Chapter 143: Chapter 142 Youth Champions League enhanced edition (please give more positive reviews)
At the fifty-fifth minute, Violante substituted right winger Luis Lorenço for Quaresma.
Although Quaresma couldn’t complete a hat-trick, his two goals and one assist were enough to satisfy him.
He walked toward the bench amidst the applause of the fans.
As Portugal made substitutions, Germany naturally sensed an opportunity to counterattack.
In the sixty-second minute, Schweinsteiger passed back to his club teammate Hitzlsperger, who then made a through pass.
German striker Kuranyi blasted the goal in.
The score was now one to six.
It was as if nothing had changed.
By the seventieth minute, as Germany’s offense gradually improved, the fierceness of the competition between the two teams unconsciously intensified.
Deng Kai timely reminded his teammates to fall back on defense and not to tussle with the Germans.
To avoid any unexpected injuries.
His observational skills and ability to control the game made Violante nod continuously on the sidelines.
Taking Deng Kai was definitely the best decision he had made in this UEFA youth tournament.
At the seventy-seventh minute.
Deng Kai suddenly intercepted in the backfield and delivered an accurate long pass.
Meireles took the ball down the flank, won a corner kick, and then took it.
Portugal’s center-back Feng Te rose high and scored with a header.
Seven to one!
The Germans took another hit.
At the moment of conceding the goal, almost all the German players looked at Deng Kai.
"Weren’t you just giving up on attacking?"
"What was that sudden interception and long pass just now?"
Playing dirty?
Facing the questioning from Lahm and others, Deng Kai walked toward the sideline with a smile.
Violante then substituted Igor for Deng Kai.
With eight assists, Deng Kai occupied the top spot on the UEFA youth tournament assist chart by a considerable margin.
At the eighty-sixth minute.
Lahm cut inside from the right, assisting Schweinsteiger to score.
Two to seven.
This was also the final score of the match.
The German U16 team faced an unprecedented defeat.
The Portugal U16 team, after successively crushing strong opponents, shocked the world with one battle!
...
After the match, the German U16 players refused to grant interviews.
But their head coach couldn’t escape and was caught by the reporters: "I don’t understand, I’ve never seen football like this before, it breaks my understanding of traditional football."
"Deng Kai is a phenomenal player, Ronaldo’s finishing ability is terrifying, Quaresma can’t be contained, Meireles is like an engine on the flank, and Veloso seems like an iron wall..."
"Every one of their players seems so strong, you can’t tell if it’s the match that made them this way, or if it’s because they are inherently so that the match ended up like that."
On the pitch, the Portugal players were also giving interviews.
Ronaldo: "I was in great form today, if I hadn’t been substituted, I could have scored more. But I also know that I need to prepare for the final match."
"Completing a hat-trick is the happiest thing for me so far, achieving such a result in my first service for the youth team feels like a dream."
"Today the opponent’s goal seemed as wide as the sea, of course, this couldn’t happen without the brilliant passes from Deng Kai. We really have a great understanding... Yes, I’m talking about that free-kick, we had never practiced anything similar before, but at that moment, we both knew what to do, it’s indescribable."
"I think there will not be anyone in the world who has the same understanding as we do."
The reporters nodded, then asked, "Really? Not even Hathaway and Deng Kai?"
Ronaldo stormed off, throwing the microphone down in a fit of rage.
When Quaresma was asked why he voluntarily gave up that free kick, of course, he wouldn’t divulge his superstitious beliefs: "I knew Deng Kai was in good form this match, so I wanted him to give it a try."
"I am not one to hoard the ball; if my teammate needs it, I am very willing to cooperate."
Reporter: "What about Deng Kai and Ronaldo’s free kick coordination afterwards?"
Quaresma: "That was really interesting, a very memorable tactical free kick. If there’s a chance, I hope I can be involved in it next time."
In the end, Deng Kai, surrounded by the most reporters, received the treatment of a superstar.
He assisted four goals, overshadowing Ronaldo’s hat-trick to be named the best player of the game.
Reporter: "You guys played out an exaggerated masterpiece, a crazy score of five to zero in the first half. Can you talk about how you achieved it?"
Deng Kai shook his head: "To be honest, we don’t know how all of this happened. I felt like I struggled a lot, and I was forced to stay out of sight many times."
"But my teammates’ ability to seize opportunities was just too strong."
Reporter: "You’re still so humble. What are your views on the finals?"
Deng Kai became a bit more serious: "Now that we’ve made it to the finals, our goal is certainly the championship."
The reporters were taken aback.
The contrast in Deng Kai’s attitude was just too great.
It was equivalent to saying "no, no" while through action indicating "yes, yes."
Reporter: "Have you studied this Spanish U16 team? They’ve maintained a perfect record so far, including the group matches."
Deng Kai laughed: "Of course, I’m very familiar with them. There are several players on the team that I know."
"In fact, this Youth Champions League surprised me because in each team, I found some acquaintances. The Dutch Four Wonders, Bayern’s Three Musketeers, Czech Republic’s Cech."
"Without exception, they’ve all lost to me."
"Then I looked at the Spanish team’s lineup, and would you believe it, Torres and Gabi... I think the heavens have already given everyone the answer."
Reporter: "Are you referring to the Youth Champions League?"
Deng Kai: "Yes. I have to admit, the level of the Youth Champions League is much higher than people initially expected. The stars who shone in the Youth Champions League have, unsurprisingly, also made an impact in this Youth League."
"Teams centered around them, or those where they are the main force, have also achieved good results, making it to the knockouts, the semi-finals, and even the finals."
"So, as winners of the Youth Champions League, Ronaldo and I are confident we can defeat the Spanish U16 team!"
Some reporters, biased towards Spain, disagreed with this statement: "Spain is different from the other teams. The Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, these teams are indeed centered around several U15 stars."
"But the real core players of this Spanish U16 team are Barcelona’s Iniesta and many from Barcelona’s U16, U17 teams. They are far stronger than the Atletico U15 team you’ve faced before."
Deng Kai: "But this Portuguese U16 team, besides me and Ronaldo, also has Quaresma, Meireles, Feng Te, and other excellent players from a higher age group, right?"
Soon, Deng Kai’s interview hit the headlines.
Not because his words were explosive,
but because... UEFA was very satisfied with Deng Kai’s statements.
After the unprecedented success of the inaugural U15 Youth Champions League, UEFA has received too many requests to continue this series of competitions.
The sponsors were more than they had expected.
Deng Kai’s statements, once again, annotated the value of the Youth Champions League.
The main players of the Youth Champions League were also among the best performers in the Youth League.
The relationship is like that between the Champions League and the European Championship.
The outstanding players from the Champions League are destined to become leaders in the European Championship.
However, UEFA still received some other feedback.
Some believed that the players in the U15 Youth Champions League were too young.
The followers were relatively few.
And even if players became famous at this stage, it was difficult for them to immediately connect with professional teams.
This greatly reduced the fans’ enthusiasm to follow them.
People wanted to see players who performed well in the Youth Champions League enter big clubs, enter the mainstream view, within the next one or two years.
They wanted fans to feel the charm of rising to fame with a single goal, up close and in a short period of time.
For this reason, UEFA is in discussion.
The second edition of the Youth Champions League this year is very likely to not happen at the U15 level.
It might be U17 or U19.
After this intention was announced, there were even more sponsors.
Because this also allows the influence of the Youth Champions League to expand from the Youth Championship to the more popular international competition, the European Youth Championship.
