Chapter 310: Chapter 309: Pirlo, football should be played like me
Feng Te wept silently at the bottom.
Damn!
So it turns out Brother Kai wasn’t looking for me, he was still looking for Ronaldo!
What am I, a forest demon?
Milk tea?
But he couldn’t blame Ronaldo for this; after all, the one who wasn’t standard was Deng Kai.
The number seven tactic was Ronaldo’s second set-piece strategy.
The number nine tactic was a supplementary strategy built around Feng Te.
But these two tactics ranked too low; they usually only practiced the first five tactics during training.
So the problem had not been discovered by anyone until now.
Soon after, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
Both teams entered the half-time break.
Although they had only played one half, because the opponent was International Milan, the Lisbon Athletics players had consumed a lot of their physical energy.
They did better in terms of running and fighting for the ball, which was why they managed to achieve a half-time score of 2-2.
Trigella simply encouraged everyone and didn’t make any changes to the formation because the situation was currently favorable for Lisbon Athletics.
Coming back for the second half, International Milan had clearly stepped on the gas.
They launched an aggressive offense.
Vieri’s distracting role was still very obvious; the Lisbon Athletics defenders had to stay alert around him.
On the other hand, Drogba made many pointless runs upfront, and rarely touched the ball.
This was Trigella’s requirement of Drogba.
When the team was relatively passive, the striker’s running would not threaten the opponent.
You might run ten times, but the opponent only reacts two or three times, following your run.
Your exhaustion far exceeds the opponent’s.
However, when your team is proactive, almost every run the striker makes can move the opponent, and many of those can create tactical opportunities.
So very few strikers continuously move and charge at the opponent’s defense in a passive situation.
But this is precisely why Drogba was able to start in this talented team.
He was the only player on Lisbon Athletics willing to run that hard.
Ronaldo on the left wing and Quaresma on the right were almost getting cold.
But Drogba was panting from exhaustion.
The 62nd minute.
Seedorf breaks through and passes the ball.
After receiving the ball, Vieri pulled it and directly shook off Feng Te, then took a shot.
Matthaus came back in time, diving to block the football out; the old blade was still sharp.
However, Matthaus remained down on the field.
Lisbon Athletics’ team doctor came onto the field and, after the check, gestured for a substitution.
Matthaus couldn’t continue the game.
Injured!
"Oh! This isn’t good news for Lisbon Athletics. Their current go-to defensive midfielder substitute is Pepe, but this young Brazilian player has a fierce temper and his sense of position isn’t great. His defensive quality is far from Matthaus’s."
"After Pepe came on as a substitute, the coach of International Milan gestured for the team to attack the middle, targeting Pepe—that’s kind of picking on him."
The 67th minute.
The substitute Pepe withstood the test.
He used his excellent explosiveness to make a brilliant interception.
With Matthaus it’s debatable, but with Deschamps, that through pass would have gone through.
In terms of sweep range and sweeping ability, Pepe was clearly stronger than Deschamps.
He wasn’t as weak as the International Milan players had imagined.
Pepe passed the ball to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai immediately launched a counter down the middle, threading the pass to Viana.
Midfield confrontations, lethal at every move.
Viana fended off his marker and then, with a Dribble and Speed Up, broke through the midfield for an assault.
Blanco rushed out to defend against Viana.
Viana lobbed the ball towards the right wing.
Quaresma, making an off-the-ball run, faced the incoming football and without any surplus touches, sent a smooth cross-pitch pass into the box.
Drogba, holding off Ferrari in the box, received the ball and turned to execute a shot.
Unfortunately, Ferrari’s challenge was solid enough and Drogba’s touch was slightly off, causing his shot to fly over the bar.
After all, Ferrari was International Milan’s reliable veteran centre-back. Had Milan stuck with a three-man defence, they surely would have conceded there.
On the Sporting side, from the interception to the final shot, the attack took no more than fifteen seconds to execute.
It was a very standard counterattack.
Pepe, Viana, Quaresma, and Drogba all played admirably, creating opportunities with flair.
Quaresma, in particular, had been quiet under the defense of Cordoba, managing only to create some threat with quick passes.
Three minutes later, Trigella seized the chance to substitute Drogba off.
Drogba had overexerted himself today and was clearly unable to keep up with the pace.
But this also meant that he had created significant trouble for Blanco and Ferrari, the two central defenders.
In the 75th minute,
Pepe’s poor positioning was exploited.
He was drawn by Seedorf, allowing Di Biagio to easily cut inside.
Di Biagio’s through pass found Recoba.
Recoba finished with a goal.
But as he celebrated, the assistant referee raised his flag, indicating offside and thus nullifying the goal.
The International Milan fans were becoming restless.
Time was running out for them.
One goal would turn their deficit into a lead.
But Sporting’s robust defense meant the goal was delayed in coming.
In the 78th minute,
International Milan pressed hard, forcing Sporting to pass back.
Ronaldo passed back, then Pirlo suddenly went in for a challenge.
But he wasn’t quick enough and before he could charge in, Deng Kai had already moved the ball on.
Pirlo seemed frustrated.
He believed he could make the interception, confident in his own judgement.
But the result was that even though he guessed right and accelerated suddenly, he had underestimated the speed of Deng Kai’s pass.
To Pirlo, Deng Kai’s first-time pass even seemed somewhat playful.
But to everyone’s surprise, this playful move was effective.
"To the right! Deng Kai first-timed it directly to the right. How did he spot the opportunity there?"
"Ronaldo’s back pass was a bit weak, making the ball roll too slowly, presenting Deng Kai with a not so easy problem to solve."
"Pirlo’s clever; he wanted to capitalize on that chance. Once he intercepted from Deng Kai, he could shoot from distance, pass, or drive forward—with a significant threat."
"But Deng Kai’s pass was even quicker than Pirlo anticipated. Despite being positioned as the left defensive midfielder, Deng Kai managed to kick the ball to the right wing while under pressure. His vision is just too good!"
"Earlier, Ibrahimovic had switched positions with Quaresma. If Deng Kai’s pass had been meant for Quaresma on the right, it wouldn’t have been a great ball, considering Quaresma has hardly won any challenges against Cordoba today."
"But there on the right was Ibrahimovic, making Deng Kai’s pass a brilliant one!"
"Beautiful! Ibrahimovic is so tall he didn’t even need to jump to control the ball! Cordoba suffered from the height disadvantage against Ibrahimovic! He has suffered the same disadvantage against Drogba!"
