Chapter 378: Chapter 377: Golden Ball Decisive Goal
This arrangement inadvertently passed the football right to Gerard, Deng Kai’s intended target for a challenging advance, as it was meant to relieve Liverpool from being pressed on the right side.
Of course, Gerard’s pass would have been unreachable by Deng Kai given his speed; if Gerard had kicked the ball away, Deng Kai wouldn’t have had a chance to touch the football.
However, the surrounding chants of "the next Beckham" conjured up some glorious images in Gerard’s mind.
For example, there was Zidane facing pressure, performing a backheel to trick his opponent.
Or Baggio, handling the press with a nimble turn and a feint that left his adversary floundering.
These were the actions of a master.
Elegant, composed, intelligent, magnificent!
Gerard extended his right foot and looked up to observe the positions of his teammates Owen and Fowler up ahead, preparing to use this "observing feint" to make Deng Kai think he would pass long, then pull a turn to shake off Deng Kai, and send a long pass to Owen without looking at the ball.
It was definitely a superstar’s way of handling the ball.
At the same time, it would be an answer to Deng Kai’s earlier quick pass.
As if no one else knows how to do a quick pass without looking.
After observing ahead of time, of course, there was no need to look up again when receiving the ball next time.
Being a midfielder himself, Gerard didn’t care for Deng Kai’s quick passes that fooled the unskilled, and he didn’t mind showing off this skill occasionally to let Deng Kai know it wasn’t that others couldn’t do it; it just wasn’t worth using frequently.
Hmm?
Thud!
Looking up, Gerard lost his balance as his foot missed the ball, causing him to stagger.
The audience was in an uproar.
Gerard’s mind went blank.
He had slipped!
Trapping the ball is a basic skill, simple yet challenging.
As Gerard was looking forward, he failed to plant his foot squarely on the football.
Such a basic error was something Gerard would not make even if he had another hundred tries in trapping drills.
But it happened this time.
The most critical, unforgivable time.
Gerard used his hands and feet, scrambling and crawling, as he turned and chased after the football.
But a green and white figure flashed past him, poking the football forward.
Gerard, who was close to catching up with the football, stumbled again as a result.
To the onlookers, it seemed as if Gerard was toppled by the breeze from his opponent’s rush by, as he continued to scramble on the ground in an embarrassing struggle.
But he was already far behind his opponent.
Before falling, Gerard’s eyes were fixed on the back of the opponent’s jersey... Deng Kai!
"Gerard has slipped! He has lost control of the football!"
"Deng Kai has rushed past and taken the ball!"
"Gerard has completely fallen behind Deng Kai!"
"A mistake! Gerard has made a massive blunder!"
"Deng Kai’s through on goal!"
"Westerweld is forced off his line! He was already a bit far from the goal, and it’s too late to get back now, he rushes out of the box..."
"A chip shot! Deng Kai goes for a direct chip from outside the box arc!"
"Westerweld reaches out... he can’t touch the football! It’s gone past him!"
"Babel is racing back; he still has a chance, the football isn’t moving very fast!"
"Babel, Babel..."
Bang!
Babel flung himself into the air, stretching his foot for an overhead kick towards the football.
But it was not enough, far from enough.
His toe was still at least twenty centimeters away from the football.
Bang!
The football smashed into the range of the Liverpool goal.
The scene fell silent.
Many, almost reflexively, looked up at the game scoreboard for the time.
90′11″
Ninety minutes and eleven seconds!
Extra time had just begun, and only eleven seconds had passed!
Many fans were still purchasing food at the stadium’s shops, getting ready for the upcoming extra time. They believed Liverpool would adopt a war of attrition strategy in the first half of extra time and then launch their force in the second half to resolve the zero-energy Sporting Lisbon effortlessly.
Although the Golden Goal was introduced to combat negative football, it actually had the opposite effect.
The rule makers thought this would give the underdogs a chance to defeat strong teams with a sudden-death goal, promoting a move toward offensive football.
But precisely because teams could face sudden death at any time, both sides became even more cautious about defending, especially the dominant team. And it’s often the dominant team that sets the pace of a match.
If the stronger team hunkered down to defend, would the weaker side be foolish enough to attack and let themselves be vulnerable to counter-attacks? Of course, the weaker team would focus even more on defense and counter-attacking.
Games became even more negative than before.
Previous World Cups and European Championships had already displayed this phenomenon.
So, the appearance of a Golden Goal was more likely in the second half, or perhaps during the last moments of the first half.
But certainly not in the first ten minutes of extra time.
It simply wasn’t possible!
Therefore, when Deng Kai’s chip shot succeeded, everyone including the commentators froze on the spot, hesitating to shout out the single word that signifies a goal.
But the director wasn’t stupid, he kept the camera trained on Deng Kai.
On screen, Deng Kai passed by indifferent opponents and teammates as he took off his jersey.
He ran to the fans’ stand, threw his jersey into the seats, and then picked Hathaway up from the stand.
Deng Kai wanted to say something, but Hathaway’s lips sealed his, and she seemed even more excited and proactive than Deng Kai.
Only at that moment did time seem to finally unfreeze from its icy hold.
The on-site commentator shouted, "GOALLLLLL!"
Immediately following was the referee’s final whistle, blown three times, to end the match.
On screen, Sporting Lisbon’s substitutes and coaches immediately rushed onto the pitch.
At the players’ tunnel entrance, Matthaus, who had already gone into the dressing room, rushed back out again.
Babel, once again, knelt on the ground and painfully pounded the earth.
Gerard lay face down on the ground, covering his face as he wept bitterly; he had messed up everything.
"GOAL! GOAL! A super GOAL!"
"The Golden Goal has happened!"
"Eleven seconds! It only took eleven seconds!"
"Deng Kai’s lightning Golden Goal, sealing victory over Liverpool!"
"Sporting Lisbon are the champions! The Europa League champions!"
"Treble winners! The Portuguese young team really did it! They’ve become the treble winners!"
"Gerard, Gerard’s mistake was fatal! Deng Kai completed the interception from under his feet and faced the goal directly; he never misses such opportunities! His ability to deliver in key moments is extremely strong!"
"Congratulations to Sporting Lisbon, they’ve created their own record! Liverpool should not have done this, having squandered a three-nil lead from the first half to a draw, and then conceding the fatal goal..."
"I can only call this a miracle, a miracle created by Sporting Lisbon at Westfalen! This match will become a classic, not just because of Deng Kai’s Golden Goal decider, but also because of the red wine celebration event in Liverpool’s midfield."
"Liverpool has lost to their own arrogance and carelessness! They have paid a heavy price for it!"
"As it turns out, Gerard is not the next Beckham. Even if he were, he’d only be the Beckham of the 1998 World Cup."
