Chapter 192: Chapter 191: Feng Te’s Social Death (Asking for Full Subscription, Please Share with Friends)
The names of the two youngest players on the team echoed through Luz Stadium.
At the same time, Benfica fans clad in red burst into loud boos.
Especially when the name Deng Kai came up.
The Moreirense players all looked at Deng Kai and Ronaldo.
Was this the status of the two superstars at Sporting Lisbon?
They were still only academy players.
After being loaned out for just over two months, it was their first return to Sporting Lisbon, and so many fans rushed to the rival’s stadium to cheer for Deng Kai and Ronaldo!
What level of influence was this?
Simon and Quaresma didn’t have such explosive popularity during their time in the academy, right?
The Moreirense players were all worried that Cristiano and Deng Kai might get overly nervous because of so many supporters.
But the next moment, Deng Kai stretched out his arms in the formation, turning around as he walked, sweeping his gaze across the stands, shouting, "Caesar!"
Then he clapped his hands twice.
"Caesar!"
Clap Clap!
"Caesar!"
Clap Clap!
Neat applause and the chant of Caesar rose in the stadium.
This was Deng Kai’s unique entrance ritual in the U17 for the first half of the season, and many Sporting fans were aware.
Everyone liked these gimmicks Deng Kai pulled off.
A hint of disdain flashed across Ronaldo’s eyes.
Messing around with this stuff while I was gone.
I’ll definitely steal your entrance ritual in the future.
No, I’ll clap one more time than you do.
When Deng Kai turned around, he saw the look in Ronaldo’s eyes and immediately read his thoughts.
Silly kid, you’re going to fail.
Because clapping three times wouldn’t pass censorship in a novel!
Of course, there was one Moreirense player who felt even worse than Ronaldo, and that was... also from Sporting Lisbon, Feng Te.
He was two levels above Ronaldo and Deng Kai.
But there were no fans shouting his name at the scene.
This really... was too heartbreaking.
"Feng Te! I support you! Keep it up!"
One fan noticed Feng Te.
This time everyone, including Benfica players, looked at Feng Te, as if to say, "Wow, there’s another one from Sporting Lisbon!"
Feng Te’s face turned bright red, socially annihilated on the spot.
He suddenly felt that it might have been better when no one was calling him at all.
For someone with social anxiety, being forgotten is not scary; the true despair is being re-examined by everyone after being forgotten.
That fan, I thank your whole family!
...
With the whistle, the match officially began.
Moreirense’s formation today was 4-3-3.
=
Ronaldo, Anderson, Flavio
Emerson, Macedo, Deng Kai
Altino, Feng Te, Kilop, Alex
Ricardo
=
The changes for today included Emerson’s return and Altino’s starting debut at left-back.
This was a targeted measure proposed by Deng Kai.
Because Altino was directly positioned against the opponent’s right winger, Maniche.
Benfica’s formation was also 433, which suited wingers—the position Portugal had been focusing on developing in recent years.
=
Abdulsatar Sabri, Joao Pinto, Maniche
Sergey Kandarov, Andrade, Jose Caraldo
Jorge Ribery, Feliciano Garcia, Giallo, Samuel Okunowo
Nuno Santos
=
Sabri was Benfica’s star signing of the year, with a transfer fee of 2.5 million euros.
Previously, Benfica had cultivated central players like Rui Costa, and the current hotshot Nuno Gomes was a center forward; they had also sold excellent midfielders and central defenders.
Their strategy differed from the current Portuguese mainstream approach of creating star wingers.
However, clearly envious of the profits of wing superstars, they recalled Maniche and brought in wingers like Sabri.
Yet, both players’ performances in the first team were far from ideal, only qualifying for substitute positions.
Additionally, the team’s left and right backs were quite skilled.
Left back Jorge Ribery had been teammates with Deng Kai and Ronaldo in the Portuguese youth national team, winning the Championship Trophy together last summer.
Ribery was one of the older players in that group.
Right back Okunowo was a technical player Benfica had brought back from Barcelona.
A good winger inevitably requires the support of capable wing-backs, which further confirmed Benfica’s intent to produce wing superstars.
But like the two wingers, these wing-backs were also at a substitute level within Benfica.
This indicated that their strategy of cultivating wing superstars was not progressing smoothly.
In such circumstances, Sporting Lisbon had introduced top wing starlets such as Quaresma, Viana, and Ronaldo.
Benfica couldn’t have been more envious.
Although both were substitutes, the team’s central spine was largely comprised of Benfica’s main players.
Center forward Joao Pinto was even part of Portugal’s golden generation.
While not as famous as Figo, Rui Costa, or Bolaita, Joao Pinto had an achievement that was second to none—he was the only player in the world who had won the World Youth Championship twice.
At the start of the match, both teams were eager to take control of the ball.
But as time passed, one side was bound to lose possession.
It was inevitable.
Even if both teams favored possession play, one would fail to maintain control of the ball.
If both teams preferred counter-attacking without the ball, one would end up keeping possession.
Apart from tactical influences, this was also related to player abilities.
The so-called "advantage" on the field often came down to the personal abilities of the players.
Your players passed faster, received the ball more steadily, needed less time to adjust, had the upper hand in collisions with opponents, and provided timely support. After a few such instances, the opposing players would realize whether they could outplay their counterpart.
If unable to prevail, the next time the opponent received the ball, they wouldn’t blindly rush to tussle but would focus more on defense.
This was a basic principle of soccer: to seize your ball possession, limit your passing and breakthroughs, prevent you from taking a shot at goal, or cut off your attackers from receiving crosses.
The stronger the capability, the more proactive the choices; the weaker the capability, the more defensive the choices.
And in a match where several players found themselves unable to compete against their opponents, the overall situation on the field would change drastically.
Thus, if we view a match’s outcome as a war comprised of multiple battles,
The one who could control the ball more would win the first battle.
And today, Benfica undoubtedly became the controllers.
Their players’ individual skills were far superior to those of Moreirense.
In the 15th minute, Benfica’s left winger, Sabri, utilized his outstanding speed to burst down the flank, bypassing the defensive black hole Alex to make a cross.
The cross was aimed at the near post, because Benfica didn’t have a tall center forward and rarely lofted the ball.
Pinto, with his excellent attacking runs, rushed to the near post for a sweeping shot, swiftly finishing the goal.
One to zero!
