On the second day of the game, all major Portuguese media reported on Sporting Lisbon's reversal of Setubal in the sports section, believing that this would be a crucial battle for the Portuguese Super League title this season.
Su Dong, an unknown player who was heard of by only a very small number of Sporting Lisbon fans, suddenly appeared on the important pages of major newspapers. His photos wearing the Sporting Lisbon jersey and sweating on the court also appeared in major newspapers.
Especially the volley shot near the penalty spot, coupled with his nickname "Little God of War", spread throughout Portugal in an instant.
Become famous in one battle!
Everything Quaresma got after playing against Porto, which Su Dong once envied, he has now got.
Even more than Quaresma did back then.
This is a crucial battle at the end of the season. Su Dong's performance after coming on as a substitute was even better than Quaresma and had more tactical value, especially the role he played.
In the post-match press conference, Setubal coach Campos focused on Sudong.
He believes that Su Dong's coming on as a substitute was the turning point of the game.
"He successfully linked up Sporting Lisbon's attack. His physicality, ball protection, ball handling and passing abilities were all impressive, which reminded me of Kluivert."
"Not only that, he is faster and sharper than Kluivert and his shot is more dangerous."
In this game, Su Dong's task was more to act as a fulcrum in the frontcourt, responsible for taking the ball and connecting the balls. He only had one shot, but he scored a crucial and decisive goal, which was quite shocking.
Sporting Lisbon head coach Boloni also gave high praise to Su Dong at the post-match press conference.
"He is a very capable player with great potential. He is only 17 years old, but has already made significant contributions to the team. If I were to choose, the best player of this game should be Su Dong."
But Boloni also said that Sudong is still very young and has a long way to go.
"The most important thing for him now is to maintain his current status and continue to grow and improve steadily. I believe that he will become an excellent professional player in the future."
In addition to the head coaches of the two teams, major Portuguese media newspapers also spoke highly of Su Dong's performance, believing that as a professional player's debut, Su Dong was amazing.
But Su Dong didn't pay attention to all of this.
…
…
It is already April and the temperature in Portugal is starting to rise.
Even in the early morning, the temperature is basically around ten degrees Celsius.
Su Dong got up on time at 4:30 as usual, washed up, called Ronnie and went out.
Both of them appeared in the Portuguese Super League last night.
Su Dong made one pass and one goal, and Ronnie made a key assist. Their performances were very good, which won them praise from the outside world.
In the locker room after the game, head coach Boloni praised Su Dong and Ronnie's performance by name, which was rare. He also encouraged them to keep up the good work and hoped that they could perform better.
After all, he is a young player. He goes to bed late, but after waking up, he is still full of energy.
The two stretched their muscles in the sports field of the Riverside Park downstairs, ran around the Riverside Park, and then returned to the indoor football field to play against each other.
Today's Eastern Sudong is no longer what it used to be.
When facing Ronnie, Su Dong was beaten without any resistance, but now, the two of them are fighting evenly.
Su Dong's physique is still slightly inferior to Ronnie's, and his skills are also a little worse, but he pursues simplicity and practicality more, while Ronnie tends to have more fancy moves. In addition, Su Dong is tall and has long legs, so the two have been evenly matched in the competition.
"I really miss the time when I beat you up so badly that your face was bruised and blue."
I'm tired. Ronnie said with a smile while resting on the sidelines.
That was the scene at King Edward VII Park.
In fact, it wasn’t too long ago, but in Su Dong’s impression, it seemed as if it had happened a long time ago.
"I can't always get beaten." Su Dong said with a smile.
Ronnie glanced at Su Dong secretly, feeling somewhat complicated.
He and Su Dong are very good friends, and he is very grateful to Su Dong, but how could he say that he doesn't feel a little envious or even jealous?
He always prides himself on being arrogant, so how could he not see that Su Dong's development momentum was better than his.
The two have completely different playing styles. Ronnie plays in a very fancy and wild way, which is very entertaining. Fans like his style very much. Even in the Iberian Peninsula, most head coaches and clubs like this style.
But unfortunately, the current head coach of Sporting Lisbon is Bologna from Romania.
This guy is very strict in managing the team and has some preference for Ronnie's style, but not much.
Not only Ronaldo, but even Quaresma is often left on the bench.
On the contrary, someone like Su Dong is diligent, has a clear tactical role, and has comprehensive technical characteristics. He meets Boloni's requirements for a center in all aspects, and he will definitely get many opportunities.
"Have you ever thought about playing in one of the four major leagues?" Ronnie suddenly asked with concern.
Su Dong's eyes lit up, but he shook his head, "I don't want to think too much about something that is too far away and out of control."
He is a pragmatist who just wants to better grasp the present.
"That means you've thought about it." Ronnie picked out the words in Su Dong's words, "Which team do you want to go to? Inter Milan?"
It's no secret that Su Dong's idol is Ronaldo.
At the beginning, Luis Suarez used a Ronaldo's autographed jersey to win Su Dong's heart.
But as for a transfer to Inter Milan...
"That's even more out of reach." Su Dong shook his head. "Besides, I think it's not appropriate to go directly from the Portuguese Super League to those strong teams."
"Why not?" Ronnie was curious.
How nice it would be to go to a big and powerful team!
With a high platform and high attention, if you perform well, you will immediately become famous and well-known.
"It's like Inter Milan. They have super strikers like Vieri and Ronaldo, young players like Adriano, Martins and Kallon, and core players like Recoba in the midfield. Do you think I can play in the game if I go there?"
Ronnie was silent.
What Su Dong said is not completely unreasonable.
There are advantages to being in a wealthy club, but if you can’t play in the games you go there, wouldn’t that be a waste of time?
"You are different from me. You are a wing attacker, so you have more opportunities. The competition for me as a center forward is the most brutal and fierce, so I would rather go to a team where I can play and play to my strengths."
From the moment he decided to develop into a comprehensive center who is the core of the offense, Su Dong knew very well in his mind that he had to take one step at a time and slowly climb up in his career.
Ronnie has attracted the attention of many European teams, and Mendes is also working hard for him, but Su Dong has not considered this for the time being.
The two smiled at each other and said nothing more.
As professional players, they all know that sooner or later, they will have to separate their things and even serve their own masters.
…
…
After finishing the morning extra training, I went home to eat something and then Pontes arrived.
As a coach who has watched Su Dong's journey, Pontes was still very satisfied with Su Dong's performance last night.
Along the way, he praised Su Dong's performance and even told him that his son was so excited that he didn't sleep all night.
"You know what? He said he was the first fan in the world to own a jersey signed by Su Dong." Pontes laughed.
Su Dong remembered the jersey he signed on the day he joined Sporting Lisbon, and shook his head with a wry smile.
After arriving at Alcochete, Jose Semedo went to the second team, while Sudong and Ronnie went directly to the gym.
Nuno Cruz was waiting here on time, and when he met him, he praised him again.
Although I just finished a tense Portuguese Super League game and my muscles are still tired, basic strength training is still essential.
Pull-ups, dumbbell chest extensions, deadlifts and presses...
After a series of machine training, there is thirty minutes of aerobic running training on the treadmill in the gym.
Su Dong and Ronnie were already familiar with this because this was their recovery training the day after the game. The intensity might seem high in the eyes of others, but compared to their usual training, the intensity had been reduced by half.
Nuno Cruz told them that training the morning after the game is important, especially because proper training helps muscles recover from fatigue and also allows them to better maintain their condition.
This is true not only for Nuno Cruz, but also for the first team.
Boloni even made it mandatory that all players who participated in the game the day before must participate in recovery training the next morning unless they are injured and are not allowed to take leave for any reason.
The intensity of the recovery training was not high. In addition, the team won against Setubal the day before, which was a crucial battle for the Portuguese Super League championship. Every player on the first-team was in a good mood. Only Narizis and others who missed the game were depressed.
Anyone can see that with the rise of Su Dong, Narizis' position is bound to be shaken, making it basically certain that this already precarious Greek center will leave the team during the summer transfer period.
With his outstanding performance in his debut, Su Dong was further accepted by his teammates in the first team. Everyone also knows that Su Dong is now a young rookie that Sporting Lisbon has high hopes for, and he is in no way inferior to Quaresma, Viana and Ronaldo.
…
Shortly after the morning recovery training ended, Su Dong received a strange call in Alcochete.
The other party claimed to be Ma Dawei, a reporter stationed in Spain for an authoritative domestic newspaper, and wanted to conduct a simple telephone interview with Su Dong.
Although Su Dong had no interest in being interviewed, he still answered a few questions from Ma Dawei.
But when Ma Dawei mentioned the Football Association's ban, Su Dong's tone changed.
"About the suspension, I don't know, maybe you should ask those who decided to suspend me why they made such a ridiculous decision."
"I love my country and I am willing to fight for it, there is no doubt about that, but some people don't want to see me do that."
"I just want a public apology!"