Chapter 110: Chapter 109: Seasonal Honors, The Second Golden Skill
Ronaldo and Deng Kai became the biggest winners of this season.
With sixteen goals and twenty-five assists, Deng Kai won the titles of League’s Best Midfielder, part of the League’s Best XI, and was nominated for the League’s Best Player.
Ronaldo, with forty-four goals and seven assists, was awarded the League’s Golden Boot, Best Player, Best Forward, and a spot in the League’s Best XI, becoming the season’s biggest winner!
These prestigious awards were already anticipated by everyone after Lisbon Athletic U15’s championship win.
Their dominance in the games was too strong.
However, what nobody expected was that in the final vote for the League’s Best Player, Deng Kai was only three votes short of Ronaldo!
Historically speaking, Luo San... cough cough, in this sensitive moment, let’s not jest about my Ronaldo.
There was naturally no dispute about Ronaldo being chosen as the Best Player, but the surprise at Deng Kai’s votes comes from the fact that midfielders are inherently at a disadvantage in competition for honors compared to forwards.
Defensive players are even further disadvantaged compared to midfielders.
This pattern is evident in terms of popularity and in past awards lists.
Simply put, the forward’s goal-scoring mission and the expressive nature of direct goal-scoring are more visible to the general public.
Those who don’t understand football watch the goals.
Those who understand football watch the passes.
Those who understand a bit more watch the playmaking.
Only then comes the defense and the transition after a successful defense, etc.
Although this saying is somewhat in jest, it does conform to basic principles.
Scoring goals is something everyone can understand; the rest progressively require more understanding.
This barrier sifts through most people, probably constituting seventy to eighty percent of those who follow football news!
Therefore, being a midfielder and falling short by only three votes to Ronaldo, in the eyes of professionals, Deng Kai did even better than the season’s Best Player.
Apart from Deng Kai and Ronaldo, there are a few other Lisbon Athletic U15 players in the Best XI.
Veloso was selected as one of the Best Midfielders.
In the latter half of the season, Lisbon Athletic U15 faced stronger opponents, but they conceded even fewer goals. Much of that is thanks to Veloso.
His transition from center-back to defensive midfielder was incredibly smooth, heralding a second spring of his youth training period!
Angelo secured his position as one of the league’s Best Centre-backs in the Best XI, and he is also among the Lisbon Athletic U15 players who are quite likely to receive a professional contract.
Pilar edged out Benfica’s goalkeeper Vieirinha and Porto’s goalkeeper Vale.
Especially the latter, whose vote count was very close to Pilar’s.
If it hadn’t been for Lisbon Athletic’s championship win, Pilar definitely wouldn’t have been able to compete with Vale.
The other positions were occupied by players from other teams.
Almeida and Igor from Porto, Amorim and Pereira from Benfica were among them.
This list mainly consists of players from the four teams that made it to the championship competition, with only one spot going to an outsider.
After all, these were the four teams that emerged from forty or fifty youth teams, with players all of considerable talent.
...
"Ding! You have received your first Championship Trophy in your career, your first Assist King title, your first Best Midfielder award, and a spot in your first Best XI; rewards are being generated!"
"Ding! You have obtained the blue-level player skill ’Curved Passes’, ’Ball Tapping Techniques’, a purple-level all-star skill ’Ground Chop Shot’, and a gold-level superstar skill ’Football’s Most Expensive Top-spinner’!"
Amidst a plethora of training cones, super training cones, energy drinks, Tornado special drinks, medical bandages, and white medicated OK bandages, Deng Kai found the dazzling skills.
This was absolutely an epic loot, with every item being desirable.
Don’t underestimate a blue skill—Curved Passes is actually a more advanced passing skill.
In situations where two players are making forward runs with a defending player in between, this kind of pass is needed.
Curved Passes can draw a strange ’n’ shape on the ground, bypassing the defending player.
Achieving the effect of "between two points, a curved line can still be accurate".
Passing masters like Debruyne, Messi, J. Rodriguez, Modric, and others have all given impressive performances of this skill.
The other blue skill is equally prestigious.
"Ball Tapping Techniques" are even somewhat akin to innate talent or a sense of the ball.
It initially referred to the specific action of tapping the ball with the foot, but later applied to various ball tapping, treading, and light dribbling movements, all of which can improve a player’s interaction with the football.
This movement can help a player find their touch.
Many players, if they have the appropriate space and time before shooting, will adjust with the "stomping the ball" technique. If the opponent rushes them, they can better perform dribbling moves. If the opponent doesn’t close in, they’ll just take the shot. This belongs to the "triple threat" in football.
Both of these skills have a significant impact as fundamental skills. Even without assigning any attribute points or special effects, they are already awesome.
But as a reward for various "firsts," today’s offerings can only get more powerful, not the most powerful yet.
"Ground Chop Shot: The Ground Cutter is a clever way of shooting, especially in free kicks. But people only notice its cleverness and overlook the difficulty. Shooting +2, set pieces +5. Your ability to execute a Ground Chop greatly improves. When you hit a Ground Cutter, there’s a chance that the football will get a positive irregular bounce."
Deng Kai’s smile was blooming.
This was the first free-kick skill he had acquired.
Although the effect might fall short of a free-kick specialist skill, you’ve got to start with having something before you worry about optimizing it.
In the future, Ronaldo’s free kicks, especially those from a close distance... Hehe, better start by apologizing to Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who was training next to Deng Kai, shuddered.
In the midst of a hot day, why did it suddenly feel a bit chilly?
The so-called "positive irregular bounce" probably refers to times when the football might bounce to avoid a block or save by the opponent.
Or when the ball is slightly off-target from the goal, an irregular bounce may redirect it towards the goal.
Such situations have indeed occurred in reality.
Of course, there are also goals that were prevented due to an unfortunate bounce, which would be a negative effect.
However, one thing is clear, the adjustments for this positive effect are minor and random.
Finally, it’s time to appreciate that golden, superstar-level skill.
The most expensive ’little spinning top’ in football?
There are many ’spinning tops’ in football.
Even Messi had a "spinning" phase.
Emperor Li Yi’s Bengbu Turn is a gem among spins.
But when you add words like "most expensive" and "little" to it,
It can only be the future Brazilian national player Anthony Matheus.
Manchester United paid a whopping one hundred million euros for him!
"The most expensive little spinning top in football: We Brazilians are known for our artistic football, and I won’t stop doing such things; it’s these things that made me who I am... a spinning top that can’t dribble. Ball control +5."
"This technique can attract the attention of nearby defensive players. There’s a chance to enrage opponents, leading to retaliatory defense. Each successful rotation increases technical abilities by five percent for three seconds, up to seven stacks."
"The first time in each match you stack seven times, the total boost effect increases from thirty-five percent to fifty percent, and its duration extends from three seconds to thirty-five seconds. However, you will inevitably face the highest degree of retaliation from the opponent!"
Incredible!
The little spinning top is truly something!
Stacking seven times is already overpowered, and then after seven stacks, you can summon a dragon!
A Deng Kai at one hundred and fifty percent effectiveness, just add a few more skills like Ground Fried Balls, Black Panther Hunt— who could possibly stop him?
It’s just that the inevitable retaliation from the opponent is a bit scary.
If you’re up against Suárez, aren’t you bound to get bitten?
Of course, as great as it sounds, it’s challenging to perform in practice.
Spinning with the ball isn’t that easy.
Considering the refresh time, spinning seven times with the ball within eighteen seconds—not to mention whether you get dizzy, others won’t give you the chance.
The two spins Anthony made were probably the most leeway the opponents would allow him.
Had he spun just one more time, he wouldn’t have been able to continue playing standing up.
But then again, Anthony’s consecutive spins did have an effect.
When he was spinning, the opponents indeed didn’t expect him to do something so outrageous; most of them were stunned.
Several players looked as if they had seen a ghost, resulting in a lapse in their positioning and attention.
So much so that Anthony managed to pass the football through three, four, five defenders.
And that pass was quite threatening.
Even the teammates’ movements during this time became much easier.
It’s just unfortunate that the teammates’ follow-up was not fast enough, causing the ball to go out of bounds.
Of course, the application of this skill depends on the situation. Many opportunities for breakthroughs on the flanks are fleeting, and hence Anthony wasted too many of these opportunities. The overall utility of the little spinning top on him is more of a bane than a boon.
