Chapter 392: Chapter 391 I Would Like to Call It the Manifestation of the Holy Sage
Deng Kai kept "spouting nonsense."
You could say he knew nothing about football, but you couldn’t say he didn’t understand the media.
Because those headlines obviously drew attention.
Every issue of "Soccer Guru" became a hot topic of discussion.
Even so, you couldn’t say he knew nothing about football.
Because on the pitch, Deng Kai was also wreaking havoc, and the news of Portugal’s performance in Trinidad and Tobago was astonishing.
In the first round of the group stage, Portugal defeated Spain seven to two.
The Barca-aligned media, which was most malicious towards Deng Kai, fell silent at that time.
Because in that Spanish team, besides Atletico’s golden boy Torres, there was also Iniesta, who had just moved up to Barca’s reserve team.
Barca fans had high hopes for Iniesta, even higher than for another slightly older midfield genius of theirs, Xavi.
With such a huge gap in the score, Barca had no face to criticize.
You can’t accuse the Portuguese team of lacking martial virtue, bullying kids with the Europa League’s best player and the European Bronze Boot winner, can you?
After all, these two were even a year younger than Iniesta and Torres.
Afterward, the Portuguese team went from victory to victory, thrashing Mali five to one, and Costa Rica four to zero without mercy.
Among them, Costa Rica’s prodigious goalkeeper Keylor Navas burst into tears after the match, clinging to the head coach and saying he didn’t want to play as goalkeeper anymore.
By now, Portugal had stormed into the knockout stage.
The team’s head coach Maxa, upon drawing France, which had achieved nine consecutive wins in international competitions, smiled and said, "The French team is very strong, they have an excellent forward, Florent Sinama Pongolle."
"I hope the French team can give Portugal enough trouble. That way, I wouldn’t have to arrange extra training for Cristiano Ronaldo after the match day."
"The current intensity of the games is nowhere near his normal training level. If this continues, I’m really worried whether he’ll pass the physical when he returns to the team next season."
Wow!
When it comes to showing off, look to Maxa.
Yes, Maxa.
The new head coach of the Portuguese youth team.
This was his first official coach role for a team and the first time the world witnessed the miracle of the Saint Maxa.
In three games, the team scored a wild sixteen goals, unbelievable.
Of course, this team had many powerful players.
We won’t talk about Ronaldo on the front line; even striker Almeida was an overqualified player, capable of competing for best forward at the Youth World Cup level.
The least impressive ones, like Lorenzo and Casama, were also top-level forwards in this Youth World Cup.
We won’t mention midfield’s Deng Kai either; Veloso, Igor, Vieira, Amorim, and others were also among the frontrunners of their peers.
Even Joao Moutinho, who was simply there to get some experience and broaden his horizon, performed brilliantly.
Araujo, Simon, Semedo, Birolo, Pereira, and goalkeeper Pilar in the backfield also showed their unique characteristics on top of being up to standard.
Many clubs were already paying attention to this batch of players.
No matter what had happened in the past, after this Youth World Cup, most of these players would have the opportunity to join the big five leagues.
However... let’s not forget what a mess the Portuguese youth training system was just a few years ago.
The players have indeed done themselves proud, but is Saint Maxa’s guidance and tactics not miraculous?
Deng Kai and Ronaldo might be outstanding, but without Saint Maxa’s leadership, could they still have elevated the Portuguese youth team to divine status by themselves?
Obviously impossible!
Maxa: ???
Maxa: I think it’s still possible.
Reporter: Don’t talk, you’re just a coach, what do you know about football?
And "Soccer Guru," exerting its influence over domestic public opinion, further boasted about Maxa’s coaching abilities.
"European Famous Coaches Interpretation: The Fourth Issue, the Persevering Saint of Lisbon Athletic – Maxa!"
"The Nameless Great Coach of Lisbon Athletic, The Art of Giving and Withholding by Maxa!"
"Maxa: Mr. Trigella has been gracious to me, and I am willing to be his deputy at Lisbon Athletic forever!"
"Honoring the Teacher and Valuing Morality, and also Skilled in Promoting Young Players, Maxa Discusses Chinese Traditional Virtues and Wisdom!"
Maxa went viral!
He became extremely popular in China!
For a time, some even raised the question of "who is better, Milu or Maxa?"
What’s more outrageous is that over thirty percent of netizens actually agreed that Maxa should replace Milu and become the head coach of the Chinese men’s football team.
The remaining seventy percent were more sensible, choosing "to have Maxa join Milu’s coaching staff as the chief assistant to help the Chinese team’s World Cup journey."
To be honest, Maxa himself was thrilled when he saw this development.
Is there any job in the world of football more stable than coaching the Chinese team?
Lose, lose, lose!
In important matches, crucial games, all kinds of matches, maintain a stable losing record!
The scores might be novel, but the results never disappoint.
Therefore, during the pre-match press conference before Portugal’s game against France, Maxa also expressed his fondness for Chinese football: "Because of Deng Kai, I’m very fond of Chinese culture. That’s a ... [5,000 words omitted here]."
"If I had the chance, I would be willing to go through the roof for Chinese football. Oh no, to add tiles to its roof... Even as a deputy, as long as I can contribute, I’m willing."
Maxa’s overture diluted the sadness of Chinese fans due to the national youth team’s early exit from the group stage.
The fans spread the word, and the streets emptied out.
Even the Milu team took the possibility of Maxa joining quite seriously and discussed the potential staff changes.
Milu was very hopeful Maxa would come because he realized that since coaching the Chinese team, many things outside of the pitch had slipped out of his control.
And Maxa, apart from his high tactical knowledge, was extremely skilled at handling and managing relationships with the executives and players, which might help Milu overcome many difficulties.
...
Six to three!
French prodigy Pongolle scored twice, yet still couldn’t take his team further in the youth competition, with their final result being in the top eight.
The Portugal team made it to the semi-finals.
Soon after the match, there was news that Liverpool was contacting Pongolle.
If even the defeated general is so popular, the young Portuguese players got more and more excited and their performance improved with each game.
In the semi-finals, Portugal faced the Pampas Eagles.
The Argentinian team’s lineup was like a dream.
Their striker Carlos Martinez was only second to Cristiano Ronaldo at this youth tournament.
Most people might be unfamiliar with his name.
But he had to change his name and take the name Carlos Tevez by the end of the year, for various reasons.
It’s him, the beast Tevez.
At his peak, he was shortlisted for the Golden Ball’s top thirty players.
However, what left the deepest impression on Chinese fans wasn’t this identity, but rather like Feng Te — as a legend of the Chinese Super League.
Of course, calling Tevez a legend of the Chinese Super League might be a bit of a stretch.
After joining Shanghai Shenhua, he showed no work ethic, lacked professionalism.
Taking home an astronomical annual salary of forty million US dollars, he managed to score only four goals in a season, which would have been fine, had he not used an injury as an excuse to refuse playing while taking relatives and friends on trips to Disney.
Later, after leaving the Chinese Super League, Tevez frequently criticized the low level of the league outside of China, remarking that his teammates were not even as good as elementary school children, among other comments.
Though there was some truth to his words, is it so hard to know what’s appropriate to say in certain situations when you’ve enjoyed others’ kindness?
Therefore, Tevez was not well-received by Chinese fans.
