Chapter 339: Chapter 338: Playing with Guagua
But the head referee ultimately did not blow the whistle.
Because on the right flank, Simon had already received the football three meters outside the right side of the penalty area.
The attack was advantageous.
Simon cut inside deeply, and once he got ahead of Terry, even if Terry could keep up, there was nothing he could do.
A defender has very limited ability to interfere when they’re behind the player with the ball.
Feng Te, once again as the last line of defense for his team, lunged towards Simon.
If he could just disturb Simon for a brief moment, Terry could catch up; that would be manageable.
The passing lanes between Simon, Rivaldo, and Cruyff were cut off by Matthaus and Deschamps, respectively.
His options were limited.
Boom boom!
Simon was like a fried dumpling, unstoppable along the penalty line, easily bypassing Feng Te without even a second’s delay.
A second before, Terry had Simon in front, and the next second, it was Feng Te’s stunned face; Terry couldn’t help but feel a bit of a breakdown.
Isn’t this a bit too fast?
At least hold on for one more second!
This is making me really uncomfortable!
You’re a man, aren’t you?
What’s one second?
Boom!
Facing the charging Schmeichel, Simon calmly took a low shot.
Schmeichel’s dive was technically sound but a bit slow, causing the football to sneak past prematurely.
"GOAL! Simon! Simon scores against his former club to take the lead!"
"Worthy of being Sporting Lisbon’s former Crown Prince, he seems to wear a halo when facing this team. Today’s Simon plays like... oh, let’s not mention Figo in front of the Barcelona fans... Today’s Simon plays with the sharpness and edge of Rivaldo!"
"Two to one, Barcelona has successfully reversed the score after a brief setback, and the Sporting players seem a bit stunned. Especially Feng Te, directly involved in both goals conceded, his defense is too fragile, easily broken!"
"This is the normal level for young players in the Portuguese league, isn’t it? They all can’t be geniuses like Ronaldo, Deng Kai, Quaresma, Viana, Ibrahimovic, Drogba, Terry, Barzagli, Pepe; that would be truly abnormal."
"Rehhagel once said that Sporting is like a dream team with many talented players, any manager would want to coach such a team."
"But now it seems Feng Te single-handedly dragged the team’s ceiling from the clouds down to halfway up the mountain. He has proven that not all youngsters on this team are super geniuses; there are ordinary people too."
"For the moment, it’s hard to say whether Feng Te’s lack of ability is holding the team back or if his strength is such that he can single-handedly drag down a whole team of talents!"
It was not just Barcelona but the commentators and some fans who noticed Feng Te’s amateur level.
The goal came shortly before the end of the first half.
The Barcelona players were all in good spirits.
Rivaldo was talking with Overmars, indicating that Overmars should cut inside more to avoid tangling with Barzagli and directly target Feng Te.
Cruyff was also talking to Simon, Gerard, and others.
After encouraging his own defenders, Guardiola turned to Deng Kai with a grin on his face.
Everyone knows Guardiola’s smile, so innocently angelic.
"It’s a pity, if the first half had ended ten minutes later, I feel like we could have scored another goal," Guardiola patted Deng Kai on the shoulder, his sarcasm cranked to the max.
Chanting in his heart, ’I’m not angry,’ Deng Kai responded, "Indeed, as a substitute, to be able to initiate two attacks, your performance is really good. It’s hard to believe that someone like you has been sitting on the Barcelona bench for so long... Oh, and the captain’s armband is back, is it? I seem to recall it was on somebody else’s arm in the previous matches, wasn’t it?"
Guardiola’s face stiffened, and he turned and headed into the players’ tunnel, mentally cursing a string of profanities!
Damn it, too much information is also not good.
That this little bastard knew about his time on the bench.
Often, it’s not that the players themselves can’t accept being a substitute; it’s the malicious media environment that revels in their misfortune.
Guardiola should think about who started mocking first.
...
During the half-time break, Maxa deliberately walked to the back with Deng Kai and asked him in a low voice, "Kai, Feng Te’s performance in the first half was somewhat poor, and it feels like Barça is going to target him in the second half."
"If we want to win, maybe... what do you think about substituting Feng Te?"
If Feng Te had been there, he probably would have questioned his life choices.
After all, this was his mentor Mr. Maxa.
He actually gave up on himself?
He actually betrayed his student for glory?
Deng Kai thought for a few seconds, "It won’t make much of a difference. Marcos and the others aren’t much better than Feng Te, but their coordination with Terry and Barzagli is obviously not as good as Feng Te’s, so that’s a wash."
"Besides, in fact, this Barça team is very difficult to defend against. Overmars, Simon, and Rivaldo are all super experts at dribbling past players; even Cruyff has quite sophisticated skills at his feet."
"It’s better to focus on the offense rather than the defense."
"Quaresma was in good form in the first half. As long as we can keep the game going back and forth, there’s no reason we can’t catch up."
Maxa nodded repeatedly, quickly noting down the key points Deng Kai had mentioned, ready to communicate them to Trigella, "Right, so should we try using the twin-tower strategy? Their defensive line lacks height..."
This was definitely not Maxa’s own idea; it was something Trigella had mentioned to him during the first half of the match, which he had remembered.
This guy didn’t come up with tactics, but he was definitely a top-notch tactic transporter, quite skilled at borrowing the prestige of others.
Deng Kai shook his head, "It’s not time yet. This is only the first leg of the match, and we don’t need to put all our eggs in one basket. While the twin-tower strategy does have its advantages on the offence, lacking a breakthrough player would increase the difficulty of midfield ball distribution, and would indirectly increase defensive pressure on our backline. We shouldn’t try it unless it’s absolutely necessary."
"After all, we’re facing Barcelona. Any small mistake we make could lead to a complete loss."
Maxa had an epiphany and expressed a look of amazement.
But, in fact, Trigella had already discussed and discarded this conclusion using the same rationale during their earlier discussion.
Maxa’s expression was the same as it was then.
As a straight man in a comedic act, he was professional.
The second half of the match began.
At first, Sporting Lisbon did not launch the immediate fierce attacks everyone had expected.
Instead, about five minutes later, when everyone thought Sporting Lisbon was prepared to settle on defense and take a solid approach, Deng Kai gave a look and led Matthaus and Viana to start pressing intensely.
Gerard Lopez, facing the pressure, quickly passed the ball back.
However, before his pass reached its destination, Deng Kai had already charged towards Guardiola.
Guardiola was the defensive pivot for this Barça team.
Watching the football, Guardiola thought of several ways to get rid of Deng Kai.
But before the ball even reached his feet, Deng Kai slid in early and poked the ball away.
Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he brought down Guardiola.
The main referee, aware that people might question the fairness of the confrontation, quickly crossed his arms, indicating that Deng Kai had not committed a foul.
At that moment, Guardiola sat on the ground with his hands raised high, shouting "why."
But Deng Kai didn’t indulge Guagua. He got up, chased down the ball, turned around to pass it to Viana, and then dashed towards the front field.
As he passed Guardiola, he made sure to give him a look, the mocking in his eyes exceeding anything Guardiola had done to Deng Kai at the end of the first half.
Guardiola was furious!
He got up, looking to grab at Deng Kai.
Instead, Deng Kai dodged, leaving Guardiola grasping at air and stumbling back to the ground.
