Chapter 35 Is that exaggerated?
"I have to go back to Alcochete today."
Lionel Pontes was having breakfast at his home in downtown Lisbon, talking to his wife who was sitting across from him.
"Aren't you on vacation?" the wife asked curiously.
The league is suspended and Christmas is in two days. Why go to the training base at this time?
"I just received a notice that that interesting guy is going to be there today, and I want to go and see him." Pontes said with a smile.
"Is that the Chinese man you've been talking about recently?"
"Um."
"He really joined Sporting Lisbon?" the wife was a little surprised.
Pontes nodded with a smile that was full of relief and excitement.
He started observing Su Dong in August, and it has been more than four months now. Although he has never met Su Dong, he has been keeping track of Su Dong's situation. He watched him grow from an amateur player who couldn't even play in the youth team of a semi-professional team to a promising star who is now highly regarded by Sporting Lisbon.
This is a very magical and wonderful process.
As a youth training coach, nothing makes Pontes more proud and excited than this.
That feeling was even stronger than when I saw Ronaldo, Quaresma and others join the second team and even the first team.
Because Ronnie and others are well-known geniuses, they were gifted when they joined the team, but Su Dong was not.
He is an unlucky guy who made a living by risking his life.
Pontes is a youth training coach. In his opinion, nothing can better prove Su Dong's value than his success.
"I've never seen him before, and I want to go see him today," Pontes said expectantly.
Of course his wife supported him. In the past period of time, Pontes mentioned the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe a lot.
This should be the "work" that my husband is most proud of since he started coaching. It is normal that he wants to go and see Su Dong sign the contract in person.
"Dad, can this guy you're talking about play in the team?"
Although the son opposite is only seven years old, he has heard a lot about Su Dong.
"Of course, I believe he will be successful, not only in Lisbon, not only in Portugal, in a few years, he will shock the whole of Europe," Pontes said with certainty.
"Then please help me get an autograph from him. When he becomes famous, I will show it to my classmates." The child was very much looking forward to it.
"Sure, no problem."
…
After breakfast and putting on his coat, Pontes went out.
We drove from the city center via the Vasco da Gama Bridge and arrived at Alcochete.
Sporting Lisbon's training base is actually very small because the club has limited financial resources.
The entire training base is surrounded by a residential area and is T-shaped. On the north side is a standard football field, which is the training and competition venue for the youth team. On the south side is also a standard football field, which is a dedicated training ground for the first team.
Between the two football fields, there is a long and narrow comprehensive training ground and two small football fields the size of tennis courts.
A row of bungalows is located on the west side of the first team's football field, serving as a terraced stand.
That's all there is to the Alcocheti training ground.
Compared with the training grounds of those big European teams, Sporting Lisbon's training ground is indeed very bad, but it is small but complete with all the necessary hardware and software facilities.
Pontes parked the car at the door and just walked into the training ground office, he saw the U17 youth team's head coach João Couto and coaches Paulo Cardozo and Osvaldo Silva standing at the entrance.
The three were talking to the second team coach Jean Jamès.
Everyone was a little surprised to see Pontes come in.
"Lionel, aren't you on vacation?" Paul Cardozo was a little surprised.
Pontes smiled slightly awkwardly, "Something happened, so I came to take a look."
Everyone raised their eyebrows at each other, with some tacit understanding.
The matter between Pontes and Su Dong had already spread within the team.
Of course, no one would blame Pontes for this, after all, he did not do anything to harm Sporting Lisbon.
On the contrary, this time, Mendes said that the reason why Sudong joined Sporting Lisbon was that Pontes' guidance was one of the reasons that Sudong focused on, so to some extent, Sporting Lisbon should reuse Pontes in the future.
The coach from Madeira is still very capable.
"Why are you here too?" Pontes walked into the crowd and asked Jean Jamès.
The latter shrugged, "He will be my player next, I will definitely keep a close eye on him."
This reason is very strong, but everyone knows that it is far-fetched.
As he was speaking, the sound of a car parking was heard outside the door again.
Everyone thought that Su Dong had arrived, but when they turned around, they found that it was Nuno Nare who pushed the door in at the same time.
"Hey, Nuno, why are you here too?" Oswaldo Silva was surprised.
Isn't it just a new player joining?
How did you get all the core members of the youth team system together?
Is it that exaggerated?
You know, when the team spent 300,000 euros to introduce midfield genius Ugo Pina from Belem, these people were not so enthusiastic. Why are they all here now?
When Nare saw everyone, he scratched his head awkwardly. "Aurelio told me that we will tailor a training plan for him. He came to the team to sign today and will definitely have a physical examination. So I think it is necessary to go to the scene to understand the situation so as to prepare for the next work."
This reason is strong enough.
After hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
In fact, everyone knows it tacitly.
Except for Paulo Cardozo and Oswaldo Silva, the two coaches in charge of the physical examinations, the other three came specifically for Su Dong.
"Two youth training experts, the head coach of the second team, plus the two of us, this lineup is even bigger than when Jardel and Nikulai joined half a year ago." Paulo Cardozo said with a smile.
Physical examinations for adult players are all carried out in hospitals. Sporting Lisbon usually just arranges for the team doctor to go with them, and then the testing at the training base is relatively simple.
Judging from the lineup alone, Su Dong's treatment can be said to be extremely luxurious.
…
The coaching team has a luxurious lineup, and Su Dong’s accompanying team is equally strong.
There is no need to mention agent Mendes and partner Manuel. Ronnie and Jose Semedo both gave up their plans to go home for Christmas and stayed in Lisbon to accompany Su Dong to the team.
Everyone knows that Ronnie and Su Dong are very close friends, but it is indeed surprising that they are so close.
The management also attached great importance to it. Technical director Aurelio Pereira, football director Carlos Freitas, and senior management Mario Lino, the three giants were all waiting at the Alcochete Stadium on time.
For Sudong, what Sporting Lisbon is most interested in is not only his current strength, but also his amazing potential.
In just a few months, he transformed from an amateur player to a rising star. The level of progress is astonishing.
In fact, if it weren't for the players and coaches of Sporting Lisbon being involved from start to finish, no one would have believed it.
But it did happen.
Because of this, the entire team is looking forward to seeing how great Su Dong’s future potential is.
As per convention, before signing the contract, Su Dong has to undergo a series of physical examinations at the training base.
Su Dong's physical indicators are all very good . The only big problem is that he is 1.9 meters tall but weighs only 70 kilograms, which is definitely not up to standard.
And this was even after he had persisted for several months, working hard on the body-strengthening training that Pontes had created for him .
"According to scientific research, there are indeed certain differences in the development of Easterners and Westerners. For example, Easterners generally grow two years later than Westerners. In other words, their height can still grow." Pontes analyzed seriously.
"You're already 1.9 meters tall, and you still need to grow taller?" Jean James was a little surprised.
Is this aimed at two meters?
It looks like he shouldn't be playing football, but basketball instead.
"Yes, I think it can grow further, so we must take this into full consideration when preparing a special strengthening training program for him. My personal suggestion is two classes a week for muscle building, endurance, flexibility and coordination courses to go hand in hand."
Pontes was quite satisfied with Su Dong's physical condition. Except for being a little thin, there was nothing wrong with him otherwise.
But for a center player who is 1.9 meters tall, being thin is a big problem.
Being thin means having no muscles, lacking strength to fight, and being unable to suppress the opponent's defenders. This is a very serious problem.
In the past when I was in Sporting CP, I faced players from lower-level leagues, so the physical confrontation was not particularly obvious. But when I came to a team like Sporting Lisbon, which aims to play in the Portuguese Super League in the future, I faced the best in all aspects, and the pressure was incomparable.
"In addition, I suggest that his physical training , not like Ronnie did in the past." Nuno Nare suddenly reminded.
After hearing this, everyone turned their heads at the same time and looked at Ronnie who was accompanying Su Dong for the physical examination.
The team had previously developed detailed muscle-building training for Ronnie, but this guy was greedy and lied to Couto in the youth team, saying that he did not train in the second team. In the second team, he lied to James, saying that he did not train in the youth team.
As a result, the original two classes a week became four classes a week.
It was not until much later that the coaching staff discovered his "conspiracy" and stopped his training on the spot.
Fortunately, the whole process did not cause any damage, otherwise it would be too late to regret.
"Ronnie has African ancestry and well-developed muscles. Su Dong can't do that." Pontes was also very cautious about this.
Jean James heard the advice from the youth training experts, but frowned at Su Dong's situation.
"You're 1.9 meters tall already, and you still need to keep growing taller and gaining muscle, but you don't want to become another Gisvi." After saying this, the head coach of the second team let out a long sigh.
Gisvi is also a player trained by Sporting Lisbon's youth training. He has performed very well all the way. As a result, when he reached the stage of growing up, his height suddenly increased by leaps and bounds, and it was very terrifying.
As he grew taller, his agility decreased, and his speed also dropped, eventually turning into the aerial dominance type of player he is today.
Will the same happen in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union?
Pontes smiled, patted Jean Jamès on the shoulder, and said confidently: "You will know in a moment."
