Chapter 272: Chapter 271: European Union Cup
The choice for the second penalty shooter between Viana and Ronaldo was a tricky one.
Viana, a senior from the youth team who was slated for stardom before Ronaldo, had joined the first team a year earlier.
But as up-and-comers, Ronaldo and Deng Kai were receiving too much attention.
In terms of popularity, only Quaresma could surely outshine these two prodigies.
And even that was just barely, as together, CD were definitely not inferior to Quaresma.
Giving the penalty to Ronaldo made sense since he was a superb shooter, but this didn’t sit well with Viana’s pride.
So, in the end, Trigella chose Matthaus, the Golden Ball winner, and no one could complain.
As for the third penalty shooter, Viana didn’t care for it, so Ronaldo got the spot.
Considering that Matthaus was willing to be substituted in less critical matches, Ronaldo as the third penalty shooter was practically the second.
Quaresma nodded after receiving the football from Deng Kai, then took a pinpoint shot to score his second goal of the match.
With three goals, he became the team’s leading scorer.
All the midfield and forward players, except Drogba, have scored!
After the match, the media went into a frenzy.
Sporting Lisbon triumphed with a 4-1 victory, continuing their lead at the top of the table.
With ten goals clear, it won’t be easy for any team to surpass them anytime soon.
...
"The Truth Behind Hathaway’s Romance Exposed, Are the Three Stripes Deng Kai’s Fatal Attraction?"
A regular Portuguese league match shouldn’t have garnered such international interest.
Yet this news sent the entire North American region into shock.
Many American men publicly debunked the idea, saying Deng Kai couldn’t be that strong.
But American women preferred to believe that Deng Kai used his tall frame’s nutrition in other areas, which wasn’t something you could just talk away.
Luckily, Hathaway had already joined the film set, cutting off contact with the outside world; otherwise, journalists would have certainly asked her about the truth of the matter.
Hathaway: I would like to know the truth about this sooner as well.
There was no break for Sporting Lisbon after the second league round.
Just three days later, they faced their first European match.
Oh no... It should be said that this band of young men was facing their first European match.
Deng Kai, Ronaldo, Drogba, Ibrahimovic, Barzagli, Pepe, Feng Te, Terry, including Viana.
As for Quaresma, he had played in the UEFA Cup with the team last season.
The team made it out of the group stage but fell right after.
Viana was recovering from injury in the first half of last season and only returned after the team was eliminated from the UEFA Cup, thus missing the chance for European competition.
At that time, the UEFA Cup had just absorbed the Cup Winners’ Cup and wasn’t yet the well-known Europa League, but its importance was similar.
The differences lay in the competition format and admission thresholds, among other things.
Sporting Lisbon was drawn into the same group with Gaziantepspor from the Turkish Super Lig, Lillestrøm from the Norwegian Premier League, and Anderlecht from the Belgian Pro League.
A double round-robin format was used within the group.
Each team had to play home and away matches against the other three teams.
There were a total of six matches, with the top team advancing directly to the knockout stage.
The second-placed teams in each group would have to play a play-off against the third-placed teams from the Champions League group stages, with the winners advancing to the knockout rounds.
Over the past ten years, Internazionale reached the UEFA Cup final four times, winning three times; Serie A teams claimed five championships and made it to the final eleven times, showcasing their dominance.
However, last year no Serie A team made it to the final.
The finalists were Arsenal and Galatasaray, a dominant force in the Turkish league.
And the team hoisting the Championship Trophy in the end was the latter!
Arsenal lost the penalty shootout 1-4!
It was also one of the least noticeable names among a series of powerhouse football clubs.
For this reason, people paid extra attention to the teams from the Turkish Super League this year.
Sporting Lisbon... No team from the Primeira Liga has made it to the UEFA Cup final in the last ten or even twenty years.
Their performance in European competitions hasn’t earned people’s trust.
Moreover, the Primeira Liga isn’t a mainstream league, and outsiders’ awareness of it tends to update slowly.
Thanks to the transfer of Jia De’er this summer, people knew Sporting Lisbon sold their leading striker and welcomed a bunch of youngsters, completely rebuilding the team.
If you talk about fighting power... returning to the top four within three years, and challenging for the championship within five, that would be considered a pretty smooth rebuilding process.
So, is there a need to speak of winning or losing?
September 16th.
Sporting Lisbon hosted their European match opponent, Gaziantepspor, at Estádio Alvalade.
Today, Sporting Lisbon’s starting lineup hasn’t changed much, with Drogba as the center forward.
Even though he has not scored in two consecutive matches, Drogba’s role on the field is undeniable.
Choosing him for this match was also a signal from Trigella.
As of now, Drogba is far more helpful to the team than Ibrahimovic.
In the players’ tunnel, both teams lined up ready to enter the pitch.
Ronaldo stood behind Deng Kai and suddenly felt something strange, "Eh, Kai, have you... grown taller?"
Deng Kai was startled.
He thought he was about to have a second growth spurt, but was he already growing taller now? He had to measure himself when he got back, probably now standing at 1.7 meters, right?
"What do you mean?" Deng Kai turned to look at Ronaldo.
Ronaldo said, "I can hardly see the second swirl on the top of your head now, I have to stand on tiptoe, which I never had to do before."
Deng Kai: MMP!
Gaziantepspor is also considered a strong team in the Turkish Super League, but their style of play belongs to defensive counter-attacks, willingly ceding ball possession to Sporting Lisbon.
This is because the three powerhouses of the Turkish Super League, Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, and Beşiktaş, are also known as a haven for aging football stars.
Top football stars from the big five leagues consider going to Turkey for the last one or two years of their career to make a quick buck.
The salaries for football stars there are typically three to ten times their normal wage!
Why not play when it’s free money.
And football stars coming from the big five leagues are often far above the level of other Super League players.
This leads to all other teams aside from the big three clubs mostly playing defensively.
Otherwise, do you plan to steal the ball from the feet of several Zidanes and play head-on attacks against them?
Zidane: I’m not going to Turkey, thank you.
In the first twenty minutes, Sporting Lisbon’s defense was quite solid while riding an attacking wave.
Large Circle Tactics may have its faults, but it assures a solid defense, tough for weaker teams to exploit.
Terry, Barzagli, and Matthaus easily resolved the few dangerous situations that arose, not even giving Feng Te, who was hanging at the back, any crisis to face.
Of course, once the ball truly got to Feng Te’s position, he was mostly unable to handle it.
That’s when Schmeichel was truly tested.
The twenty-third minute.
Seeing both flanks struggling to make progress, Drogba actively dropped back to pull out.
Ronaldo and Quaresma cut towards the center at the same time.
Viana moved out to the left.
Gaziantepspor’s backline began to face a test of their understanding.
