The yellow card wasn't entirely unjust.
Kai understood that.
Ronaldo didn't — not yet.
Halftime
Head coach Violante was discussing tactics intensely with his staff.
They considered improving ground combinations to break down Poland's deep block.
Kai shook his head slightly.
Poland's defensive wall was too compact.
Penetrating through short passes would be extremely difficult.
But Portugal had another option.
"Actually… Almeida's heading ability is very strong," Kai said cautiously.
The assistant coaches glanced at him.
Their expressions practically said:
You're a player. This is a coaches' discussion.
But Violante remained calm.
He looked at Kai and gestured for him to continue.
Kai spoke clearly.
"In the first half, Almeida won several aerial duels. The finishing wasn't great, but that's about angle and luck. The important part is that he can reach the ball."
"He's very tall. Even without jumping much, he can dominate the air."
"Cristiano has excellent leap and timing. His heading is also strong."
"If both of them attack the same aerial zone consistently, Poland can't mark both effectively."
"You can target one. You can't neutralize two at once."
"And we have more than one player capable of delivering quality crosses."
Silence.
The idea was simple.
Brutal, even.
If you can't cut open a steel wall—
Smash it from above.
Violante slowly nodded.
The match wasn't over yet.
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