Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

At this moment, Deng Kai was talking to Fonte. The two returned to their respective positions to prepare for Figo's new round of attack.

Seventy-eighth minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo dribbled from the wing to the center and encountered Deng Kai.

Saying "encountered" is inaccurate; it should be said that Ronaldo found Deng Kai.

Then, with a series of fancy bicycle kicks, after failing to shake off Deng Kai, he flicked the ball to change direction and accelerate, outmaneuvering Deng Kai.

From an offensive and defensive perspective, this is almost an insult to the defender.

Deng Kai tenaciously stayed close to Ronaldo, causing Ronaldo some trouble with his breakthroughs. His pulling made Ronaldo very uncomfortable, but because he was too slow, he was eventually completely shaken off by Ronaldo.

However, just after getting past Deng Kai, Ronaldo was dispossessed by Fonte, who made a proactive attack.

This was also Fonte's first interception of Ronaldo throughout the match.

Fonte then passed the ball to his teammate Pereira, and as he watched Deng Kai run forward, he suddenly teared up.

What Kai said is true!

Kai really has a way of limiting Ronaldo's performance!

Fonte's psychological trauma is being healed by a short man.

He is full of confidence for the upcoming matches.

On the other hand, after receiving the ball, Pereira and Deng Kai played a series of one-two passes, getting past two players and pushing the ball across the halfway line.

Figo's team hadn't felt the Black Panthers' attack for a long time, and for a moment they were busy positioning themselves and didn't press.

So much so that Pereira carried the ball all the way into the attacking third before Figo's midfielder Amorim finally managed to clear the ball out of bounds with a tackle.

"Sporting Lisbon is trash! Long live Benfica!" Amorim shouted after his tackle, trying to encourage himself.

Teammates and fans at the scene cheered along with him.

This is a method used by the defending side to put pressure on the opponent after a successful defense.

This statement also reveals Amorim's stance.

But after looking at Amorin several times, Deng Kai finally recognized him.

Good guy!

As expected of the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament, all the players who participated will be future legends!

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, in a few years this Benfica die-hard fan, Amorim, will be kicked out of the team and then join their arch-rivals, Sporting Lisbon, where he has become seen as the successor to the Portuguese national team's midfield due to his outstanding performance.

Although his growth ultimately fell short of expectations, his story is far from simple.

In March 2020, at the "young" age of 35, this guy became the head coach of Sporting Lisbon.

Yes, not Benfica, but Sporting Lisbon.

And after Chelsea manager Tuchel was sacked in 2022, he became a rumored manager for Chelsea.

He can be considered a figure of moderate importance among the younger generation of head coaches in the football world.

Isn't he just like a living, breathing Guardiola?

When he was coaching Sporting Lisbon against Benfica, could he still shout "Long live Benfica"?

Deng Kai smiled.

His laughter sent chills down Amorim's spine.

Bro, let's play football, not get gay!

"Fonte, come up here!" Deng Kai looked at the position of the throw-in, beckoned Fonte over, and gestured to Pereira that he should take the throw-in.

The two of them dawdled, giving Fonte time to come up.

"Go into the penalty area and head the ball!" Deng Kai instructed Fonte, then wiped the ball on his jersey repeatedly, looking quite serious.

Out of consideration for the young players, the playing field today is not a standard sports field.

Instead, it's a smaller stadium with newly marked lines.

After all, how can a player with an average height of 1.5 meters compare to a player with an average height of 1.75 meters in running ability?

Moreover, young players naturally have worse physical fitness.

A player's physical peak is around 24 or 25 years old.

Before this, it was all uphill; after this, it's all downhill.

This arrangement of having the center-backs go into the penalty area is very puzzling.

Figo looked at Eusebio: "Is this your special arrangement?"

The latter shook his head.

Then, while everyone was watching how Deng Kai was going to serve the ball inbounds, Deng Kai stepped back at least three meters.

Raise the ball overhead.

approach.

accelerate.

He stopped abruptly at the sideline and used inertia and arm strength to throw the football out hard.

The football took to the air.

It flew past Pereira, who was nearby to meet it.

It flew past Amorim, which was next to Pereira.

It flew all the way...into Figo's penalty area!

Fonte, who is 1.8 meters tall, leaped high into the air.

Miguel Veloso, the Figo center-back who was half a head shorter than him, reacted a beat too late and watched helplessly as Fonte headed the ball towards the goal.

Figo goalkeeper Bruno Valle made no attempt to make a save.

Because he never expected Deng Kai to throw the football so far.

"GOAL!"

The commentator is always the first to react.

"An incredible goal has been scored!"

"Fonte headed the ball, but the key to this goal wasn't him, but Deng Kai who threw the ball from an incredible distance!"

"It's unbelievable that such a short player has such strength!"

"I don't mean to insult him, but he really reminds me of the incredibly strong dwarves in fantasy novels!"

"That's not a thrower, that's a grenade!"

"The Black Panthers' aerial bombardment has conquered Figo's skies!"

"Two to three! The score is still up in the air!"

"Deng Kai's arrival has injected new energy into the Black Panthers. So far, Deng Kai has contributed one steal, two interceptions, one free kick, one key pass, and one assist!"

"But strangely, we couldn't find any information about him."

"Please wait a moment and don't leave. We will release more information about this player later."

……

"What's going on? How are you defending?! Veloso, Bruno, what are you standing there for?" Figo was very unhappy with the goal conceded, because the ball was not fast after all, and even if the distance was beyond everyone's expectations, Veloso should have blocked Fonte.

Veloso looked terrible. He did have a chance to stop Fonte, but he wasn't as tall as Fonte.

Height is very important for center-backs.

Despite being 1.7 meters tall, Veloso is considered short compared to other center-backs of the same age.

If this continues, he may not be able to play center-back anymore.

He is now feeling the pressure from the team.

If it weren't for the fact that his father was Benfica's starting center-back and team captain, he might have already been kicked out of the youth academy.

Veloso's active participation in the "Diamond Generation Invitational" was driven by his desire to redeem himself through a strong performance.

As a result, his height disadvantage was further exposed.

Deng Kai shook his head as he looked at the irritable Veloso.

This is nothing!

Following the course of the previous life, Veloso was about to be expelled from Benfica's youth academy.

After that, in order to play football, he had to join the youth academy of his arch-rival Sporting Lisbon. Later, in Sporting Lisbon's first team, he teamed up with Moutinho, who had just been defeated by Ronaldo, to defeat his former club Benfica and win the Portuguese league title.

I heard that on the day Veloso won the championship, his father locked him out of the house and forbade him from entering.

The game quickly resumed.

Cristiano Ronaldo is becoming increasingly eager, hoping to score against Duncan.

He truly lived up to his reputation as a player with a big heart, performing better and better and earning rounds of applause.

However, Figo's attacking fluidity was greatly reduced as a result, and their threat level was not as high as before.