Chapter 407: Chapter 406: The Triple Crown King is Dead, A Madman Emerges
Porto’s confidence stemmed from the fact that they had finally reached their best form this season.
Midway through the previous season, Porto dismissed their original head coach due to a combination of poor performance, internal team atmosphere, and executive disputes, poaching José Mario dos Santos Mourinho Felix, who had led the relegation-threatened Leiria to fifth place in the league.
Fans simply referred to this coach as Mourinho.
Mourinho’s coaching style was quite authoritative, which was also a reason for further deterioration of team atmosphere towards the end of last season.
But after the management had unified, he received strong support this summer.
Of course, with it came immense pressure.
If he couldn’t lead the team to beat Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, and Boavista early in the season, and failed to win a substantial title later on, there was no way he could keep his position for the next season.
Under this pressure, Mourinho went into a frenzied state; to win, to ensure his players were in good form, he would do anything.
For example, to boost the confidence of Porto players, Mourinho made bold claims in the Bola newspaper, which immediately put him on the headlines of major European media:
"Mourinho: The Treble winners are dead! Because I’ve come with Porto—the Sporting Lisbon before us is no longer a treble-winning caliber team, they can’t do anything beyond beating Chinese teams!"
"Mourinho: The UEFA Cup is not a great achievement; it’s just a losers’ league. If Porto participated in such a competition, Porto would also win the championship!"
"Mourinho: Deng Kai, in my opinion, is not an outstanding player at all; he is weak and pitiful, it’s just that no one has discovered his weaknesses until now."
"Mourinho: C Ronaldo had inappropriate comments about us last season, which might be due to his upbringing; he’s a bad boy, not well-educated."
The media scrambled to feature the name "Mourinho" in various combinations.
Even though they couldn’t remember exactly what the coach’s name was, they loved the topics and traffic he brought them.
They truly hoped Mourinho could lead Porto to defeat Sporting Lisbon so he could stay longer in football, thus ensuring they wouldn’t run out of topics to cover after Deng Kai.
Only "Understanding Football Emperor" truly remembered this head coach and emphasized his abilities to the media, describing him as a prodigious coach not far behind Maxa.
Taking into account that the public would find it difficult to remember the rather ordinary name of Mourinho, "Understanding Football Emperor" gave this frenzied Porto head coach a memorable moniker—Madman!
...
"Hello everyone, you are currently watching the pre-game preparation program for the Portugal Super Cup."
"Porto’s Madman has emerged, claiming that the reign of the treble winners is over, sparking debate."
"Today is the day for him to fulfill his promise."
"Actually, Mourinho had the confidence to say so because this summer, in addition to retaining key players Deco and Jia De’er, they also signed stars such as Costinha, Paços de Ferreira, Carvalho, and Valente, resulting in an obvious upgrade in their roster."
"As for Sporting Lisbon, they are arranging a 4-3-3 formation today. Up to now, they seem to have not found the method to integrate various players fully, showing significant inconsistency."
"Porto’s starting lineup:
Jia De’er, Postiga
Deco
Alenichev, Costinha, Maniche
Valente, Carvalho, Costa, Paços de Ferreira
Baía"
"This is a 4-3-1-2 formation, solid in defense with attacking capabilities. Porto’s own rising star Almeida is on the bench, ready to substitute at any moment—he is a national team colleague of Deng Kai and C Ronaldo."
"On Sporting Lisbon’s side:
C Ronaldo, Drogba, Ronaldinho
Deng Kai, Guardiola, Kaka
Evra, Vidic, Barzagli, Maicon
Schmeichel"
"This formation reflects the strategy of Lisbon Athletic for this match, suggesting they aren’t treating it as a must-win but are more focused on finding the most suitable players and formation."
"The inclusion of new signings like Evra, Vidic, Maicon, Kaka, and Ronaldinho in the starting lineup confirms this."
"Otherwise, even if Matthaus and Deschamps are getting on in years, and Tu Lei, Veloso, and Wu Xudong are new and not playing, at the very least Pepe should have been in the starting lineup."
"As Lisbon Athletic’s jack-of-all-trades in defense, Pepe can perform reasonably well in various positions; shifting him to left-back would surely be stronger than Evra."
Evra: ???
Beep!
With the whistle, the game officially began.
Lisbon Athletic’s lack of practice showed, and on Porto’s side, numerous new signings needed to adapt as well.
The first ten minutes or so were quite chaotic.
The 18th minute.
Ronaldinho made continuous cuts from the right, eventually getting fouled and earning a free kick from a distant position.
From his personal perspective, he performed quite well.
But in fact, after he beat the first player, Deng Kai had already surged to the edge of the box, with space for a long-range shot.
Ronaldo was also retreating to beat the offside trap, ready to surge into the left side of the penalty area in the next second.
Without a doubt, Ronaldinho delayed the opportunity.
The 22nd minute.
Ronaldinho passed the ball to Kaka on the same side and cut forward as Kaka played a wall pass without stopping the ball, and Ronaldinho managed to cross from the sideline.
This simple combination play is something Brazilian players can pull off without any need for communication or familiarity.
However, after reaching the baseline, Ronaldinho continued towards the penalty area and lifted a pass for the arriving Kaka just before Valente could stretch out a leg.
Then he wrapped around behind Kaka.
Kaka simply flicked it with his heel, directing the ball towards Ronaldinho’s forward direction.
Samba football, sheer smoothness.
Ronaldinho, nearing the right side of the box close to the six-yard box, raised his foot for a right footed rabona, attempting a narrow-angle shot on goal.
Although the ball was eventually saved by Baia, it’s undeniable that the two Brazilians simply dazzled souls with their play.
They also left Drogba and Ronaldo, who were clamoring for the ball in the box, utterly bamboozled.
The audience broke into applause, admiring Ronaldinho’s talent.
Guardiola frowned slightly near the midfield line.
This...
It seemed different from what Kai had in mind.
The reason Kai shifted from right midfield to left was to achieve the combination on the left of Ronaldo + Deng Kai, speedster + playmaker; and on the right, Ronaldinho + Kaka, playmaker + speedster, for a composite style of play.
The team was to mirror itself on the left and right, creating endless variations.
Now that’s how Deng Kai and Ronaldo’s left side was shaping up, but Ronaldinho and Kaka were clearly going a different way.
