Chapter 267: Chapter 266: The German Giant Cannon, The Swedish Scholar (Thanks to book friend 1116 for the generous reward)
Quaresma broke through the right side consecutively, and after being intercepted on his intended cut inside, he passed the ball to Deng Kai.
After receiving the ball, Deng Kai let it run past him, expertly dodging the opponent’s charge, then played a one-two with the retreating Drogba, bypassing another player.
Bang!
Deng Kai chipped a pass to the back left post.
Ronaldo once again made an off-the-ball run into the box, and despite the opposition’s defense, he still managed to get a header to the ball, executing a reverse triangle pass.
Drogba, the beast unleashed, made a turn after the wall-pass and bulldozed into the box, greeting the ball with a powerful shot.
But his eagerness to score, coupled with Ronaldo’s less than perfect back-header—after all, expecting him to make a decent pass when he can barely hit the pass button was a bit too optimistic.
Clink!
The football rebounded off the crossbar and back outside the penalty area.
Matthaus received the ball thirty meters away from the goal.
He nudged the ball forward, arms spread wide.
Deng Kai immediately sprinted outside the goal range.
The German cannon fired!
Bang!
The football didn’t curl much.
From Matthaus’s perspective, the ball even seemed a bit floaty.
But in reality, that was because the trajectory of the football was too straight, which made it look hardly different from the distance covered when viewed from behind.
Whoosh!
The goalkeeper Belamar made a spectacular flying save.
He beautified the highlight reel but failed to touch the football.
The ball violently rocketed into the net, stirring up a white spray.
"GOAL! Matthaus! A super long shot!"
"Four to zero!"
"Can you believe this guy is almost forty years old?"
"He could easily play for another three years!"
Achoo!
Ronaldo felt something was off while he was joining in the goal celebration.
It seemed he was allergic to that statement.
"Alright, Sporting Lisbon is making a substitution."
"With such a comfortable lead, it seems that Trigella wants to give more players a chance to adapt to the match."
"Indeed! The striker Drogba is being substituted, replaced by the Swedish prodigy Zlatan Ibrahimovic!"
"Drogba looked a bit disappointed coming off the pitch, he had a good tactical impact this game, but you can tell he really wanted to score."
"Not scoring in his first match in the Portuguese league is a pity, but judging by Sporting Lisbon’s form today, there will be plenty more opportunities to score in the future."
"Deschamps is also coming off, his substitute is Pepe, whom Sporting Lisbon acquired for a low price this summer."
Deschamps: RNM, can I get a different commentator?
The 73rd minute.
Pepe made a vigorous tackle, his manner even reminded Matthaus of a younger version of himself, albeit thirteen centimeters taller.
While still rough around the edges, it was evident that Pepe had picked up a few tricks when it came to tackling and interception.
Pepe passed the ball to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai passed to Quaresma.
Quaresma tried dribbling past his marker, but the opponent was unmoved.
Quaresma passed back to Deng Kai.
Under pressure, Deng Kai passed back to Matthaus.
Bang!
Matthaus launched a long pass from the backfield.
There are quite a few football players whose names start with "Ma."
But there’s probably only one, Maradona, who ranks above Matthaus.
Even, many people speak of the early ’90s as the era of the two heroes, Maradona and Matthaus.
Though their future statuses in football history differ greatly, Maradona has often mentioned Matthaus and called him his greatest adversary.
From here, we can also see how powerful titles and publicity are.
The gap between the first and second in the industry might even be greater than the gap between the second and the hundredth.
Because in any industry, there might only be one person who can become widely recognized.
When we remember various knowledge points, we also tend to remember only the most noteworthy.
That nitpicker who keeps talking about K2, please leave, you fake fan!
Quaresma started on the right wing.
His ball control was excellent, so after losing the head start, the opponent didn’t press fiercely to avoid him beating a man as soon as he received the ball.
If it were a player with poor ball control, the defender could press up and exert psychological pressure.
As a result, the player, lacking in confidence, would greatly increase the probability of making a mistake in ball control.
Sure enough, Quaresma controlled the ball perfectly, with the football swaying under his feet continuously.
Bang!
Quaresma passed the ball to the oncoming Ibrahimovic.
The defender behind Ibrahimovic immediately lunged from the side, attempting to make a direct interception.
Because Ibrahimovic is almost one meter ninety-five tall.
Such a super tall guy is obviously rough.
Going around him to steal the ball would definitely leave him crying for his mom.
However...
Ibrahimovic took the ball with a Marseille Turn, leaning on the opponent.
The central defender was stunned.
He hurriedly adjusted his steps to chase after Ibrahimovic.
On the right side of the penalty area facing the goal, Ibrahimovic had already shaken off the central defender, yet he faked a move to the right.
It was almost as if he let the ball move towards the chasing central defender’s feet.
The central defender stretched out his leg again, thinking this was a clear chance for an interception...
A feint and a pull!
Ibrahimovic’s move to the right was a feint, entering the penalty area from the left was his true intent.
If he had gone that way from the start, the opponent’s desperate defense might have affected him, since Ibrahimovic’s Marseille Turn was on the outside, and the opponent was on the inside, having an advantage in distance.
But now, Ibrahimovic’s feint and pull not only slowed down the chasing opponent but also deceived him off his center of gravity.
At this point, Ibrahimovic could do whatever he wanted, and the opponent could only watch.
This style of play... these graceful steps, this change of center of gravity and ball handling, are you sure it’s not Quaresma?
Bang!
Facing the last central defender, Ibrahimovic passed the ball across the top of the penalty area.
Deng Kai had already moved into this position.
Bang!
After receiving the ball, Deng Kai immediately played a through pass.
Ibrahimovic, touching the ball, continued forward, and the two players performed a wall pass to get past the confused central defender who didn’t know whether to go left or right.
Ibrahimovic was in on goal!
Bang!
Without much adjustment at his feet, Ibrahimovic caught up with the ball and completed a chip shot over the advancing goalkeeper with the outside of his right foot.
The football curled around the goalkeeper and into the net.
The entire process felt... silky smooth!
The tall and large Ibrahimovic, in playing football, including the final shot, exuded an air of... finesse!
"GOAL! My goodness! Five to zero! Sporting Lisbon is in devilish form!"
"Let’s congratulate Ibrahimovic! He scored within less than three minutes of entering the field!"
"So silky! Drogba proved with his performance that he is a worthy replacement for Jia De’er, whether he can score or not, at least the role he plays in the team is by no means inferior to that of Jia De’er."
"Everyone thought Ibrahimovic was just another Drogba, but surprisingly, his style of play is completely different! His technique on the ball is very soft."
"To say something I shouldn’t, Ibrahimovic’s dribbling looks much more polished than both Deng Kai and C Ronaldo!"
"The different styles of Ibrahimovic and Drogba will bring more possibilities to Sporting Lisbon’s future play."
"Those who previously doubted Trigella’s decision to buy two similar type big forwards can now shut up, every penny spent by Trigella was truly worth it."
