Chapter 401: Chapter 400 Jay Chou Sings, Team’s New Formation
"Pretending to be a radio station, hello to our listeners, let me wrap some dumplings for you, oops... wrong station... I’ll introduce you to the starting lineup of Sporting Lisbon for today’s match!" Huang Jianxiang misspoke, unwittingly using a joke that southerners would never understand.
Southerners might eat rice dumplings during the New Year, but certainly not dumplings.
"Maxa is really bold with his use of troops today; this is an unusual 4-4-2 formation."
"Up front we have Drogba lining up alongside Ibrahimovic, a classic twin tower tactic, with Drogba at 1.89 meters and Ibrahimovic even taller at 1.95 meters! Over the past season, both players have been imperative for Sporting Lisbon."
"The talent of Ibrahimovic is clear for all to see. He has the best footwork and ball sense for a player of his size! His imagination is also something countless mediocre players couldn’t match even if they racked their brains."
"And Drogba, even with Ibrahimovic’s excellence, still kept the Swedish genius on the bench, which shows how significant he is for the team. Deng Kai has said more than once that Drogba’s impact is something that can’t be fully reflected by data, and even placing ’fully’ at the front makes sense... Drogba’s impact is something data cannot fully reflect!"
"The left and right wingers are Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Ronaldo rarely appears in the winger position, defined by his fast speed, good shooting, strong offensive aggression, and love for cutting inside central areas and into the box."
"As a winger, his shortcomings in passing choices and technique become apparent. Moreover, his defensive capabilities are also insufficient and can squeeze the space of the central midfielders."
"But on the whole, even with these flaws, his strengths ensure he can still shine as a winger."
"The other side, Ronaldinho, is making way for Ronaldo. He usually plays as a left winger, left midfielder, or attacking midfielder."
"But Ronaldo is the team’s leading striker after all, so Ronaldinho has to adapt to him, and that’s the way for him to better integrate into Sporting Lisbon. Even on the right side, Ronaldinho’s dribbling and passing remain sharp; he’s a typical samba dancer with a strong ability to take players on."
"The left central midfielder is Deng Kai, and the right is Guardiola. This is Guardiola’s first start since joining Sporting Lisbon, and the former Barça captain has a lot of pressure on him after switching sides."
"Recently, Guardiola’s form and position in the team have significantly declined due to injuries, which has also diminished his football signature value, causing those who hoarded his signed footballs to lose a lot of money. It is said that Lisbon is one of the hardest-hit areas in this financial crisis."
"Deng Kai needs no further introduction; he is definitely the pride of Chinese football, and some even believe he could become Portugal’s Zidane!"
"The defense goes from left to right: Pepe, Vidic, Barzagli, Maicon."
"Barzagli was selected in last season’s Europa League best team. This summer, several Serie A powerhouses, including Juventus, Inter Milan, Roma, and Lazio, have extended invitations to him."
"But Barzagli, grateful for the past, decided to stay another year following Deng Kai’s announcement that he’d be staying, oh no...declaring he’d remain with the team."
"Pepe, I heard, was just a throw-in when Sporting Lisbon signed a contract with a South American club, but Sporting Lisbon pulled off quite the stunt by nurturing him."
"His most famous incident was probably when he kicked Deboer in a match against Barça. This incident boosted his popularity back home because, after all, that kick did seem somewhat for Deng Kai’s sake."
"As for Vidic and Maicon, their backgrounds are still unclear as they are young players scouted by Sporting Lisbon. Maicon is also the main competitor for our overseas youth player Wu Xudong."
"The goalkeeper is Schmeichel, who is, without doubt, Sporting Lisbon’s first choice for this position this season."
Soon, the match kicked off.
Initially, the Dalian Shide players were very aggressive because of their excitement and showed good defensive and pressing abilities.
But after ten minutes, both their energy and enthusiasm suffered a significant drop.
In the eleventh minute, Ibrahimovic, dropping back, skillfully dribbled through the legs of an opponent and then provided a through ball.
Drogba burst through and scored in front of goal.
Sporting Lisbon took the lead with a score of 1-0!
Just five minutes later, Deng Kai sent a direct pass that split the Dalian Shide defense; Ibrahimovic held the ball, feigned a shot, then genuinely passed it, laying it off to Drogba.
Drogba pushed the ball into an empty net, scoring for the second time.
The two forwards, who have a certain competitive relationship, got along very well, which was not as hostile as the outside world imagined.
Because even though Drogba started the game, he wore down the opponents’ stamina significantly, accomplishing the task of physical combat.
If Ibrahimovic was dissatisfied with being a substitute, he would have to take over this combative role, a style of play he particularly disliked.
Moreover, Drogba’s talent was nowhere near Ibrahimovic’s, and he was also more low-key.
If you replaced him with a forward who had decent technical skills and loved to show off, Ibrahimovic would probably be butting heads with them.
Dalian Shide then strengthened their handling of Ibrahimovic’s dropping back.
However, in the thirty-seventh minute, while Drogba’s forward push drew all the attention, Ibrahimovic stealthily made a run that beat the offside trap.
Dalian Shide didn’t keep up with him, or rather, didn’t seem to think of doing so.
Because the football was still at the feet of Guardiola in their own half...
Bang!
Guardiola sent a long ball over the half, and Ibrahimovic broke away to score.
The score, three to zero!
The fans in the stadium applauded Ibrahimovic, who raised his hands high after scoring.
After the first half ended, the organizers arranged a spectacular song and dance performance for the half-time break.
At Deng Kai’s explicit request, they contacted the moderately famous singer from Taiwan, China, Zhou Jielun.
Jay Chou performed a medley of "Cute Woman," "Tornado," and "Nunchucks" during the half-time show.
"Nunchucks" was a new song that hadn’t been released yet.
In fact, Jay Chou was flattered upon receiving the invitation as he wasn’t very popular in the market at that time, and to perform among so many European football stars was definitely a step up for him (at this stage, there was still a significant preference for foreign things domestically).
After learning that it was the Portuguese Chinese star Deng Kai who had requested him, Jay Chou made a special visit to the Sporting Lisbon team’s locker room before the game, where he thanked Deng Kai, took photos together, and presented his upcoming new album "Fantasy".
The half-time break ended, and Sporting Lisbon had completed their substitutions.
Drogba, Ibrahimovic, Guardiola, Pepe, and Schmeichel were taken off.
In their place came Kaka, Yaya Toure, Evra, Reina, and Wu Xudong.
The formation was still 4-4-2, but the positions of many players had changed.
For instance, Ronaldinho, who was a bit out of sorts in the first half, and the sharp Ronaldo went to the forward positions.
Ronaldo on the left, Ronaldinho on the right.
The two Ronaldos together, incredibly suave!
