The days of training are always boring yet fulfilling.
Su Dong can see his own progress every day from the personal attribute panel of the Road to King of Football system, which makes him particularly motivated to train every day. He is the most dedicated and focused among the three.
Ronnie has the best talent.
In the words of Nuno Cruz, his African ancestry gave him muscles that were different from others, which made him particularly talented in physical training and his progress was faster than others.
So, even though Ronnie often has to deal with some household matters or is even busy with social events on the island, in fact, his progress is almost the same as Su Dong. This is only possible when Su Dong is extremely focused and can keep up with him.
This shows that some talents are indeed innate.
Pepe is the strongest among the three. He usually trains with Sudong and Ronaldo. Occasionally, Nuno Cruz will give him some advice when he is in a good mood. Pepe has benefited a lot from this and has made great progress.
The Brazilian centre-back is still the strongest .
Every afternoon, after finishing their training in the gym, after a short break, Su Dong, Ronaldo and Pepe would go to the nearby park to practice.
One of the most important training sessions is the sparring between Su Dong and Pepe.
After a period of systematic physical training, Su Dong's physical condition has improved greatly. Although he is still at a disadvantage facing Pepe, he is not completely passive, especially when Pepe still has a trick up his sleeve.
But gradually, Su Dong was no longer satisfied with such intensity.
…
"If you keep practicing like this, I guess by July, when you guys want to go back, I won't be able to control you anymore."
After the training, Pepe took the Bull drink handed to him by Su Dong and laughed.
In the past two days of training, Su Dong has begun to be able to compete with Pepe.
As an opponent, this is not a good thing, but at this moment, Pepe is very happy for Su Dong.
Because they are friends.
"Pepe, I know you still have a trick up your sleeve." Su Dong said solemnly.
"No, really not." Pepe shook his head.
"At least you didn't do what happened in the Portuguese Cup semi-final."
"That's different."
"What's the difference?"
Pepe spread his hands with a wry smile, "We were enemies then, so of course I would do whatever it took to deal with you, but now we are friends, and I won't use those means and tricks to deal with my friends."
Pepe is very clear about this.
But Su Dong shook his head, "No, you are wrong, Pepe, I hope you can use all your little tricks, little moves, and even some dirty tricks."
"No, no, no, that won't work. We are friends." Pepe shook his head like a rattle.
He still remembers that noon in the restaurant, Su Dong did not expose him.
"Listen to me, Pepe, we are training. For me, sparring with you is very valuable. It is a training opportunity to improve my physical confrontation ability and physical skills. Even if you don't use it, our opponents will still use it on me in the Portuguese Super League. They may even use it a hundred times or a thousand times on me."
"In that case, I still hope that you can use all your means now so that I can be mentally prepared in advance. This way, when I meet them in the future, I will be more calm, right?"
Su Dong's smile made Pepe feel relieved, and he began to understand Su Dong's intention.
"That's right, Pepe, I agree with Su." Ronnie also chimed in, "You don't know, when Su and I were practicing in Lisbon's Edward VII Park, this guy was so desperate that he couldn't even get the ball and just clung to me like an octopus."
"Aren't you the same? Who pulled my pants on purpose after I passed him?" Su Dong "retaliated".
Ronnie was a little embarrassed, "I was careless."
"I was careless too." Su Dong smiled.
"You did it on purpose, you sore loser. Your best trick is to tickle me."
"Is that it?"
After saying that, Su Dong had already stretched out his dragon claw hand which was always effective in catching anything.
Pepe watched the two of them playing together on the sidelines, and as if he was infected by their happy mood, he also laughed happily. In his heart, he was extremely envious of the deep affection between the two.
From childhood to adulthood, he has never met such a friend.
"Su, then I really won't be polite?" Pepe called out to Su Dong.
Su Dong paused and nodded, "We Chinese have a saying, 'sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in war', which means that the closer the training is to actual combat, the more effective it will be during the competition."
"So, don't worry, young man, just close the door and let the dog out!"
…
As a player who grew up on the streets of Brazil and was trained in a team like Maritimo, Pepe's defense was really dirty and rough, especially when he fully released his animal nature, Su Dong couldn't stand it again.
Sometimes he even wondered if there was someone specifically training Pepe in this area?
The answer is indeed yes.
According to Pepe, the coach who taught them defense at Maritimo once said that in the professional league, there is almost no defensive player who is not dirty, even the highly acclaimed world-class central defenders such as Nesta, Maldini and Cannavaro.
"They are not dirty because their opponents are not worth their dirtiness!"
"If they encounter a formidable opponent, they will still do everything they can, even using a variety of methods that are breathtaking."
Su Dong was very curious. Is Nesta, the central defender who is known to be as elegant as art, really so dirty?
But he believed what Pepe said.
The so-called elegance is based on the advantage of strength.
The opponent has passed him and is about to kick the ball into the goal. At this time, who cares whether it is dirty or not?
…
…
Su Dong and Ronnie were training hard in seclusion on the isolated island of Madeira, but every day there were news coming from outside the island.
Su Dong is not interested in other news. He only cares about the Portuguese Super League and Sporting Lisbon.
In the Portuguese Super League, the most explosive news is Porto's buying spree.
After the fire-fighting midway through last season, Mourinho ushered in his first transfer period. Porto seemed to have turned on a money printing machine, waving checks in their hands and buying stars in the Portuguese Super League.
The first players to be signed were the full-backs, Paulo Ferreira from Setubal and Valente from Leiria. Both players were handpicked by Mourinho, and Valente was Mourinho's favorite when he coached Leiria.
Jorge Costa, the senior defender of Charlton Athletic in the Premier League, has returned, Benfica midfielder Maniche has also moved to Porto, and the Brazilian forward Delle from Leiria...
Porto is like a local tycoon, constantly poaching players they like from their Portuguese Super League rivals.
It can be said that, except for Sporting Lisbon, the main stars of other top-ranked teams such as Boavista, Benfica, Maritimo, Setubal, Leiria, etc. have all been poached.
From this point it is not difficult to see that Porto is wealthy and powerful.
…
Unlike Porto, which has deep pockets, Benfica has also been heavily poached, but has both outgoing and incoming players.
German goalkeeper Enke transferred to Barcelona and midfielder Maniche transferred to Porto, but in the blink of an eye, Benfica introduced Brazilian midfielder Giovanni from Barcelona, ​​veteran defender Elder from Deportivo La Coruna, and then introduced international midfielder Petit, who performed well last season, from Boavista.
Among them, Giovanni and Petit were both favored , but Benfica got there first.
These two transfers not only strengthened Benfica's strength, but also hit Sporting Lisbon's transfer operations.
…
Unlike the wealthy Porto and the shrewdly managed city rivals Benfica, Sporting Lisbon is subject to considerable financial constraints and has never been able to invest in the transfer market.
After winning the historic double and completing a successful season, Bologna's team began to fall apart.
First, young midfielder Ugo Viana moved to Newcastle in the Premier League. The deal brought 12 million euros to Sporting Lisbon, and Viana also set the highest transfer record for players under the age of 20 in the Premier League.
It is not difficult to see from this how much head coach Robson values ​​Rui Costa II.
Agent Mendes played a vital role in this transfer process.
But at the same time, main central defender Phil Babb announced that he would not renew his contract with Sporting Lisbon. He has now ended his contract in the Portuguese Super League and transferred to Sunderland in the Premier League as a free agent.
There is also Greek center Narizis.
Sporting Lisbon had previously signed a contract with Udinese to first lease and then buy out, but now the lease period has expired and Sporting Lisbon is not willing to pay the buyout fee for Narizis, so the Greek center returned to Udinese and was loaned to Greece.
In addition, first-team players such as Diogo, Martins, Vidigal, etc. are either being transferred or have already entered into actual operations, and they will all leave the team in the near future.
The team is currently trying hard to retain Andre Cruz, hoping to keep this defensive pillar after Phil Babb leaves the team. At the same time, the team is also strengthening the recruitment of players in the defense line.
As for the midfield, the departure of Ugo Viana was a big blow to Sporting Lisbon, but they were frustrated in the introduction of Giovanni and Petit, so Sporting Lisbon could only recall Spanish midfielder Tonito from Santa Clara.
The player performed well in the Portuguese Super League last season and high hopes are placed on him in the new season.
On the striker side, Nalizis' departure has little impact on Sporting Lisbon, and there has been no news that the team will recruit strikers. In a public interview, Boloni said, "We have three center forwards, Jardel, Nikulai and Sudon, which are enough to cope with all the games in the new season."
Such a statement was equivalent to recognizing Su Dong's status in the team, which made Su Dong, who was far away on Madeira Island, feel relieved.
But no one knows that after just experiencing its peak, it was immediately torn apart. Facing the wealthy Porto and the ill-intentioned Benfica, how much combat effectiveness can Sporting Lisbon retain in the new season?
At this time, Mendes, who had taken some time off from his busy schedule, also came to Madeira Island.
He brought Su Dong the long-awaited good news.