Chapter 517: Chapter 516: Ball Skills Are Contagious
Just twenty-three seconds into the game, Deng Kai struck a long shot, testing Sanchez’s level.
As it turned out, Real Madrid had no weak players.
Sanchez steadily caught Deng Kai’s long shot.
In the seventh minute, Ronaldo managed to create a hard-earned shooting opportunity after taking on Salgado on the left.
But the football was deflected by Salgado and was weakly secured by Sanchez.
Subsequently, Real Madrid launched a rapid counterattack, with Zidane carrying the ball along the wing and then making a brilliant pass after opening the angle.
Barzagli, anticipating it early, successfully blocked this critical pass.
Once the football got through,
Sporting Lisbon would be in danger.
But Barzagli made a mistake.
Upon completing the block, he was drawn away by Zidane.
Carlos, coming up, took the ball and threw it directly into Sporting Lisbon’s penalty area.
Grenade throw-in!
"Be careful!"
Deng Kai warned his teammates.
But it was too late.
Raul sped past Matthaus from behind and burst into the box from a position on the flank.
Facing Vidic’s defense, Raul didn’t stop the ball and shot with his left foot.
This was a top-tier execution.
The long-absent Schmeichel failed to react in time, allowing the football to roll past his feet into the net.
In the ninth minute, Real Madrid broke the deadlock, leading Sporting Lisbon by one-nil!
"GOAL! Raul!"
"This is The Lord of the Rings! This is our golden boy Raul!"
"One-nil! The goal came too easily for Real Madrid!"
"Sporting Lisbon’s defense crumbles at the touch against these top-level players!"
The camera focused on Deng Kai’s face, zooming in on The King of Alvalade.
They tried to capture a hint of dejection on Deng Kai’s face.
But Deng Kai was just constantly directing his teammates and discussing with Guardiola, Matthaus, Barzagli, and other players.
Raul’s movement was smart; he actually targeted Guardiola’s position.
Matthaus had top-level awareness, but his body couldn’t keep up, missing the best chance to defend against Raul.
As for Guardiola... on defense, he was not top-tier, so making this kind of mistake was normal.
Sporting Lisbon had not expected to keep a clean sheet against Real Madrid in this match.
Because like Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid’s strength was in their offense.
Today, Real Madrid won the opportunity to wear their home jerseys.
And Sporting Lisbon gave up their white and green jerseys, donning pure black away kits instead.
This was a battle of black and white.
The goal sparked the Real Madrid fans into excitement, and they began chanting the team’s anthem.
The Real Madrid players also continued to push hard, cranking up the pace of the game and taking the initiative.
In the twelfth minute.
Figo made Pepe, the young Primeira Liga player, look foolish, with dizzying moves.
Bang!
Figo crossed.
Raul’s movement disturbed Vidic.
Morientes successfully connected with the football, but it hit the post and bounced out, missing the goal.
Real Madrid was almost able to extend their lead to two-nil.
In the fourteenth minute.
Barzagli, Guardiola, and Deng Kai constricted Real Madrid’s left winger Solari.
Deng Kai caught Solari’s hesitation and decisively tackled him.
Solari fell to the ground, and the ball reached Deng Kai’s feet.
Real Madrid players complained that Deng Kai committed a foul.
But Deng Kai turned and passed the football to Ronaldo up front.
The referee shook his head to indicate the tackle was legal and not a foul.
Ronaldo dribbled, dancing his way from the right flank to the center.
He even managed to loft the ball over his compatriot, Carlos, with a clever ’scoop turn’ maneuver.
The latter was indeed somewhat powerless in defense.
But the next moment, Macula challenged him.
Ronaldo dodged and shifted the ball, evading Macula’s challenge, but he was brought down.
The referee blew his whistle immediately.
And he went to the scene of the incident to warn Macula.
Fortunately, the referee did not reach for a card.
"This is a free kick from a not too shabby position; Sporting Lisbon will likely choose to go for goal directly,"
"With players like Ronaldo, Deng Kai, C Ronaldo, and Kaka, all capable of striking a fine free kick, who will take it?"
"Oh, Deng Kai is approaching, and Ronaldo is passing the football to him."
"Considering the team hierarchy, it’s reasonable to let the team leader take the shot against a formidable opponent to boost morale."
"But statistically speaking, Ronaldo might be more suitable, as Deng Kai hasn’t scored from his last five free kicks. His scoring efficiency from free kicks is a bit lower than Ronaldo’s."
"Okay, Deng Kai is stepping back, and Real Madrid’s defensive wall is tightly packed. These top players possess excellent awareness on both offense and defense."
"This could be the most expensive wall Deng Kai has ever faced. Zidane, Figo, Raul, Hierro..."
In the VIP box at the stadium.
Florentino smiled and said to the UEFA president, "He won’t be able to score, my wall is worth over two hundred million! Even Beckham wouldn’t be able to break through."
The president of Sporting Lisbon asked, "What if Beckham did break through this wall?"
Florentino shrugged, "Then we’ll buy Beckham too!"
No sooner had he spoken.
Thump! Deng Kai delivered the football.
The moment he touched the ball, his body leaned at an extreme angle.
His arms spread out like wings.
This posture was unusual; few players would take a free kick this way.
Because the pressure this momentarily puts on the ankle is immense, it’s easy to get injured.
Among well-known footballers, only one person preferred to take free kicks this way.
In an instant, Deng Kai in black seemed to overlap infinitely with Beckham in red.
Yes.
Beckham!
Whoosh!
The football flew past Zidane as he leaped, who realizing something, turned and opened his eyes to see.
A scythe slicing straight to the death corner of Real Madrid’s goal.
"This...GOAL! Deng Kai! He scores directly from the free kick!"
"One to one! Sporting Lisbon, less than five minutes behind, has powerfully leveled the score!"
"Deng Kai’s free kick technique has visibly improved."
"This shot, it’s hard not to be reminded of Beckham! It’s so similar! From the free kick technique to the flight of the ball, this is completely the Beckham bend, a crescent scimitar!"
"It’s no secret, Beckham and Deng Kai are in good terms. Beckham’s wife, Victoria, is often seen socializing with Deng Kai’s girlfriend Hathaway, and rumored girlfriend Keira."
"Perhaps Deng Kai’s free kick skills were honed in such gatherings."
"Let’s congratulate Deng Kai; he has become the youngest player in this century to score against Real Madrid’s goal!"
At the scene.
The chants of Real Madrid fans ceased abruptly.
And they were followed by the anthem of Sporting Lisbon.
The fans of both sides contested in splendor, neither outshining the other.
The camera this time zoomed in on the expressions of Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, Sanchez, and the substitute goalkeeper, Casillas.
From their expressions, it was not difficult to see that there was no way to stop that shot, and they did not regret it because they couldn’t have done any better than they just had.
