Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Bian Fengkai
This still wasn’t over.
In the 25th minute, Deng Kai, under dire circumstances in the midfield, chose to move to the right flank to receive the ball.
Seeing Amorim continually at a disadvantage against Deng Kai, the Benfica coach directly switched Amorim with Vieira on the left, letting Vieira have a try.
Vieira wasn’t as tall and strong as Amorim, but he was much more agile.
Confident in his agility and still taller and stronger than Deng Kai, Vieira closed in, intent on stealing the ball.
He was also determined to prevent Deng Kai from repeating his previous move.
Sporting Lisbon’s first goal had originated from a long pass by Deng Kai from this position.
However, who knew that Deng Kai, who often opted for a long ball, would suddenly pull off a trick this time, executing a Backheel Drag that faked out Vieira, as Deng Kai and the football both shot off, heading determinedly to the bottom line.
Sporting Lisbon’s right winger Marcelino immediately cut in off the ball. After realizing Deng Kai didn’t pass right away, he quickly pulled back, positioning himself on the outside right of the box to receive a short pass from Deng Kai.
The run was without fault, even smart, but it was also somewhat greedy.
Both of Marcelino’s runs were "asking for the ball" runs.
He saw himself as the central threat without considering providing support for Deng Kai, to draw away Benfica’s left-back Bruno Simon.
As a result, Simon maintained his defensive position, blocking the route for Deng Kai’s cross.
Deng Kai lifted his right foot, ready to make a long pass.
Simon didn’t hesitate to stretch his leg to block.
Everybody knew Deng Kai was one of the U15’s best passers.
But no sound came.
Deng Kai feigned high, but went low, feinting a pass but actually breaking through, nudging the ball past Simon and infiltrating the box from the side.
Simon was absolutely careless.
He was easily deceived by Deng Kai’s unsophisticated feint, partly because he feared Deng Kai’s passing ability, but also because he underestimated Deng Kai’s dribbling.
Since Deng Kai seldom showed off his dribbling skills and wasn’t particularly fast, Simon thought he could catch up even if he was outplayed.
But then... Bang!
Deng Kai didn’t give Simon any chance to chase after him, choosing to loft a pass immediately after dribbling past him!
Veloso, covering for Simon, had only made it halfway when he saw the football fly over his head.
All he could do was turn and watch as the football was met by a green and white figure heading towards the goal.
"Deng Kai with a lofted pass! His vision is incredible, he just got past Simon and didn’t even have time to lift his head, but his foot already launched the ball!"
"Veloso is in the centre, just to be surpassed by the football!"
"Chris once again appears between the gap of Benfica’s two centre-backs, leaping high, heading the ball into the net!"
"Three to one! Oh my goodness! Chris has completed a hat-trick of goals!"
"Why do I emphasize the word ’goals’? Because at this very moment, two hats have been created! Chris with a goal hat-trick! And Deng Kai has completed an assist hat-trick!"
"Sporting Lisbon is turning the tables! Within just ten short minutes, scoring three goals! They are on a rampage!"
"Benfica must do something now, they are faced with two beasts, one orchestrating behind the scenes, the other indomitable."
"If they can’t contain Deng Kai and Chris, Benfica might very well face defeat today!"
After the goal, Ronaldo, excited, rushed towards Deng Kai. The two embraced in celebration, then ran together towards the corner flag.
Their teammates followed in rapid succession.
The sparse number of Sporting Lisbon fans cheered enthusiastically.
On Benfica’s side, silence reigned.
The camera frequently cut to the Benfica club president, the stars like Gomes and Pinto who came to watch the game.
Pinto joked with the club’s top management, "This kid has the potential to become a super striker. Snap him up quickly. Sporting Lisbon has bought so many of our youth players, it’s about time we bought one of theirs."
The executives shook their heads and replied, "No need, we have Gomes. For the next ten to fifteen years, he’ll be the striker for the Portugal national team!"
Gomes was very happy about this and had confidence in himself.
...
Facing Ronaldo and Deng Kai who managed to score a hat-trick of goals and assists within just ten minutes, Benfica’s coach realized the uniqueness of these two players.
He was now somewhat regretting not having adapted immediately after the opposition changed formation.
"Alexandre, you don’t need to think about positioning now, just stick close to their number 24 and don’t let him have any chance to touch the football!"
"Veloso, don’t consider anyone else, just focus on Chris, got it? He’s not tall, and in your position as a defender on the team, you’re meant to deal with this kind of forward! Don’t disappoint me!"
"Amorim, you switch back with Vieira, you’ll be assisting Alexandre in marking Deng Kai the entire time."
"Vieira, the offense is in your hands now!"
After a series of arrangements, the match returned to a new rhythm.
This time, Deng Kai quickly experienced the "joy" of double marking.
For a long ten minutes, he barely touched the football at all.
He was completely isolated from the larger collective of Sporting Lisbon by these two men.
As for Ronaldo, he was marked by Veloso, which wasn’t an insurmountable problem. The problem was... no balls were coming his way anymore.
Without Deng Kai’s passes, Sporting Lisbon reverted back to their initial state, struggling to move the football past midfield.
In the 41st minute, Amorim, who was assisting in marking Deng Kai, still had the energy to get involved in other plays.
He made an interception in midfield and then passed the ball to the right flank.
Benfica’s right-back Joao Pereira took off like a shot, driving the ball straight into the offensive third and even aimed to penetrate further into the penalty area.
Sporting Lisbon’s left-back Pedro Araujo tangled with Pereira.
Pereira wasn’t just fast; he also had some skills with the ball. Although he didn’t succeed in breaking through, he kept possession.
Bang!
When support arrived, Pereira passed back to the middle.
Vieira, coming up from behind, took a long shot from the top of the arc, producing a beautiful world-class goal.
Three to two!
Benfica started to close the gap.
After that, neither side was able to score again, and halftime arrived.
Maxa rushed into the locker room in a hurry.
Originally, he hadn’t expected to win this game, so his mindset was quite relaxed.
But when Deng Kai changed the score to three to one, Maxa got greedy.
Oh my tofu, my bad!
"Kai, they actually double-teamed you, that’s so despicable!" Maxa complained on behalf of Deng Kai while handing him water and asked, "Do you have any other strategies?"
"How about we just defend our half? We’re leading anyway, and winning by one goal is still a win!"
Deng Kai felt the suggestion wasn’t bad, "That could work. In that case, I’ll switch to the right winger position, and we can sub in another midfielder to fill my spot to strengthen our defense."
Maxa nodded, "Okay... wait, what? Right winger? You?"
The two of them locked eyes, and Maxa immediately realized his distrust was overly apparent, so he quickly changed the subject, "Wouldn’t you get the ball too seldom if you played as right winger?"
"You’re the core of our team; how can you perform if you don’t have possession of the ball? I’m counting on you in this game, young Kai!"
Maxa had reached a level of mastery in "fawning" over others.
