Chapter 210: Chapter 209: Is This Kind of Play Allowed in Football?
"Ronaldo made a great pass, but Deng Kai’s shot was even better! The Lisbon twins are going wild on their home turf today!"
"Oh! Deng Kai chooses not to celebrate, he simply raises one hand high and waves to the fans in the stands."
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
The chanting of the fans echoed from the stands.
At that moment, Lisbon Athletic’s fans even thought, why not just let Morelense make it to the final?
It felt pretty good.
Moreover, compared to Lisbon Athletic, who had already won nearly twenty league championships, fifteen Portugal Cups, the Portugal Super Cup, and one European Cup Winners’ Cup, Morelense, who had never won any Championship Trophy in their club history, clearly needed this chance to fill the void of honor—helped by a player on loan from Lisbon Athletic.
It sounded quite nice.
Of course, only a small portion of fans or, to be exact, the die-hard fans of Lisbon Athletic’s youth training, would think this way.
Most fans, after applauding Deng Kai, started singing the team anthem, hoping that the first team would take things seriously and overtake the "second team".
"Cut him off! Completely cut him off! I’ve said it before, don’t let him have the chance to receive the ball in the danger area!" Matrazzi couldn’t sit still anymore, he burst out in the technical area, a stream of Italian curses that who knows how many could understand.
Afterward, Lisbon Athletic indeed implemented a higher level of marking and cutting off Deng Kai.
As soon as he dared to come forward, Delfim would abandon the others and stick close to Deng Kai.
Morelense’s midfield lacked creativity, and their striker’s footwork was rough, which meant without Deng Kai, even if there was an opportunity in the middle, they would hardly pose a threat to Lisbon Athletic in that position.
That was also why defensive midfielder Delfim dared to leave his assigned area.
The seventy-third minute.
Viana, one of the Lisbon Fantastic Four, finally exploded.
If Morelense couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity in the middle, could Viana fail to seize it?
He was Portugal’s most talented attacking midfielder!
Although next season’s promotional materials from the club claimed he was Portugal’s most talented left-wing player, that was just to fit in with this era dominated by wingers.
Viana’s true position was still in the midfield.
Taking advantage of the time Quaresma was causing a commotion on the wing, Viana dribbled past two players in the middle and delivered a nanny-level pass.
It made it so that even a lethal weapon like Jia De’er didn’t have a defender near him, which can tell you just how exquisite the pass was.
Receive the ball, turn around, shoot.
The Portuguese Super League’s top scorer completed the sequence in one breath, showcasing yet again his super striker abilities.
Three to three!
Jia De’er scored twice to help the team level the score.
Now, Lisbon Athletic really had to get serious!
"You have to say, Lisbon Athletic is just too enviable! Quaresma, Viana, Ronaldo, Deng Kai, any team having one of these gems could wake up laughing, but Lisbon Athletic has them all!"
"This may not be the best Lisbon Athletic, but it certainly is the best time for Lisbon Athletic’s youth training!"
"The game has come to this point, and Lisbon Athletic clearly intends to harvest the match."
"They’ve given Morelense enough time to perform, which is very generous."
The match subsequently entered an intense phase.
The tacit "friendliness" previously shared between the players was torn apart.
Everyone’s movements became much more forceful.
In the seventy-fourth minute, Quaresma tried to dribble past his opponent again.
Serafim, who had been defending him the whole game, clearly couldn’t keep up anymore, and after being dribbled past, he could only opt for a wrestling takedown.
The referee immediately whistled.
Yellow card.
Trigella seized the moment to replace Serafim with Altino.
Altino was significantly slower, but at this stage, Quaresma’s speed was also not as fast as it was at the start.
And Altino’s defensive experience was enough to bridge the gap in speed between him and Quaresma.
The seventy-seventh minute.
After an unfruitful attempt at dribbling down the left wing, Ronaldo commendably noticed Alex in a better position on the other side.
Bang!
Ronaldo’s long pass found Alex.
Alex was so overjoyed he cried.
Ronaldo can actually make a long pass?
Alex feinted and sent a long cross.
The football was kicked out of bounds by the opposing left-back, George.
Corner kick.
Deng Kai walked over to take the corner kick.
He raised his right hand and extended three fingers.
Inside the box, the players began to jockey for position.
Boom!
Deng Kai took the corner kick.
The penalty area instantly became a cauldron of activity.
It was hard to tell who got to it as the football didn’t fly towards the goal, but flew out of the penalty area instead.
Alex controlled the football, and Emerson immediately came out to receive it.
After Deng Kai took the corner kick, Barbosa from the midfield stuck to him like a plaster.
Deng Kai could only burrow into the penalty area and shake off Barbosa with the dense crowd of players there.
But surrounded by taller men, Deng Kai’s view was obstructed; it felt like he was encircled by walls.
Is this what it feels like to be a chicken among cranes?
How wonderful...
Boom!
On the periphery, controlling the ball, Emerson found no one challenging him, adjusted his stance, and made a 45-degree cross.
The difference between a baseline cross and a 45-degree cross is that the latter is less convenient for powering up.
Because the football is curved, when a baseline cross comes in, it hits the attacker’s head. With a bit of attention to the angle, it generally ricochets towards the goal without the attacker needing to exert much force, providing plenty of power.
But with a 45-degree cross, the attacker has to work really hard to flick their head, a technique akin to a rhinoceros looking at the moon, to create a shot on goal, and quite often, the headers are relatively soft in power.
This ball was no exception.
Jia De’er and Feng Te rose high in the penalty area, interfering with each other. Although both touched the football, it lightly bounced up and fell to one side.
Ronaldo, meeting the football, controlled it with his chest, ready to shoot.
But Viana pushed Ronaldo from behind, and Ronaldo only completed the first half of the move.
Deng Kai’s position was right in the path of Ronaldo’s shot, and the two men were only a meter apart. Deng Kai had just dodged a collision between Godzilla and King Kong among the "skyscrapers" when he suddenly saw the football.
This... is this too good to be true?
The football bounced towards Deng Kai from Ronaldo, with Schmeichel and the goal right behind him.
What to do?
Deng Kai didn’t have time to think and could only follow his instinct to jump.
With opposing players all around him, he had no chance of controlling the ball, and his ability to compete at that moment was negligible. People are stronger when excited, and the space didn’t allow Deng Kai to stop the ball and turn to shoot anyway.
The football couldn’t be stopped!
After jumping up, Deng Kai let the bouncing football pass between his legs, while he hooked his right foot backwards in mid-air... an airborne, scorpion-tail flick!
Schmeichel was about to bend down and reach out to catch the football.
The football was suddenly tapped by the heel of Deng Kai’s foot.
Change of direction!
Acceleration!
It went into the goal!
Schmeichel was dumbfounded.
This...
Is this even allowed?
Is football even played this way?
Wouldn’t his coach scold him for this?
