Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Kick Until Satisfied (Seeking Follow-Up Reads)
When Deng Kai showed up at the Wahaha team’s place, quite a few players were taken aback.
"You guys don’t mind if I join in, do you?"
His fluent Mandarin instantly conquered the locker room.
On a casual field, if a noob tells you this, you’d want to tell him to get lost.
But when a pro says it, you’re more than happy to accept, even letting the guy pick his spot first.
So, for the second half, Deng Kai became Wahaha team’s midfielder.
On the other side, Sporting Lisbon also sent on a substitute midfielder.
This change intrigued the fans.
But nobody was optimistic about the Wahaha team.
Because the strength of a team can’t be determined by just one person.
The only one who thought the game might take a turn was Trigella.
Because he knew Sporting Lisbon had a big problem, which was... they no longer had a midfield core.
With Sergio gone, Sporting Lisbon’s midfield was just a bunch of reinforced concrete, completely without a commander.
Moreover, the right winger Marcelino had a strong desire to attack, which could make the less decisive midfield players pass a lot of balls to him.
This indirectly infringed upon Ronaldo’s space.
When Ronaldo’s chances are thirty percent, and Marcelino’s are seventy percent, no midfielder would refuse to pass the ball to Marcelino.
But Deng Kai would not.
With Deng Kai, unless Marcelino’s chances reached eighty percent, he would then consider passing to Marcelino.
Furthermore, once Ronaldo’s chances hit fifty percent, unless Marcelino was facing an open goal, Deng Kai wouldn’t even think of Marcelino.
Because after a series of complex calculations, fifty percent Ronaldo was far stronger than ninety percent Marcelino!
...
The second half started.
Wahaha team kicked off, and Sporting Lisbon began their high pressing attack.
"Zhao Peng, over here, give it to me... don’t rush, if you can pass to me there’s no need for a long kick... Chen Tao, drop back a bit, we’re not considering starting an offensive yet... Hao Junmin, fall back, I need your support..."
Deng Kai constantly gave orders without any sense of discord, as if he was meant to be on this team.
Language played a huge role here.
Under Deng Kai’s leadership, the Wahaha team managed to keep the ball for a full six minutes.
They had never done this in the first half.
With the long possession, the Wahaha players grew into the game.
Once they got the feel for it, each player’s understanding of the game, their individual styles, and their positioning started to show.
Hao Junmin, playing like a wide midfielder to offer support, actually adapted quite well.
And the right-back Wu Xudong on the same side positioned himself very high up the field, almost level with Hao Junmin, showing his strong offensive tendencies.
Beep!
Deng Kai was brought down by Veloso while holding the ball, and the main referee awarded a free kick.
Veloso apologized to Deng Kai while retreating.
I thought I was here to assist you, but now it turns out I have to play against you.
Bang!
Deng Kai shamelessly took a quick free-kick, finding Wu Xudong on the right flank.
"Run!" Deng Kai roared, seemingly igniting the prairie genes within Wu Xudong.
He launched instantly!
Wu Xudong, like a grey whirlwind, moved at an extreme speed.
Left-back Araujo from Sporting Lisbon tried to intercept Wu Xudong, but couldn’t match his pace.
He could only attempt a slide tackle.
But Wu Xudong was too fast even for a tackle.
Bang!
After getting to the bottom line, Wu Xudong crossed the ball with no one defending him.
However, the cross was not high quality.
Gao Lin and the Sporting Lisbon center-back failed to get a head on it.
The football flew out of the penalty box.
Semedo quickly took control of the ball.
"Watch out!" came Ronaldo’s voice.
Then the ball was poked away by Deng Kai, who was hiding behind Semedo.
Black Panther Hunt!
Bang!
Deng Kai let loose a furious shot from the edge of the penalty area!
Whoosh!
Pilar looked at Deng Kai with reproach.
"One to four! Wahaha team finally scores!"
"The scorer is... Sporting Lisbon’s Deng Kai... uh..."
"Aside from that goal, Wu Xudong’s performance in this attack was too good."
"Not just Wu Xudong, the whole team is performing better."
"The key is they can hold the ball now! Is the team coming back, or is it the change Deng Kai brought to the team?"
"Can’t be sure yet, Deng Kai’s passes were many, but most were inconsequential, except for that last one."
As the game recommenced, Wahaha Team’s formation had subtly shifted to a 4-4-2.
Hao Junmin on the right had effectively become a right midfielder.
Up front, Gao Lin and Yu Shihao, one tall, one fast.
Ronaldo found it effortless to navigate the route marked by Hao Junmin and Wu Xudong.
In front of him, Hao Junmin might as well have been invisible.
Wu Xudong’s defense wasn’t exceptional, and though fast, he barely kept pace with Ronaldo.
But Ronaldo wasn’t just about speed, his dribbling was also formidable.
Bang!
After successfully cutting inside, Ronaldo fired a shot at goal.
Shao Jiawei made a daring slide tackle, blocking the shot, and the football deflected toward Zeng Cheng.
After catching the ball, Zeng Cheng saw Deng Kai and threw the ball toward him.
Deng Kai simply pushed off Lorenzo, who was coming to challenge for the ball.
Lorenzo was shoved to the ground by Deng Kai, but the main referee didn’t consider it a foul, considering Deng Kai’s small stature.
Deng Kai sent a long pass to the sprinting Yu Shihao on the left.
Yu Shihao’s control of the ball was steady, and he then started to take on Duarte.
Duarte retreated all the way, only moving in to challenge after his teammates had all returned.
Yu Shihao had no chance but to pass the football to Deng Kai, who had come up to offer support.
Deng Kai sent the ball toward Gao Lin with a direct lob, without taking a touch to control it.
Gao Lin, in his confrontation with Angelo, took a shot at goal.
The football soared into the sky.
A reliable performance.
Conversely, Sporting Lisbon organized several attacks, but most opportunities were handed to Marcelino.
At one point, those who didn’t know better might have thought Marcelino was Sporting Lisbon’s main striker.
With heavy guarding on Ronaldo’s side, Marcelino did indeed get more chances, but he couldn’t capitalize on them, posing little threat.
Especially considering he was up against Wahaha’s strongest defender, Zhao Peng.
In the sixty-seventh minute, Hao Junmin and Wu Xudong played a one-two on the flank, and Wu Xudong was brought down by Araujo.
Araujo received a yellow card.
It was a free-kick in an excellent position, almost as threatening as a corner kick, capable of being swung in right in front of or behind the penalty area.
Hao Junmin took the free-kick, and defenders like Feng Xiaoting and Zhao Peng moved forward.
Bang!
Hao Junmin delivered the free-kick with a nice curve.
The crowd in the middle all jumped up, but the ball was surprisingly aimed toward the far post.
Yu Shihao sneaked in at the far post to shoot.
This was clearly a set-piece tactic they had practiced.
However, the defensively aware Veloso stretched his leg out and blocked the shot.
The football rebounded into the crowd.
Ronaldo stretched out his foot.
He failed to touch the ball.
Gao Lin got a touch on the ball but was dispossessed in the next moment.
The ball arrived at Deng Kai’s feet.
In that moment, at least three feet lunged towards Deng Kai.
Bang!
Deep-fried meatball!
Deng Kai dribbled through the space between Angelo and Semedo into the penalty area.
Bang!
Following a deep-fried meatball with another, Deng Kai shook off the covering defender Manuel, while using his hand to fend off the pursuing Angelo.
Bang!
A flick and a burst of speed!
Deng Kai and the football instantly broke free from the crowd, surging into the six-yard box.
Pilar rushed out!
There was some distance between Deng Kai and the ball; with Deng Kai’s normal speed, Pilar was confident of getting there first... Holy shit! How did Kai’s speed just pick up?
Bang!
Deng Kai went down for a sliding shot.
He shot before Pilar could get there.
And while Pilar flailed helplessly, the ball drilled precisely between his legs.
The football rolled over the line.
"GOAL! It’s in! Two to four! Wahaha Team has scored two in a row!"
"Deng Kai completes his hat-trick!"
"Incredible! This is definitely the strangest game of the year!"
"The football seemed glued to Deng Kai’s foot, so obedient!"
"Two consecutive deep-fried meatballs, weaving through the crowd as if it was nobody’s land!"
"And that final slide shot pierced both the big and small doors alike!"
"This goal is simply a masterpiece!"
