Chapter 415: Chapter 414: Surrounding the Lions to Save Kai
"GOAL! Deng Kai! Just seven minutes into the match, and Deng Kai has scored!"
"I bet few fans would have expected Lisbon Athletic to breach the defense first!"
"Ronaldo’s brilliant dribbling and cross, Drogba’s forceful header, that’s the attack Lisbon Athletic should be delivering."
"Kahn did everything he could; saving Drogba’s header was already impressive. He couldn’t make two world-class saves in such quick succession!"
"Effenberge is complaining, he believes Deng Kai committed a foul! What does the head referee say?"
"No problem! The head referee thinks it was a fair challenge!"
"In fact, from the replay, we can see Deng Kai did use some hand movements to free himself from Effenberge. But the issue is that Effenberge initiated the confrontation."
"Given Effenberge’s earlier charge at Deng Kai, the head referee might have suspected Effenberge of simulation."
"Deng Kai has responded to Bayern fans’ earlier jeers with a goal, the most perfect reply in the football world!"
"Wait, that’s not right! It wasn’t Deng Kai’s goal?"
"It was Drogba! Deng Kai’s subsequent shot hit Drogba’s boot. It must have been an extremely slight touch, the football changed direction just a bit, you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t paying attention."
"It’s been corrected now, it’s confirmed as Drogba’s goal, but Deng Kai does get an assist."
"Drogba is lucky; such a passive goal is really rare."
Quickly, Bayern’s players restart play, and the game resumes.
Bayern tries to mount a fast attack, aiming to pull one back quickly after conceding.
But Matthaus obviously anticipated this, retreating early to hold his position, denying Bayern’s magician Scholl the chance for a through ball down the middle.
Salih Hamidzic, known as the ’Angel with Wings,’ is attempting a breakthrough down the flank.
The future Di Maria
However, the ordinary youngster Evra, relying on his relentless spirit, managed to cling to Salih Hamidzic, and then Vidic joined in to help reclaim the ball successfully.
Then it was time for Lisbon Athletic’s Large Circle Tactics, steadily sapping Bayern’s attacking fervor, slowing down the pace.
The twenty-first minute.
Bayern launches an attack from the left, Lizarazu and Jeremies coordinatively pass the ball, preparing to outpace Maicon.
However, Maicon displays astonishing speed.
It’s a tough task for Evra in his prime to defend against Salih Hamidzic, he can only desperately delay.
But Maicon gives no quarter when defending against Lizarazu.
Catching up, barging in, controlling the ball, holding off a man, passing out... done in one fell swoop, leaving Lizarazu without a trace of temper.
That’s the difference between a thirty-three-year-old and a twenty-year-old.
Time, like a knife, cutting down Lizarazu’s Achilles’ heel with every slice.
Lizarazu shouldn’t be too disheartened though, for in the future, Maicon would endure the same thing.
Then still ranked as the world’s number one right-back, he would be explosively outplayed by a monkey from Wales and never recover!
Bang!
Maicon passes to Barzagli, who finds Guardiola.
Seeing Deng Kai marked, Guardiola smartly passes to Ronaldo, who is in a good position.
Thanks to his earlier outstanding performance, Ronaldo has earned a brief respite.
Simultaneously, on the left side, Ronaldo suddenly accelerates.
Deng Kai also shakes off his defender and starts to push forward.
Drogba heads to the right, slightly pulling away the center-back while supporting Ronaldo.
Chance!
Ronaldo could either send a long ball to the far post to find Ronaldo or cut in with a diagonal ball to Deng Kai, both of which could be dangerous.
However, Ronaldo just shimmies on the spot, and after a prolonged samba dance, he attempts a dribble and gets dispossessed.
The dispossession doesn’t matter.
The fancy footwork wasted too much time.
Never mind Ronaldo and Drogba, even Deng Kai, who started near the center circle, was almost offside.
Luckily, Matthaus, with his wealth of experience, had already positioned himself behind Ronaldinho.
The moment Ronaldinho lost the ball, Matthaus swiftly recovered possession and sent a through pass.
Deng Kai continued his run forward, signaling Ronaldinho for the ball.
Ronaldinho made a passing motion... a fake pass and a real burst...
By the time he got past Lizarazu, Deng Kai was already being marked by Sarno.
Bang!
Ronaldinho passed the ball sideways.
There was no way Deng Kai could get it.
With Sarno sticking close to him, and the ball too near the goal, Kahn had already charged out.
But Deng Kai couldn’t just stop running.
Not running would make him look uncommitted.
Opportunities are fought for.
Players who don’t fight hard won’t earn the love and respect of fans and teammates.
That’s the price of being a leader.
Kahn was the first to reach the football, diving to the ground, then burying his head and body.
Deng Kai rushed up, unable to slam on the brakes, only slowing down.
This situation was common.
But Kahn had just lost the ball in front of Deng Kai, so he was in a bad mood, therefore...
The moment Deng Kai collided with him, Kahn suddenly powered up and stood.
Deng Kai was almost flipped into the goal by a judo-like throw without the use of hands.
This was similar to when someone jumps for an aerial challenge and another intentionally crashes into the leaping player.
But when goalkeepers do it, it’s more stealthy.
You might even earn a "collision with the goalkeeper" call.
After landing, Deng Kai slapped the turf and got up.
He charged straight at Kahn with his chest.
Kahn hadn’t expected Deng Kai to be so bold; he thought Deng Kai would stop in front of him.
Taken by surprise, Kahn stumbled, retreating step by step, but his slow-reacting mind didn’t think to fall down. After retreating more than three meters, he stood firm.
"Are you practicing karate? If you’re so interested in fighting, I can bring on Ibrahimovic right now!" Deng Kai was quite angry.
Speaking of which, if he hadn’t just slapped the ground to reactivate "Babel," he might not have been able to budge Kahn just now.
Bayern’s players immediately surrounded Deng Kai.
But from a bird’s-eye view, one could see that as soon as Deng Kai furiously slapped the turf, the little green dots representing Sporting Lisbon’s players converged on the penalty area as if called, much faster than the little red dots.
Sporting Lisbon’s players moved quickly, arriving before Bayern’s, and surged into the penalty area, surrounding Kahn and Sarno at the scene, leaving them with no easy way out.
For a moment, Sporting Lisbon had the numerical advantage.
The head referee, catching up as fast as he could, kept blowing his whistle.
Fortunately, both sides just confronted each other without actually starting a fight.
"The head referee warned both Deng Kai and Kahn. It started with Kahn being in the wrong, but Deng Kai’s reaction was indeed against the rules."
"It’s unexpected from Guardiola, he actually ran from the back to the front to argue with Bayern’s players the most fiercely. But what kind of tactic is retreating while arguing?"
"Look at Drogba, even though he hasn’t said a word, he’s standing next to Deng Kai. If a real fight breaks out, I think he’d be the first to throw a punch!"
