Chapter 9: Special Moves
He came in obscurity and left with his head held high.
Su Dong really likes the envious and even jealous looks from people around him, which fascinates him.
Once upon a time, he looked at his teammates with the same look.
In all the time he has been in Portugal, he has never received so much recognition and praise as he does today, whether it is from fans, coaches and teammates, or the promise from head coach Gorba.
All of this made him so excited that he wanted to roar.
He wanted to find someone to share this joy and achievement with.
The first person that came to mind was Ronnie.
So, after the assessment, he immediately ran to Edward VII Park two kilometers away.
What was even more unexpected was that in the park that he thought would be empty, in his familiar indoor football field, the familiar figure who had been away for a week actually appeared.
"Ronnie? When did you come back?" Su Dong ran over excitedly.
Ronnie, who had been waiting for Su Dong in the stadium, turned around after hearing the shout and was very happy to see Su Dong.
"I just arrived at midnight yesterday, so I got up a little late this morning."
When the two met, they immediately gave each other a warm hug.
Even though we haven't seen each other for only a week, it feels like a long, long time has passed.
"Have you been slacking off lately? Why are you so late?" Ronnie asked with concern.
It's almost noon now, and Su Dong just arrived at this time, which makes Ronnie a little disappointed.
"I've been here since five o'clock." Su Dong said with a smile, "We have a team assessment today."
Ronnie suddenly realized, and he said, Su Dong doesn't look like the kind of person who would be lazy.
"How were the test results?" Ronnie asked with concern.
"good."
"Not bad?" Ronnie was a little dissatisfied. "How come you've been practicing with me for so long, and now it's okay?"
Although Ronnie never told Su Dong which team he was from, Su Dong told Ronnie that he was a youth team player of Sporting CP.
In Ronnie's impression, this third-tier team is not very good.
The first team isn't that good, and the youth team is even worse.
Su Dong laughed, "In fact, I performed quite well. After the assessment, the club wanted to sign a contract with me immediately."
"That's great, you can stay here from now on." Ronnie was also very happy.
Su Dong nodded heavily, and looked at Ronnie with eyes full of gratitude.
Although his rapid progress was due to the road to becoming a soccer king, Ronnie also helped him a lot.
Without Ronnie, he wouldn't have progressed so quickly.
Perhaps sensing Su Dong's gaze and knowing what he was going to say next, Ronnie spoke first, "Since you can stay, don't say anything more. Let me see if you have made any progress in the past week."
As he said that, Ronnie kicked the ball directly to Su Dong.
In the football field of Edward VII Park, the sounds of two people competing were heard again.
…
After reaching the third level of ball, Su Dong can earn 300 points of ball king value in every match between him and Ronnie.
This surprised Su Dong because it proved that Ronnie's strength was beyond his imagination.
How strong is he?
Su Dong was full of questions, but also full of admiration.
But he didn't know that Ronnie was also surprised by Su Dong's progress.
In the past, he spent every day with Su Dong, and it became a habit, so he was not very impressed by Su Dong's progress.
But this time they were separated for a week. When he saw Su Dong again, he could clearly feel Su Dong's progress.
Especially during one confrontation, Su Dong suddenly took a small step with the ball and made a powerful shot, which went straight to the bottom of the goal net. Ronnie was very surprised.
"Bati GOL!" Ronnie praised.
Su Dong nodded happily, "This is a special move that I have been secretly practicing recently."
But soon, Ronnie responded with a Barty GOL and shook his finger at him provocatively, as if to say: Isn't it just Barty GOL? I can do it too.
Su Dong was speechless. This arrogant boy refused to admit defeat.
In the subsequent matches, Su Dong would shoot whenever he had the chance and scored several goals, which was unimaginable before.
From this point, it can be seen that he has made great progress in recent times.
Of course, there is still a big gap from Ronnie.
…
"Here, here you go, drink some water first."
At noon, the two were exhausted and resting on the sidelines, panting. Su Dong threw him a bottle of Manniu.
"Well, where did you buy this drink? It tastes pretty good."
After taking a sip, Ronnie gulped down the whole bottle of Bull in one breath.
"If you like it, I'll provide it to you for free." Su Dong said generously.
Ronnie didn't bother to be polite with him and instead changed the topic to the confrontation just now.
"Your Batistuta GOL is still not powerful enough. The shooting accuracy is lacking and the strength is also insufficient. You still need to improve it."
Su Dong nodded. He also felt the same way. "Our club doesn't have a gym. We only have some simple equipment. I don't dare to practice casually. You know, if I get hurt accidentally, it will be troublesome."
"It's right to be careful." Ronnie nodded, "I'll take you to a gym I often go to. The trainers there are very professional."
"Okay." Of course Su Dong had no problem with that.
After getting to know him, he knew that Ronnie was a very demanding person. Even if there was a small flaw in his training, Ronnie would be picky and ask him to do it again. Su Dong even complained about him. An Aquarius man is more perfectionist than a Virgo.
"By the way, what happened when you went home this time?" Su Dong asked with concern.
Ronnie, who was originally smiling, flashed a trace of worry, but quickly shook his head and said, "There was a small accident, it should have been resolved, don't worry about me." After saying that, he smiled gratefully at Su Dong.
"Now that you have passed the assessment, what do you think?"
Su Dong was also in trouble, and this was also his biggest headache right now.
Gorba just talked to him. Sporting CP wanted to sign a youth training contract with him, paying him a living allowance of 50 euros per month, in addition to various bonuses for participating in competitions.
Not only that, Gorba promised to promote him to the first team to train and play with the team.
Su Dong is very clear that he is currently at the level of a football manager, which is roughly equivalent to a semi-professional level, similar to the level of the first team of Sporting CP. This team is not outstanding among the third-level teams and is rather mid-level.
Unlike the previous fraudulent company, Gorba did not hide anything from Su Dong. He clearly told Su Dong that the club would help him as much as possible to enable him to grow and improve as quickly as possible, and would also give him ample opportunities to practice in games. But there was only one purpose, which was to sell him after he performed well.
This may not sound very comfortable, but in fact, this is professional football.
The way for Sporting CP to survive is to sell the players they have discovered.
"It sounds like the conditions are good." Ronnie commented after listening, "The monthly salary and bonus are both normal prices. I also received a subsidy of 50 euros in the youth team before. However, I will be a ball boy during home games, 5 euros per game."
"The most attractive thing is the training and game opportunities with the first team. If you perform well, you will have the opportunity to go to other better and higher-level teams. Of course, you can also choose to try out for other teams now, but I think that even if you pass, it will be difficult to get a chance to play right away."
No matter what, Sporting CP is a team in the third-tier league. For Su Dong, who is only sixteen years old, games at this level are still very valuable for training.
"Yeah, so I've been thinking that it's better to stay." Su Dong also thought so.
"Don't worry too much. I've noticed that you've made a lot of progress in recent times. If you keep up this momentum, I believe Sporting CP will soon be unable to keep you. By then, not only will you be able to realize your dream of becoming a professional player, but if there's a chance, I hope we can become teammates."
"Teammate?" Su Dong couldn't believe it.
"Yes, our team has been rebuilding a new stadium in the past two years and building a new training base on the outskirts of the city. We are extremely poor. Our offensive ability was too weak last season. In order to bring in a strong striker this summer, we had to sell three of our players to raise enough money to operate."
"So, next we will definitely vigorously promote youth training, and our youth training is very strong, and we only accept the best young players in Portugal." Ronnie said proudly.
Su Dong was a little surprised. He had guessed that the team Ronnie was in was very good, but he didn't expect it to be so good.
"Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, or Belenenses?" Su Dong asked curiously.
Ronnie smiled playfully and replied, "Guess."
…
…
The two men started fighting again in the indoor football field.
At noon, Su Dong used up some of his King of Football points and exchanged them for two Western meals in the mall. He then pretended that he had ordered the takeout and treated Ronnie to a meal. The Portuguese enjoyed the meal and praised it highly.
The two stayed in the park all day and did not separate until night fell.
Before leaving, Ronnie also expressed his desire to consult Pontes and another coach named Nare about Su Dong's training issues, and that he would continue to help Su Dong with special training.
However, with the arrival of the new season, the two probably won't be able to hang out together all day like before.
When he returned to the dormitory that night, Su Dong received a call from head coach Gorba.
Gorba obviously attached great importance to the signing of Su Dong. He repeatedly emphasized the treatment that Sporting CP would give him. At the same time, he promised that as long as he signed the contract, he could immediately train and play with the first team.
"We will arrange for you to play in every game and give you enough training opportunities."
Su Dong had already decided to sign the contract, so he didn't think much about it and agreed directly.
Since the agent Su Dong entrusted when he went to Sporting Lisbon was the liar, this time he clearly told Gorba that he did not have an agent and would go to sign the contract in person.
Gorba didn't care about it. As long as the player was willing to sign the contract, it didn't matter whether he had an agent or not.
After signing the contract, Su Dong also received a signing fee of 100 euros.
This is an unexpected gain.
