Chapter 290: Chapter 289: The Civilized Warrior Sa Sheng (A Moment of Silence for a Five-Year-Old Little Girl)
Back on the field.
The twenty-second minute.
Deng Kai had already sussed out the referee’s standard of judgment.
So, during a tackle, he committed a foul to complete an interception in the attacking half.
Even without the shooting bonuses from Black Panther Hunt, Mediocre Winger Schweinsteiger, and the like, Deng Kai’s shooting ability of 80 was more than enough to score from just a short distance in front of the penalty spot with no one defending him!
"GOAL! Deng Kai scores! He looks harmless, but his counter-stealing in the front half is something... Eh? It doesn’t count?"
"The referee blows the whistle, indicating the goal is disallowed!"
"Oh, it seems they are calling Deng Kai for a foul during the interception. Indeed, if you look at the action in isolation, it certainly could be considered a foul."
You see, the commentator definitely knows football, hence the insightful commentary.
The phrase "if you look at the action in isolation" basically revealed everything there was to reveal.
Any more and they’d have to dock his salary.
Similarly, Deng Kai was very dissatisfied this time, directly confronting the referee, "Are you sure that was a foul?"
Referee: "I’m sure, move aside."
Deng Kai blocked the referee’s path, refusing to budge, "Are you really that confident? If my action counts as a foul, then how many fouls should have been called against Rosenborg before this?"
The referee frowned—how dare you talk back?
He started reaching into his pocket.
Deng Kai knew he couldn’t escape the card and decided to speak his mind, "The whole of Portugal is watching this match, and many who understand football can clearly see what you’re really calling."
The referee was enraged, his hand which was headed to his pocket now swinging towards his back.
He was ready to pull out a red card.
But Deng Kai showed no sign of panic throughout, staring directly at the referee with the fierce eyes of a bulldog.
And those eyes were very penetrating.
It even gave the referee the creeps.
Who in these two years of betting did not know about Deng Kai?
This young man had caused the Portuguese betting agencies to lose a fortune.
What?
Are you saying referees can’t gamble? Did the author get it wrong?
You see, the author certainly knows football, which is why the typing is so spirited... Any more and they’d have to dock his fee for the manuscript.
If Deng Kai were to be sent off directly, there could be trouble after the match.
In fact, this yellow card was already quite forced.
Despite Deng Kai’s seemingly poor attitude and his disputing with the referee after his goal was disallowed, which seemed improper, everyone actually understood the situation, and even as the referee, you had to put up with Deng Kai’s questioning.
To disallow a goal and then issue a yellow card was just not decent.
"F**king bait motherf**ker... Grass mud horse... to call those things your eyes is flattering, those are just two measly seeds... F**king immortal plank plank... Hatchet-faced baby!"
When Deng Kai’s goal was disallowed, Maxa had already rushed to the sideline area, fully fired up.
In order to communicate without any barriers with Young Master Kai, Maxa, who had not been good at reading since he was young, had actually managed to learn Chinese and even picked up some of the dialect from Kai’s hometown.
Don’t be fooled, even though Kai could speak several languages, people are always most comfortable with their native dialect.
Or why do you think Kai talked the most with Maxa?
Someone else’s goal being disallowed is one thing, but you dare disallow Kai’s goal?
Is what you’re disallowing just a regular goal?
You’re disallowing art!
You’re blowing away Maxa’s soul!
Such vehement insults couldn’t possibly go unnoticed by the referee.
Seizing the moment, the referee ran towards Maxa, showing the red card as he went.
You, get out!
Maxa stood there agape—what...
Really?
Am I being a bit wronged here?
You even understand Sichuan dialect?
The commentator said, "Maxa is really fiery, he won’t allow his players to endure any grievances or wrong calls! He’s a good coach, no wonder the fans in Portugal affectionately call him ’Saint Maxa’!"
"Rather than saying he was sent off the field by the main referee’s red card, it’s more accurate to say he stormed off in anger! In doing so, he protested against the unjust officiating in this match! He’s a civilized fighter!"
After this commotion, it seemed the referee also forgot about Deng Kai’s yellow card.
The Rosenborg players thought the referee had forgotten and kindly reminded him that he still needed to issue Deng Kai a yellow card.
The referee at first pretended not to hear, and when confronted, he directly stated he didn’t need their guidance on how to officiate! And it damn wasn’t because they were so bad that he had to try every means to help them.
The Rosenborg players were completely dumbfounded, wondering what was wrong with their godfather.
This conflict greatly impacted the mentality of the players on both teams.
The players of Sporting Lisbon couldn’t grasp the referee’s standards anymore and, to avoid being targeted by him, started to make cleaner tackles when defending.
And cleaner tackles meant the intensity of the defense wasn’t sufficient.
The thirty-first minute.
A direct through ball from Pepe, who had been starting since Deschamps’ old age dementia, oh no, concussion, was intercepted by Rosenborg.
Rosenborg launched a quick counter-attack.
There were no offside players on the Sporting Lisbon side, but time and time again, due to insufficient defensive efforts, they missed interceptions, finally conceding a goal.
One to zero, Rosenborg took the lead!
This conceded goal was a huge burden for the defending players.
But at the same time, Pepe also bore a great deal of responsibility.
Don’t look at his young age, and the fact he’s mainly a substitute on the team, but his passing skills, especially long balls, are much stronger than those of Terry and Barzagli, and especially beyond the likes of Feng Te.
But Pepe, because of this, has been frequently attempting direct passes in recent matches, eager for success.
This goes against the ancestral teachings of the Large Circle Doctrine.
Large Circle Tactics form a U-shape, exerting strong control over the football.
There’s no worry about losing the ball on the flanks.
But the real fear is getting the bottom broken through.
And when Pepe’s direct pass gets intercepted, breaking through that bottom becomes too easy.
Seeing this, Deng Kai immediately made a gesture.
He signaled to his teammates on both sides to switch to off-ball mode, not giving the opponents a chance to mark them closely.
Contact with the opponent during these phases depended too much on the referee’s ability and conscience.
And clearly, this referee had no heart.
So, the Flying Disc Tactics were a better choice.
Not the flying disc that’s in yoga pants.
It’s about throwing the football behind the opponent’s defense like a flying disc, then letting the speed dogs on both sides chase the ball, using their sheer speed to tear through the defense and create chances.
Quaresma’s technique may be peerless on the team, but his speed also ranks among the top tier.
Ronaldo’s speed is unmatched.
These two speed dogs are full of agility, well-suited to rush forward and adapt when charging.
Ronaldo: Agility? So you like to compliment people like this?
If they handle it at high speed, the opponent is either blatantly fouling, or doesn’t even get a chance to foul.
Of course, easier said than done.
Rosenborg played defensive counter-attacks today.
After scoring, they even pulled their formation back a bit more.
The space left for Quaresma and Ronaldo on the left and right wasn’t much.
With this distance, they might not really be able to burst into speed.
