Chapter 81: Missing the Derby
After Boloni announced the 18-man roster, everyone in the locker room turned around and looked at Su Dong in disbelief, with a variety of emotions in their eyes.
Most people were confused and surprised, but some felt secretly happy or even gloating.
This was also the first time that Su Dong encountered such a situation, but he didn't care what others thought. He just felt surprised and disappointed.
Why can’t I make the big list?
"Su, come to my office for a moment." Before leaving, Boloni stopped in front of Su Dong and said.
Su Dong also stood up and followed Boloni out of the locker room in front of everyone.
The two came to the head coach's office one after the other.
"Sit anywhere." Boloni said, pointing at the sofa.
This was not Su Dong’s first visit, so he just found a seat and sat down.
He was waiting for Bologna to give him an explanation as to why he was absent from the derby squad.
Boloni poured himself and Su Dong a glass of water, then walked back and sat down opposite Su Dong.
"Su, I'm sorry. For many reasons, I decided to let you miss the derby against Benfica."
"Why?" Su Dong looked up at the head coach.
"Next weekend we will play against Porto."
That was the final of the Portuguese Cup, taking place in the vicinity of Lisbon. It would also be Sporting Lisbon’s last game of the season, and arguably the most important one.
The league match against Boavista is certainly a strong dialogue, but in fact, before the game, Sporting Lisbon had already established a certain advantage. As long as they don't lose, winning the championship is a high probability event.
If the league championship is won through accumulation, then the cup championship is decided .
"After Mourinho took over Porto, his coaching achievements are obvious to all."
Mourinho's situation is not optimistic as he had to come to Porto's rescue midway.
Porto was eliminated from European competitions and fell further and further behind the leaders Sporting Lisbon and Boavista in the league, which resulted in Porto suffering heavy losses on two of the three fronts, but they performed well in the Portuguese Cup.
Anyone can see that Mourinho has not made any major changes to Porto during the six months he has been coaching, and he has not even adopted the 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formations that he was good at in Leiria. This is somewhat limited by Porto's current lineup configuration.
But Mourinho did stabilize Porto's decline and began to rebound.
Especially recently, Porto swept the Portuguese Super League and won five consecutive games, including a 2-1 home win over Vicente, a 3-0 away win over Farense, a 3-0 home win over Guimarães, a 4-0 away win over Braga, and a 5-3 home reversal over Santa Clara in the last round. These can be said to be big wins in every game.
Compared with Porto's strength, Sporting Lisbon's recent decline is obvious.
Especially since Sa Pinto's injury.
The 29-year-old Portugal international was injured and had to go to Madrid for surgery. Not only will he miss all the remaining games this season, he will also miss the upcoming World Cup in Korea and Japan.
Because of this, Boloni included Ronnie in the 18-man roster.
Sporting Lisbon, which was in poor form and plagued by injuries, faced a regrouped and strong Porto. Bologna did not have much chance of winning.
"The only significance of the last round of the league for us is the derby in the same city. Its victory or defeat has nothing to do with the overall situation, but I don't want you to play in this game because I know that Mourinho and his team will definitely focus on this game."
Boloni looked at Su Dong sincerely, and he tried hard to gain Su Dong's trust.
Of course, this is not because he is afraid of Su Dong, but because as the head coach, he needs to gain the trust and support of the players.
Given Su Dong's recent performance, it is unreasonable to exclude him from the roster without any proper explanation. Not to mention Su Dong himself, I guess the locker room will also have opinions about him.
No one can guarantee that they will not be the next one, right?
"I want to let Nalizis play. This is not only to give him one last chance, but more importantly, I want to make Mourinho unsure of our ideas."
"After the match against Benfica, we will have closed training, and I will focus on rehearsing your tactics. At the same time, in the Portuguese Cup final, I hope you can show your best condition and performance."
At the end of his speech, Boloni stared at Su Dong with his eyes.
Su Dong felt the trust conveyed in these eyes, and he believed what Boloni said.
A football match is like a war, and all is fair in war, as our ancestors said.
This smoke screen may not work, but what if it does?
"Don't worry, Boss. I got it."
Boloni was relieved and said with a smile: "I heard that you were not selected for the national team. Will you go back after the season ends?"
Su Dong shook his head and said, "No, I have an appointment with Ronnie to go to Madeira Island for training together."
"Yeah." Boloni nodded appreciatively. "It's quite quiet there. I can concentrate on training and put in a better performance in the new season."
"I understand, boss." Su Dong agreed.
"It's a holiday paradise with lots of beautiful women. If you have the chance, make a girlfriend." Boloni made a rare joke.
Su Dong shook his head and smiled bitterly in embarrassment.
Ever since Ronnie caused trouble in the sky bar, everyone in the team knew that Su Dong didn't have a girlfriend.
A single high-quality potential stock.
Just think about it and you will know how popular such people are.
Since then, Su Dong often encountered people who took the initiative to introduce him to girlfriends.
But he hasn't met anyone he likes yet.
…
…
The matter of Su Dong's absence from the roster was quickly settled in the locker room.
He accepted it himself, and Captain Barbosa and others also knew some of the inside story, so naturally no one said anything.
However, in the weekend's match against Benfica, Sporting Lisbon's performance was not ideal at all.
Bologna not only benched Sudon, but also Quaresma and Ronaldo. Both of them were included in the roster but did not play in the game. Sporting Lisbon also adjusted its previous 4-3-3 formation and adopted a 4-4-1-1 tactic.
Needless to say, the team played very badly in this derby at home and the offense was slow to gain momentum.
Instead, in the 73rd minute, Benfica made a surprise attack and scored a goal.
This was a wonderful assist from Portuguese midfielder Thiago.
Afterwards, the two teams played with more and more enthusiasm, and the atmosphere on the field became more and more heated.
Narizis came on as a substitute for captain Barbosa in the 79th minute, but he did not perform well in the following game time, and the same was true for Jardel, who started and played the whole game.
The Brazilian center didn't get enough support tonight.
On the contrary, Quaresma, who came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, dribbled into the penalty area in the final stage of the game, dribbled past two opposing players in a row, and was tripped in the penalty area.
This triggered a fierce conflict between the players of the two teams. Benfica defender Angel and midfielder Zahovic pushed Quaresma and were shown yellow cards by the referee one after another. Since they both had yellow cards on them, they were both sent off.
Jardel took the penalty kick himself and scored the equalizer for Sporting Lisbon.
…
"Jadel's form has declined a lot recently."
In the stands, Su Dong looked at Jardel running on the field to celebrate the goal and let out a long sigh with mixed emotions.
Jardel was in high spirits at the beginning of the season. This season he has created the most efficient goal record in his career, but recently he has indeed shown signs of fatigue.
"It's normal. He's 29 years old. He wanted to move to one of the four major leagues during the winter break, but failed. This has severely dampened his enthusiasm. Coupled with injuries over the years, his current state is indeed a bit sluggish due to multiple reasons. If he doesn't get out of this, he may not be able to improve next season."
Obviously, Mendes is not optimistic about Jardel's prospects at Sporting Lisbon.
To put it bluntly, when he set the highest single-season goal record in his career and caught up with the records of legendary stars such as Eusebio thirty years ago in the Portuguese Super League, he no longer had any desire in the Portuguese Super League .
For a professional player, having no pursuit is a very terrible thing.
Su Dong respected Jardel very much. Even his shooting skills and many shooting techniques were taught to him by Jardel himself. This made him feel very complicated when he saw Jardel showing signs of fatigue.
"Aurelio and the technical team have made an assessment and all agree that letting him leave and seek new stimulation in the four major leagues is a good thing for both him and Sporting Lisbon."
"Are you really leaving?" Su Dong asked with concern.
This not only involves Jardel;
Mendes shook his head. "I don't know. His age and salary are not low. Even if Sporting Lisbon makes concessions on the transfer fee, there are not many teams willing to accept his salary. This is also the main reason why he did not leave during the winter break."
Su Dong nodded.
Many fans only see the transfer fee, but they don’t know that the player’s salary is also a key factor that the club considers when recruiting players.
It is hard to say whether Sporting Lisbon's huge investment in Jardel a year ago was a success.
In terms of results, Jardel's record-breaking goal brought Sporting Lisbon a Portuguese Super League title and also helped them reach the Portuguese Cup final. However, from a business perspective, this deal was indeed a huge loss.
"I have entrusted my partners in Italy and the UK to help find a suitable team. The biggest problem now is that Jardel may not be willing to go to those teams in the four major leagues that cannot play in the Champions League or even European competitions."
Mendes was helpless about this.
Su Dong understood this very well. After all, people always strive for higher goals.
Sporting Lisbon is now the champion of the Portuguese Super League. According to the European competition points, it can play in the Champions League qualifiers in the new season. As long as it wins the qualifiers, it can participate in the Champions League group stage. In this case, Jardel may not be willing to leave the team.
"It's okay. Whether he leaves or not, I am confident that I will get more playing opportunities in the new season!"
Su Dong's face was full of determination.
It's not a question of whether or not he has confidence, but that he has to do it.
