Chapter 208: Chapter 207: Giving You a CD from the Past (Momo’s Capable, Lu Ge and Kai Shao Admit You’re Awesome!)
"Kwame Ayew lunged forward, his speed wasn’t slow."
"Deng Kai let the ball slide past his right leg, moving his body to the left... that was a feint, a drag and flick inside-out, Deng Kai feigned left but surged right, easily bypassing Kwame Ayew."
"Sporting Lisbon’s defensive midfielder Delfim came over as well."
"Deng Kai lofted a pass! With Delfim drawn out, his teammate, the big center forward Anderson, now had space. Anderson was strong-bodied; aside from slightly lacking in foot skills, he was the quintessential target man."
"Beautiful! Anderson headed the ball back, a great assist that was aimed at the ground, perfectly dropping it just ahead of Deng Kai who had sprinted past Delfim after the lofted pass."
Bang!
Deng Kai executed a wall-pass!
His forward run and Anderson’s touch drew all the opposing defenders toward them.
The opponent’s defensive structure turned into a flat formation.
After this pass skimmed by Marcos, the entire Sporting Lisbon defensive line was breached.
The football rolled towards the penalty area, solitary and brilliant.
"Ronaldo! Ronaldo’s speeding up!"
"Ronaldo’s going past Luis all alone, Luis grabbing at Ronaldo’s shirt... but can’t hold on! Because Ronaldo’s entered the box, Luis would give away a penalty if he pulled now!"
"One-on-one! Ronaldo’s got a clear shot!"
"Schmeichel charges out! This is a game for the brave!"
Bang!
Ronaldo mustered all his strength for a powerful shot.
Schmeichel’s pupils shrank as he threw himself on the ground, stretching his limbs to their limits.
If Ronaldo had been a bit more conservative and gone for a low shot, Schmeichel would have been able to keep the goal safe.
But Ronaldo was too damn reckless!
The chances of that blast flying off target were surely higher than scoring, right?
Whoosh!
The football soared high, but was stopped by the white netting above, like a dragon trapped and unable to escape, doomed to fall back into the small pond of the goal.
The ball was in!
"Well done! The CD linkup! Alvadra witnessed the CD connection again after half a year!"
"Here’s a CD from the past for you, listen to our love from back then!"
"Clearly, Sporting Lisbon’s fans have been pulled back into those old memories!"
"Deng Kai! Ronaldo!"
"Two to one! Moreirense takes the lead again!"
"Not just one green and white team! Is Sporting Lisbon going to lose to Moreirense today?"
The whole stadium began to cheer and scream, another goal scored.
This feeling where both sides were their own felt amazing; they could cheer for any goal scored. Although Sporting Lisbon only had one goal, the fans already had triple the joy!
There were only two minutes of added time in the first half.
Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, Quaresma, the elder statesman from Deng Kai and Ronaldo’s youth national team, got restless.
With a series of intricate dribbles, he created a free-kick just outside the penalty area.
Then, swift as a cut, he scored directly from the free-kick, leaving Moreirense’s goalkeeper Ricardo staring in stunned silence.
One assist, one goal!
Quaresma wasn’t about to let Ronaldo hog all the glory.
Two to two.
This was an impeccable score.
Both sides had showcased their style.
During the halftime break, both teams made subtle adjustments.
On Morelense’s side, Trigella swapped Kilop and Feng Te based on the first half’s performance, moving Kilop from right central defender to left central defender to help contain Quaresma on that side.
That was because Feng Te was relatively slow, and when Quaresma got past Serafim or bypassed Emerson, Feng Te was slow to cover.
The free kick from Quaresma in injury time was a result of Emerson being beaten, and with Feng Te not covering in time, Quaresma had space for a shot, so he had no choice but to foul Quaresma from behind.
Of course, this meant Kilop would have to take on double the responsibility in defense, or rather, Feng Te would become the main player defending against Jia De’er, which would double the pressure.
On the other side, Sporting Lisbon’s Matrazzi’s assistant coaching team pointed out that the person who needed the most attention was not Ronaldo who had completed a goal and an assist in the first half, but Deng Kai, who delivered a brilliant assist at the last moment.
"Ronaldo’s breakthroughs are quite efficient, but after all he is on the wing, and both his crosses and shots pose limited threat. As long as our defenders are focused, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem," they said.
"Most shots from outside the area may seem like attempts on goal, but in reality, they are handing us possession because we have Schmeichel."
"On the contrary, Deng Kai, as the midfield core, may seem harmless, but his passing ability is terrifying. The crosses from others and Deng Kai’s through balls from the middle all seem to be creating opportunities," they continued.
"But the probability of scoring from Deng Kai’s through balls is generally five to eight times higher than from crosses."
This was the so-called "gold content."
Threatening passes later became a standard statistic.
But the flaw with this statistic was that not all threatening passes posed the same degree of danger.
If goal expectation value could reflect the difficulty of a player’s shots,
then passes should have an "assist expectation value."
And many of Deng Kai’s passes had a very high value in this regard.
In the 2022 World Cup round of 16 match between Brazil and South Korea, Brazil didn’t create an overwhelming number of opportunities, but those they did were almost always clear chances to score,
while other teams might cross ten times from the wing without reaping a single goal.
"Shut him down, try not to let him get the ball. When he does have the ball, block the connection between him and the players ahead as much as possible," said Matrazzi, "Force him back."
After speaking, he glanced at Maxa, meaning to ask, do you have anything to add?
What could Maxa add?
He didn’t have a clue.
He shook his head.
Matrazzi thought Maxa was being modest, not wishing to undermine his own authority as head coach, and encouraged him, "It’s alright, speak up, Maxa, the team needs your input."
"Deng Kai isn’t very strong in physical confrontations, you all need to be careful not to clash with him too hard, he’s not one to be injured," Maxa, long concerned for his master, feared these first-team players might be too rough.
Since he had to speak up, he might as well say something with warmth.
"Our Young Master Kai is a player who thrives on his intellect, very valuable!’
"Right! I almost forgot!" exclaimed Matrazzi joyously, "Delphim, get on Deng Kai with intensity, stay close to him. He definitely can’t handle the physicality, just like when you defended against Viana in the practice match."
Viana’s face darkened, "Old money, MMP!"
Quaresma also shivered, If we can do this to Kai, might they do the same to Viana and me?
Given his status on the team, no one usually dared get close to Quaresma like that, but some opponents liked to, which made him very uncomfortable.
Maxa was even more numb.
This... that’s not what I meant, don’t overinterpret it, if this gets out, Young Master Kai will think I’ve betrayed him!
After all the players left the changing room, there were still many assistants praising Maxa, claiming he truly was a saint, resolving the core issue with just one sentence.
The most sophisticated midfield maestros often can be contained with the simplest defensive tactics.
