Chapter 196: Chapter 195: Forgot to Whistle (Please subscribe and share)
So... a big part of social anxiety is because you’re not awesome enough, if you were, you could cure this disease.
Of course, there are still some types of social anxiety that have nothing to do with being awesome or not, those are incurable.
The eighty-fifth minute.
Okunowo, who had been battered by Ronaldo the entire match, finally showed a bit of La Masia’s flair, not by diving but by weaving past Ronaldo and Serafim with his intricate skills, delivering the football to Pinto’s feet.
Pinto had space to shoot, but he passed it once more, with a precise through ball.
A diagonal through pass!
The left winger, speed demon Sabri, timed his run to perfection, received the ball alone in the penalty area, and took a curling shot!
The football went wide past the far post.
It didn’t curl enough!
The football’s curve was inadequate!
Sabri immediately knelt on the ground, holding his head as if even he couldn’t believe he had missed such a clear-cut chance.
If it had been Nuno Gomes or Pinto, that kind of one-on-one would definitely have been a goal.
Sabri’s ability to seize opportunities was still lacking.
The eighty-eighth minute, Benfica’s left-back Ribery also pushed forward.
Even down a man, they still had offensive capabilities.
This also inadvertently proved Hoeness’s mistake in tactical thinking.
Can you no longer control the ball when playing ten against eleven?
Can’t you take the initiative to attack?
It turned out it was possible.
But Hoeness had let the team focus on strict defense for much of the game, offering Morelense’s fairly average flanks a perfect chance to show off.
Ribery crossed from the flank.
Pinto was in a great position inside the penalty box.
But when the football flew towards him, Kilop headed it out of the penalty area directly from behind Pinto.
Morelense’s defensive line was tall, and being only one seventy-three, Pinto, no matter his positioning, had little chance of a real header on goal.
Messi had unmatched ball sense, even able to juggle the ball on his head with flair, but scored only twenty-six times with his head during his professional career.
The more difficult direct free-kick goals, though, he had sixty.
The football was controlled by Morelense’s defensive midfielder Macedo, who immediately found the dealer Deng Kai.
Deng Kai didn’t take the middle route after receiving the ball but pushed forward along the outside right flank instead.
He avoided the central defenders, and since Ribery had just pushed up, this route was clear.
This path also had the added boost of the "Robben’s socks."
It was not until Deng Kai was about to enter the attacking third that a defender came over to put pressure on him.
But Deng Kai’s footwork was mesmerizing, executing four step-overs in a row.
It was the common step-over, which was even more deceptive.
As the opponent struggled to close his legs, Deng Kai flicked the ball through his opponent’s legs and glided past him from the front, pulling off a Robben-esque maneuver.
Ronaldo: Can’t it be a Ronaldo-esque maneuver???
"Deng Kai from the right of the penalty box, suddenly takes a shot with his left foot!"
"An exceptionally high-quality shot!"
"But Benfica’s goalkeeper Santos has done it, he actually saved the shot!"
Ronaldo rushed into the penalty area, controlling the football immediately, but was unable to turn to shoot.
He rocked his shoulders left and right a couple of times and then passed it back to Anderson, near the edge of the penalty area.
The pass was perfect.
Anderson took a furious shot.
But Benfica’s center-back Giallo turned around and blocked the football with his back.
The football flew high towards Ronaldo.
At that moment, facing away from the goal, a multitude of shooting techniques flashed through Ronaldo’s mind, his striker’s soul ablaze.
"Ronaldo holds off his opponent and suddenly leans back, is this... a bicycle kick?"
Bang!
Ronaldo, at the left of the penalty area, attempted a bicycle kick.
The cameras all followed the trajectory of his foot towards the goal.
And then everyone was stunned.
Because there was no football at all.
Ronaldo’s overhead kick was way off the mark.
Not only did the football not fly towards the goal, but it actually flew towards Deng Kai on the right side of the penalty area.
Trigella helplessly covered his forehead at the sidelines, "What kind of overhead kick was that?"
So swapping your head and butt means you lose all sense of direction, does it?
Confronted with the approaching football, Deng Kai had a stroke of luck.
His left foot lifted high, his whole body leaning to the right.
A volley shot!
Bang!
The moment the football flew out, Deng Kai had already raised his hands in celebration.
Because he knew this was not a typical volley shot.
This was... "Flying Immortal Outside Heaven!"
"He shoots! Deng Kai turns and rushes to the corner flag area to celebrate!"
"He didn’t even see what happened behind him."
"It’s in! It’s in! Deng Kai scores a brace!"
"Three to two! Moreirense has turned the game around against Benfica!"
"It’s the ninetieth minute, Deng Kai has scored with a volley shot from outside the penalty area with his weaker left foot."
"He even started celebrating towards the corner flag area before the football entered the goal."
"Deng Kai leaps high, and the entire stadium goes, ’Follow me... Siuuuuuu!’"
The entire stadium became a sea of green and white.
The fans of Sporting Lisbon went into a frenzy, cheering as if they were the ones who had won the match.
They just loved to see Benfica being beaten at the last moment.
That’s why in the first half of the season, their first team lost to Benfica.
"Incredible! The Primeira Liga team has beaten the Liga Portugal team! Is Moreirense going to make it into the semi-finals of the Taça de Portugal?"
"Moreirense makes a substitution, they’re bringing on the defensive midfielder Cordero for the center-forward Anderson, who seems to be running out of steam."
"Feng Te also drops back to the defensive line. This is a 5-4-1 formation, Moreirense intends to hold on to this hard-earned lead!"
The added time phase.
Benfica completely threw caution to the wind, frequently resorting to long balls, but to little effect.
Nearly at the last moment, Benfica earned a corner thanks to Sabri’s speed.
The Benfica goalkeeper came straight out of his goal to join the tussle in Moreirense’s penalty area, prematurely extending stoppage time.
After Schmeichel’s involvement in a corner last year led to Manchester United scoring, this tactic had become a last-resort standard for many teams.
If you can’t win, guarding the goal is pointless.
Similarly, Ronaldo also returned to his own penalty area to contend for the ball.
Okunowo took the corner kick.
Bang!
Feng Te headed the football clear.
The football flew towards Deng Kai.
The referee put the whistle to his lips, ready to end the match.
"GOAL!"
With a bellow, Deng Kai turned to meet the ball and kicked it without any hesitation towards the near post.
The referee was so drawn by Deng Kai’s cry that he instinctively looked at the football, forgetting to blow his whistle.
Because the direction was... pretty accurate.
Everyone’s eyes followed the football in the sky.
Bang!
The football landed outside the penalty arc, five meters away, bouncing high and continuing towards the goal.
Bang!
It landed on the top line of the penalty arc.
Bang!
It landed on the penalty spot, then almost didn’t bounce at all, instead slowly rolling towards the goal line.
Everyone’s breath stopped, as if breathing might affect the trajectory of the ball.
