Chapter 329: Chapter 328 Deng Kai’s Three Threats
"GOALLLLLLL!"
"Maradona, are we seeing the Portuguese Maradona?"
"Six people! Deng Kai has just dribbled past six defenders, then he shot, penetrating both the near post and the far post at the same time!"
"This isn’t football, this is a masterpiece!"
"The German fans must be stunned because in the pre-match analysis many Kaiserslautern fans said that a playmaking midfielder like Deng Kai wasn’t difficult to deal with."
"But now it seems, Deng Kai is not the playmaking midfielder they described. In less than ten minutes from the start, he has already scored two goals for Sporting Lisbon."
"The aggregate score for both legs is now seven to one, and the Kaiserslautern fans have completely lost hope."
"A very few of the more radical fans have already left the stadium, which is another huge blow for the Kaiserslautern players. Although they have had some impressive performances this season, they have been unable to break into the European spots in the Bundesliga table, which is a big difference from what the fans expected."
"With Klose’s excellent performance, Bayern seems to be eyeing this current Bundesliga season’s top local scorer. As everyone knows, no German player can resist the call of Bayern Munich."
"Kaiserslautern doesn’t have much time left, Djorkaeff is getting older, and once Klose leaves, it will be very difficult for them to break into the top three or even the top five in the Bundesliga."
"Miracles are like fashion, rising suddenly and falling swiftly. In just a few years, everything has changed. What’s left to people is only the memory of former glory."
"And what often defeats a miracle is another miracle... We are witnessing the interchange of miracles."
The thirteenth minute of the match.
The Kaiserslautern players were clearly in a slump, and lost possession soon after a casual long pass.
Sporting Lisbon passed the football to the front field.
Matthaus was holding the ball, and Deng Kai moved to the left, coming into the central attacking midfield position.
Matthaus passed the ball to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai stepped on the football, his body swaying.
The Kaiserslautern players quickly closed in, blocking in front of Deng Kai.
There were as many as three defenders readying themselves for Deng Kai.
But none of them dared to step forward rashly.
Because they had already seen the consequences of reckless defending once.
Dribbling past six players, ah!
Without a doubt, the top ten goals in European football this week, or even the best goal, will surely be this one.
Everyone was reduced to a mere backdrop.
This is enough to leave the defending players with no face for a week, or even a month.
That’s why they are now cautious.
This is the reason for different defensive strategies against different players with the ball.
If you have the ball, I press you, and you lose it, then I will definitely come over to press you the next time.
If you have the ball, I press you, and you dribble past me, then next time I will certainly adopt a more conservative defensive strategy.
Bang!
After continuous swaying, Deng Kai’s right foot flickered on the football repeatedly.
The first few times the defenders still pretended to react, but later they started to become numb.
Among them, even one defender prepared to pounce on Deng Kai because he knew his teammate had taken up the defending position, and it wouldn’t matter if he left his own position.
Teamwork is essential within a team.
But suddenly, Deng Kai swung his leg without moving, and the football flew over the heads of three players, still at a decent speed.
"A lofted through pass! Kaiserslautern’s players gave Deng Kai plenty of space for the pass, and his stationary leg swing was full of surprise. He’s very skilled at these quick passes."
"Drogbara was a bit slow to start; he didn’t expect that pass from Deng Kai, or maybe he did, but his body couldn’t keep up. His speed is not slow among strikers, especially once he gets going—it’s quite fast."
"But faced with Deng Kai’s surprise pass, Drogbara’s explosiveness was still a forlorn hope."
"Ronaldo! Ronaldo is charging into the penalty area!"
"What a burst of speed! Kaiserslautern’s players are signaling for offside against Ronaldo, but the linesman didn’t signal... Unmarked, he goes for the volley! Kaiserslautern’s goalkeeper was too slow off his line, but Ronaldo’s finish was brimming with confidence!"
"It’s in! Three-nil! Is Sporting Lisbon headed for another big victory? The aggregate score is now eight to one! My goodness! This isn’t even a match anymore; it’s a complete slaughter! A back-to-back massacre!"
"Kaiserslautern’s players are protesting to the referee; they think Ronaldo was offside. Let’s look at the replay... Oh, it’s not offside, that was a great ball, Ronaldo made a run to beat the offside trap."
"That means Ronaldo’s run started before Deng Kai’s pass."
"That’s probably why Deng Kai chose to make a stationary leg swing pass without any backswing, just to keep up with Ronaldo’s run and avoid having him be called offside."
"This damn understanding! Ronaldo has scored his ninth goal in European competition, and he is now the top scorer in this season’s Europa League. He could very well become the tournament’s top marksman!"
"Ronaldo definitely has to thank Deng Kai, eighty percent of his goals come from Deng Kai’s assists!"
"Two goals and one assist, Deng Kai is on fire this match! It has only been thirteen minutes! Thirteen minutes, three goals—Kaiserslautern has been utterly dismantled!"
Just as the commentator said, Kaiserslautern had completely fallen apart.
They all fell back, completely devoid of any confidence in their attack.
In the twenty-first minute, Matthaus’s shot from outside the box missed by less than ten centimeters, causing many to sweat it out.
In the twenty-ninth minute, Ronaldo cut in and passed as Drogbara pulled away, and Deng Kai surged forward. Once he received the ball, he would be one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the football was thwarted by a defender—so close.
In the thirty-fifth minute, Quaresma crossed from the flank, and Drogbara, after receiving the ball, shouldered a defender and unleashed a powerful shot that hit the post.
The goalposts in Kaiserslautern’s home stadium still recognize people, as they seemed to be trying their utmost to help the home team.
In the forty-fourth minute, relentless attacks pushed Sporting Lisbon’s defensive line too far forward.
Kaiserslautern seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.
Djorkaeff and Klose took turns driving the ball at high speed, eventually resulting in Djorkaeff taking a long shot that led to a corner.
Then, Djorkaeff took the corner, Klose leapt high, making a perfect jump and headed the ball into the goal.
One to three!
Klose didn’t celebrate because, even with that, the team was still too far behind.
The aggregate score was two to eight; what was there to celebrate?
At the same time, Klose didn’t retrieve the ball from the net either.
Given the state of the first half, the best outcome would be if the match ended now.
Otherwise, if Sporting Lisbon scored again, it would certainly be easier than Kaiserslautern scoring another.
The halftime break was fast approaching.
Rehhagel headed to the locker room early, no one knew how he planned to motivate the players.
But no matter what he did, it seemed impossible to get Kaiserslautern into the Europa League semi-finals now.
