Chapter 142: Chapter 141: I Choose to Forgive (Please Subscribe, Please Share)
"Wait, what is Deng Kai complaining to the main referee about?"
"Retake? The main referee is signalling to retake the penalty! There’s been a violation by a player!"
"It’s Hitzlsperger! He entered the penalty area too early. Deng Kai was watching the penalty area closely. He’s really sly."
"Deng Kai is communicating with Quaresma. It seems like he’s encouraging Quaresma."
"Okay, Quaresma is ready to retake the penalty... It’s in! The ball is in! Quaresma scores with a penalty shot, his second goal!"
"Four to zero! The Portugal team has ended this game an hour early!"
"The German players have lost their spirits; they’ve been beaten to a daze once again."
Because there were many goals, the first half had a whopping four minutes of added time.
To the German team, this was also a torment.
Portugal team was passing the ball comfortably in the midfield, while Germany didn’t press.
The added time was almost over.
From a deeper position, Deng Kai, at a silent moment, unleashed a powerful ground pass that cut through the grass and pierced through the entire German team!
The German players paid the price for their passivity.
They were all not far from the football’s path. If they had been more active, many of them could have intercepted the ball.
But now, they all fell just that little bit short.
Ronaldo starts running... Ronaldo falls!
Ronaldo...
Klinge tackled and flipped Ronaldo.
The main referee blew the whistle right after.
Klinge received the third yellow card for the German team.
He had no excuses, stood up, and walked towards the penalty area, knowing full well that his action was going to be carded. There was nothing to say.
It was an excellent position for a free kick, suitable for a direct shot at the goal from both sides and various distances.
Quaresma ran over happily from the right, ready to take the free kick.
A hat-trick seemed to be beckoning him.
But mid-run, he stumbled... his shoe came off.
Quaresma frowned slightly.
A good number of football players are quite superstitious.
Or rather, they need some psychological cues.
These cues can make you more determined, more confident.
But sometimes they have the opposite effect.
They bring confusion and fear.
Quaresma felt like this was a sign from God.
He had already missed a penalty once.
This free kick... he reckoned he wouldn’t score it.
So after Quaresma tied his laces, he walked over to Deng Kai and whispered in his ear, "How about you take this free kick?"
Deng Kai was a little surprised.
Even at the club level, such privileges are not easily shared.
Let alone in a national team, which is like a makeshift troupe formed for temporary cooperation.
Lil’ Qua’s got the smarts, huh.
No wonder in the future, even after Simon and Ronaldo fell out, Quaresma was always considered a close friend by Ronaldo.
The book "Emotional Intelligence" really needs to be read.
As Quaresma voluntarily moved away from the ball, the commentator got excited, "Oh! Quaresma is giving the free kick to Deng Kai?"
"This is a chance for a hat-trick!"
"Quaresma’s free kicks are very accurate. He scored directly from one in the second game."
"So honorable! The unity of the Portugal team is astonishing. With such an atmosphere within the team, no wonder they’ve made it to the semifinals."
"Huh, why is Ronaldo walking towards Deng Kai?"
In the camera shot, when the main referee indicated that the play could go on, Ronaldo walked over to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai knew what Ronaldo meant; he wanted to provide a decoy for him.
But the next moment, Deng Kai had a brainwave and winked at Ronaldo.
Ronaldo got the message.
This friend, always on the same wavelength, often understood each other with just a glance.
So Ronaldo came over to Deng Kai and shouted, "Let me kick this one."
Deng Kai shook his head.
Ronaldo kept explaining, even holding up two fingers as if to say he had already scored twice and was just one goal away from a hat-trick.
Only then did everyone remember that this was the first time Ronaldo had the chance to score a hat-trick with the national youth team.
His excitement was understandable.
However, Deng Kai kept shaking his head, even becoming visibly agitated.
The two began to push and shove each other.
This puzzled the Portuguese fans in the stands.
Plastic brothers?
The Lisbon Sporting twin stars indeed had conflicts!
People can endure hardships together, but sharing wealth is a different story.
Is the CD duo breaking up?
In the end, with a shove from Deng Kai, Ronaldo was directly pushed away.
Many were surprised by this.
They had thought it would be Deng Kai who was pushed away.
Bang!
Deng Kai poked the football.
The ball rolled towards the direction Ronaldo was pushed to, and as Ronaldo moved back, he suddenly turned and accelerated his run.
The German wall was positioned for Deng Kai.
But now Ronaldo... closer to the penalty box and farther right, had completely bypassed the wall.
"Stop him!"
"He’s going to shoot!"
"It’s him!"
Lahm and the others realized this and quickly alerted their teammates.
Some players from the wall ran towards Ronaldo.
But they were always a step behind.
Bang!
Once the football was in place, Ronaldo unleashed a furious shot.
He completed a world-class goal from outside the penalty area, without any obstruction!
The football took a tricky angle, almost entering the net from the tenth-degree position.
Ronaldo’s shooting skills were on full display.
"GOAL! It’s in!"
"Beautiful tactical set-piece!"
"Deng Kai and Ronaldo pretended to quarrel, and as Deng Kai pushed Ronaldo away, he also sent a pass for him, allowing Ronaldo to blast a shot as easily as if it were shooting practice!"
"Five to zero!"
"Ronaldo completes the hat-trick! This is his first hat-trick playing for the national team!"
"So far in this competition, he has played in five games and scored six goals! Frighteningly efficient!"
"Also, let’s congratulate Deng Kai, who has made his fourth assist of the game! This is also his first ’assist quad’ in the Portuguese youth national team!"
"Who would have thought, in the very last second of the first half, Germany is hit again!"
"With such a scoreline, I believe tactics alone cannot turn this around."
"In the second half, Germany has only one task, and that is to prevent Portugal from scoring any more goals. Otherwise, the score will be embarrassingly bad and these kids might lose their faith in football!"
The match then went into the half-time break.
Violante had not stopped smiling in the locker room, and it was estimated that by tomorrow his cheek muscles would be sore.
He mainly emphasized health issues to everyone.
No more players from the Portugal team could get injured.
Quaresma, Ronaldo, Deng Kai, Meireles, and others all received extra instructions.
They were almost irreplaceable.
Deng Kai also suggested to Violante that they could consider substituting these players earlier.
After all, nobody has ever heard of losing a game with a five-nil lead.
Barcelona: ???
Paris: ???
Violante accepted Deng Kai’s suggestion.
The second half.
Deng Kai almost went invisible, dropping back to the defensive midfielder position.
This allowed the versatile midfielder Amorim to move forward more to receive the ball.
Amorim was visibly upset, cursing MMP in his head!
This damn Deng Kai is really a dog.
You’re afraid of getting hurt, so I’m not supposed to be, right?
To make matters worse, when Violante realized Deng Kai had switched positions on his own, he actually gave a thumbs up, his expression almost clearly saying, "Yes, Deng Kai, you’re doing the right thing. You need to protect yourself and let Amorim go get tackled! Let Amorim take the hits for you!"
So Amorim was left to bear the brunt of the German players’ wrath, looking utterly aggrieved.
The fiftieth minute.
Ronaldo was tackled to the ground by a German player in a challenge.
Violante immediately sent Lorenzo on to replace Ronaldo.
The fifty-second minute.
Deng Kai, who had been lurking around for quite a while, passed the ball, helping the right-back Bosingwa with a one-two.
Bosingwa then went to the baseline and coordinated a cut-in with Quaresma.
Quaresma passed it back with a reverse triangle, and Amorim, who was now far more advanced in the playing field, rushed forward, declaring his defection from Genghis Khan’s ranks, completing the shot from distance and scoring.
Six to zero!
After the goal, Amorim immediately turned and rushed toward Deng Kai, ecstatic.
Deng Kai is awesome!
Thanks to Deng Kai for making this possible!
Deng Kai is the best!
If it hadn’t been for Deng Kai switching positions on his own, how could Amorim have got such a good chance to shoot from distance?
His duties simply didn’t allow him to be in that zone often.
If you have the ball, you have the advantage.
Of course, Amorim chose to forgive.
