Chapter 416: Chapter 415: Is Deng Kai sharpening his resolve?
"Ronaldo wasn’t able to get there, he had a few words with Kuffour on the way. Facing Kuffour’s defense, Ronaldo seemed to be without a plan today."
"Kahn’s embarrassing stumble was the most important factor in preventing the conflict from escalating. If Deng Kai had really been at a disadvantage, I reckon definitely someone from Sporting would have gone after Kahn."
"Yeah, Feng Te was already raring to go at the sidelines with the water cooler in his arms!"
"But honestly, Deng Kai’s temper has obviously gotten bigger this season, he’s particularly fond of smacking the turf. This might inspire his teammates, but at the same time, it can leave a bad impression."
"Some say that after he took control of Sporting, he became ruthless, just like Qin Shi Huang in Chinese history. That’s why some people call him Emperor Kai!"
The twenty-fourth minute.
Sporting controlled the ball past the halfway line.
Deng Kai ran up to the edge of the penalty area, a tactic often seen in Sporting’s strategy.
But the man with the ball, Guardiola, didn’t pass because there were too many people around Deng Kai.
Bang!
After Deng Kai stopped, Guardiola suddenly played a through ball down the middle.
Deng Kai had just completed his run back and shook off his marker, Scholl.
Deng Kai faced the football, with his back to the goal, and Scholl was still following him.
He flicked his heel, subtly changing the direction of the ball’s progress.
The football rolled into the penalty area.
And as Deng Kai had just started his run back, another Sporting midfielder, Matthaus, surged into the penalty area.
He didn’t hesitate, running resolutely.
So much so that after Deng Kai’s flick, Matthaus, who was already up to speed, completely outpaced the just-starting Kovac, broke into the penalty area alone, and blasted a shot!
Whoosh!
There was no need to doubt the accuracy of Matthaus’ blast.
Kahn had no chance of reaching such a shot.
"GOAL! Another goal! And it’s Sporting again!"
"Deng Kai’s heel pass was too beautiful! He created a threat amidst a crowd!"
"Assist number two! Deng Kai is in great shape today! He’s showing his role as the core of the team!"
"If Guardiola’s through ball was a blunt knife, then Deng Kai’s heel flick sharpened it into a bayonet, striking fatally!"
"This is just too dramatic because the scorer is Matthaus!"
"Matthaus bites the hand that once fed him! Will he choose to celebrate?"
"He celebrated! Of course, that’s Matthaus’ temper for you! Ever since fans have been mockingly chanting Matthaus’ name since Bayern’s Champions League victory last season, we could see this day coming."
"The proud Golden Ball gentleman has punished the disloyal fans!"
"Oh, this... Matthaus ran circles around Effenberge, cheering with his arms raised, he... he’s definitely doing it on purpose!"
In the camera view, Effenberge was furious, chasing after Matthaus directly.
However, Matthaus, who had already run circles around him three times, was far away.
Before long, Lizarazu also joined the pursuit of Matthaus, grabbing a hold of him.
Matthaus shrugged off Lizarazu’s hands and then gave Lizarazu a push in stride.
The entire pitch was in chaos.
With Kahn and Elber joining in, the Bayern fans were somewhat dazed for a moment.
This...isn’t this the scene that often happened in Bayern’s training matches back in the day?
Everything seemed to revert to a few years ago, as the Hollywood of the green pitch made a resurgence, assaulting the memories of the Bayern fans.
Until the referee produced three yellow cards, bringing everyone back to reality.
Matthaus, Effenberge, and Lizarazu, each of them received a yellow card.
It must be said, Matthaus came out on top.
This earned him a heroic treatment within the team.
Because both Effenberge and Lizarazu undertook a significant number of defensive tasks, and the roles they played in Bayern were much stronger than what Matthaus could achieve in Lisbon Sporting.
Not to mention, he was an extreme case of one replacing two.
Matthaus: ???
...
The subsequent match became fragmented due to these two consecutive conflicts.
The main referee intensified the scale of penalties.
This was not an inconsistency in penalty calls but a temporary adjustment to the situation on the field, which was the right approach.
During the dull phases of the match, commentators inevitably brought up topics of interest to keep the fans in front of their TVs engaged.
One of the commentators mentioned Deng Kai’s grass-slapping incident.
"I wonder if you’ve noticed, the two goals scored by Lisbon Sporting today both occurred within five minutes after Deng Kai slapped the grass."
"And both goals were related to Deng Kai, is there some magical connection between the slapping of grass and providing assists?"
"Can we interpret this as a self-motivating gesture by Deng Kai?"
"In fact, I’m sure everyone can see that Deng Kai, when slapping the grass, did not vent his emotions on others. He didn’t blame anyone, including Ronaldinho, who was slow in passing."
"It’s more like he was challenging himself. Each grass slap seemed to inspire him. I recall there’s a Chinese idiom called ’lying on straw and tasting gall,’ which probably describes Deng Kai’s situation, lying on the fresh turf to taste the loneliness brought by failure!"
"I suggest everyone pay more attention to Deng Kai’s grass-slapping in the following, to see if my speculation is correct."
"If it really is, I believe this move will quickly spread across the youth football training world. Because Deng Kai has already started a trend among youth players, with eighty percent of them admitting they’ve used this celebration gesture after scoring."
"Fifteen percent of youth players want to use it, but they haven’t managed to score yet."
"The remaining five percent, the goalkeepers, expressed their despair."
As time trickled away, the first half of the match was nearing its end.
The forty-fifth minute.
Salih Hamidzic, the Angel’s Wing, broke through on the flank, getting past Deng Kai!
Deng Kai’s speed was considered decent among midfielders, but compared to bona fide speedsters on the wings, he really could only bite the dust.
Especially since Salih Hamidzic added a change of pace, giving Deng Kai a sliver of a chance to catch up before suddenly accelerating again.
Deng Kai tried to reach out his foot but missed the football, completely losing the chance to stick close to Salih Hamidzic and nearly did a split because of it.
Fortunately, he rolled over voluntarily, which saved him from the tragedy of ripping his shorts.
After falling, Deng Kai continued to slap the grass, but sadly, he failed to activate "Babel."
However, Salih Hamidzic’s attack was once again thwarted by Vidic in the end.
The third minute of stoppage time in the first half.
Many fans who had believed the commentator’s "grass-slapping motivation theory" were now focusing on Deng Kai.
Because according to the commentator’s theory, Deng Kai might be on the verge of a breakthrough.
But then...
Deng Kai, with the ball, was directly pushed aside by the challenging Lizarazu.
Lizarazu, with the football from this defensive steal, intended to cross into the offensive half.
The commentators in front of the TV were disappointed.
So were the fans.
They didn’t even know what they were expecting anymore.
If self-motivation and self-suggestion were really that effective, then everyone would be successful, and there would be no such thing as failure, right?
Hmm?
Wait a minute!
