Chapter 11 Figo II
Before the training, Matelo took Su Dong to the team doctor's office for a simple physical examination.
This was just a routine matter, but when checking his height, Su Dong was a little surprised.
When he first joined the team, his height was measured at 1.83 meters, but this time he was measured a little taller, reaching 1.86 meters, which surprised Su Dong.
"You are only sixteen years old. It is the time when you are growing. If you eat more, I believe you can grow over 1.9 meters." The team doctor encouraged with a smile.
The physical condition is still very important for professional players. Strength and muscles can be trained, but height cannot be improved.
Even in the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal and Spain, where technology is valued, physical fitness is an important selection criterion in youth training. Every year, many young players are dismissed because they do not meet the height requirements.
Sporting Clube de Portugal had a 22-year-old player who was kicked out by Benfica because of his physical condition.
Su Dong was a little worried. He was worried that if he continued to grow taller, it would affect his speed and flexibility.
Of course, this is not absolute.
…
The training of the first team is different from that of the youth team. It is more intense and the content is more compact.
Although it is only a semi-professional team, the training is still the standard 90 minutes.
This is the same as a football game. The purpose is to allow players to form a habit and stay focused as much as possible within 90 minutes.
Some coaches also prefer 120 minutes, it depends on the head coach's preference.
The head coach of Sporting CP is a middle-aged man in his fifties named Antonio Pereira. It is said that he had no previous professional football experience. Sporting CP is also the first team he coached.
There is a rumor within the team that in two years, Matelos will replace Pereira as the team's head coach.
This kind of thing is also normal.
Su Dong is currently at the middle to lower level of a semi-professional player, so he has no problem keeping up with the training of the first team. In fact, in his opinion, some substitute players in the team are not as good as him.
But in the subsequent team training, Su Dong exposed many problems.
The first is his physical confrontation.
The lower the level of the league, the more intense the physical confrontation and the rougher the movements.
Su Dong's body was relatively weak, and it was normal for him to suffer losses when dealing with adults at the age of sixteen.
Another point is that he is a newcomer. His other teammates have all gone through a relatively complete pre-season preparation, and some have even played in the team for several years. They have a better understanding of each other, so Su Dong seems a little out of place on the court.
These two factors led to Su Dong's lackluster performance in the first training session, and even he himself was a little disappointed.
Instead, it was the captain, Mateello, who came over to comfort him immediately after the training.
"It's okay. It's always like this at the beginning. Every newcomer needs some time to adapt to the new environment. Take your time. We all have confidence in you." The captain patted Su Dong on the shoulder and encouraged him.
Su Dong nodded silently. He understood the truth, but he felt uncomfortable.
"The coaching staff has arranged special training for you. Starting today, you have to stay and practice for an extra hour. I will be in charge."
Su Dong was eager to know, and asked with concern: "What is the content?"
"You should practice shooting, receiving the ball with your back to the goal, and receiving crosses from the wing. You should practice everything a striker needs to practice." After saying this, Mateluo seemed to be afraid that Su Dong would resist, so he explained, "Believe me, these exercises will definitely help you."
Su Dong smiled slightly, having someone accompany him to practice more was equivalent to helping him to improve his football king value, which was a good thing.
…
After a 90-minute training session, Su Dong accumulated more than 500 points of King of Football value, which was really insignificant, and his efficiency was far less than that in the duel with Ronnie.
In the subsequent extra training, each match only increased Su Dong's football king value by 30 points, which was also insignificant.
However, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat.
Small amounts add up to a lot, and sand piles build a tower. Su Dongpo is not picky.
At first, Matello was worried that Su Dong would be as playful as other young players and resist extra training. Even if Su Dong agreed, he was afraid that he was just perfunctory. But when the extra training started, he found that Su Dong was really trying his best to practice.
After discovering this, Matelio began to teach more seriously.
Shooting directly after receiving a cross from the wing may seem simple when watching live TV, but it is actually very difficult.
Su Dong has not reached this level yet, he needs to stop the ball before playing.
But even so, it is still a big test for him to stop the ball, especially when facing the very experienced captain Mateello.
This youth player, who has no name in Portuguese football and has only made nine appearances, was probably forgotten by even the fans of Belerence. However, when defending Su Dong at close range, he always blocked him from having any chances.
"Your actions are too obvious and too easy to guess."
"That won't work. Before you even kick the ball, the other team's goalkeeper already knows where to shoot."
"Also, there are no defenders now. If there are defenders cooperating with the goalkeeper, you won't have any chance to shoot at all."
"Professional teams and youth teams are two completely different worlds. Even though we are only in the third-tier league, the strength of our opponents should not be underestimated. Some of their players are at the level of the Portuguese First Division or even the Portuguese Premier League."
Although he is a goalkeeper, Matelo is a product of the professional team's youth training and is very experienced. He is also taking coaching courses, so he will provide special guidance on Su Dong's shooting skills.
It is also a science to know when and what kind of shooting technique to use when facing what kind of pass.
Especially on the court, opportunities are fleeting and there is no time for forwards to think. They must react instinctively.
In addition, as a goalkeeper, Matello also told Su Dong about some of the goalkeepers' goalkeeping psychology and habits, and also told him the characteristics of some forwards he had encountered.
All of these were very new and beneficial to Su Dong, who was a rookie who had just started playing for the adult team.
…
…
In the center of Lisbon, there is a very famous seafood restaurant with a world-famous name called Romario.
But make no mistake, this has nothing to do with Brazilian superstar Romario.
This restaurant is famous and not only is it popular among Lisbon locals, but tourists as well.
Su Dong invited Ronnie and Jose Semedo to dinner and chose this restaurant.
King crab and tiger shrimp are the signature dishes of this restaurant. We ordered one portion for each person and some special snacks. They were all seasonal seafood caught today, so they were especially fresh and delicious.
Of course, the price is not cheap.
The bill for three people was 71 euros for the all-you-can-eat meal.
"If you hadn't treated me, I would never have come to a place like this to eat," said Jose Semedo in amazement.
He also came from a poor family, and his whole family hoped that he could become a professional player, preferably a player in the Portuguese Super League, which would help their family escape poverty.
Su Dong didn't care too much about the money. It's not that he was extravagant, but he cared more about his friendship with Ronaldo and Semedo. After all, his most important priority now was to improve his own strength.
These two are his cheats for increasing his football king value.
"After eating your meal, I should give you something in return." Ronnie smiled and took out three tickets from his pocket, waved them in front of Su Dong, and said with a smile: "I got these with great difficulty. They are tickets for the opening match of the Portuguese Super League this weekend. Do you want to see them?"
"Go, of course." Su Dong didn't even have to think about it.
That was the opening match of the Portuguese Super League, a focus match between Sporting Lisbon and Porto at home.
During the afternoon training session, teammates from Sporting CP were still complaining about the difficulty in getting tickets and that scalpers were raising the prices.
Of course Jose Semedo wants to go too, what a rare opportunity this is.
"I heard that Quaresma is performing well in the first team and Mponza is going to be sent away. Will he play?" Semedo asked.
When Ronnie heard the name Quaresma, his expression turned visibly unhappy, and he curled his lips, "Who knows?"
Semedo laughed at Su Dong and explained, "He and Quaresma are sworn enemies. The two of them, and another one called Edgar Marcelino, both claim to be the strongest player in the Sporting Lisbon youth team."
Su Dong had heard about Quaresma in the newspaper. He was described by the media as the best talent under the age of 20 in Portugal. Many people said that he was Figo II.
Unexpectedly, Ronnie is competing with Quaresma, that's really impressive.
"I tell you, he is just two years older than me. When I grow older, I will definitely step on him." Ronnie said unconvinced.
He was obviously unhappy that Quaresma entered the first team before him.
Jose Semedo smiled and reminded him, "In fact, he is only one year, three months and a few days older than you."
"Get out!" Ronnie chased after him and was about to hit him.
Of course Semedo would not sit there and wait for death. He ran away like the wind and shouted at them from a distance, saying that he had an appointment with a beautiful girl to go to Parque des Nations and had to leave first.
After watching Semedo go away, Ronnie smiled and shook his head, saying to Su Dong: "Actually, he is a very good friend, with good talent, but he is too lazy."
Su Dong didn't know Semedo very well, but after meeting him a few times, he found that he was indeed a bit lazy.
"He is actually very talented. He joined Sporting Lisbon at the same time as me and we were teammates. But not long after, he was dismissed due to poor training performance. He came back more than a year later, but the same thing happened again."
At this point, Ronnie snorted and chuckled again, "He must have made an appointment with Ugo Pina. That kid is from the Belém district of Lisbon. He set a transfer fee record for players under the age of 16 at Sporting Lisbon, as high as 300,000 euros. He was once the most dazzling player in our team, but now..."
Needless to say, not only Quaresma and Marcelino who entered the first team, but even Ronaldo was far ahead of him.
"During my years at Sporting Lisbon, I learned one thing: the best and most elite talent does not necessarily make you the best player. Football is fair. As long as you work hard and fight hard, it will definitely reward you."
Ronnie suddenly gave him such a profound truth, Su Dong was stunned and felt a little unfamiliar.
But soon, the familiar Ronnie came back.
"That's why I'm so sure I can beat Quaresma."
At this moment, the eyes of the boy from Madeira Island were extremely determined.
