Chapter 308: Chapter 307 Another Ronaldo
"Play the game like you did last time, you can do it. Attack their central lane, especially behind Seedorf, Pirlo in front of you is just like paper—go through him, understand?"
Viana made an OK gesture.
In addition, Deng Kai gave Quaresma a hand gesture, signaling him to boldly try attacking, especially through personal dribbling.
At such times, only creating lethal threats could curb the opponents’ offensive momentum.
Idle flicks were useless; Inter Milan’s defense had enough manpower today, sticking close to mark their opponents and momentarily giving neither Cristiano nor Quaresma any space to sprint.
Soon after, the football was kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon began to control the ball in their own half, probing gently on the wings but not executing any slick passing moves, immediately passing back upon encountering defense.
The Inter Milan fans booed, finding such a way of playing football ridiculous.
The fifteenth minute.
The ball came to the right wing; Quaresma didn’t pass it back immediately but instead used a backheel flick to get past a player, then dribbled forward along the right flank.
Quaresma suddenly brandished his sword, but in the end, he lost the ball over the baseline in a one-on-one with Cordoba.
Cordoba roared at Pirlo and Farinos, believing they had let the opponent through too easily.
The twenty-second minute.
Quaresma, after receiving the ball, faced Pirlo’s pressing and immediately chose to pass back.
Deschamps received the ball and continued to pass back.
Barzagli got the ball and tapped it to Deng Kai who had come back.
Bang!
Deng Kai, from the backfield, directly lobbed the ball to Drogba, who had pulled back.
Drogba chested the ball down, finding Viana.
Viana pushed the ball forward with a burst of speed, leaving Seedorf behind.
Seedorf couldn’t have imagined Viana would be so daring.
He didn’t keep up in time.
Pirlo immediately moved to cover the position because Seedorf often moved up; thus, Pirlo played like a defensive midfielder today.
But the key point... he couldn’t play as a defensive midfielder,
Especially not as a defensive type.
Having him as the defensive linchpin was a complete disaster.
Whistle!
The referee blew the whistle and showed a yellow card to Pirlo.
Pirlo had just brought down Viana; otherwise, Viana would have broken into the penalty area.
The surrounding fans offered applause.
It was both encouragement for Viana’s elegant style of play and dissatisfaction with Pirlo’s frail defense.
They looked down on the soft Pirlo from the bottom of their hearts.
With that drowsy look, do you think you’re McGrady?
Then Viana’s free kick flew just above the crossbar, sending shivers down the spines of the Inter fans.
The thirty-first minute.
The ball was still largely controlled by Sporting Lisbon.
Their players also found their rhythm in the game through continuous touches, no longer feeling tense.
Bang!
Deng Kai spotted an opportunity on the right and delivered a long pass.
Quaresma dropped back, and Drogba proactively pulled wide to the right flank, finding a gap behind Cordoba.
This pass was aimed at the right rib area.
Drogba nearly effortlessly shook off Cordoba with a wave of his hand.
Cordoba had not expected the towering Drogba to have such speed.
Drogba also had strong confrontational skills and could overpower Cordoba in every aspect.
For the first time, the fierce Cordoba found himself so passive that he could only watch as Drogba controlled the ball and charged into the penalty area.
Of course, if Cordoba played as a central defender, he wouldn’t have been so passive, but today he played as a left-back. If Inter Milan’s lineup over the years could be described as having a strong head and tail but a soft middle, then they had an even weaker spot than their midfield: the left-back position.
That gap was just too hard to fill.
Some fans who understand Inter Milan even said that what the team needed most was not Ronaldo or Vieri, but the most abundant position of talent in Italy... a left-back.
They should’ve bought AC Milan’s Maldini.
Beep!
The referee blew his whistle again.
As Drogba broke into the box, his impact was so strong that Blanco delivered a very intense physical challenge.
But unexpectedly, Drogba, who seemed quite naive, played football quite smartly.
He was easily brought down in the box, earning a penalty kick.
Drogba’s fall wasn’t graceful.
If Blanco didn’t exert force, Drogba could even have risked receiving a yellow card for simulation.
But Blanco was deceived by Drogba’s honest appearance and took the bait.
Quaresma stepped up to the penalty spot.
"Oh, it’s the first young star of Sporting Lisbon, Quaresma, the team’s primary penalty and free-kick taker."
"However, Quaresma’s form hasn’t been good recently. Trigella even subbed him out early, which indicates his status in the team isn’t as high as everyone imagines."
"Barcelona has been very keen on this star, they failed to seal the deal at seven million euros last year, and this year they will have to spend at least fifteen million euros!"
"Of course, as a fan of Inter Milan, if I had fifteen million euros, I wouldn’t buy Quaresma, I’d buy Viana. Or rather, if I had to assign a value of over twenty million euros to a player on this team, I think Viana would be more worth it!"
Bang!
Quaresma took the penalty kick.
But perhaps because he was too eager to prove himself and not worry about it, the quality of his penalty wasn’t high.
The shot was powerful, but the angle was rather ordinary.
Inter’s goalkeeper, Frey, parried the penalty away.
But the next moment, the football was shot back into the net.
"Oh! It’s CR7! Cristiano Ronaldo! The other Ronaldo Deng Kai was talking about!"
"His positioning was sharp, and he finished with a rebound shot!"
"Frey protested that Ronaldo had moved too early, but the main referee considered it a fair goal, ruling it valid!"
"Two to one! Sporting Lisbon pulls one back. The aggregate score is now five to five. However, Inter still hold the advantage with away goals, so as it stands, they’re still the ones advancing."
"But this penalty, especially the rebound shot, is critical as it helped Sporting’s young brigade find some rhythm."
Scoring goals is very important for forwards.
Before scoring, Ronaldo’s movements were mostly meaningless.
It wasn’t that he didn’t run well, but that Zanetti wasn’t fooled by feints.
Zanetti only needed to keep an eye on Ronaldo but didn’t need to chase him around everywhere.
And with Sporting’s circular playing style today, Ronaldo would have a hard time getting the ball if he didn’t drop back.
So his running was truly pointless.
But after Ronaldo scored, everything changed.
Now his movements had to be taken seriously by Zanetti, and Ronaldo’s runs began to have a pulling effect, causing slight changes in the positioning of Zanetti, Pirlo, and several other players.
The thirty-eighth minute.
Viana shook off Seedorf and delivered a through pass.
Ronaldo accelerated down the flank, engaging in a fierce contest with Zanetti.
Zanetti at first tried to use his body to trouble Ronaldo, but even without having undergone strength training, Ronaldo’s physical fitness was already not bad.
In the sprint, Ronaldo gradually gained the upper hand.
