Chapter 743: Chapter 742: Hello Little Brother, Hey Wei Kid
Defeating Spain, Portugal would advance directly.
As for the Spanish team, they would have to hope that Greece is defeated by Russia.
And it would have to be a large-margin defeat.
Because Spain’s goal difference was already behind, and now they have conceded three more goals.
In an instant, Spanish fans, who had never worried about qualifying situations before, were bewildered.
This...
Could it be...
Possibly...
They might be going home after the group stage?
This was totally against their pre-match expectations.
Thinking about the recent events, they really felt that Deng Kai was too spooky.
Too much for Spain.
From the UEFA Cup to Arsenal and then to the European Championship, wasn’t this too targeted at Spain?
Why?
If it’s Catalonia that offended you, what does that have to do with us Spanish?
Catalan people could never have imagined that what they had fought for many years without success would be achieved by Deng Kai in just one match.
After the first half ended, both sides quickly entered the changing rooms.
However, some players stayed on the pitch to warm up.
In the second half, both sides made substitutions directly.
On the Spanish side, it was a do-or-die situation.
They brought in Real Sociedad’s key midfielder Xavi Alonso to replace Alberta.
Alonso’s abilities in initiating attacks, passing, and organizing were even more excellent while also possessing defensive capabilities as a defensive midfielder.
Spain needed to bolster their attack!
Additionally, the flaxen-haired Manchester City rotation striker, the Golden Boy Torres, came on to replace the target man Morientes.
Midfield substitutions, quite bold.
But when Portugal finished their substitutions, the actions of the Spanish coaching staff could be called overly cautious.
Inter Milan’s midfield linchpin Viana replaced Rui Costa.
Barcelona’s right-wing veteran Quaresma replaced Figo.
Of the golden generation of Portugal, only the goalkeeper remained on the pitch.
Furthermore, Sporting Lisbon’s current co-captain, defensive midfielder Veloso, replaced Costinha.
All three substitution cards were played in one breath.
"Oh! Trigella’s subs are very aggressive!"
"It looks like he’s trying to get as much rest as possible for players like Rui Costa, Figo, and Costinha, to avoid injuries to these key figures in the time to come."
"This is also a signal of sounding the retreat."
"The Portuguese team will likely try out some other playing styles, Spanish teams like this are not easy to find as training partners."
The commentators guessed half right.
The Portugal team was indeed looking for something new.
But what they didn’t guess correctly was... Figo and the other three were not the core players of this team.
They could have core status when Deng Kai was not back yet.
But once Deng Kai returned, they were just pieces of the championship puzzle.
Even Deco was no longer indispensable.
So this was not a case of sounding the retreat at all.
The 47th minute.
Ronaldo received the ball in the middle and attempted to dribble past Marchena, only to be dispossessed by Marchena’s tackle.
The ability of Marchena, included in the UEFA Cup’s Best XI as a center-back, was still very strong.
Xavi Alonso immediately launched a counter-attack with a long pass after receiving the ball.
The Portuguese defense, used to Spain’s ball control and short passing game, didn’t react in time.
Plus, with Torres’ incredible speed, he broke through the defense.
In the end, Carvalho could only foul Torres by bringing him down.
Following that, he clutched his own head in exasperation.
Torres fell inside the penalty area.
The referee blew the whistle, finally awarding the first penalty kick of the day.
Torres created it!
Raul subsequently scored the penalty.
Helping the team pull back one goal.
One to three.
The Spaniards seemed to see hope.
Many of Torres’s fans said, "Torres was finished with it this morning," "Torres has never been afraid of Kilop in the Premier League," "Although Porto has won the Champions League, they’re at best the second strongest team in Europe this year, while Torres is the striker of the first."
The Spanish team also began to trust Torres’s ability to break through.
The fifty-first minute.
Raul fell back and made a direct pass.
Torres sprinted out a near one-on-one opportunity.
But when he was about to shoot, he was quick-footed by Kilop, who almost changed the score again.
The fifty-fifth minute.
Portugal took control of the football.
Veloso passed the ball to Quaresma.
Quaresma turned and weaved on the right wing, clearly more active than Figo.
Then Quaresma sent the football forward.
Viana got the ball with a forward burst into the rib area.
He was younger and better at running and pushing forward than Rui Costa, who played in the same position.
This wasn’t an issue of attacking awareness, but a physical one, an age thing.
Bang!
Viana made a backward triangle pass.
Deco met the football with a direct pass without stopping.
The entire Spanish defense line was instantaneously breached.
Deng Kai, the off-the-ball cutting in left winger, and center forward Cristiano Ronaldo broke out at the same time, rushing towards the football.
One-on-one!
And it was double the trouble!
It was that moment, who would call the shots?
Bang!
Deng Kai did not hesitate, swinging his right foot out.
Casillas dived directly for the save.
But Deng Kai did not touch the football.
The next moment, Cristiano Ronaldo followed up, tapping the ball into the open net.
He bagged a brace!
"GOAL! Beautifully done!"
"This is synergy! This is the synergy of CD!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo and Deng Kai, both facing one-on-one, left Casillas in utter despair."
"Deng Kai’s feint to shield allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to finish!"
"Friends in the Premier League might not know, in Portugal there’s always the saying ’Without C, there is no D.’ Meaning many of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals involve Deng Kai."
"Indeed, that’s the case."
"Including this goal, which is a classic Deng Kai-style assist! Although Deng Kai did not touch the football and won’t get an assist stat, can you dare say this wasn’t an assist by Deng Kai?"
"This is what makes Deng Kai so strong."
"Despite never being greedy for stats, despite the many assists he’s made without data to show for it, even so, his assist numbers are still the best in all of Europe."
"This fully demonstrates his assist ability is phenomenon level, in a league of its own!"
"In this area, even Deco, with his equally impressive assist numbers, falls slightly short."
Four to one.
CD joined forces to widen the gap in the score once again.
After scoring, Cristiano Ronaldo said to Deng Kai with a smile, "That was a slick move, DD!"
On the surface, he was calling the D in CD, referring to Deng Kai’s nickname, but actually, he was teasing Deng Kai as his junior.
Deng Kai wouldn’t bicker with Cristiano Ronaldo and laughed back, "Your finish was not bad either, V guy!"
Hearing this exchange, Casillas who was nearby became a bit curious.
Cristiano Ronaldo... There’s no ’V’ in his name, right?
But why did Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly clench his fists?
Cristiano Ronaldo: Are you mocking me again?
In the sixty-seventh minute, the Spanish team received more bad news.
Their main striker, Raul, was injured and had to leave the field.
David Villa, an important rotational player for Manchester City this season, came on as a substitute.
Two of Spain’s dark four horsemen have been fielded.
Fabregas on the bench had a grave expression.
Everyone thought he was feeling emotional about Spain’s fate of being knocked out in the group stage, but in reality...
