Chapter 85: Flirtatious Instep
"Good evening, audience friends, welcome to Bora TV."
"We are here in Oeiras, live at the National Stadium, in this season's Portuguese Cup final, between Sporting CP and FC Porto."
"Both teams have already set up their positions, and the game is about to begin."
"We can see that both teams are treating it like a formidable enemy and are sending out their main players."
"Porto still uses the 3-5-2 formation that has performed well in recent times. Mourinho obviously has confidence in this style of play that he has developed after taking over midway, especially the winning streak at the end of the season."
"Sporting Lisbon is a bit of a surprise."
"First of all, it was surprising that the 17-year-old Chinese player Su Dong would start with Jardel, because Su Dong has only played four times so far this season. This was his fifth appearance and first start."
"In addition, the 18-year-old Quaresma will also start."
"It can be seen that Bologna still hopes that these two young players can inject fresh blood into Sporting Lisbon and bring more surprises, but we must also pay attention to whether the young players can withstand the pressure in such an important final."
…
"The referee Palatas blew the whistle to start the game."
"Sporting Lisbon took the lead and Sudong kicked the ball to Jardel, who passed it back."
"The ball was passed twice in the backcourt, to Barbosa's feet, and then to Pinto."
"Su Dong retreated from the front and raised his hand to ask for the ball."
"Costinha was behind him, blocking Su Dong with his body, preventing him from turning around."
“Beep!!”
"The referee signaled Costinha for a defensive foul."
"When Su Dong received the ball and tried to turn around, the Porto midfielder decisively fouled from the side and tackled Su Dong."
"Sporting Lisbon had a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt, but it was not very threatening."
…
“Beep!!!”
"Another foul by Costinha."
"It's still targeting Su Dong who retreated to get the ball. It seems that this should be Porto's tactic."
"Barboza was obviously very unhappy with Porto's foul tactics and put pressure on the referee, believing that he should be given a card."
"But I have to say that Costinha's foul scale was very good and there was no malicious foul, which made it difficult for the referee to give him a card."
"We can see that Mourinho, the referee in charge of Porto, is clapping hard on the sidelines, cheering for Costinha."
"Obviously, that's Porto's tactic."
…
"Another time Sporting crossed the halfway line."
"Pass it to Quaresma on the right."
"It's still Su Dong who retreats to the flank and raises his hand to ask for the ball."
"Stop the ball and turn around..."
"Nice escape..."
“Beep!!!!”
"Foul by Porto midfielder Soderstrom from Sweden."
“This time the referee called him over and gave him a warning, but still no card.”
"Porto's players are more experienced and have a good grasp of the referee's standards."
"After Su Dong started the game, he was very active and frequently received the ball on both sides of the ribs, but he was closely guarded by Porto's two defensive midfielders and was even fouled."
"According to our data, Su Dong has been violated five times in the first ten minutes."
"In contrast, Jardel has not been violated to this day."
…
…
Su Dong grabbed Jadel's hand and climbed up from the grass.
"These two guys played too dirty. They just wanted to scare you with fouls." Jardel, who is more experienced, reminded Su Dong that he must control his emotions.
"As a center, getting kicked and fouled is commonplace. If you are afraid or anxious, you lose."
Su Dong looked at Jadel and nodded deeply.
He is not stupid and naturally understands his opponent's intentions.
To be frank, although Costinha and Soderstrom both looked ferocious, in fact, their fouls were relatively restrained and not too rough.
This may also be related to the fact that the game has just begun. I can't guarantee what will happen next.
"How about, wait for me to come back and you go to the front," suggested Jadel.
Su Dong shook his head. "No, you are more threatening than me. If you are in the front, I will feel less pressure."
A person's name, a tree's shadow.
No matter what, Jardel is the current European Golden Boot winner with over 40 goals in a single season. With him at the front, neither Carvalho nor Andrade dare to make any rash moves, which will undoubtedly give Su Dong more space.
The problem now is that Sporting Lisbon's ball path is not smooth and they cannot push up the wing. Su Dong is frequently fouled, but the positions of free kicks in the frontcourt are not very good and fail to pose a threat.
On the contrary, Porto used a 3-5-2 formation to suppress the midfield, which put a lot of pressure on Sporting Lisbon's midfield and backcourt.
Barbosa and Paulo Bento were basically protecting the defense, and the back line did not dare to act rashly.
The game lasted for more than ten minutes and the situation was very stalemate.
"Just wait in front and I will definitely pass the ball!" Su Dong promised.
…
Another counterattack after Sporting Lisbon intercepted the ball in the backcourt.
The ball was still passed forward by Queiroga on the right to Quaresma.
The Portuguese genius dribbled the ball along the right and tried to break forward, but Porto's defense got back quickly.
"here!"
Su Dong once again moved out of the 30-meter area, retreated and raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Quaresma was prepared and passed the ball immediately.
Soderstrom appeared behind Su Dong again and supported Su Dong with his body.
As an adult Nordic player, he is more than ten centimeters shorter than Su Dong, making it difficult for him to snatch the ball, but he has no problem holding off Su Dong.
Su Donggang stopped the ball, took two steps forward quickly, and after creating a small gap between himself and Soderstrom, he suddenly stopped and turned around .
The sudden turn, under the effect of the deception orb, caused Soderstrom to misjudge. Without thinking, Su Dong immediately pushed the ball forward and accelerated to catch up.
Soderstrom is 1.77 meters tall, but not very fast, which led Mourinho to want to use him as a left back, but the effect was minimal, and finally he was sent back to the center midfield position.
Su Dong's acceleration directly shook off Soderstrom and rushed forward with the ball between two Porto defenders.
"Nice turn and get rid of it."
"Sporting Lisbon counterattacked and quickly formed a three-on-four situation in the front court."
"See how Su Dong is going to handle this time."
Jardel went to the middle, a little far away from Sudong, while Quaresma was on the right, closest to Sudong.
Su Dong ran forward with the ball.
As they were about to reach the penalty area, Costinha went to the top of the arc to block the ball, and Carvalho stopped retreating.
Just as the ball was about to enter Costinha's defense area, Su Dong took the lead and passed the ball to the right.
Quaresma stopped the ball on the right side of the penalty area, but Carvalho returned to his position immediately and blocked Quaresma.
The Sporting Lisbon winger stopped the ball, adjusted himself, and volleyed the ball with the outside of his right foot.
The ball drew an arc, passed by Carvalho, and just brushed past the far corner.
"What a sexy outside-of-the-foot volley!"
"Quaresma, the talented young player from Sporting Lisbon."
"It was a very threatening shot, but unfortunately it just went wide of the target."
"Sporting Lisbon's cooperation in this match was very threatening."
"This was the Green Lions' first shot of the game and the most threatening attack so far."
…
Mourinho was a little anxious watching from the sidelines and shouted at Soderstrom.
"Hold him, block him, don't let him turn around!"
"What a fatal mistake!"
"There were four or five people over there, and they were still able to launch such an attack!"
Mourinho was not satisfied with the previous defense and thought that the players were not focused enough.
At least Soderstrom did not commit a decisive foul when he should have.
"As you said before, with Su Dong here, such an attack is really difficult to defend." Boas also felt a headache.
This is not to say how capable Su Dong is, but that his characteristics are too distinct.
He has height, skills, speed, and can even receive the ball with his back to the goalkeeper and turn around to get rid of the ball. Looking across the entire European football scene, how many centers are there who are as well-rounded as him?
What will it be like if he really gets his body in shape over time?
Which defender can stop him?
"We need to work harder on the attack ahead."
Mourinho knew that he could not rely on defense in this game and he must strengthen his offense.
Sporting Lisbon was able to win the Portuguese Super League title, which is no small feat. At least their defense was pretty good.
If Porto wants to defeat its opponent, it must work hard on the offensive end.
So he walked to the sidelines and gestured to Deco, signaling him to increase his offensive efforts.
"I want to score! I want to see a goal!" Mourinho shouted.
…
Compared to Mourinho's anxiety, Boloni was in a good mood.
A week of preparation was not in vain.
Although Su Dong is still a long way from being the frontcourt controller he expected, he is performing quite well.
"Quaresma's kick with the outside of his foot showed his skill. Su Dong knew his forte, so he passed the ball to him, but he didn't expect it to be so short." Pontes said with a regretful smile.
"Take it slow, and once you play smoothly, opportunities will come again." Boloni was satisfied with the situation.
Although they were at a disadvantage in the field, their counterattacks still posed a threat.
Then it depends on who has problems first.
"This kid is still very stable and reliable at the critical moment!" Boloni praised with a smile as he watched Su Dong running on the court.
At least he has seen the results of this gamble.
…
For a period of time afterwards, Porto continued to suppress Sporting Lisbon in the midfield, and the Green Lions could only create some threats through counterattacks. Sudong was an important part of Sporting Lisbon's counterattack and was subject to more violations.
As he had accumulated , Su Dong did not hesitate to use the [Fraud Orb] as chocolate and used it whenever he had the chance. This resulted in Soderstrom receiving a yellow card during a defense in the 28th minute and was severely warned by the referee.
This gave Su Dong an opportunity.
