Chapter 14 Semedo's Sorrow
Edward VII Park is very quiet in the morning.
In the indoor football field near Namdaemun, Su Dong was treating the barrier pole in front of him as a defensive dummy, practicing his shooting movements over and over again.
Either he takes a step and then shoots, or he takes the ball with his back and then turns around to shoot.
The difference is that each shot will simulate a different situation and choose different footwork and angles.
This kind of training is very boring, but Su Dong doesn't seem to feel that way. He repeats it over and over again on the field, sweating profusely .
Not far away, in the shade on the sidelines, Ronnie and Jose Semedo were both sitting on the ground, watching silently.
"Have you noticed that there is something wrong with him these days?" Semedo asked suddenly.
"What's wrong?"
"It's hard to say, but I feel like he seems to be working harder than before."
"Maybe it's because of stimulation." Ronnie guessed.
"You mean, the opening game?"
Ronnie didn't answer, and Su Dong didn't say anything, but he guessed that was the case.
In fact, after the opening game, Ronnie himself trained harder than before.
He was already behind Quaresma and didn't want to fall further behind.
Even if you try hard, you may not be able to catch up, but if you don’t try hard, you will never catch up.
"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Ronnie looked deeply at Semedo, his long-time roommate who was a little lazy. "To be honest, Jose, you should think about it carefully. If you continue like this, you will probably be loaned out sooner or later, let alone the first team."
Jose Semedo did not perform well in the Sporting Lisbon youth training camp, otherwise he would not have been dismissed in the first place.
After his return, he still seemed not to have learned his lesson.
After Semedo heard this, there was a hint of evasion in his eyes, but his expression was pretending to be indifferent. He smiled and said, "It's not bad to loan him out. Maybe if he can't play in the team, he can become a starter when he goes out."
After saying this, he laughed dryly twice.
As if Ronnie didn't hear what he said clearly, he sighed and stood up from the ground, "No more talking, I still have to practice. Sooner or later, I will kill Quaresma!"
After saying that, he quickly rushed into the court.
"Su, let me practice with you!"
…
Jose Semedo was lazily half lying on the sidelines, watching Su Dong and Ronnie competing one-on-one on the court. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a kind of envy and deep sadness.
He was born into a poor family of Cape Verdean immigrants in Setubal and played football on the streets since he was a child.
Although he is not tall, only 1.83 meters, he has the muscles and speed of an African player. He has been faster and stronger than his peers since he was a child. Naturally, he gradually stood out and was then noticed by some teams. He came to a giant club like Sporting Lisbon for training early on.
That year, he was twelve years old.
According to Sporting Lisbon's youth training standards, Semedo's skills are not outstanding and do not even meet the team's requirements. The football habits he has developed since he was a child rely on his physical strength and speed.
This is very effective in the youth team, but if he can't gain an advantage in terms of physical strength and speed, then he will be helpless.
Sporting Lisbon was not unaware of this problem. They had tailored a targeted training plan for him early on, but Semedo was not Ronaldo after all. He could not stand that kind of boring and monotonous training.
During the period when he was dismissed by Sporting Lisbon, he reflected deeply and made up his mind to turn over a new leaf.
Because he knew that he was carrying the hopes of his entire family.
His family members are all counting on him to make a name for himself as a professional player, or even a star, so that he can earn more money and completely change the fate of the family.
This determination allowed him to return to Sporting Lisbon, but unfortunately it didn't last long.
The world outside is so beautiful.
There are a group of beautiful women who throw themselves into the arms of Sporting Lisbon as soon as they hear their name; there are a group of reporters who are ready to treat them to food, drinks, dancing and singing anytime, just to get some secrets of the team from them; there are also some fans who eagerly follow them, feeling proud...
Isn’t this delicious?
Why do you have to train so hard?
Even running to the side of the road in the old town and listening to those street singers singing would be much more interesting than training, isn't it?
It’s not that Semedo doesn’t understand.
Children from poor families mature precociously. He understands it better than anyone else.
Every time he saw Su Dong and Ronnie, he wanted to make up his mind and work hard with them, but he couldn't hold on every time.
That's really too bitter!
He couldn't understand why Su Dong and Ronnie could persist?
It was as if Su Dong and Ronnie couldn't understand him, why couldn't he persist?
Perhaps, as Su Dong said, the weak can never understand the desire of the strong, and the strong can never understand the sorrow of the weak.
Thinking of this, Semedo stood up silently, without saying a word to his friends who were fighting fiercely , and left King Edward VII Park quietly with his head down.
The two players competing on the court were so focused that they didn't even notice.
…
…
The Portuguese Second Division is the third-level league in Portugal and is divided into three groups according to region: North, Center and South.
Sporting CP is in the South Division of the Portuguese Second Division, which has a total of sixteen teams.
This is also a way of competition adopted by the Portuguese Football Association considering the financial pressure of lower-level leagues, but the pressure in the Southern Group is relatively large because there are several teams from the Madeira Islands west of the African continent.
Sporting CP will host Loretano in the second round, having won all three points in the first round.
The team comes from the city of Rola on the south coast of Portugal and has a very long history. Backed by the two major cities of Rola and Faro, Rolaitano has strong financial resources. This is one of the few professional teams in the Portuguese Second League and aims to enter the Portuguese First League every season.
Of course, the team still remains in the Portuguese Second Division, which shows that the goal has not been achieved.
But as an all-professional team, its strength is not bad.
…
After all, it is the first home game of the new season, and the fans of the Atletico Madrid are quite supportive.
The home stadium has 8,000 seats, including standing tickets, with a total capacity of 15,000 people, and welcomed more than 3,000 fans in total.
They all sat on the stands on both sides, which was quite a large scale.
Don't be disgusted. According to the team's statistics, this attendance rate is already very high.
In an athletic event where the average ticket price is around one euro, the average number of fans per game is around one thousand.
In other words, the three major revenue channels for European clubs, namely match days, broadcasting fees and commercial operations, have all been completely missed by Atletico, and a team cannot be supported by the income of more than 1,000 euros per game alone.
Therefore, athletic clubs need to start more side businesses, including training courses, or contract some training business to the government, and the government will provide appropriate financial support and various subsidies, such as stadium maintenance costs, etc.
This is also the reason why Gorba suddenly attached so much importance to Su Dong after the assessment.
If Su Dong plays well, he can be sold to a big team and earn a five-digit or even six-digit transfer fee in a few minutes.
It is basically impossible for a team like Atletico to resist such temptation.
So, Su Dong was naturally included in the competition list.
He has been performing better and better in training and Matelo spoke highly of him, but he still sat on the bench in this game.
"Pay attention to studying your opponent, I hope you can perform well when you come on the court." Antonio Pereira encouraged.
Su Dong nodded silently.
…
Loletano took the lead.
Although before the game, the players of Atlético mocked this team in the locker room for their repeated attempts to get promoted to the Premier League every year, from another perspective, this team is indeed quite strong, which is why they have enough strength and confidence to get promoted to the Premier League.
As expected, as soon as the game started, Loletano took the initiative.
Although the athletic meeting was played at home, they took a defensive stance on the field.
But even so, Loretano still frequently attacked into the 30-meter area and even near the penalty area.
The role of the old captain Mateello came into play at this time. In addition to standing in front of the Athletic Club's goal like a stabilizing force, he also actively directed his teammates to defend and instructed the movement of the team's defense line.
Looking at Matelio who was like a commander on the court, and then looking at Antonio Perreira who was like an old monk in meditation on the sidelines, Su Dong finally understood why everyone believed that Matelio would replace Perreira.
After all, it is a third-level team. Once the defense line is stabilized, it is difficult for Loletano to create a threat.
Su Dong also began to care about the opponent's defense.
The two central defenders of the opposing team were a little taller than Su Dong. One of them was over 1.9 meters tall and was obviously stronger than Su Dong. Looking at how they ran and kicked the ball, Su Dong estimated that if he continued to compete with them, he would definitely not be able to do so.
They were slow and lacked flexibility, so they should have run more. However, the forward of the athletic meet was like a stubborn donkey, who kept wanting to compete directly with the opponent. Needless to say, he suffered a lot in the end.
Perhaps, it’s not that he is stubborn, but that he only knows this one trick.
At this moment, Su Dong suddenly realized that comprehensiveness is so important.
…
"Hey, Sue, why do they let you sit here?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.
Su Dong stood up from the bench, turned around, and found Ronnie and Jose Semedo sitting in the stands behind him, smiling at him slyly.
"Why are you here?" Su Dong was very surprised and walked over.
"Just find a random excuse and ask for leave." Ronnie said nonchalantly, "But you, why didn't you play? That guy played much worse than you. He couldn't even hold the ball steadily."
At the end, Ronnie had a look of disgust on his face.
Although he disliked Su Dong every day, that was just dislike between friends. But in his heart, Su Dong had made great progress and was much better than those attackers in the athletic meet. It was a waste of talent for the head coach not to let Su Dong play.
"The coach asked me to observe first, and I will probably play in the second half." Su Dong replied.
"What is there to observe? Those two are stronger than you, but they are clumsy, slow, and inflexible. Just kick them like you kicked Jose."
Jose Semedo, who was standing by, looked unhappy when he heard this.
No, brother, what do you mean?
How can these two compare with me?
Also, don't make it seem like I'm easy to deal with, okay?
Although I am indeed no match for you, you don't have to insult me like this.
"Su, tell your coach quickly and kill them both."
Semedo didn't dare to get angry at Ronaldo, so he could only vent his anger on Loretano's two unlucky central defenders.
