Chapter 79: Finale
Sitting in the stands of Porto's Bessa Stadium, Ma Dawei was so nervous that he was restless and his hands were almost rubbing his trousers.
His nervousness was not because of the famous Luis Suarez next to him, nor because of the Spanish scout Garcia, but because of Su Dong who had just come on as a substitute.
This was his first time to watch Su Dong's game in person.
This is because Luis Suarez and Garcia brought him, otherwise he probably wouldn't have been able to get a ticket.
Su Dong was replaced by Brazilian center Jardel.
This made Ma Dawei extremely excited, because this was the highest level of competition played by Chinese overseas players so far.
Although it is only the Portuguese Super League, Sporting Lisbon is a Portuguese Super League giant and a team that can participate in European competitions. At the same time, tonight is the focus of the battle for the Portuguese Super League championship.
This is definitely exciting news for the Chinese people.
But after Su Dong came on the court, he did not achieve immediate results, which made Ma Dawei very worried.
Deep down, he still had a serious lack of confidence in Su Dong.
This is the general mentality of all Chinese people towards Chinese international players studying abroad.
…
“Still didn’t catch the ball.”
After seeing Su Dong fail to catch the ball with his back to the basket, Ma Dawei shook his head with some regret.
He doesn't understand basketball, but he understands one thing: reducing mistakes is a good thing.
After Su Dong came on the court, he made several passes and receptions.
"It doesn't matter, there is still a chance." Garcia said with a smile.
He seemed very confident in Su Dong.
Luis Suarez nodded and said: "It's actually very good, at least the rhythm is stable."
"Yes, before, Jardel couldn't hold the ball and would get anxious once he reached the 30-meter area. Now, at least, Su Dong can hold the rhythm. This is already good enough and proves that he has indeed been improving, one step at a time with each game. It's not easy."
“Well, the problem of several passing errors was not Su Dong, his positioning was very smart, but Quaresma and Ronaldo failed to pass the ball in time. These two guys were still a bit sticky to the ball.”
"It's an old problem," Garcia said with a wry smile.
"In fact, if Boloni had been more courageous and had directly started Su Dong and used Quaresma and Rooney to disrupt the opponent's wings, the game might not have been deadlocked until now. On the contrary, in the few minutes after Su Dong came on the court, Sporting Lisbon's offensive rhythm was better. The rest depends on when Quaresma and Rooney can catch up with Su Dong's rhythm."
Luis Suarez and Garcia's words left Ma Dawei, who was standing by, confused.
He doesn't understand basketball and has no idea about the so-called rhythm of the game.
But he is not stupid. He could vaguely hear that both of them spoke highly of Su Dong and were quite satisfied with his performance after he came on as a substitute. Looking at the sidelines, Sporting Lisbon's head coach Boloni seemed to be yelling at Quaresma and Ronaldo, but never at Su Dong, which also confirmed their views.
"Jadel is only 29 years old, but he has suffered too many injuries. This is very troublesome." Garcia frowned.
"Yeah, if it weren't for Jardel holding his position, I think Su Dong would be fully capable of starting."
"Can Su Dong start?" Ma Dawei was so surprised that he lost his voice after hearing what Luis Suarez said.
Suarez himself was a little surprised, and then he laughed, "Don't be so unconfident about your compatriots. In fact, Su Dong really performed very well and played a role in every game."
"But he is only seventeen years old." Ma Dawei still lacked confidence.
Chinese football has been sluggish for so many years, who can stand up straight?
"It has nothing to do with age, David," Luis Suarez explained with a smile. "Sudon has all-round characteristics, he's young, and he's improving very fast. If he starts, Sporting Lisbon's offense will be more layered. But unfortunately, Jardel is not an ordinary person."
"What do you mean?" Ma Dawei didn't understand.
Suarez smiled but was unwilling to answer such amateurish questions. Garcia on the side took over the task.
"Do you know who Jardel is?"
"Yes, he is a top scorer in the Portuguese Super League. He won the European Golden Boot in 1999 and the Bronze Boot in 2000. He has already scored 42 goals in the Portuguese Super League this season. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be the top scorer in the Portuguese Super League."
Obviously, Ma Dawei had done his homework.
"That's right, but do you know when was the last time more than 40 goals were scored in a single Portuguese Super League season?"
Ma Dawei was suddenly speechless.
"That was nearly thirty years ago, during the time of Eusebio the Black Panther."
Ma Dawei was a little dumbfounded.
"Su Dong's performance is good enough, but he is only 17 years old after all, and it is his first season. However, Jardel's deterrence on the court is something that Su Dong does not have for the time being. Therefore, even though Jardel has shown obvious signs of decline, Sporting Lisbon still continues to use him, and Su Dong can only continue to be a substitute."
Garcia paused and said, "This is the case this season, and it will probably be the same next season."
Ma Dawei understood a little, but not quite.
Suarez, who was standing by, smiled when he heard this and said, "That may not be the case."
"Oh?" Garcia was a little surprised.
"Sporting Lisbon's management is not stupid. They spent so much money to buy Jardel. They will definitely not use up Jardel's value. We can see Jardel's decline. There is no reason for them not to see it. The problem they are struggling with now is, if Jardel is sold, who will take over this position?"
Garcia suddenly realized that, to put it bluntly, this is the biggest difference between a team like Sporting Lisbon and a giant like Inter Milan.
"Narizzis has been sentenced to death, Lorenzo is not up to the task, and Nicolaj has been recovering from an injury for half a year..." Suarez said this with a wry smile and shook his head. "Now, Aurelio is probably waiting for Su Dong to give him more confidence and courage so that he can convince the management."
When Garcia heard this, he couldn't help but nodded repeatedly, "If Jardel really leaves, the new season will be a competition between Su Dong and Nikulai."
Ma Dawei was stunned as he listened to the words. Although he didn't fully understand, he vaguely guessed what Suarez meant.
As long as Jardel leaves, Su Dong will be able to compete for the main position of Sporting Lisbon.
This was unbelievable to him.
You know, this is a Portuguese Super League giant that plays in European competitions.
If they win the Portuguese Super League title this season, Sporting Lisbon will participate in the Champions League next season. Can Su Dong really play as a starter in the Champions League team?
Just as Ma Dawei was shocked, a cry of surprise broke out in the stadium.
…
…
"It was another quick attack by Sporting Lisbon, going down the left flank."
"Quaresma stopped the ball on the left and tried to break through."
"No chance, stop and pass the ball to the right with your right foot."
"Ronnie stops the ball."
"Sporting Lisbon's two wingers switched positions, which gave the defenders who were defending them a headache."
"See how Ronnie will handle this time?"
"Su Dong pulled to the outside of the penalty area, to the right side of the arc, held Pedro Emanuel with his body, and stopped the ball with his right foot."
"Emanuel stood behind Su Dong, preventing him from turning easily, but he couldn't reach the ball either."
"Roney made a quick run forward, but Boavista's midfielder Petit got back to defense faster."
"Roney suddenly stopped outside the penalty area, but Petit didn't stop and rushed directly into the penalty area. Su Dong's pass hit the target."
"The cooperation between the two Sporting Lisbon players is very tacit."
"Look at Ronnie, he stopped the ball, and Petit and Silva double-teamed him from the front and back, but the ball was not lost."
"What a beautiful dribbling skill!"
"He entered the penalty area, dribbled back, deceived Petit, and dribbled horizontally to the middle. Ronnie's dribbling left an extremely deep impression on people, and he took the initiative to find Su Dong."
“Nice pass!”
"Ronnie passed the ball behind Pettit while being double-teamed by two defenders."
"Su Dong understood what he meant, cut in from behind, and shot directly at the goal!!!"
“The ball goes in!!!!”
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the 89th minute, Sporting Lisbon relied on the wonderful performance of two young players. Su Dong scored a powerful shot from the right corner of the small penalty area at a critical moment and broke through Boavista's goal."
“One to zero!”
…
The entire Bessa Stadium was in an uproar.
All Boavista fans are angry!
They could not accept such a result in any way. There was no way they would allow Sporting Lisbon to take away three points from their home court at the last minute of the game.
Even if it was originally a draw!
Even this draw will not have much impact on the championship situation.
But they just can't accept it!
The entire Bessa Stadium was filled with boos.
Amid the overwhelming boos, Su Dong quickly ran out of the court and celebrated wildly.
When he ran to the sidelines and just turned around, Ronnie rushed over from behind and jumped on him, shouting and screaming, his excitement was no less than Su Dong's.
…
“I believe that many people did not see clearly how the two young players of Sporting Lisbon managed to dodge and move between four defensive players, bring the ball out and create a chance to score.”
"Through slow-motion replays, we can only say that they have such a good chemistry."
"Whether it was Su Dong holding the ball with his back to the basket and passing it to Ronnie, or Ronnie's final pass, or Su Dong's smart movement, the two of them cooperated perfectly, and the opponent's four defensive players had no way to deal with them."
"It's amazing!"
"The performance of these two young players from Sporting Lisbon has left a very deep impression on us."
…
The moment Su Dong scored a goal, Ma Dawei jumped up with excitement.
This is the final winning goal in the Portuguese Super League's key match for the league championship!
Is there any ball more important and crucial than this one?
After calming down, Ma Dawei turned his head and looked at Luis Suarez , his eyes full of admiration.
This is professionalism!
The two saw the subtle changes brought about by Su Dong's coming on as a substitute, and also saw the opportunities contained in the changes.
As a result, just as Suarez said, as long as Ronaldo kept up with Sudon's rhythm and pace, Sporting Lisbon's attack would be launched.
"His movement is as cunning as Romario , his shooting is very similar to Batistuta, his back-to-the-basket ball handling and impact are very similar to Kluivert..."
Suarez seemed to be mumbling to himself, but his evaluation was so high that even Ma Dawei couldn't believe it.
"This kid is really getting more and more interesting!"
