Chapter 72 Can’t Lose!
“What an impressive player!”
In the presidential stand at the Alvalade Stadium, Luis Suarez was full of praise for Sudon.
If he could make the decision, he would sign Su Dong without hesitation.
As for whether he will be loaned back to Sporting Lisbon to continue his training after signing, or go to Inter Milan's youth training camp, this will be discussed later, but such young talents must be grabbed as soon as possible no matter what.
He even had a premonition that within two years, Su Dong's net worth would skyrocket.
But unfortunately, he has no say in the matter.
Moratti prefers to introduce mature players who are ready to fight. Even Brazilian geniuses like Adriano were loaned to Parma, not to mention the 17-year-old Sudong.
Inter Milan is a wealthy club and has no interest in developing young players; they only want famous stars.
This made Suarez very depressed, and he always felt like he had missed something important.
Sporting Lisbon's technical director Aurelio Pereira was sitting next to Suarez. After listening to the legendary star's words, he smiled and nodded repeatedly. "He seems to have endless potential that has not yet been fully tapped."
Aurelio has witnessed Su Dong's rise with his own eyes, but just a few months ago, he could never have imagined that the young player he signed would make such a significant contribution to the team in the final stage of this season.
In two games, he scored two goals and made one assist, helping the team get valuable six points.
If we can really win the championship this season, Su Dong will definitely be one of the most important contributors.
But what really surprised Aurelio was that Su Dong's momentum of progress was still very strong, and there was no sign of slowing down.
"Yes." Suarez agreed with Aurelio's judgment. "Compared to the game a week ago, he has improved a lot, especially his confidence on the court. He didn't dare to use the same stop-and-go technique in the last game."
At the end, Suarez couldn't help laughing.
He is old, and what interests him most is watching the young players he admires grow up slowly.
In his opinion, the biggest change in Su Dong compared to a week ago is his confidence.
Obviously, that pass and shot made Su Dong more confident.
Confidence is the key factor for players to exert their strength on the court.
A player who lacks confidence will be devoured by his opponents without leaving a bone on the court.
Although Ronaldo and Quaresma are too sticky to the ball, on the other hand, this actually reflects their strong self-confidence.
If they don't dare to take the ball, dribble and dribble past opponents on the court, what's the use of having good skills and talents?
Young players must dare to express themselves.
One of the important reasons why many young talented players fail to succeed is that their self-confidence has been knocked down, and then they fall into a vicious cycle where the less confident they are, the worse they perform, and the worse they perform, the less confident they become.
In this respect, Su Dong is still far behind Ronaldo and Quaresma.
"This is also normal." As a technical director, Aurelio is very knowledgeable about the psychology of young players.
"He is from China and was tricked into coming to Portugal. After joining Sporting CP, he was never taken seriously and didn't even participate in a few training sessions with the team. Most of the time he trained on his own in Eduardo VII Park."
"A 16-year-old boy, far away in a foreign country, unfamiliar with the place, cheated, practicing alone in the park, how lonely and helpless that is. But this also highlights Su Dong's tenacity. He is not someone who is easily defeated."
"Since he arrived in Portugal, he has been in a state of insecurity, lack of confidence in his abilities, which has seriously affected his personality development."
"We often encounter various situations in our youth training camp. For example, some children cannot adapt to the lonely life away from their families. So no matter how talented they are, we can only send them back with regret. For a situation like Su Dong, we can only take it slow and help him build his confidence step by step."
Luis Suarez nodded repeatedly, Sporting Lisbon is still very strong in youth training.
"In fact, sometimes I think that one of the important reasons why Ronnie and Su Dong get along so well is probably because they are both very lonely, but very brave and tenacious. Ronnie also has a strong inferiority complex in his bones, but he expresses it very flamboyantly."
"All kids are like that," Suarez laughed.
Many times, children always think that what they do will not be easily seen through by adults. Little do they know that their every move is not a secret at all in the eyes of adults, but no one is willing to expose it.
Not exposing it is also a kind of protection for young players.
"Aurelio, to be honest with you, for the time being, I can't promise you anything, but I hope you can inform me in advance when you receive Su Dong's offer, okay?" Suarez asked.
Aurelio raised his eyebrows and smiled without saying anything.
Friendship is friendship, but there is no free lunch in the world.
If Inter Milan is interested, they can sit down and talk. There is no player in Sporting Lisbon that cannot be bought.
But if you want to get something for nothing , even if it's just a piece of information, that would be a bit too much to ask.
After reading it, Suarez sighed in his heart. Of course he understood.
He is really optimistic about Su Dong, but unfortunately, this does not conform to Inter Milan's transfer strategy.
…
…
The game ended with a score of 2-1, with Sporting Lisbon defeating the visiting Beiramar.
Su Dong scored the second and most crucial goal.
This led to him receiving warm applause from all the Sporting Lisbon fans when he walked off the field after the game.
As a rookie, and also his first appearance at home, Su Dong's performance was recognized by the fans.
"If you keep playing like this, I'm afraid I'll have to follow you in the future." Ronnie said with envy and jealousy.
"Don't worry, if you can't make it somewhere else, my door will always be open for you." Su Dong was very generous.
Ronnie punched him in anger and laughed.
As a winger, his performance is actually very good, but not as key as Su Dong's goal.
After all, a goal is always the most eye-catching moment on the football field.
With two consecutive goals, Su Dong's performance was further recognized by the locker room.
Everyone began to believe that Su Dong had become an important part of the team, that he could contribute to the team in the game, and even play a key role in changing the situation.
This recognition earned him respect in the locker room.
Whether it was the players, employees, or the coaching staff, they would greet him politely when they saw him. Even the head coach Boloni would nod and smile every time he saw Su Dong to show his appreciation and affirmation for him.
If nothing unexpected happens, in Boloni's coaching record at Sporting Lisbon, Sudon, Ronaldo, Quaresma and Ugo Viana will be the highlight of his training of young players. The better these young players perform and the higher their achievements in the future, Boloni will benefit from it.
At least, in the future, when everyone mentions these players, they will remember that their mentor is the Romanian head coach Ladislao Boloni. Many teams that are committed to training young players may therefore favor him.
This is often how players and coaches achieve mutual success.
…
"Everyone worked hard in this game tonight."
After everyone arrived, Boloni walked among the players and spoke loudly.
"Thanks to the goals from Jardel and Sudon, and the joint efforts of everyone, we defeated the visiting Beiramar, got three valuable points, and defended our position as the leader of the league. This will have an immeasurable impact on our next game and may even change the situation of winning the championship."
After winning the game, every player was in a good mood, even those substitutes who couldn't play.
"But I also hope that everyone will always remember that this is the critical moment to win the championship and we can't relax no matter what."
"In three days we will play at home against Maritimo in the Portuguese Cup semi-final."
"If nothing unexpected happens, Porto will face Leixoes in the other match. Porto has a high chance of winning, so we must also work harder to beat Maritimo and advance to the Portuguese Cup final."
At the end of his speech, Boloni raised his right hand and clenched his fist tightly, showing his determination and fighting spirit.
The players were also infected to some extent and nodded one after another.
"This weekend, in the 32nd round of the Portuguese Super League, we will face Vazm, but then we will face Boavista and Benfica in succession. The former is our number one opponent in the fight for the championship. In the penultimate round, if we can beat the opponent away from home, what will the significance be? I believe everyone knows it without me saying more."
"The last round is a derby match, against Benfica at home, which is also a tough battle."
When Boloni said this, he adjusted his stance and glanced at every player in the locker room.
"What I want to tell you is that if we win all the last five games of this season, we will win the double championship."
"In the club's history, we have won the double championship five times, the last time was in the 1981-1982 season, which is 20 years ago."
"I hope that we can work together to realize the dreams that have not been realized in the past 20 years for these fans who have been supporting us. This is not only an honor for the team, but also an honor for me and for you!"
At the end of his speech, Boloni was obviously infected by his own mobilization.
He has the greatest pressure among everyone present because he can't lose!
If he ends up with nothing this season, there is a high probability that he will be fired.
Whether it is to keep his position as head coach or to add glory to his coaching resume, he must try his best.
Whether it is a dragon or a worm depends on how well it can perform in the last few games.
Thinking of this, Boloni couldn't help but turn his gaze to Su Dong.
After saving the team and himself in two consecutive games, Boloni has higher expectations for Sudong.
