Chapter 219: Chapter 218: A Hat-Trick in One Game (Please Share This Book with Friends)
"The 4-1 scoreline has dealt a huge blow to the players of Gil Vicente, and even the ’pep talk’ the head coach gave them during the halftime break had no effect."
Morale greatly affects how players fight for the ball.
During the World Cup knockout game between Brazil and South Korea in Qatar, everyone thought that Brazilian players would get injured by the South Koreans, who are notoriously dirty players.
However, Brazil stunned the Koreans with two goals in the first ten minutes.
At that moment, both the fans watching the game and the South Korean players themselves could feel the huge gap between them and their opponents.
So much so, that the South Korean players couldn’t even muster the energy to play dirty.
After all, you only play dirty when you see a glimmer of hope for a win.
When there’s no hope at all, the players truly don’t know what to do with themselves.
Therefore, for a lengthy twenty minutes, the Gil Vicente players almost completely gave up on attacking.
They could get some possession of the ball, and in the first half, both their defense and offense posed some threat.
But in the second half... sorry, no threat at all.
In such a scenario, it’s practically tantamount to surrendering.
In the 73rd minute, Serafim, the left-back for Moreirense, found an opportunity to make a cross.
Anderson headed for the goal, and the football deflected off an opponent’s leg and out for a corner kick.
Usually, players from both sides immediately raise their hands claiming the ball for their team, until the main referee or the assistant referee signals whether it is a goal kick or a corner kick.
The main referee’s gesture was clear, it was a corner kick.
"Ha!"
Deng Kai fist-pumped with one hand, shouting with excitement.
He acted as if he had created the corner kick himself, leaving the Gil Vicente players somewhat speechless.
This kind of reaction typically occurs when a full-back makes a beautiful tackle to interrupt the attacking player’s advance—even if it results in a throw-in for the other side, as a successful defense it does raise morale.
Or when an attacking player manages to kick the ball off a defending player to gain a corner or throw-in that wasn’t there before.
But Deng Kai had no part in this attack.
What was he getting so excited about?
This kind of behavior could provoke tempers in more volatile players, who might go up to question Deng Kai or even start a verbal and physical confrontation.
But not on the side of Gil Vicente.
They were all silent.
Just like the South Korean players who became more and more disheartened as Brazil danced for the fourth time after scoring a goal.
Honestly, purely from a competitive perspective, not considering reputation (they never did, it’s purely out of lack of confidence), South Korea could have protested when Brazil players celebrated with a dance for the third time, or even deliberately sparked an on-field conflict while keeping it under control.
It’s not about advocating violence, but at that time, only this approach could have revived the morale of the South Korean team.
Momentum is a funny thing—it’s unimportant if you say it is, but sometimes it can be so crucial it directly decides the outcome of a match.
It’s an indispensable and often heavily weighted factor in any major comeback!
Deng Kai moved to the corner flag area, set the football up, and prepared to take the corner kick.
He held up two fingers, then took the corner.
Under the dual influence of the ’Schmeichel’s Lion’s Roar Technique’ and the 4-1 scoreline on the field, each Gil Vicente player seemed as though they had sandbags strapped to their backs and simply couldn’t jump.
Bang!
On the other hand, Kilop, with his double morale boost, leapt up high—the Portuguese seemed to be flying.
The football blasted into the net with force.
Moreirense’s players scored their third goal of the match.
5-1!
"Moreirense’s strength is probably far beyond everyone’s imagination."
"Keep in mind that Gil Vicente hasn’t suffered such a heavy defeat this season!"
"Counting back three rounds, Gil Vicente even spent some time at the top of the leaderboard."
"Moreirense is too strong! Especially Deng Kai, he’s like an attacking machine! He has already achieved a hat-trick of assists in this game!"
"Regardless of whether Moreirense successfully promotes to the top division this season, Deng Kai definitely won’t be appearing in Portugal’s Primeira Liga matches next season."
"It’s said that Porto is very interested in players like Deng Kai and Ronaldo. Of course, Sporting Lisbon will definitely not sell their outstanding academy talent to a direct rival like Porto."
"According to an anonymous source, teams such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus, and Lazio are all keeping an eye on Deng Kai and Ronaldo!"
The 81st minute.
Deng Kai, who plays in a low-profile manner, handed over control of the midfield to his teammate Emerson while drawing the defenders away himself.
Emerson also had a certain ability to organize attacks, orchestrating the teammates to penetrate the opposition’s defense.
Bang!
During Emerson’s second orchestration, he seized the opportunity to deliver a through ball.
Ronaldo received the ball, dribbled past two defenders, and scored, changing the score to six to one while completing his hat-trick!
In one match, two players scored hat-tricks.
It was hard for Moreirense to even think about losing.
The players got completely hyped, and each started to show off their personal skills, more or less.
The 88th minute, Alex on the flank flicked the ball back and forth five times, causing Anderson in the penalty area to stop making runs.
Such skills could make someone doze off.
And the key point is that Alex didn’t even pass the football out in the end.
His cross was kicked out by an opponent, resulting in a corner kick.
Deng Kai took the corner kick, Anderson’s header was saved.
Alex picked up the chance at the far post, drilling in to shoot and score.
Seven to one!
The 92nd minute.
Ronaldo feigned a cut inside from the flank but actually went down the line for a cross, creating danger.
But Anderson didn’t make it in time, and the football was cleared by the opponent to outside the penalty area.
Deng Kai was not in a particularly good position and couldn’t volley directly on goal.
After controlling the ball, the opponents had already closed in, and Deng Kai’s long shot was blocked by an opponent’s shoulder, deflecting towards Ronaldo.
Ronaldo took a long shot from a tight angle on the left side of the penalty area.
From such a tight angle, it just wasn’t possible to score.
The football hit a defending player and bounced high up.
The Gil Vicente defender marked Anderson and Flavio tightly, another player cleared the ball with a strong kick.
However, Deng Kai who had just taken an unsuccessful shot from the outside rushed into the penalty area.
Facing the opponent’s clearance, Deng Kai jumped and turned.
Bang!
The football hit Deng Kai’s back.
Deng Kai felt as if his heart was about to be pounded out.
But at the same time, the football bounced back from Deng Kai’s back, swinging into the far corner of the goal.
A back-heel goal!
After this goal was scored, Deng Kai didn’t even realize he had scored, thinking someone else had nodded the ball in.
"Eight to one! This score is just unbelievable!"
"Gil Vicente hasn’t just lost three points, their goal difference has also greatly decreased. Currently, they have the smallest goal difference among the top four teams. If they end up with the same points, they will be pushed back, making their hopes of promotion to the Primeira Liga even more remote!"
"Deng Kai also completed a hat-trick of goals. This game produced three hat-tricks, one by Ronaldo, and two by Deng Kai... uh... here ’hat-tricks’ is a noun for quantity, not a verb."
[PS: Tonight, three minutes after 12 a.m., Taozi will take away your points with a huge update amidst cries of "wo cao," "niubi," and "YYDS"...]
