Chapter 39: Chapter 39 Are You Worthy of Young Master Kai?
As the saying goes, "He who does not take what the heavens give, invites his own downfall."
Those who do not cherish opportunities will be punished by fate itself.
In the twenty-first minute,
Sporting Lisbon once again launched a high press in the attacking third.
But this time, the Sachavenis centre-back seized the opportunity, delivering a long pass along the ground that cut straight through Sporting Lisbon’s disorganized defense, breaching both midfield and defensive lines.
This vulnerability was an inevitable risk of the high pressing strategy.
The Sachavenis striker received the ball, resulting in a four-on-four situation in the attacking third!
After taking the ball a few steps, the striker passed it back to a midfielder who had made a run forward.
The situation thus turned into a three-on-two in the attacking third!
Sachavenis three, Sporting Lisbon two.
Bang!
The opposition made another pass.
The Sachavenis forward created a clear-cut chance, taking a clever shot that broke through the Sporting Lisbon goal.
One to zero!
Sachavenis took the lead, breaking the deadlock!
The home fans were ecstatic.
There’s nothing quite like being dominated the entire game, but to suddenly take the lead, offered an invigorating sensation.
Buoyed by this morale, Sachavenis cast off their earlier despondence in the following minutes, once again asserting their dominance on the pitch.
On the other side, Sporting Lisbon’s press became markedly weaker for fear of being sliced open again.
Once the players’ opinions were no longer united, any tactic would lose its meaning.
During this period, Sporting Lisbon was hammered with little ability to retaliate.
Such dramatic swings are a hallmark of young players’ matches.
Supernatural with the wind, overly dreadful against it—their performance fluctuates too much.
In the twenty-ninth minute, Sachavenis attacked with ferocity; it was only due to their left winger’s lacking finishing that they didn’t further alter the scoreline.
In the thirty-fifth minute, the opposition bombarded Sporting Lisbon just outside the penalty area.
By the thirty-seventh minute, Deng Kai threw himself into a tackle, fighting for an opportunity that led to a scrappy loss of possession, with both teams losing the ball.
Nearby, Ronaldo arrived promptly to kick the football away and sprinted with it, taking it past the halfway line by himself and ultimately relying on his speed and shooting ability to forge a shot at goal, earning the team a corner kick.
After Sporting Lisbon’s number ten midfielder took the corner kick, their number two center-back leaped high, and with Ronaldo’s help in distraction, headed the ball into the net, scoring a goal!
One to one!
Sporting Lisbon finally caught their breath.
Afterward, the players from both teams perked up, each eager to breach the opponent’s goal again.
The match entered a feverish stage.
It almost turned into a chaotic battle of mutual high pressing all over the field.
The main referee had to blow the whistle repeatedly, halting the game continually.
This also led to the first half having three minutes of added time.
In the last minute of first-half injury time, Deng Kai took a long shot after receiving a back pass from Ronaldo.
Although he couldn’t trigger "Black Panther Hunt," the active block by the opposing center-back deflected the off-target football out for a corner.
Another corner.
After the corner was taken, this time the opposition’s center-back gained the upper hand, heading the football out of the penalty box.
But Sporting Lisbon controlled the first contact with the ball.
After three successive passes, the ball found its way to Deng Kai, who had drifted to the right.
There was no chance for a shot from this angle, and the time for "Black Panther Hunt" had also passed.
Deng Kai could only make a fierce cross from the flank, attempting to mystify with De Bruyne’s Conscious Flow Pass.
The pass came so fast that it instantly threw the penalty area into disarray.
The football ricocheted off a Sachavenis defender’s foot toward the goal, but the Sachavenis goalkeeper reacted quickly to parry the ball away.
However, the alert Ronaldo immediately followed up with a shot, finally sending the ball into the opposition’s net.
Two to one!
Sporting Lisbon U15 turned the game around from trailing to leading, executing a rare comeback in this round of the competition!
...
During the halftime break, Maxa had been working with Ronaldo and the other forwards, stressing the importance of capitalizing on the quality passes from our dear Deng Kai.
Ronaldo was beyond consolation.
"You’re just all talk and no action."
"If you could play the ball even a bit, would you feel those passes from Deng Kai qualify as quality passes?"
"Is trapping his passes even considered trapping?"
"It’s like catching bullets with bare hands!"
"My feet tingle when I try to shoot after receiving his pass, dammit!"
Deng Kai knew his issues and spoke in defense of Ronaldo and the others, "Coach, it’s okay, the problem is mine, my passes aren’t good enough yet, I will keep trying in the second half."
The contrast between the two attitudes was stark.
Maxa looked at Deng Kai with complex eyes, as if acknowledging Deng Kai was considering the bigger picture.
Without even thinking, Deng Kai knew that after the match, when Maxa went to the bar to drink with the fans, he would surely boast about himself.
Talking about how Deng Kai was the team’s greatest overlooked talent, a precious gem for the future of Sporting Lisbon, and so on!
This recognition from the coach, isn’t that reputation, after all?
After the second half kickoff, Sarchavinese clearly wanted to level the score and played fiercely.
The tackles from both sides began to grow rougher.
Even Ronaldo was brought down twice by the opposing defenders, the second time being quite dangerous, nearly resulting in an injury.
On Sporting Lisbon’s side, because they were leading, they became somewhat complacent, which only encouraged Sarchavinese’s aggressiveness even more.
In the 60th minute, Deng Kai put a fierce tackle on the opposing team’s number ten, bringing him to the ground.
After taking down his opponent, Deng Kai had no objections to the referee’s yellow card.
But when the other players came to confront him, he stood his ground without flinching.
Seeing Deng Kai surrounded by the opposing players, Ronaldo rushed over immediately.
The rest of Sporting Lisbon’s players finally realized the situation and came over to back up Deng Kai.
Deng Kai took the initiative to stop Ronaldo and control the situation.
The opponents also received a warning from the main referee.
It seemed that Deng Kai had gotten the short end of the stick since he earned a card and had been briefly surrounded by the opponents.
But afterwards, the Sporting Lisbon players’ toughness surged, resulting in a very noticeable shift in the game dynamic.
Maxa couldn’t understand.
But Sarchavinese’s youth coach could see the change in "momentum" on the pitch.
He found it hard to believe that a thirteen-year-old player like Deng Kai could influence, or even actively change and control the game!
But the fact was undeniable.
In the 63rd minute, Deng Kai, who had just received a yellow card, went for another risky tackle and succeeded in a front-field interception.
The Sarchavinese players were furious and wanted to confront Deng Kai.
But the referee’s eyes were sharp.
He indicated that the tackle had no issues and that it was a good tackle.
Deng Kai didn’t even make physical contact with the opponent, which was nearly a technical masterpiece of tackling for players in this age group.
And Deng Kai didn’t give the opponents a chance for retaliation, quickly getting up with a Backheel Drag, dodging the opponent’s tackle, and passing the ball swiftly to initiate an onward rush!
Another defender tried to grapple with Deng Kai but was shoved aside by Deng Kai, nearly flying off.
Johann Cruyff’s upper body strength bonus was at play here.
Exceptional ball control skills, explosive power, and extremely strong arm strength.
With such a player pushing forward, who could stop him?
Deng Kai easily found open space.
And his teammate, seizing the opportunity, passed the football back to Deng Kai’s feet.
Nearly unguarded, Deng Kai dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Bang!
Deng Kai was brought down by an opposing center back.
The main referee blew the whistle without hesitation.
A yellow card and a penalty kick!
