Chapter 297: Chapter 296: The Pretentious White Lotus of the Portuguese Super League
The 89th minute.
Everyone thought the game was over.
But the Brazilian genius conquered the fans with his Porto waltz.
He dribbled past two players in the middle and forcefully made his way into the penalty area.
Feng Te, like a butcher, destroyed this piece of art, taking down Deco.
A yellow card package!
Feng Te paid the price for his foul.
And Deco himself stepped up to take the penalty kick, and with a big heart, he scored.
At that moment, the whole stadium chanted—Super Deco!
Deco raised his arms high, basking in the adoration of the fans, unaware that revealing his title in front of Deng Kai was such a dangerous thing to do.
Three to three!
After a series of leads, Porto finally drew with Sporting Lisbon, preserving their last shred of dignity.
This was also the final score of the game.
Neither side was very satisfied with the result.
Deco, "We established a lead early on, but we underestimated Sporting Lisbon; they’re very tenacious, and this was the toughest game we’ve played this season."
Reporter, "Which players do you think need attention on this team?"
Deco, "All of them deserve attention; it’s a team capable of causing a youth storm, with Quaresma definitely being the key point, but Viana, Cristiano, including their forwards, should not be underestimated."
Reporter, "Do you think there’s a player on this team similar to you?"
Deco, "Yes, Deng Kai! He might not be the most dazzling one, but that’s the scariest thing about a midfielder of his age. At his age, I cared about nothing but showing off. But he obviously cares more about winning a game, which is a very precious quality."
The reporter relayed Deco’s comments to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai, "I really appreciate Deco’s high praise for both me and himself. In fact, Deco at this stage is better than me. We might do the same things on the pitch, but I am not as effortlessly skilled as everyone sees."
"It was an exciting game, and we can accept such a result; it keeps us at the top of the leaderboard for now, and that’s enough."
That was graceful.
In fact, as the absolute cores of their respective teams, Deco and Deng Kai were the players least willing to accept a draw.
But they appeared magnanimous in front of the media.
Often, this became a kind of heritage.
Because they weren’t even angry, it seemed the game hadn’t gone against Porto’s expectations, as if they weren’t out of options even after losing a two-goal lead.
For Sporting Lisbon, even after falling behind by two goals early on, they could come back from two to tie, and what battles couldn’t they win?
As for being tied at the end, it was just a lack of concentration in defense. If it really comes to it, can’t they just get stronger by phasing out the players who make mistakes?
Feng Te, "Ah? Optimize?"
But not every player and fan has such a broad perspective.
Jia De’er: "The team has encountered some problems recently, our efficiency has faltered! Deco and the coaching staff should really think about how to maximize our efficiency."
These words were aimed directly at Postiga, while also pressuring the midfield linchpin and the head coach.
He had the audacity to do so, partly because of his goal-scoring stats, but also because... he had received a tacit notification from the coaching staff of the Brazil national team that he would be selected to join the national team for the World Cup qualifiers in the coming period.
In Brazil, there are only three types of players.
Ordinary players, excellent players, and those who have been national team players!
The dream Jia De’er had been harboring was finally about to come true.
In comparison, Deco’s selection for the Brazil national team seemed a distant dream.
Could Jia De’er afford to be gracious to Deco?
Little bro! Take good care of your big brother, so that when I become a mainstay in the national team, I might put in a good word for you. Replacing Wadao might be a tall order, but getting a spot as a water boy shouldn’t be a problem.
This was also why Jia De’er was so adamant about not letting go of his stats this season.
Plainly put, it was insecurity.
He hoped to use more league stats to pave the road for his journey with the national team, even though he knew that Brazilians wouldn’t really care about those extra few goals he scored in the Portuguese league.
Humans... truly complicated creatures.
Sometimes, we feign ignorance about the things we understand at a glance.
As Jia De’er took a hard stance, Postiga didn’t shy away from responding: "We should be playing more like a unit. This is not any one person’s team, but if it is, then it’s Deco’s team!"
Compared to Jia De’er’s condescending attitude towards Deco, Postiga was still willing to pay his respects because he had a closer relationship with Deco.
If Porto was fragmented, and if they didn’t seize the moment to rectify it, what kind of tactical masterminds would Deng Kai and Trigella be?
The league is a season-long affair.
A small gap now could very well become a massive chasm by the end of the season.
Marksa, doubling as the spokesperson for Sporting Lisbon, looked ahead from this year’s European Championship to the 2002 World Cup: "I have no worries about Portugal qualifying for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan under the leadership of excellent players like Figo and Rui Costa."
"But my only concern is one, and that is whether Portugal’s strikers are good enough?"
"Here, we must talk about Sporting Lisbon’s great club spirit and social responsibility... We’ve prepared talents like Simon, Quaresma, and even Viana and Cristiano Ronaldo for the other flank to support Figo."
"We are contributing bricks and mortar to the championship-ready formation of the Portuguese national team. To this day, Portugal’s wingers are already their strength. And our only weakness has always been one... apart from Bolaita, we lack one or even several reliable goal-scoring forwards."
"Nuno Gomes from Benfica is working on this, and he did well in the European Championship. But Benfica has no tradition of producing strikers. What has Porto, which truly has a tradition of strikers, contributed to this national team?"
"Postiga is undoubtedly the hope on Portugal’s frontline, and so is his junior Almeida. But if you don’t polish such quality forwards, they will always remain only hopefuls, never becoming real talents."
"You nurture a superstar striker for Brazil, but will Brazilians lend Porto the Hercules Cup when they win the World Cup? No!"
"Besides, in my view, although Postiga’s goal-scoring efficiency may not match Jia De’er’s, his potential is greater, and he has the theoretical capability of reaching greater heights!"
"I, Marksa, speak only as a neutral assistant coach dedicated to helping the Portuguese national team achieve better results in big tournaments, without any mixture of interests, purely and pristinely like an exquisite white lotus blooming at the pinnacle of football!"
