Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Chapter 32 Saint-Cech

Sporting Lisbon's decision spread throughout the European youth training community in an instant.

They easily changed the venue for the UEFA Youth League match, claiming that the match field at the Alcochet training base needed temporary maintenance and could not be used for the match.

This behavior is truly admirable from UEFA!

joke!

Even for the UEFA Youth League final, UEFA has not found a venue of such high standard as the Alvalade Stadium.

They only found a small stadium with a capacity of around 10,000.

They need to sell tickets, and it's almost impossible for more than 10,000 people to come to watch a youth team match; 15,000 would be more than enough.

Having gotten used to the capacity of large stadiums, people might think that 10,000 seems like a small number.

But in reality, most Portuguese league teams have a home stadium capacity of around 10,000.

This time, Sporting Lisbon has raised the bar for the tournament.

Although the Alvalade Stadium is under renovation, it remains one of the largest stadiums in Portugal.

Sporting Lisbon subsequently announced that tickets for the match would be discounted by 30%, and welcomed everyone to come and watch "Ronaldo Jr."'s performance!

Portuguese fans began buying tickets in large quantities.

Mostly because it's cheap.

This has become the most watched event in this year's UEFA Youth League from the beginning to the present.

It is expected that no competition, except for the final, will have a higher level of scale and greater attention than this one.

This put enormous pressure on the young players on both sides.

……

The last day of October.

The fourth round of the UEFA Youth League has officially kicked off.

Sporting Lisbon U15 will host Viktoria Plzeň U15.

But it's more like an away game than a home game.

This is a scene that even the Sporting Lisbon U15 players have never experienced before.

Only players like Deng Kai, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Petr Cech have experienced such grand occasions.

Before the match even started, both teams' players were already behaving somewhat abnormally.

They were overly stressed.

With two matches a week, both teams' players also face physical fatigue issues.

As a result, the first half of the game left the 30,000 fans in attendance feeling rather disheartened.

Many people cried out that they had been deceived.

They believe that this level of football match is simply not attractive to spectators.

It wasn't until the 34th minute of the match that the fans started to perk up a bit.

Because Ronaldo executed a beautiful dribble past two defenders on the wing, and then unleashed a sudden long-range shot from outside the left side of the penalty area!

Unfortunately, Cech maintained his near-perfect form throughout the match, consistently thwarting Ronaldo's shots.

In the next ten minutes, Ronaldo had two more shooting opportunities.

But it went too high the first time.

One shot was too straight and was caught by Cech.

This became the biggest topic of conversation among fans in the stands during halftime.

"This goalkeeper is amazing, it's almost unbelievable!"

"He looks very mature; is he really only fifteen?"

"Of course not! He's an overage player; it's unfair for him to play in the U15 competition."

"I heard he used to play ice hockey, but he switched to soccer after being eliminated from the ice hockey team."

"It's not just him; in fact, there are many over-age players in this year's UEFA Youth League. The teams that agreed to participate in the UEFA Youth League all have requirements. If they can't train their core youth teams, they might not even participate in such a demanding competition."

"Cech, Van Persie, and Quagliarella in this group are all key youth academy players for their respective teams."

"And there's Torres and Gabi from Atletico Madrid, Robben from Groningen, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, and Hitzlsperger from Bayern Munich, Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Heitinga, and Vermaelen from Ajax..."

"If they perform well in this year's UEFA Youth League, they may be promoted to the first team when they return."

"So in fact, they already possess the abilities of professional players."

"The only exception might be Sporting Lisbon's Chris, who is actually not yet fifteen years old, but has already dominated in U15 competitions."

"However, Chris is still a bit inexperienced when facing truly professional players."

"At least he didn't perform well in front of Cech."

"Cech's saves were so composed; I'd believe you if you told me he had the mentality of a 27-year-old goalkeeper! I have high hopes for his future!"

Fifteen minutes later, both teams returned to the field and began the second half of the game.

However, neither side's offensive efforts made any progress.

Viktoria Plzeň's offensive level was really not high.

If it weren't for Cech's outstanding saves, they might have been at the bottom of the group.

The first twenty minutes of the second half almost became a personal exhibition for Cech.

But starting in the 75th minute, the situation on the field changed.

"Oh, Deng Kai is actively calling for the ball, he's in a great position. Receive the ball, pass it, run, receive the ball again, pass it again, run again... Deng Kai's energy is incredible, he's gradually taking control of the entire midfield."

"Viktoria's midfielders are clearly exhausted; they can't keep up with Duncan anymore."

"Incredible! Deng Kai's current running statistics are the best in the game! But he's still running tirelessly. Is this kid's stamina really that outstanding? This is quite surprising!"

"Many people may not know this number 24 player from Sporting Lisbon U15. His name is Deng Kai, and he is also known as the football Kaiser."

"Three years ago, Deng Kai received offers from major football clubs including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester United, but he chose to decline them. He completed twelve years of compulsory education in Portugal in three years."

"This year, after being admitted to the University of Lisbon, the best university in Portugal, he surprisingly returned to the field and joined Sporting Lisbon."

"This is his first appearance in European competition, so no one has seen him before, but his strength should not be underestimated. Two months ago, he was excluded from the squad because he could not adapt to the U15 level of competition."

"But he has improved so quickly. In the past two league games, he helped the team achieve their first two-game winning streak this year with an excellent record of four goals and three assists."

"He is now the second most dangerous player in Sporting Lisbon after Chris."

"Viktoria Plzeň has clearly done some work, with players marking Duncan from the start to prevent him from making an impact. But now, fatigue is causing Plzeň's midfield to falter."

"And Deng Kai... Great opportunity! Deng Kai was dribbling the ball in the attacking third when he was dispossessed by Viktoria Plzeň in the defensive midfield. He immediately launched a counter-press and regained possession... Shot!"

"Beautiful shot! No wonder he's scored four goals in two games, three of which were spectacular long-range strikes. Deng Kai's shot was powerful and deadly, even more threatening than Chris's previous two shots!"

"This was also Cech's first fumble of the ball in the match; he could only barely push it out of bounds, giving Sporting Lisbon a corner kick opportunity!"

Yes!

They pounced!

Watching Cech angrily berate his teammates, Deng Kai felt a bit unreal.

That long-range shot just now triggered Black Panther Hunt.

But... Cech actually saved that shot.

His goalkeeping ability is already at the level of a starting goalkeeper in the second division, right?

What a freakish goalkeeper!

No wonder Cech was still able to keep up his challenge against the world's best schools even after being seriously injured!

These superstars were truly far superior to ordinary people from a young age.

At the same moment, while criticizing his teammates, Cech looked at Deng Kai.

My heart was also churning with emotions.

What superb archery skills!