Chapter 74 You’re dead tonight!
"Maritimo has never been a pushover."
In front of the home team's coaching bench, Boloni shook his head in disappointment, feeling disappointed with the situation on the field.
"Although this old fox Nello Vingada has been coaching the Portuguese national youth team, he is still very capable, especially in the 1997-1998 season when the famous English coach Souness coached Benfica and he was hired as an assistant coach. That year had a great influence on his coaching style."
As an assistant, Pontes is very familiar with the situation in Portuguese football, and naturally he is no stranger to head coaches like Nello Vingada.
“Although Souness’s coaching record is not successful, he was the captain of the peak Liverpool team in the 1980s. He later achieved success in the Scottish Premier League and the Premier League. In particular, his strong style of the Liverpool dynasty in the 1980s had a great influence on Nello Vingada, which can be seen from the Maritimo team he coached.”
Tough and aggressive style, this is the style of Souness's team leadership, and it is also the style of the current Maritimo team.
This is probably why Vingada admires Pepe.
At this point, Pontes turned his head and glanced at Boloni, thought for a moment, and said, "Actually, this kind of competition is not suitable for Su Dong. After all, he is still young, only seventeen years old."
Boloni turned his head, took a deep look at his assistant, smiled helplessly and said, "Don't worry, Lionel, even if we really lose the game, I won't let a 17-year-old substitute take any responsibility."
In the last three games, the reason why Su Dong was arranged as a substitute in succession was that Sporting Lisbon's bench was not strong enough.
Nikulai is still recovering from injury, Narizis has been slow to integrate into the team and his performance is not ideal. On the contrary, Su Dong has turned the situation around in two consecutive rounds as a substitute. Let me ask, in this case, can Boloni exclude Su Dong from the roster?
Pontes was absolutely right. Opponents like Maritimo were too fierce and too stubborn, especially a central defender like Pepe, who was like a mad dog. This was not a good opportunity for Su Dong to perform well.
But now that things have come to this, Boloni has no choice.
If they really lose, he will bear all the responsibility. This is his dignity as a head coach.
But he still had some hope that Su Dong could create more surprises and accidents.
Thinking of this, Boloni gritted his teeth in his heart.
In the 60th minute, Sporting Lisbon made two substitutions.
Ronnie and Ugo Viana came on as substitutes.
Joao Pinto returned to midfield, Sudong played as the lone striker, Rooney and Quaresma were on the wings, and Ugo Viana fell back to organize and pass the ball.
This is definitely a gamble!
Maritimo head coach Nello Vingada was .
This is definitely the rhythm of a gambler losing everything!
"Is Bolonni a little irrational?"
"In such an important game, two young players were brought on at once. At present, although there are veterans like Barbosa and Joao Pinto in the midfield and frontcourt of Sporting Lisbon, Sudon, Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ugo Viana are all under 20 years old."
"These two substitutions are still very questionable."
"If Sporting Lisbon eventually loses this semi-final, Bologna's substitution will definitely become the focus of everyone's criticism."
"Is he so sure that this group of young players under the age of 20 can help him reverse Maritimo?"
No one will believe it!
Not only did the commentator of Bora TV not believe it, Maritimo's head coach Nello Vingada did not believe it, and even Boloni himself did not quite believe it.
He is more like a gambler who is forced into a desperate situation and has no choice but to fight to the death.
…
…
Beep!!!
Referee Lucio Batista blew the whistle for a foul.
Pepe raised his hands innocently and slowly backed away.
Su Dong fell to the grass, clenched his fists, and punched the grass hard, but quickly stood up again.
"How is it? Are you okay?" Batista ran over and asked.
Su Dong shook his head to indicate that he was fine.
Just now, he turned his back and tried to receive the ball, but Pepe caught up with him from behind and hit him hard, knocking him to the ground, making him fall in a very embarrassing manner.
The Brazilian central defender's physical fitness is indeed excellent, the best among all the players Su Dong has ever seen.
If Andre Cruz blocked Su Dong with his defensive skills, awareness and experience, then Pepe's capital to freeze Su Dong in the second half was his body.
Whether it's on the ground or in the air, whether it's in front of him or behind him, he can handle it.
He could even miss the best opportunity and jump from behind, knocking Su Dong down in mid-air.
Speed, explosiveness, flexibility, jumping...
This guy has almost the perfect football player's body.
This also meant that after Su Dong came on as a substitute in the second half, he had almost no performance except for a few times of passing the ball.
…
"How is it? Are you enjoying it?"
Seeing Su Dong coming over, Pepe asked with a sneer.
He knew very well that if he wanted to convince head coach Venjada, he had to step on Jadel, Su Dong in front of him, or even anyone else to get to the top.
Su Dong stared at Pepe, smiled coldly, and asked, "Is this all you can do?"
"not enough?"
"Hehe, maybe you don't know, but I have been enduring the past few months like this. Do you think you can scare me with just these tricks of yours?" Su Dong sneered.
Pepe's smile froze, and he snorted twice, "Just keep talking tough, that's all you have left!"
"Then let's try again!" Su Dong pointed at Pepe and said provocatively, "In terms of physique, I am not as good as you for the time being. In terms of technology, I am not at an advantage either, but when it comes to a protracted battle, you can't do it!"
Pepe was immediately annoyed when being provoked in person like this.
When Su Dong tried to receive the ball from behind again, he rushed up from the side and rear and knocked Su Dong away with his shoulder.
But this time, the referee Batista blew the whistle directly.
foul!
Batista even called Pepe over and reminded him, "Be careful with your movements, I've been watching you for a long time!"
Pepe shook his hands dismissively and stepped back.
Su Dong came over again and laughed, "I told them to pass the ball to me as much as possible. You are dead tonight!"
There was a stern look in Pepe's eyes.
Soon, Sporting Lisbon attacked again and the ball was passed to Su Dong's feet again.
Su Dong had been running into the open space, and this time he finally got rid of Pepe, this dog-skin plaster, and turned around directly after stopping the ball.
Just when Su Dong was about to start accelerating, Pepe suddenly came out from the side and made a direct tackle, knocking him to the ground with the ball. Then he pointed at Su Dong provocatively, with a ferocious expression as if saying: This is the result of threatening me!
But referee Batista blew the whistle again and reached into his chest pocket.
Yellow card!
Pepe glared at Batista in frustration. He felt that his previous action was not a foul at all. How could it be a foul if he tackled the ball first?
If he hadn't been pulled away by his opponents, he would probably have been very interested in rushing forward to argue with the referee.
"He's getting anxious!"
Su Dong grabbed Ronnie's hand, climbed up from the grass, and said with a smile.
Ronnie could see it, of course, but...
"It's eighty-one minutes, there's not much time left." Ronnie was a little anxious.
Su Dong nodded. He knew that time was running out, but he had to deal with Pepe.
…
Nello Vingada watched from the sidelines and shook his head.
Pepe is a good central defender except for something missing from his brain.
He has amazing physical fitness, which can only make up for his immature defensive awareness and lack of game experience.
Although his personality problems made him implement the coach's tactics meticulously and without any compromise, they also made it easy for him to be irritated by his opponents in fierce competition.
For a central defender, this is not a good thing.
"Jorge." Nello Vingada walked to the sidelines and shouted loudly to the defense line.
Center back Jorge Soares looked over immediately.
"Remind Pepe not to get carried away."
Suarez immediately made an OK gesture, indicating that he would pay attention.
The 30-year-old Jorge Soares is from Benfica and transferred to Maritimo in 1998. He has always been the team's main central defender and the core of the defense.
To guide the young Pepe is one of the tasks assigned to him by head coach Vingada.
"There are still ten minutes left. Stay alert. It's up to you to watch over that young Chinese guy. Don't let Pepe touch him again."
Vingada still seems uneasy because he knows his players.
Pepe is already hot-headed now. If he is asked to mark Su Dong again, he may be sent off with a red card at any time.
This is not a good thing.
We maintained the score of 2-1 throughout the entire second half. It's impossible for it to be ruined at the last moment, right?
Just defend for another ten minutes and we’ll win the game!
Reaching the final, or even winning the title, would be the first touch of colour in Nello Vingada’s otherwise lacklustre coaching resume.
…
…
Su Dong noticed that the defensive player next to him had changed.
This made him a little disappointed, but at the same time he also realized the opportunity.
It was disappointing that we failed to strike while the iron was hot and get rid of Pepe, but it was also an opportunity to change someone to defend.
During a midfield pass, Joao Pinto received the pass from Ronnie on the left and took a step forward.
He noticed Su Dong's gesture.
The Sporting Lisbon midfielder pretended to pass the ball to the right, but suddenly pulled the ball back and passed it to the front.
Su Dong quickly ran out of Suarez's defense area and retreated to the 30-meter area to receive the ball.
Although Suarez's attention was on Su Dong, by the time he reacted and caught up with him, Su Dong had already stopped the ball and turned around quickly.
Suarez wanted to stay in position the first moment, but Su Dong kicked the ball behind Suarez the moment he turned around. He then stretched out his hand to block Suarez and sprinted forward quickly from the other side.
"A beautiful pass!!!"
The scene became lively again.
