Chapter 283: Chapter 282: Super Gomes
Bang!
Header at the near post.
The football slammed into the ground, and then bounced into the net, perfectly bypassing the Benfica goalkeeper.
"GOAL! One to zero!"
"Ibrahimovic played just like a winger! From receiving the ball to passing, Benfica’s right-back simply had no way to deal with him!"
"Similarly, Ronaldo’s threat in the box has clearly been underestimated! But as he has grown taller, even compared to a center-forward, he’s above average in height!"
"This was a successful position switch. Especially since Ibrahimovic made the assist directly from the wing after his criticism of Maniche before the game; it seems he has taken it to heart."
"Trigella and Maxa are indeed excellent coaches, they’ve actually designed special tactics based on the psychological dynamics of the players to help them prove themselves, which is truly great!"
"Trigella’s ability to teach young players is indeed no less than Wenger’s, of course, this is also supported by the tactical backing that Maxa provides to the team."
"Only teams that have a tactical master like Maxa have the ability to design so many unique tactics for players!"
"Many might think that there is no difference when Ibrahimovic or Drogba play as center-forwards, but in fact, there are some subtle tactical differences. Drogba and Ibrahimovic don’t use exactly the same tactics."
"That is to say, in Sporting Lisbon, every player can have their own exclusive tactics just like a core player, and there could be one or even several sets of tactics that revolve around you. It’s really wonderful! This may also be why the newcomers they’ve brought in this season have been performing exceptionally well!"
In the nineteenth minute, Sporting Lisbon came back with a vengeance.
Matthaus launched a long pass from the center-back position.
Ibrahimovic and Quaresma swapped positions, with Ibrahimovic receiving the ball on the right flank.
Benfica’s players already knew that on the wing, you can’t stop Ibrahimovic from receiving the ball, because Ibrahimovic is very tall and quite strong; there’s no high ball he can’t get to.
So, defending Ibrahimovic on the flank, you can only back off a little.
Try to intercept during his settling of the ball and turning.
Bang!
Ibrahimovic controlled and burst through in one motion, directly stopping the football onto his cutting-in route, then charged forward.
Everyone was stunned.
Not to mention the precision and the excellent control of strength in this one-touch play.
The very idea alone was out of the ordinary.
Such a big center-forward, taking the ball and immediately accelerating to eat you alive - how outrageous is that?
Normally, it wouldn’t even cross anyone’s mind.
But Ibrahimovic dared to think it, and he really dared to do it!
Ibrahimovic’s burst and top speed are considered excellent, but that’s for a target man.
Compared with wingers, he might be slightly slower than Maniche.
Outpacing with speed, that’s definitely not his strength.
But since he did it, it means he was confident...
"Oh! Ibrahimovic surprises everyone, cuts inside first, and secures the cutting position. Benfica’s left-back is blocked behind him, unable to affect his breakthrough whatsoever."
"The big center-forward cutting in from the wing after controlling the ball, Ibrahimovic as if opened a new world of doors for Benfica’s left-back."
Beep!
Benfica really didn’t have any way to stop Ibrahimovic, and in the end, it was their defensive midfielder who came back and took Ibrahimovic down from the side.
The main referee blew the whistle and showed a yellow card.
And he awarded a free kick in a very advantageous position.
Theoretically, a left-footed player could take a shot on goal directly from here.
But the awkward thing is... most of the players in Sporting Lisbon’s front field are right-footed.
Ronaldo, Quaresma, Viana, Deng Kai, Ibrahimovic, these players with the ability to take free kicks are not suitable for this position.
Quaresma is the only one among them who can use the outside of the foot to deliver a high-quality right-footed shot from the left-footed shooting area.
Bang!
Quaresma bypassed the football, he didn’t touch the ball.
The football was kicked by Deng Kai.
They decided to turn this free kick into a cross to create more opportunities.
Deng Kai’s free kick was very decisive.
It wasn’t a high ball, but a half-high one.
It had a large arc and was traveling fast.
It curved directly into the penalty area from the right side, flying from the right of the goal towards the left - it even got almost parallel to the goal line.
This meant that any touch on the football by anyone on this trajectory could potentially result in a shot on goal.
But that’s just theory.
In practice,
the players on the right side were the first to see the football, but it was moving too fast for them to likely react in time.
So their attempts to stretch out a leg or lunge with their head were all done after the football had already passed.
Only the players on the left towards the back had more time to react and make a move to shoot before the ball arrived.
Bang!
Ronaldo on the left took a flying slide shot.
He managed to graze the ball.
The football hit the back post and ricocheted into the net.
It narrowly missed flying over.
"Beautiful! An extremely fierce tactical free kick!"
"Deng Kai’s strike was so powerful and curved; it could even be called a shot on goal."
"Aside from Ronaldo at the end, nobody could react in time. Even Ronaldo almost didn’t touch the ball."
"Two-nil! Deng Kai and Ronaldo didn’t waste the free kick that Ibrahimovic created for them."
"Even facing the formidable Benfica, Sporting Lisbon is playing fiercely today!"
"Benfica must do something about Ibrahimovic now. Up to now, almost all of Sporting’s offensive threats have involved him. His role is clearly not something Benfica’s Maniche can match."
"He’s like Nuno Gomes!"
Benfica clearly realized this as well.
They subsequently strengthened their defense against Ibrahimovic.
However, Ibrahimovic’s pitch awareness wasn’t that strong, and his decent technical footwork prevented him from sensing the danger for a while.
Until the twenty-sixth minute.
Ibrahimovic was surrounded and unable to make a pass.
If Ibrahimovic had been a winger, with the intuitive instincts of Ronaldo and Quaresma, he might have found a better way to handle the situation, like taking the ball to the sideline to fight for a throw-in for his team.
Even if he had to concede a throw-in to the opposition, as long as they prevented a quick restart, they wouldn’t risk conceding a counterattack due to a lost ball.
Bang!
Ibrahimovic was dispossessed by Maniche, who had come back to defend.
Maniche pushed forward with the ball, passing it to Gomes after crossing the halfway line.
Gomes returned the ball to midfield and instantly took off running.
Benfica’s midfielder sent a through ball.
Gomes outpaced Matthaus with his speed.
Feng Te was a little late coming out, and the connection between him and Matthaus was already quite fragile – it was the most vulnerable point in that defensive line.
And Gomes, that powerful striker, really capitalized on it!
Bang!
Gomes daringly completed a long shot before Feng Te could approach.
Even though Schmeichel was prepared, Feng Te still somewhat disrupted his judgement.
And Gomes’s strike was exceptionally high quality.
"GOAL!"
A thunderous cheer erupted from Luz Stadium.
[PS: Everyone at home tested positive, as for me, I currently have a fever, steady at 37.5 degrees, with a headache, dizziness, sore throat, fatigue, and muscle pain. I tested myself and I’m not positive yet, it might just be a common fever (if that still exists these days), but I’ll keep an eye on this for the next couple of days.
Regardless of whether I test positive or not, this fever really is uncomfortable. I sat in front of the computer all day and barely managed to write a few words.]
