Chapter 59: Chapter 59: A Stroke of Genius
Lisbon Athletic failed to seize the opportunity, and it was Turin’s turn to grasp it.
In the 79th minute, Deng Kai employed the same tactic, dribbling horizontally.
However, his move was anticipated by the opposition, who intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack.
Quagliarella received the ball and managed a long shot despite being surrounded by two players.
He created a corner kick.
Afterward, the corner kick taken by Turin was again contested by Quagliarella, whose header went just under a meter wide of the post.
Quagliarella tugged at his hair, lamenting his bad luck.
But everyone could see that Quagliarella and Turin’s form were improving.
At least better than Lisbon Athletic’s.
Deng Kai promptly communicated with his team’s defensive midfielder Semedo and center backs Angelo and Manuel, instructing them to pay extra attention to Quagliarella and that fouling him was an option if necessary.
Following this, Quagliarella, who had been performing well, was successfully contained.
In the 86th minute, the match was drawing to a close.
Deng Kai, with the ball on the right side, lacked passing options and was forced to dribble horizontally again.
The opposition moved to challenge him.
But this time Deng Kai was smarter and shielded the ball with his body before being brought down by the opposition.
A whistle blew.
Free kick.
After Lisbon Athletic executed a set-piece free kick, the ball found its way back to Deng Kai.
By then, Deng Kai had moved to the center, facing right.
This meant his right foot could cover the entire front from left to right, making his passes a maximal threat!
Bang!
A Turin midfielder reached the ball before Deng Kai could pass and charged towards him, knocking Deng Kai to the ground.
This time the referee immediately showed a yellow card and issued a warning to the Turin player.
Another free kick.
This time it was within range for a direct shot at goal.
Ronaldo stepped up to take the free kick.
After preparing, Ronaldo took the shot, which went a meter over the goal, not of high quality.
It was comparable to the quality of his free kicks during his later years in age.
It was somewhat tear-jerking.
After all, the Elevator Balls from his peak were so dominant.
Time continued to flow, and the score remained nil-nil.
If the match ended this way, Lisbon Athletic would be ousted from the Youth Champions League by Turin by a single point.
And with six points, that’s definitely not one of the higher-scoring third places in the Youth Champions League groups, making advancement hopeless.
After ninety minutes, the fourth official announced the added time.
Two minutes.
The second half of the match was relatively smooth overall.
Perhaps the home-field advantage of Turin even caused the match time to be shortened by about a minute.
The Turin fans were very pleased with the added time.
Maxa, however, was appealing to the fourth official, complaining, "Our players have been brought down several times, you better not step foot in Lisbon again if you don’t add five minutes, or you might come in but won’t be able to leave!"
The fourth official communicated with the head referee via walkie-talkie.
The referee came over and showed Maxa a yellow card.
At the ninety-second minute, Deng Kai once again had the ball on the right wing.
As the match neared its end, the Turin player charged over, resolved to either get the ball or the man, either way not a loss.
But Deng Kai anticipated the Turin player’s mindset, knowing he would come up.
A backheel drag with his right foot let the football evade the opposition.
He then immediately flicked the ball up and jumped, avoiding the opponent’s intentionally extended shin.
After dribbling past the player, Deng Kai carried the ball horizontally towards the center!
The opponent could have grabbed Deng Kai or followed to defend, but due to overextending his leg, he slipped instead.
At this moment, Deng Kai became the most dangerous man on the field.
"This way!" Marcelino on the right wing found another opening.
But it wasn’t so much that he made a run; it was more that the opposition hadn’t paid attention to him since even if he received the ball, he couldn’t pose a direct threat from that wide position.
The Turin players even hoped Deng Kai would pass the football to Marcelino.
"Kai!" Almost at the same time, Ronaldo cut in from the right flank without the ball into the penalty area, moving laterally.
His position was so much more lethal than Marcelino’s.
On the Turin side, almost all the center backs were following Ronaldo, blocking him front and back with multiple players sandwiching him.
However, Ronaldo’s speed was really fast and he was not weak in the box, managing to cut inside directly.
But...
Deng Kai’s pass didn’t come!
"Oh! What’s happened to Deng Kai? He missed the best chance to pass the ball!"
"Chris has overrun the position, he’s already on the right side of the box."
"It’s only now that Deng Kai has adjusted his body direction to face the goal. From this angle, he can’t pass to Ronaldo on the right or Marcelino, who’s even further right."
"And there is no one on the left to receive Deng Kai’s pass."
"Deng Kai kicks, he..."
Bang!
With the outside of his foot!
Deng Kai looked in the direction of the goal as if someone was there.
"Outside of the foot pass! Deng Kai has sent the football flying!"
"But it’s still a bit off, the curve of the ball won’t catch up with Chris, even if he runs back it will be too late."
"Wait, this... this... Is it a shot?"
Clang!
The football rebounded off the left post of the goal and into the net.
Deng Kai scores a world-class goal from outside the big box!
Goal with the outside of the foot!
The scene suddenly fell silent.
More than twenty thousand Turin fans couldn’t even understand what had just happened.
But Deng Kai understood!
He just didn’t have an angle for the pass, and by the time he found one, Ronaldo had overrun it.
With multiple players surrounding him, Ronaldo’s run was clearly not smooth; without speeding up, he would be stuck, and by speeding up, he’d overrun the receiving point.
Considering the time, Deng Kai could only take a gamble.
He treated the goal range as a passing target, aiming for about half a meter to the right of the post, and delivered an outside-of-the-foot pass.
But his passing ability was clearly not that precise.
The football didn’t reach the intended spot, falling short by half a meter.
The result was that this half meter made the football hit the post, leaving the Turin goalkeeper with no chance to save.
Unexpectedly, this was one of the special effects of the outside-of-the-foot technique, "a very small chance to turn into a shot"!
The outside of the foot is also a rare skill that could turn a pass into a shot.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!"
Ronaldo was the first to rush towards Deng Kai.
Deng Kai quickly ran to the corner flag area, sliding on his knees in a cool manner, commanding respect without anger!
This match had been tough for him, very uncomfortable to play.
This game-winning goal was his best release.
"Oh! Incredible! Deng Kai delivers a high-quality outside-of-the-foot shot! It’s divine inspiration!"
"Before this, he had never tried to shoot with the outside of the foot, yet the first time he does this match, he scores!"
"Chris’s run distracted almost everyone, allowing this not-so-fast outside-of-the-foot shot to make it all the way to the goal."
"The Turin goalkeeper could have possibly saved it, he was fully prepared, but who could have expected the football to hit the post!"
"Game-winning shot! Deng Kai has once again delivered a game-winner in European competition!"
"The last time was against Pilsen Victory, and this time Turin, he is truly the king of game-winners in the Youth Champions League!"
"What a big-hearted player! His sliding knee celebration is just too elegant."
Bang!
Ronaldo who had caught up tackled Deng Kai to the ground.
The rest of the team also piled on, creating a heap of players.
If it hadn’t been for Maxa interrupting the celebration process in time and pulling everyone away, Deng Kai’s small frame might have found it hard to breathe under the weight.
"This is probably a result that is very hard for the Turin team to accept."
"But now, we have to congratulate Sporting Lisbon U-15, they’ve finished second in their group by a two-point margin over Turin and directly advanced to the knockout stage!"
"While Turin with seven points is out of contention for a top third-place finish and is eliminated."
"Congratulations to Sporting Lisbon, congratulations to Deng Kai!"
