Chapter 215: Chapter 214 - Two Stars Fall from the Sky (Autistic)
Facing such pressure, Trigella showed no signs of vulnerability and openly declared, "The top three teams all want to take away three points from us, which is very important to them."
"But for us, winning these matches is even more significant. Because in our view, their three points are worth six points to us!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the fans of Moreirense were instantly excited.
This is absolutely a declaration of intent for promotion!
When is a match worth six points?
It’s when you have three more points than me. If we both win, I can never catch up to you.
But if we face off, and I win while you lose, plus the three points I gain minus the three points you should have gotten, I’ll have caught up to you all at once.
This is what’s called a six-pointer, referring to a direct confrontation between competitors!
May 4th.
The twenty-seventh round of the Portuguese Second Division kicks off.
Moreirense cleanly defeated Ohanes, who had no desire or need to fight anymore, having secured safety, with a score of three to zero.
Deng Kai assisted and scored, Ronaldo broke through with a goal, Anderson provided an assist, and holding midfielder Macedo scored a rare goal.
Moreirense’s points tally reached forty-three.
But what’s more interesting is the points of the top three teams.
Vizela, at the top of the league, and Rio Ave, in third place, faced each other this round in a showdown between strong teams.
In the end, the underdogs Rio Ave defeated Vizela, taking away three points.
Both teams’ points tally rose to forty-five.
Gil Vicente, sitting in second place with forty-four points last round, and Fatima the last place team, should have easily won the match, but in the last minutes, Fatima managed to score two goals to tie the match, taking only one point and also reaching forty-five points.
With an advantage in head-to-head records against Vizela and a slight goal difference advantage over Rio Ave, Gil Vicente ultimately became the top of the three teams with forty-five points, taking the lead in the standings.
However, in reality... they missed the opportunity to widen the points gap with other teams and lost the two points they should never have dropped.
Rio Ave, having an advantage in head-to-head results against Vizela, moved into second place in the standings.
The previous leader Vizela lost a match and tumbled to third place, but essentially all three top teams were tied with forty-five points, still with a chance.
Three rounds, a two-point difference!
The situation was becoming increasingly favorable for Moreirense.
But the next three rounds, Moreirense’s opponents would no longer be teams fighting to avoid relegation or teams with nothing to gain.
In the twenty-eighth round, they faced Gil Vicente.
In the twenty-ninth round, they faced Vizela.
In the thirtieth round, they faced Rio Ave.
Moreirense could very well slide from their current fourth place in the standings to tenth place due to a three-game losing streak!
Heaven and hell, truly separated by a fine line.
May 9th.
The big battle begins.
The twenty-eighth round of the Portuguese Second Division gets underway.
Rio Ave and Vizela, two of the top three teams, both defeated their opponents, raising their points to forty-eight.
Moreirense must win to keep the points difference within one match and maintain the possibility of promotion.
...
"Ding! You have won a match, and your rating for this match is SS!"
"Reward acquired: Super Training Cones*15, Dong Long Special Drink*10, White Medicine OK Bandages*3, Blue Fragments*3, Purple Fragments*3, Gold Fragments*1, Star Player Drops*2!"
"Ding! You have used 20 Blue Fragments and received the blue player skill Inside Curve Shot."
"Ding! You have used 20 Purple Fragments and received the purple star player skill Dribble and Pass."
Ever since entering the professional arena, the output of fragments had been less than ideal, so Deng Kai always had to save up for quite a while before he could exchange them for skills.
He fully experienced the pain of a "Leopard Head No-Charge Player" as he reminisced about the mobile game, Real Situation.
But the accumulation of good luck must be effective.
Just look, he’d scored two Star Player Drops in one go.
"Inside Curve Shot: Slightly enhances your shooting ability. The curved arc of the shot is more likely to circumvent defenders."
Not bad, not bad at all.
A blue skill with two enhancement effects could be considered a small rarity.
Inside Curve Shot, also known as a swerve shot, imparts heavy rotation on the football, creating a curved trajectory.
It often enables the ball to circumvent defenders and is the main way to target the far corner of the goal.
If you don’t use the Curve Shot, then the angles for targeting the near corner and the far corner are quite similar, both easily blocked by the keeper.
However, after the Curve Shot, the angle at which the football enters the far corner becomes extremely close to the angle of shooting from the penalty spot.
The larger the curve, the closer the angle.
It has an excellent visual effect.
"Dribble and Pass: When you perform a Dribble and Pass facing the defenders, your speed is somewhat increased. When you perform a Dribble and Pass with your back to the defending player, your agility, speed, and physical confrontation are all somewhat enhanced, and the ball’s path is more likely to match your expectations."
No wonder purple is always a bit more badass.
This Dribble and Pass is pretty powerful.
Frontal Dribble and Pass aren’t common and are often used by players who are extremely confident in their speed.
Or like Ronaldinho and Neymar, those with extremely strong and flashy dribbling skills see the best effects.
If you can’t completely dizzy the opponent or outpace them with speed, then a frontal Dribble and Pass effectively hands the ball over to the other team.
But a rear Dribble and Pass—that has a very wide range of applications.
I’ll spare you the classic ’Century Turn Waltz’ of Bogkamp; it’s too iconic and challenging.
But on the flanks, back-facing Dribble and Pass situations are very common and very effective.
A winger pins down the opposition, receives a pass from the full-back, flicks the ball with their foot, then turns and chases after it. This seemingly simple routine is frighteningly effective.
In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, teams like England and Brazil, when facing tough defenses and struggling to advance, all relied on this "plain and simple" method to make progress, create dangerous situations, and even score goals.
However, the most refined part of this skill is not in the back-facing Dribble and Pass attribute boosts, but in... the ball’s trajectory being more likely to match your expectations.
This belongs in the passing enhancement category.
The recently mentioned cooperation on the wing that leads to a back-facing Dribble and Pass naturally poses a significant threat, but the failure rate is very high, especially when you flick the ball back as it comes toward you.
It can easily be blocked by the opponent’s foot, preventing the ball from getting through.
And even if it does get through, it’s hard to control the direction of the ball’s advance, because it’s typically directed with the sole of the foot or the heel.
And to execute a threatening back-facing Dribble and Pass, your teammate needs to pass you the ball with a lot of force and speed, making the ball’s direction even more unpredictable after the flick.
In the same World Cup, the ball rolled out of bounds or was deflected far more often than it led to successful plays.
Lastly, this method of cooperation can appear rather casual, leading to failed attempts that might cause dissatisfaction among the coach and teammates.
"Maybe I can collaborate more with Ronaldo on the wing in the future," Deng Kai thought as he began to check out the last of the treasures, those two Star Player Drops.
The first Star Player Drop came from Peter Schmeichel.
