Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Lisbon, Alvalade Stadium.

As the event progressed, the stadium commentator grew increasingly excited: "It is my honor to introduce our distinguished guests today. They are... Barcelona's midfield maestro—Josep Guardiola!"

"The owner of Portugal's number 10 jersey—Ruy Costa!"

"Mario Jardel, the two-time Golden Boot winner in the Portuguese league!"

"The presidents and executives of Sporting Lisbon, Porto, and Benfica!"

Deng Kai looked at the three star players on the screen and had many thoughts.

Guardiola was a top-class midfielder during his playing days, but he was definitely not a superstar.

But who could have imagined that, ten or twenty years later, he would become the world's top head coach, even more influential than a superstar?

Although Rui Costa hasn't shone as brightly since retiring, his status as a player in Portugal remains unquestionable. He was also one of the core representatives of Portugal's golden generation of football.

Jardel, on the other hand, is somewhat less well-known.

If judged by future data analysts, Jardell is the best of the three stars.

He is a Copa Libertadores champion, top scorer, and best player.

He has been in the Portuguese league for three years, leading Porto to three league titles and one Portuguese Cup title, and winning two Portuguese league Golden Boots himself.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will win three more Portuguese league Golden Boots in the future.

In six years, he won five league titles, five Portuguese league Golden Boots, several Portuguese domestic cup titles and Golden Boots, one European Bronze Boot, and two European Golden Boots. The statistics are outrageously exaggerated!

However, whether in this moment or in his future historical standing, he is completely incomparable to the former two.

This is what distinguishes the top five European leagues from other leagues in this era.

Even the French Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga were considered weak in this era, and the English Premier League lacked authority.

Only by making a name for yourself in Serie A and La Liga can you truly be considered a Superstar!

Finally, after a speech by the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, the young players began to enter the field.

As soon as the cameras saw the formation of the queue from shortest to tallest, they focused their attention on the last one.

Several talented players, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, are quite tall and are ranked at the back.

But the cameras from three media outlets quickly turned back.

These are Correio da Manhã, the largest Portuguese-language daily newspaper in Lisbon; The University of Portugal, the most famous newspaper in the Portuguese education sector; and Titan Sports, a leading Chinese football media outlet.

Reporters from other media outlets cast questioning glances at them.

A reporter from The Morning Post said, "We cover a wide range of topics, including economics, politics, society, culture, entertainment, and sports. We always have news value in our coverage of Asian images."

That makes sense.

The reporter from The University Student Newspaper said, "I felt that this Asian man looked familiar, and I felt like I had reported on him before."

"Is he Deng Kai, the 13-year-old prodigy who was exceptionally admitted to the University of Lisbon this year?"

"It must be him... there's no mistake... what's he doing here? Isn't he a top student? And he can play soccer?"

The reporter from Titan Sports was excited at the time.

Asian!

Deng Kai?

Is this name someone of Chinese descent?

Child prodigy? Academic genius?

Oh, that means they must be of Chinese descent!

Was he admitted to the University of Lisbon through a special admission process?

real or fake?

This is huge news for China!

For a time, many people became interested in Deng Kai.

But everyone's attention was only focused for a short while before it was quickly drawn away.

Because even the youngest player in line appeared.

Portuguese young striker Hugo Almeida is already a sure thing for Porto; they've already won over Almeida's parents! He could very well be the answer to Portugal's attacking line for the next decade!

José Fonte, a center-back from Lisbon's youth academy, is the oldest and tallest player in this match.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Madeira prodigy, the proud striker, the next Quaresma in Sporting Lisbon's black market scheme! And the next Simão!

After the players enter the field, the starting players go onto the field and the substitutes go to the bench.

Eusebio and Figo stood in the head coach's area.

With the sound of a whistle, the competition officially began.

……

"GOAL!"

"What a beautiful goal!"

"Incredible! That's his third goal of the day! He's completed a hat-trick!"

"This is absolutely a super genius. I have no doubt now that he can become the next Quaresma, the next Simão!"

"Let's call out his name, Cristiano..."

The entire stadium of 50,000 spectators chanted in unison: "Ronaldo!"

Just by listening to the sound, you might even think that the person playing the football is Ronaldo, the alien who is about to dominate the World Cup stage.

"3-1, Figo has completely dominated the game!"

"If Almeida hadn't been out of form today, Figo's team would have scored five goals by now!"

"No, it should be seven. Chris and his teammate Amorin each wasted a one-on-one opportunity."

"The Panthers were completely blown up; there was absolutely nothing they could do."

"That little guy named Moutinho is completely incapable of handling the playmaking; he lost possession every time he got the ball today."

"There's no way around it, the physical differences between players of this age are just too great. Moutinho has good technique, but he's too short. It's like children playing against adults."

"Speaking of short players, the Panthers have an even shorter player on their bench, which is a disaster."

"When that kid goes on the court later, I hope he won't be traumatized by the experience."

In the 72nd minute of the match, Eusebio made another series of substitutions. He had already made one substitution in the 50th minute, but it was ineffective.

Deng Kai walked to the sidelines and got his chance to play.

"You've worked hard!" Deng Kai patted Moutinho, who was covered in dust as he left the field.

Moutinho appeared dazed, a stark contrast to his energetic demeanor before the match.

This chatterbox became withdrawn after being beaten.

The moment he stepped onto the field, a voice that only he could hear echoed in Deng Kai's mind.

"You used a player-dropped item—The Applause of the Dutch Flying Man, the Flames of Young Ronaldo's Revenge!"

"Applause from the Dutch sprinter: Cruyff applauds your performance. During the competition, you will receive a 'Cruyff upper body strength boost'!"

"The Flames of Young Ronaldo's Revenge: You defeated a young Ronaldo, igniting his indomitable fighting spirit. When you become Ronaldo's opponent, all he wants to do is dribble past you!"

Deng Kai smiled slightly.

This is the reward he received in a competition three years ago.

After each match, the system will give him a post-match score for his performance.

The rewards vary depending on the score.

In that match, Deng Kai received an SSS rating and obtained items dropped by the two star players.

This will be Deng Kai's only two options in this game.

Because he missed three years of training and didn't grow much taller, his football skills weren't much different from three years ago.

Three years ago, he might have been considered one of the best among his peers.

But now, as Ronaldo said, Duncan has been surpassed by a lot.

Of course, Deng Kai had a strong intuition that even if he continued playing football for the next three years, his level would likely remain exactly the same as it is now, without any improvement.

Because that's the upper limit for "mediocrity".

So at this moment, Deng Kai was certain that his initial choice was correct.

Sharpening knives does not miss woodcutters.

Without these three years of reflection, I would have been constrained by my talent.

Instead of the way things are now, where you can feel progress all the time.

Because his current talent rating is unparalleled!