Chapter 86: Chapter 86 Robben’s Soccer Socks
Due to the timely intervention of the main referee, the conflict did not erupt after all.
The match then ended.
Related news surged like a storm, sparking controversy.
"Bicycle Kick Youth abound, but only one Rice Ball Kid! Soccer Caesar crafts new antics, a victory without honor?"
"Deng Kai shows off rare skills! Four deep-fried rice balls dash sixty meters, bringing the football to the opponent’s goal!"
"Dutch superstar Robben scores twice but can’t save the day! Groningen suffers a bitter home defeat to Sporting Lisbon!"
"Ronaldo, Robben, Deng Kai compete in scoring! Deng Kai’s six goals make him the top scorer for Sporting Lisbon in European competition!"
"Role reversal? Ronaldo’s five assists make him the top assist provider for Sporting Lisbon in European competitions! They’ve swapped roles from the league!"
"Chinese youngster Wu Xudong earns a yellow and a red, missing the next round of European competition! Deng Kai says post-match that Wu Xudong was key to winning!"
"Wu Xudong freezes Robben, the competitiveness of the Chinese player surpasses expectations!"
"Five fouls, three falls, one yellow card, one red card; Wu Xudong was destroyed by Robben! The quality of Chinese players is not high!"
"Robben’s tearful post-match accusation: ’It’s not that we can’t accept defeat, but we absolutely cannot accept the humiliation from Deng Kai!’"
"Deng Kai apologizes: ’I never intended to humiliate anyone. I have my reasons; I need to use the backheel drag to maintain my touch, especially at such high speeds.’"
"Deng Kai’s technical moves are not pretty to watch, and his showboating actually highlights his lack of dribbling and beating players. He hasn’t even completed an excellent proactive take-on!"
This Youth Champions League round of 16 once again went viral!
Mainly because of Deng Kai’s dribbling video at the last moment.
It had an extremely high number of views!
Some thought it was cool.
But even more people studied the video repeatedly to see if Deng Kai really meant to showboat.
There were all sorts of comments.
In the Netherlands, Deng Kai’s reputation was completely ruined.
Van der Vaart of Ajax U15, who also advanced to the next round, said: "I don’t know if Deng Kai meant to humiliate Groningen."
"But if it were me, I wouldn’t attempt something so flashy when my team had already secured the win. I think such behavior can be seen as disrespectful."
"If he did it while behind or at a draw, I would admire him, but not when ahead!"
Teammate Sneijder stated bluntly: "People often compare Deng Kai with me and Van der Vaart lately. I believe we’ll have the chance to prove who is the lesser one."
"I don’t like players who show off their skills at any time."
Afterwards, a succession of football stars came forward to criticize Deng Kai.
However, Guardiola, who always supported Deng Kai, also took an interview with the media: "I don’t think Deng Kai was showing off. He’s not that kind of person, I know him."
"Besides liking to flip signed memorabilia items, he almost has no bad habits."
"I’ve watched that video closely, and in fact, it exposed his weaknesses. I can’t understand how he can run so fast, but he’s clearly not comfortable with it. He had a few issues with his dribbling."
"I think his claim about using the backheel drag to get a feel for the ball is true; many players use this technique during training."
"Moreover, from an aesthetic standpoint, I think the goal was perfect. The young Groningen players were a bit oversensitive, but that’s understandable. After all, they were losing at the time, and that doesn’t feel good. I know this very well."
Watching Guardiola’s excuses, Deng Kai almost believed it himself.
He was just making stuff up.
He never thought a true football sage would come forward to analyze it for him.
This Guardiola is great, really likable!
No, no, no, thinking of Guardiola demanding Jing Duo’an’s wife to dine at his restaurant before letting Jing Duo’an play, Deng Kai shook his head again.
This Guardiola was not likable.
But Deng Kai wasn’t too worried about it, even if he was unfortunate to be coached by Guardiola in the future, he held "leverage" over Guardiola.
Maria, you wouldn’t want your father Guardiola’s signed footballs to be everywhere, right?
...
"Ding! You have won a match; your rating for this game is SSS!"
Among the series of routine rewards, Deng Kai immediately spotted something good.
A football star’s drop... Robben’s socks!
"Robben’s Socks: Robben himself admits that high-tech socks are his secret weapon for dribbling past opponents. Wearing this item, your ability to dribble past players with a left-foot flick on the right flank will be enhanced, and the probability of nutmegging defenders with the ball slightly increased. After a successful take-on, your shooting ability with your left foot is improved."
Tsk tsk tsk!
There are a lot of restrictions.
You must be on the right flank, using your left foot.
But I must say, the effect is quite tempting.
It considerably addresses Deng Kai’s significant imbalance between his "weak right and strong left" feet.
And it provides the very effect on attacking dribbling that Deng Kai currently lacks.
What is called a breakthrough attack?
That means taking the initiative to attack.
Whether it’s a Backheel Drag or a fried meatball, both are essentially passive dribbling.
That’s, the enemy moves first, then I move.
If the enemy doesn’t move and I do, you’ve all seen the effect.
That was the result of the last Champions League match.
Not only does it easily provoke conflicts, but it also looks rather stupid.
The media had mentioned this point before.
Deng Kai immediately donned "Robben’s socks," using up his third and final equipment slot.
Of course, if a new item of equipment comes along, Deng Kai would not hesitate to ditch "Čech’s hockey stick."
That thing is useless.
Next time I face Čech, I must hit him harder. When are you going to drop your gloves?
Look at how considerate Robben and Van Persie are, dropping nice items.
You can always rely on friends from the Netherlands!
In the following days, Deng Kai went to the field to practice one-on-one with Ronaldo.
They often play these 1V1 games.
Ronaldo’s defense also improved significantly in this kind of training.
But this time, Ronaldo was surpassed by Deng Kai several times.
In the end, an irritated Ronaldo managed to outplay Deng Kai in ten different ways.
And Deng Kai, with a flip of his hand, made a call, "Hello, mom, don’t make stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts today haha."
Ronaldo clutched desperately at Deng Kai’s thigh, pleading.
Can’t quit it!
You really can’t quit Chinese cuisine!
...
February 22nd.
Sporting Lisbon was away challenging Oeiras.
Surprisingly, Ronaldo did not score a goal the entire match, providing only one assist.
But Sporting Lisbon played well, defeating their opponents 4-1.
Deng Kai scored and assisted.
March 9th.
Sporting Lisbon was away challenging Benfica.
This time Benfica did not schedule the match at Luz Stadium, opting for a low-key approach instead.
Even Benfica’s fans didn’t turn out in large numbers.
But Sporting Lisbon fans still packed the small training stadium, which seated less than a thousand people.
In the end, thanks to an assist by Deng Kai to the central defender Manuel’s header, Sporting Lisbon clinched a 1-0 victory over Benfica U15, their third consecutive win of the season.
Ronaldo, however, was already experiencing a goal drought lasting 180 minutes!
During this period, there was another little episode, on the Champions League matchday of March 3rd.
Manchester United beat the more-favored Internazionale 2-0.
Who could have imagined that Internazionale, boasting extraterrestrial Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, Zanetti, Djorkaeff, Pirlo, Fresi, Liupaka, and other stars, would lose to the "Champions League final-level team" Manchester United, as described by "Caesar"?
Ronaldo and Deng Kai’s conversation at the Golden Ball awards was inevitably teased repeatedly by fans.
Ronaldo had no choice but to declare that he would score three goals in the next leg to help Internazionale turn the situation around!
Most of Internazionale’s fans believed it, because Ronaldo could do anything.
Reporters found Deng Kai and asked for his opinion on the matter.
Deng Kai replied, "The Hercules Cup belongs to Ronaldo, but the St. Boletus Cup does not."
[ps: When you climbed the mountain, you had many supporters.
When you descended, you were alone.
For dignity, you, a god among men, left Real Madrid in anger, severing ties with Florentino.
For form, even if Teng challenged and humiliated you repeatedly, you swallowed your pride and remained silent.
The World Cup was no myth, but a joke.
Wishing you, the great Ronaldo, to be celebrated from all quarters!]
