Chapter 427: Chapter 426: Saul’s Backward Free Kick and Salih Hamidzic’s Wings of an Angel
Reporter: "So, you’ve proved that, even without Ronaldo, Sporting Lisbon can achieve victories, even more victories. Are you considering trading Ronaldo in the winter transfer window? We’ve captured photos of his agent meeting with the Paris Saint-Germain sports director."
Trigella: "Ronaldo is part of our team’s plan; we won’t trade him in the winter window. He will return to the field soon."
Reporter: "Voting for this year’s Golden Ball award has begun, and we were surprised to find that Sporting Lisbon has two players on the candidate list. Many have expressed doubts about this; do you think they deserve to be on the list?"
Trigella: "I’m not surprised by Deng Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo making the list. What surprises me is why Quaresma’s outstanding performance didn’t make the list?"
"Barcelona should be more generous in this regard. If they hold any prejudice against Portuguese players because of Figo, then they should not have brought in Quaresma to begin with."
Indeed, for the European Golden Ball award, Deng Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo made the thirty-man shortlist.
The two of them have refreshed the record for the youngest nominees for the Golden Ball, with Deng Kai holding the record at just over sixteen and two months old.
This record will likely be difficult for anyone to break in the future.
At the current stage, being a quintuple champion is rare, hence the massive bonus points this honor brings.
In the past hundred years, there has only been one quintuple champion.
But in the next twenty years, there will be five or six quintuple champions.
So, the sooner one achieves this feat, the more astonishing it is.
And, as Trigella said, Quaresma indeed didn’t enjoy the resources Barcelona could have offered in this regard.
Or perhaps Barcelona had spent too much on Rivaldo’s awards in the past, and Quaresma missed the good times.
...
"Ding! You’ve defeated the mighty Bayern Munich, earning the star drops ’Scholl’s Overhead Free Kick’ and ’Salih Hamidzic’s Angel Wings’."
"Scholl’s Overhead Free Kick: There have been many excellent free-kick takers in Bayern’s history, but the Hitzfeld era was undoubtedly the most brilliant. Matthaus, Effenberge, Ballack, Tarnat, and Scholl! On December 5, 2000, Scholl’s overhead free-kick became a classic and went on to feature on the cover of that year’s Pro Evolution Football. When you take free kicks, your accuracy increases, the chance of slipping increases, and after slipping, the accuracy increases."
"Salih Hamidzic’s Angel Wings: As the first generation of ’Angel Wings,’ Salih Hamidzic was nearly flawless. Your crosses from the wings become even sharper. If you hold the ball on the sidelines for more than twenty seconds, your speed significantly increases."
After acquiring these two star drops, Deng Kai began a new round of training for his free kicks.
This overhead free kick is quite interesting.
The increased chance of slipping means that once you do slip, it usually has nothing to do with scoring.
However, the increased accuracy after slipping introduces a very slim possibility of success.
It shares a similar genius to the ’Beckenbauer-style shooting’ where if the football is high above the crossbar, it means you’re far from scoring, but if it experiences that ’significant drop,’ then that’s amazing.
Including the ’electric bike,’ all these skills provide a chance to turn the tables while having debuffs.
They aren’t absolutely good skills, but they’re highly risky; while you can lose everything, there’s also a chance to hit the jackpot.
Deng Kai’s free-kick training also attracted the attention of his teammates.
Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Maicon, Evra, Matthaus, Pepe, Yaya Toure, and even the young Ronaldo, who was already training with the first team, joined the training and initiated a showdown.
Unexpectedly, those players willing to actively participate in the free-kick contest all had decent skills.
Including the all-rounder Evra who was just making up the numbers and Pepe, the typical defensive specialist, as well as Yaya Toure, who looked strong but also had a bit of finesse in his play.
However, the free-kick finals ended up between Deng Kai, Kaka, and the young Ronaldo.
Matthaus was nominated as well, but he gave up.
Because as the competition progressed, Matthaus realized that this contest seemed to be related to the right to take free kicks.
Even though no one said the winner would be in charge of free kicks from then on, Matthaus didn’t want to take any risks.
What if he won, would Deng Kai demote him to the reserve team?
This son of a bitch now had overwhelming power, so it was wise to provoke him less.
In the end, Deng Kai and Kaka were evenly matched, while Ronaldo came out on top.
But Ronaldo, upon returning to the first team’s training grounds, expressed that although he scored more free kicks, Deng Kai’s spirit in seeking tricky angles to attempt deserved more learning.
The quality of the free kicks that Deng Kai scored was actually higher.
And what about Deng Kai falling backwards multiple times while taking free kicks—was that real?
No!
Little Kai is not Gerard; aside from doing wheelies, he never slips!
Little Kai was simply studying how to score goals while slipping and falling.
This is a profound art; this is a true master’s spirit.
That afternoon, Sporting Lisbon officially announced Ronaldo’s return to the first team from the reserve team, with the earliest possible comeback in league play after the end of the Champions League group stage!
Vaguely, Ronaldo seemed to know how he could advance towards becoming the world’s best at Sporting Lisbon.
Feng Te: That’s right, it’s licking!
Ronaldo: ???
Ronaldo: I’m talking about learning, about learning from those who are better, or from those who are stronger than you in some aspects, like Deng Kai’s research spirit.
Feng Te: Then you’re still not getting the essence of enlightenment... Ah, the uniqueness of my path, other than Saint Sala as my companion, the long night is difficult to discern!
...
On October 30th, the last round of the Champions League group stage kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon, as the sole representative of the Portuguese league in the group of death, is about to face its final bout against Lazio.
Currently leading the Portuguese league, Porto, under Mourinho’s leadership, failed to make it to the knockout stages of the Champions League, but they still have a chance to fight for the Europa League.
Before the match, the media noticed Trigella walking with a limp and were very curious about it.
Facing the reporters’ prying mentality, Trigella said, "I can only say if everyone wants a massage, then they must find a professional. Especially with Chinese massages, whether the pressure points are accurately pressed makes a big difference."
"An inexperienced masseur could very well cripple you."
After responding, Trigella left immediately.
The reporters could only catch Maxa following behind for an interview: "Welcome back, Maxa, you’re back! You did something terrific during your suspension."
"Can you tell us about Trigella’s massage incident? Is the masseur likely to be sued by him? His condition does not look optimistic."
Maxa was sweating profusely.
