Chapter 45: Chapter 45: The Twin Stars Battle Robin Hood
November 21st.
It was still at the exaggerated Estádio Alvalade, where the fifth round of the Youth Champions League group stage officially kicked off.
This was also an extraordinary match.
There were as many as 35,000 fans in attendance!
Almost no youth team games attract such high popularity.
But Sporting Lisbon U15 had everything going for them.
Superstar Chris, the midfield, Caesar Deng Kai with a professionalism-level passing ability, a series of victories boosting morale, the Andoya handball controversy, the great reversal in the European battles... These elements almost brought in ten thousand spectators for the game!
Where did the remaining 25,000 people come from?
When the usual ticket price of one hundred US Dollars suddenly dropped to five, and the venue was a big stadium, who could resist such a travel deal?
Bear in mind, the tour ticket price for Estádio Alvalade is ten US Dollars!
Match tickets were even cheaper than tour tickets.
Only a fool would miss this!
This was also an invisible cost that Sporting Lisbon invested in order to promote Ronaldo.
Only in this way, when the team says that Ronaldo is the next Figo, the next Simon, the next Quaresma, will the fans and other clubs know and believe it, and Ronaldo himself will have that base of reputation.
Otherwise, if you randomly push out any Tom, Dick, or Harry, who would care?
Marketing in Europe has become very mature, a complete set of practices.
At the start of the match, Ronaldo immediately showed his extremely strong desire to attack.
In just fifteen minutes, he created three shooting opportunities and two set pieces.
If Lady Luck hadn’t been on her period today, scoring at least one goal out of these five chances would have been no problem.
This state of affairs made Hugo in the stands somewhat embarrassed.
Especially since his good friends were also around.
"Luckily," the youth team of Feyenoord was quite good.
In those days, a product from the Eredivisie carried a lot more clout than one from the Primeira Liga.
Portugal’s three notorious clubs were well-known, but they were nothing compared to the Eredivisie’s big three.
Feyenoord’s ace youth player Fan Peixi, even though he had just joined the team this year, had already exceeded the U15 level.
In the 29th minute, inside the penalty box, Fan Peixi shouldered a Sporting Lisbon central defender and executed an aerial shot, breaking the deadlock.
One to zero!
Super shooter Fan Peixi was racing wildly up the scorers’ chart.
"The Netherlands’ Robin Hood has conquered the Estádio Alvalade in Lisbon! The home fans fall silent!"
"Oh! Deserving of the competition for the Golden Boot with the other super shooter from Atlético Madrid’s youth team, Fernando Torres, Fan Peixi clearly outclasses the other forwards in this edition of the Youth Champions League by more than just one level!"
"Chris and Quagliarella from Torino, Robben from Groningen, although excellent among their peers, are influenced by the overall strength of their teams and still appear weaker compared to those two."
The commentator didn’t even have time to fully introduce Fan Peixi and Torres’ background to the home fans before he was forced to interrupt.
Because less than three minutes after this goal happened, Fan Peixi outside the box once again displayed his miraculous aerial shot, achieving a brace.
Two to zero!
Feyenoord, in terms of overall strength and front-line firepower, were considerably stronger than Sporting Lisbon!
This led to cheers for Fan Peixi erupting in the stands, quickly drowning out the voices of the home fans.
Deng Kai looked at the tourists in the stands and had to admit... tourists and fans were different.
Fans have their own home team and rarely switch sides.
But tourists... as long as there’s a goal, they would clap and cheer, no matter who scored or against whom.
Ronaldo looked extremely displeased.
He clearly felt he was outperformed by Fan Peixi.
He did not like this feeling at all.
However, up in the stands, Hugo was embracing and celebrating with his friends.
They had bet correctly!
They were going to make a killing this time!
As long as Feyenoord won the match, and at the same time, the total number of goals scored by both sides was three or fewer.
They were going to become instantly rich!
Hugo couldn’t contain his joy: "It seems like Maxa had some thoughts before. That’s normal, so I said betting on one goal wasn’t safe, three goals is the most stable."
"Now that they’re down two goals, Maxa will surely have the team tighten up to avoid an embarrassing scene. With Sporting Lisbon contracting, it won’t be so easy for Feyenoord to score,"
"Two-zero, three-zero, two-one, those are pretty much the scores we’re looking at."
"Brothers! Time to collect money, collect money!"
They were even excitedly dancing.
However, Hugo was still wearing Ronaldo’s jersey.
This at one point caught the attention of the big screen.
It seemed to be using the language of the camera to tell all the fans in the stadium that even Ronaldo’s fans had thrown in the towel, so what were you still holding out for?
Cheer for Feyenoord and Fan Peixi now!
When Hugo saw himself on the big screen, he immediately reined in his celebration.
Because he noticed that Ronaldo was watching the big screen.
He hadn’t betrayed his brother, he was just too happy because he had made too much money.
He swore that after the match, he would buy his brother the best training equipment, a pair of Figo-endorsed football shoes, and a football autographed by Guardiola himself.
These items were all expensive, but as long as Hugo had money, he would never be stingy with his brother.
Among them, items autographed by the stars were the hardest to get, but thank God, lately there seemed to be quite a few Guardiola autographed balls coming out of Lisbon!
...
However, one minute before the half-time break, Hugo felt a pang of anxiety.
Because Sporting Lisbon’s midfielder Deng Kai, clearly looking at Ronaldo, passed the ball without looking to a teammate on the right.
Sporting Lisbon’s right winger crossed from the flank.
Under the distraction of Ronaldo cutting inside and the forward thrust by Deng Kai, Sporting Lisbon’s center forward, left unmarked, jumped up and headed the football straight into Feyenoord’s goal.
One to two!
Sporting Lisbon pulled one back.
"Three goals now! No more can be scored after this, or we won’t make the big bucks!"
Hugo’s friend reminded him.
Hugo forced a smile, "It’s okay, at least we won’t lose anything."
"Unless Sporting Lisbon wins and the total goals exceed six, we will still make some money!"
The friend nodded in reassurance from Hugo’s words.
Indeed.
As long as Sporting Lisbon loses, whether a lot or a little, they would still earn some money.
Besides, a total of more than six goals seemed unlikely.
Sporting Lisbon had already proved they weren’t sieves, they had some skill.
In the second half, the defensive intensity and targeted play of both teams would surely increase.
Whether it was Fan Peixi or Ronaldo, neither would be able to score.
Half time ended.
Both teams continued the match.
In the fiftieth minute, Deng Kai once again passed the ball without looking while holding it in the frontcourt.
He was clearly focused on the defending players, but suddenly lifted his foot to chip the ball into the penalty area.
Ronaldo, who had already drifted to the flank, beat the offside trap with a burst of speed, cutting straight through Feyenoord’s entire defensive line and into the penalty area.
Facing the charging goalkeeper, Ronaldo didn’t stop the ball before shooting either, it was another calm and difficult lob shot, sending the football into the net.
Two-all!
Sporting Lisbon rallied late and equalized the score!
Preventing certain people who wanted to make a fortune from getting their big payday.
"That damn bastard! I really want to break his legs!" Hugo’s friend cursed Ronaldo furiously.
Hugo’s eyebrows furrowed.
Though they wouldn’t make a fortune now, couldn’t they still make a little profit?
Why curse my brother like this?
But considering the friendship, Hugo held back.
The match continued.
