Just Arrived

Duke Lore Street, Tang Jose Apartment.

Rony returned to the apartment and took a nice, long shower, feeling completely refreshed.

His roommate Semedo had gone out to party again.

In Lisbon, just flashing the Sporting Lisbon player badge would get a long line of beautiful women queuing up, ready to throw themselves at you.

For young girls, this was an absolute golden ticket to rise overnight.

Every year, countless girls ended up on the pages of major Portuguese newspapers just by latching onto a professional player. As for what happened next, that depended on their own skills.

Some girls could never shake off the label of being so-and-so's player girlfriend, only ever showing up on their boyfriend's or husband's arm. Others quickly carved out their own path, even stepping over their man to climb higher.

This kind of thing happened all the time.

Rony had seen through it long ago, which was why he didn't like going out. Otherwise, with his status and looks, girls chasing after him could line up from Marquis of Pombal Square all the way to Alvalade Stadium.

Now, he was mostly focused on playing football.

Especially after both of his sworn rivals in the team got promoted to the first team, his urgency had only grown.

If it hadn't been for that incident that made him miss the preseason, he'd probably be in the first team too.

But what use were "ifs" in this world?

Letting out a sigh, Rony didn't dwell on it too much. He quickly called Lionel Pontes, mainly to talk about Su Dong.

After a week without seeing him, Su Dong's progress had surprised Rony.

"He's really at our U16 level now?" Pontes asked, taken aback.

Rony hummed in confirmation on the phone. "Not fully rounded yet, but I feel like he can hold his own."

Pontes was silent for a moment on the other end before praising, "That's some fast progress!"

No kidding.

A little over a month ago, this guy couldn't even hold a spot on an amateur team.

"I think the main thing is that he's been training like crazy this whole time," Rony said.

Pontes hummed in agreement on the phone, because he'd watched it all unfold.

Wasn't Rony himself the same way back then, completely transforming in just over a year?

He still clearly remembered when Rony first joined the team. His performance wasn't anything special, but he boasted that he'd beat the team's super talents, Ricardo Quaresma and Edgar Marcelino.

That statement became the laughingstock of the whole team.

But times changed. Now, the three of them were hailed as the top three talents in Sporting Lisbon's youth squad. Looking back, who didn't admire Rony's bold words back then?

And behind Rony's rise was his almost insane training.

Pontes, a fellow native of Madeira Island, had witnessed it all firsthand.

Would Su Dong be the next Rony?

Pontes hadn't seen it yet, so he couldn't be sure, but it seemed like another young player held back by poor youth training.

After reporting on Su Dong's situation, Rony brought up his own idea, but Pontes opposed it.

"Honestly, starting strength training in the gym at sixteen is way too risky."

"But that's how I trained," Rony said matter-of-factly.

"You're a freak. That doesn't mean everyone else is a freak," Pontes scolded with a laugh.

In truth, he'd always been against Rony overtraining in the gym, but that kid was just too competitive.

After catching up to Quaresma and Marcelino, the kid had set his sights directly on Andres Cruz.

Who was that?

The top muscleman in Sporting Lisbon's youth academy, the Sports Tower.

And sure enough, Rony actually caught up to him.

The "legendary feat" that many in the team still talked about—him staying in the gym until two in the morning before being kicked out by the security guard—was achieved during that period.

"You have the fast-twitch muscle fibers from your African heritage, but Su Dong doesn't. What you did back then was already very risky. One wrong move could leave permanent damage. Su Dong can't do that," Pontes analyzed.

"Then what should he do?"

"Simple. Start with some basic exercises, like sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and so on. Also, weighted training—gradually add weight while running and kicking the ball, step by step."

Pontes' advice was more scientific, if a bit conservative, but Rony accepted it.

He valued Su Dong as a friend, and he wanted to avoid any risk that could get him injured.

Back then, when he pushed himself, it was more out of recklessness and impulse, without much thought.

"Alright, I get it. That saves me some gym fees too," Rony said with a laugh.

After hanging up with Pontes, Rony got a call from Su Dong.

This was the number he'd given Su Dong earlier for easier contact.

Su Dong's purpose in calling was to invite him and José Semedo to dinner.

"What's this? Signed a contract and got rich?" Rony teased with a laugh on the other end of the line.

Su Dong chuckled heartily. "Got a signing bonus of 100 euros."

The first thing he thought of after getting the money was to treat Rony to a meal, and to invite José Semedo along too.

Rony naturally wouldn't refuse and agreed with a laugh, while also passing along Pontes's suggestion.

The two agreed that after dinner tomorrow night, they'd head to the mall to get those pieces of equipment ready.

By then, the 100 euros would probably be just about spent.

Even though the new season had already started, Su Dong and Rony still showed up at Edward VII Park every day at five in the morning to train.

Despite Rony being too proud to say it outright, it wasn't hard to guess which team he played for.

With youth development unmatched in Portugal and a stadium under renovation, the only Lisbon club that fit was Sporting Lisbon.

Neither Benfica nor Belenenses had that. Sporting Lisbon was building a new training base in Alcochete, reportedly set to open in 2002.

Like most professional players, Rony's academic performance was terrible, so after completing the compulsory education required by UEFA and the Portuguese Football Federation, he left school.

But because he took a week off during the season, missing valuable preseason training, Rony wasn't called up to the first team. For now, he was still training with the youth squad, with only one session a day in the afternoon.

Su Dong's team, Sporting Portugal, was a senior squad but semi-professional. Many players had part-time jobs, so unlike professional clubs, Sporting Portugal also only had one afternoon training session, leaving the rest of the day for the players to manage themselves.

That meant Su Dong and Rony could spend the entire morning and noon training at Edward VII Park.

It wasn't until around three in the afternoon that they went their separate ways.

Rony took the metro north from Marquis of Pombal Square to Alvalade Stadium, while Su Dong jogged two kilometers back to report for his team's afternoon training session.

Even though Sporting Portugal had many part-time players, every single one of them had come out of professional youth academies. Some had even trained at places like Benfica and Belenenses.

These players had rock-solid fundamentals, with solid technique and real skill.

As a newcomer, Su Dong didn't dare to act presumptuously. Gorba led him to the first team's shabby locker room.

Every transfer window, a club like Sporting Portugal would see players come and go, and this year was no exception.

The players were used to it.

But Su Dong drew more curiosity from his teammates because he was only sixteen.

Joining a first team at sixteen, even for a third-division club like Sporting Portugal, was something worth noting.

The team's captain, Marco Matello, introduced Su Dong to his teammates. He clearly held a high status in the locker room.

Matello, thirty-three, was a goalkeeper who came out of Belenenses's youth academy. But at just twenty-three, he played nine Primeira Liga matches for Belenenses, reportedly only because the first-team starting goalkeeper was injured. After that, he bounced around several lower-division clubs before joining Sporting Portugal.

That résumé was already quite impressive for this semi-professional team.

Besides being the captain, Matello also handled some of the team's administrative duties and was reportedly studying for his coaching license. He was one of the few players on a full-time contract, earning the club's top salary: 400 euros a week.

Salary might not mean everything, but a comparison shows just how tight things were at Sporting Portugal.

Rony was earning 300 euros a week at Sporting Lisbon, plus appearance fees and bonuses, which roughly matched Matello's pay without bonuses.

But Rony said that once he made it to the first team and performed well, his next contract could easily add a zero to the end.

"Su performed exceptionally well in the preseason assessments, and he's a young player the team will focus on developing. Everyone, please help him out as much as possible, and let's hope the new season brings better results."

Matello had considerable influence in the team, and his words drew a positive response from everyone.

Su Dong didn't know anyone and was the new guy. After introducing himself, he picked a locker in the corner, quietly organized his things, and listened to the chatter in the locker room.

The new Primeira Liga season was about to kick off, and the opening round featured a marquee match: Sporting Lisbon hosting Porto at home.

Neither team had performed well last season, allowing the dark horse Boavista to pull off a surprise championship win—their first ever Primeira Liga title—which shamed the traditional big three.

"Benfica still seems indifferent, no ambition. Porto has last season's top scorer Pena, so they're likely to push hard this year. And Sporting Lisbon—Boloni spent big to bring in his Romanian compatriot Niculae, and there are rumors he's still working on getting Jardel. That opening match is bound to be a good one."

Jardel, a famous European striker, was currently playing for Turkey's Galatasaray but was being chased by several big clubs, including Inter Milan. Word had it that Sporting Lisbon was offering Belgian winger Mbo Mpenza, Croatian forward Špehar, and Czech midfielder Horváth as trade bait to bring in the Primeira Liga's top scorer.

Rony had mentioned this to Su Dong before.

To Su Dong, names like Pena, Jardel, and Mbo Mpenza were all figures on a distant, unreachable cloud.

Starting tomorrow, two updates daily. I'll schedule them in advance: 8 AM and 6 PM.

During the new book period, I humbly beg for tips, collections, and recommendation votes! Thank you!