Chapter 78: Chapter 78 Get Taller
"Don’t be angry, these are all motivations for you to strive forward,"
Deng Kai patted Veloso on the shoulder in the locker room, then he started to review his own data.
It had been almost three months since he last checked his data.
These three months, even during the winter break, he had maintained his training.
The progress was considerable.
=
Name: Deng Kai
Age: 13
Height: 141+5cm
Weight: 39+3kg
Current Club: Sporting Lisbon (U15)
Talent Level: World-Class Talent (Receiving Transcendent Talent Bonus)
Equipped Items: Guardiola’s Tears, Čech’s Hockey Stick
Active Star Drops: The Dutchman’s Applause, Young Ronaldo’s Revenge Flame, Young Ronaldo’s Secret Grudge, The Panther’s Scrutiny, Van Persie’s Ambition, Actually My Name Is Not Gomes
Skills: Fierce Tackle (Blue), Backheel Drag (Blue), No-Look Pass (Blue), Trivela Pass (Blue), Black Panther Hunt (Purple), De Bruyne’s Conscious Flow Pass (Purple), Van Persie Fish Jump (Purple), Iniesta Fried Meatball Star (Gold)
=
Off-the-ball Movement: 62+2
Ball Control: 67+3
Dribbling: 59+2
Shooting: 52+2
Set Pieces: 53+1
Long Pass: 55+3
Short Pass: 70+2
Defensive Positioning: 56+2
Interception: 53+1
Tackling: 40+2
Blocking: 33+1
Clearance: 38+1
Heading: 46+2
Curl: 55+1
=
Speed: 55+3
Explosiveness: 59+4
Step Frequency: 69+1
Strength under Foot: 52+3
Jumping: 48+2
Strength: 49+2
Agility: 69+2
Stamina: 54+3
=
Vision: 8
Left Foot: 3
Right Foot: 7
Injury Resistance: 2
Consistency: 4
=
The growth amplitude of the technical attributes was not surprising, as Deng Kai’s training volume was modeled after Ronaldo’s.
And Ronaldo’s training volume was the most exaggerated within Sporting Lisbon.
Yes, the whole Sporting Lisbon, not just the youth team.
To ensure that Deng Kai and Ronaldo’s training would not be excessive, Trigella would regularly invite the first team’s fitness coaches and doctors to check on their physical condition. If there were any signs of over-exhaustion or injuries, they would immediately stop the intensive training.
The attributes related to his physique confirmed Deng Kai’s previous suspicions.
Once his physical growth caught up, even without starting specialized strength training, his physical data (speed, explosiveness, strength underfoot, etc.) all increased at a very impressive rate.
This was all thanks to Ronaldo’s blessing.
It’s truly the bonus of a "Transcendent Talent," with growth in all aspects being very satisfying.
Especially the rate of height growth, which was a full five centimeters.
Even though Deng Kai’s current height limit was one meter sixty-five, with the Transcendent Talent bonus, he could reach that height faster and earlier.
The value of a one meter sixty-five thirteen or fourteen-year-old is completely different from that of an eighteen or nineteen-year-old.
In addition, his weight also increased by six jin.
And this was without deliberately gaining weight to improve combat capabilities.
Wait until the end of the season, take advantage of the summer for Deng Kai to seriously work on his physique, apply some strength training, and his physical abilities will undergo earth-shaking changes.
By then, if his physique became a disadvantage again, it would not be until he was around seventeen or eighteen years old.
And by that time, he wouldn’t be far from completely resolving his limitations in height and physique.
...
"Okay, the young players from both teams are entering the field,"
"Just earlier, the president of Sporting Lisbon made it clear that as long as the first team is not using Estádio Alvalade and the U15 team has official matches, their home games will not be at the small stadium with a capacity of a thousand at Alcochete Base, but at Estádio Alvalade!"
"This is the first club in European football to make such an arrangement."
"As a result, Sporting Lisbon has leaped ahead in youth academy reputation over Benfica and Porto, becoming Portugal’s Blue Harbor!"
"At present, only the Dutch clubs dare to claim they have better youth development than Sporting Lisbon."
"But there’s no hurry; if Sporting Lisbon U15 can continue their journey in the Youth Champions League, they will eventually meet Ajax from the Netherlands."
"At that time, we will be able to see which country’s youth forces are stronger, Portugal or Netherlands!"
"Oh! Deng Kai is walking to the sideline, waving to the fans. He’s picked up a microphone at the side of the field, is he going to say something?"
By the side of the field, Deng Kai took the microphone and said, "Dear fans of Sporting Lisbon, I’ve missed you! Have you missed us?"
Having said that, he extended the microphone out.
Silence...
The fans hadn’t expected Deng Kai to pull such a stunt.
This kid actually wanted to pump up the atmosphere?
Ronaldo was on the verge of laughing so hard at the side.
On the bench, a young player asked Wu Xudong, the player brought in during the winter window, "I heard you’re from Kai’s hometown?"
Wu Xudong shook his head repeatedly: "No, we’re not familiar. Inner Mongolia is very far from Sichuan, it’s like the distance from Portugal to Germany in Europe."
His teammates nodded in understanding, having such a compatriot was indeed embarrassing.
Benfica’s Pereira, who had marked Ronaldo before and was an old acquaintance, stepped forward and said, "Your friend doesn’t seem too bright."
Ronaldo glared, "Don’t insult people, that’s your friend, okay!"
As the center of everyone’s disdain, Deng Kai decided to give the fans another chance.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
He chanted his own moniker three times in a row.
Then passed the microphone out again.
This time, without any hesitation, the whole stadium:
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
The fans were incredibly cooperative.
They had this tradition.
The previous moment of confusion was purely because Deng Kai’s act was too sudden. Even Xiao Yaxuan wouldn’t get a response without prior notice.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!" Deng Kai called out again.
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!" The fans echoed once more.
The atmosphere was instantly maxed out.
And Deng Kai, seeing the "Actually, I’m not Gomes" special effect activated two layers, was finally satisfied. He told the stands, "At least twenty thousand of you slacked off, you didn’t shout my name."
"I’ll allow you to remain silent, but I will pry open your mouths with a victory, goals, and assists!"
Ha-ha-ha!
The fans in the stands smiled wryly.
The kid was getting cheeky.
And with that, applause came from everyone.
Wu Xudong, watching Deng Kai so at ease, was full of envy and filled with hope for his own future.
...
Peep!
With a whistle, the game officially began.
The players from both teams immediately went into game mode.
Especially Benfica’s players.
They hadn’t forgotten the humiliation of last time.
Moreover, they saw Deng Kai’s antics before the game as even greater disrespect towards them.
With formidable opponents before them, he still acted as mood maker?
Did he really not take them seriously at all?
In the sixth minute, Benfica’s Amorim took a long shot, posing the first threat.
But Pilar was focused enough to block the football out.
In the tenth minute, Ronaldo dribbled past players in the frontcourt successfully, then consecutively performed stepovers challenging the opposition’s center-back, who cleared the ball.
Sporting Lisbon’s center-forward Lorenzo committed a foul in the contest, granting Benfica a free kick from their own half.
In the thirteenth minute, Benfica’s corner kick attack was headed out by Sporting’s defensive midfielder Veloso.
To which, Benfica fans in that section responded with boos.
Veloso, still being young, was practically exploding with anger.
You don’t want me, and you begrudge me for doing well elsewhere?
Dammit!
In the eighteenth minute, Veloso made a key interception and then passed the ball to Deng Kai.
Deng Kai, after receiving the ball, dodged Amorim’s challenge with an "Iniesta Fried Meatball" skill and then directly drove forward with the ball.
Benfica’s defensive midfielder Alexandre, knowing Deng Kai was going to pass the ball, kept marking him, blocking Deng Kai’s pass route to Ronaldo while retreating.
But Deng Kai’s speed with the ball wasn’t slow, and if Alexandre continued retreating, Deng Kai could even bring the ball up to the top of the penalty area.
That would be within the range for a direct long shot.
Alexandre had no choice but to dive toward Deng Kai.
He knew that once he lunged, Deng Kai would pass the ball, but he had no other option, it was a clear strategy.
Bang!
As expected!
After luring Alexandre out, Deng Kai immediately made a through pass.
Ronaldo had been paying attention to Deng Kai’s passes all along.
He started his run, barging past Pereira.
Pereira tried pulling and dragging behind Ronaldo.
But Ronaldo’s acceleration was simply too fierce, impossible to hold back.
Bang!
Ronaldo caught up with the ball, adjusted briefly, and kicked a powerful shot.
Ground Cutter!
The ball flew past the lifted foot of Benfica’s center-back towards the goal.
Benfica’s goalkeeper Vieirinha was a step slow to the ground, unable to stop the ball from entering the net.
"GOAL!"
"It’s in! They’ve taken the lead!"
"This goal comes from C. Ronaldo!"
"Ronaldo! Ronaldo! Ronaldo!"
The stands erupted into cheers of jubilation!
