Chapter 233: Chapter 232: Portuguese Cup Final (Fourteenth Update)
England, Germany, Portugal, and Romania—four teams in one group for the European Cup.
If both England and Germany were knocked out in the group stages, then would Portugal and Romania advance?
This was the golden generation demolishing the traditional powerhouses.
Portugal was led by the golden generation of Figo and Rui Costa.
Romania, on the other hand, was led by the midfield maestro Hagi and his golden generation.
One was in its prime, while the other was enjoying the last of its twilight years.
I, Deng Kai, was being shameless, making such an outrageous prediction.
...
May twenty-ninth.
Portugal National Stadium.
The Portuguese Cup final was about to kick off.
This stadium was the fixed venue for the Portuguese Cup final and had thirty-seven thousand seats.
But because the fans were so passionate, at least fifty thousand people had flooded into the stadium today, though still within safety limits.
Among these fans, those belonging to Moreirense probably numbered over three thousand.
This small Primeira Liga club had burst onto the scene with tremendous popularity this year, their home games having previously struggled to fill even fifteen hundred seats. Now, however, three thousand of them had come to Lisbon to watch the match, a testament to the Portuguese Championship igniting so many football dreams.
The fans belonging to Sporting Lisbon likely numbered over thirty-five thousand!
Exaggerated!
This number was just too exaggerated.
This wasn’t a match for Moreirense; this was essentially Sporting Lisbon’s match.
And in recent years, Sporting Lisbon hadn’t had such strong appeal.
Li Gui had surpassed Li Kui; the reserves had higher popularity than the first team.
Most Sporting Lisbon fans hadn’t seen a championship in at least three to five years.
Now their own youth team was contending for the Portuguese Cup, who else were they going to support if not their own?
On the Porto side, only about ten thousand of their own fans had come, which was somewhat disappointing.
But from the standpoint of Porto fans, it was somewhat understandable.
They were the absolute dominators of three consecutive Primeira Liga championships up until this year!
During that time, they were almost always double champions.
They still had to fight in the Champions League, playing in the Europa League was almost embarrassing.
They were used to seeing much more significant events.
So what about this season?
After losing their scoring machine, Jia De’er, Porto finished behind Boavista in the league, letting a commoner disrupt their ten-year plan to dominate the Primeira Liga.
How could the fans still be excited about football!
A mere Portuguese Cup, even if they won it, wouldn’t be that appealing.
Therefore, the Porto fans simply couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to come.
This led to Moreirense receiving what felt like home-ground advantage here.
Moreirense stuck with their regular lineup.
Seeing it was the final, Porto also fielded their main lineup.
Worth mentioning on the attack was their right winger, Capucho.
According to Portuguese naming customs, this was clearly not his real name, but let’s not dwell on that.
Because what made Capucho distinctive was not his name, but his identity.
Yes, he was one of the members of the Portuguese golden generation.
When Deng Kai saw him, his heart pounded.
The glory of the Portuguese golden generation?
Buddy, you’ve got to deliver, you must burst forth!
The three midfielders all had their unique traits.
The attacking midfielder Deco.
The defensive midfielder, Emílio Peixe.
The versatile midfielder Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo, whose father Antonio Sousa was one of Porto’s top ten players in history, a true Porto second-generation!
The four defenders were Little Rubens, Alger Fuchs, Jorge Costa, and Carlos Alberto.
Goalkeeper Hilario.
Today, Deng Kai’s "Cristiano Ronaldo’s Missed Championship Trophy" trait was a slight shooting boost.
Bad omen!
It’s not the effects that are the bad omen, it’s the name of the drop that’s a bad omen!
Cristiano Ronaldo: Damn, using and cursing at the same time?
Beep!
With the sound of the whistle, the match officially began.
Even though not many media members were present, the fans were very enthusiastic.
Both sets of players were equally invested.
After the first three minutes of feeling each other out, Porto undoubtedly took control of the ball.
They began their offense under the organization of Deco.
In the fourth minute, seventh minute, eleventh minute, and eighteenth minute, Porto launched attacks that posed significant threats.
But Moreirense was in a good mindset today, and their players defended vigorously.
For a while, Porto seemed somewhat at a loss for how to break through.
An attack, organization, and defense of a team are interdependent.
To put it rigidly, if the forwards attack well, the opponent will be heavily pressed, making it easier for the midfield to organize and the defense will unlikely face challenges. If one prospers, all prosper.
But today, Porto’s forwards clearly failed to fulfill their task.
The quality of their attacks was not high, and despite having a strong midfield, the forwards couldn’t seize the opportunities.
Several attempts at one-on-one dribbles on the wing were unsuccessful.
Honestly, Moreirense’s full-backs are so weak in defense it’s enough to make one spit blood.
If you can’t even handle this, then what can you say about the quality of your attacks?
Alex: WTF?
Serafim: MMP!
Since Porto didn’t have high-quality attacks, the midfield, led by Deng Kai, immediately got energized.
They began to expand their defensive coverage.
Originally, the three lines were compressed by Porto into one and a half, with no more than fifteen meters between the forwards and the center-backs.
But now, as the midfielders pushed forward, the distance between Moreirense’s forwards and defenders was almost thirty meters.
Expanding the formation means more layered defense, more options for passes.
Consequently, ball possession began to rise.
Deng Kai started to pass and receive the ball frequently with his teammates.
The situation shifted from Porto pressing Moreirense to both sides being able to control the ball with back and forth play.
If you were to count, Moreirense would have fewer offensive plays.
But... almost every one of their attacks reached the opponent’s offensive third and often ended with a shot by a player.
While many of Porto’s attacks resulted in them losing the ball during forwarding passes and combination plays on the wings.
These two types of offenses are equally threatening when successful, but there’s a big difference when unsuccessful.
The former doesn’t lead to counter-attacks because you have to wait for the opponent’s goalkeeper to kick off.
But the latter... after an interception, they start a counter-attack right away, easily catching your defense off guard.
With equal ball control and chances, the side with obviously more threatening attacks will gradually gain the upper hand.
Moreirense began to keep the football in Porto’s half for extended periods.
During this time, although Porto could still maintain some possession, their control of the ball shifted from purposeful, proactive offense to a less effective way of avoiding the opponent’s advances.
According to the League of Legends terminology, this was when the economic gap between the sides began to widen.
The blow to Porto players’ morale, having no chance at the championship, manifested at this time.
It wasn’t that the players actively wanted to throw the game, it was just that they couldn’t muster the energy to perform.
Like some people who, unable to be with the girl they like most, just don’t care about anything anymore, everything feels the same.
Though these people aren’t inherently bad, their actions are indeed despicable.
And Deco, as the emerging core midfielder of Porto, acutely sensed this.
He began to pick up the pace, attempting to turn the situation around through his individual skills.
With his potential as a superstar, he also managed to do just that.
