Sporting Lisbon's Romanian head coach, Boloni, was an extremely serious man, and he had always been steady in deploying his players.
In the first round of the league, they were facing Porto at home. He didn't dare be careless in the slightest, so he fielded the most popular 4-2-3-1 formation, with two holding midfielders. He benched the newly signed top scorer, Jardel, and started Niculae as the center forward.
This was a cautious approach.
By contrast, Porto, led by Machado, played very aggressively away from home. They lined up in a 4-3-3, with scoring king Pena, Postiga, and Nuno Capucho forming a three-pronged attack, displaying absolute confidence in their offensive firepower.
They were bitter rivals in the Portuguese Super League, after all. The clash between the two teams was already fiercely heated from the opening whistle.
After the match began, everyone focused their attention on the pitch.
Watching a match live and watching one on television were two completely different experiences. In some ways, the details one could catch with one's eyes were fewer. There were no replays or slow-motion shots. Everything flashed by in an instant.
But without the barrier of television cameras, watching live made it easier to feel the match's rapid pace. It was exhilarating, thrilling, and stimulating. It was easy to be provoked into screaming by a player's sudden move.
For Rony, watching the match on the pitch mostly made him dissatisfied.
For Su Dong, however, it was mainly shocking. He deeply felt the gap between himself and professional players.
Leaving aside everything else, if he were put on the pitch, he would not be able to keep up with the pace of the match at all, let alone touch the ball.
"Boloni benched Jardel. He's taking a gamble on Niculae." Beside Su Dong, Jose Semedo shouted.
The noise at the stadium was deafening. Even though they were sitting close together, they couldn't hear each other without raising their voices.
Like Boloni, Niculae was Romanian. He was also a player Boloni had strongly advocated signing.
"Niculae is very similar to Jardel. Last season at Dinamo Bucharest, he scored twenty-three goals in thirty matches. He scored twenty goals in twenty-seven domestic league matches, one in two Champions League matches, and two in one domestic cup match. His efficiency was extremely high. If he could establish himself, Jardel would be under a lot of pressure." Semedo analyzed the situation.
Rony nodded. "That's the club's insurance policy. Apparently, Jardel doesn't want to return to Lisbon."
People naturally sought higher ground, just as water flowed downhill. Jardel was now a famous European player and had attracted the attention of many major clubs, including Inter Milan. If not for special circumstances, he certainly wouldn't have wanted to return to Sporting Lisbon.
So, in a sense, Boloni's insistence on signing Niculae—and entrusting the twenty-year-old Romanian center forward with an important role in the opening-round clash against Porto—was also meant to put pressure on Jardel.
But after seeing Niculae miss a great chance, Rony shook his head. "He's nowhere near as good as Jardel."
Perhaps he was new to the team. Perhaps he was still adjusting. Perhaps...
But no matter how one looked at it, Jardel had been in excellent form and scoring freely during the warm-up matches, while Niculae had looked ordinary.
In the twenty-second minute, right winger Ricardo Sá Pinto was injured during a challenge, and the team doctor signaled for a substitution.
When Su Dong saw Sá Pinto being carried off on a stretcher, he immediately turned to Rony.
Sure enough, the Madeira Island wonderkid's expression had become extremely ugly.
The fourth official on the touchline raised the substitution board. Number twenty Ricardo Quaresma replaced number ten Sá Pinto.
Encouraging cheers rose from Alvalade Stadium.
No Sporting Lisbon fan would be unfamiliar with the shining hope of their youth academy, especially a genius like Quaresma.
Now that Quaresma was making his First Team debut, expectations were naturally sky-high.
Anyone seeing Quaresma play for the first time would be dazzled and cry out in admiration.
This was a genius!
Su Dong had praised Rony before, but only after truly seeing Quaresma take the field, dribble down the right flank as though no one were there, and wreak havoc on Porto's entire left side did he genuinely understand how terrifying a genius could be.
Just minutes earlier, the number ten, Sá Pinto, had been completely shackled on the right flank.
Because Sporting Lisbon's left side was manned by the young Jorge and was extremely vulnerable defensively, Porto had focused its attacks on the right, taking a more defensive approach on the left.
Earlier, Sá Pinto's presence on the right had failed to put enough pressure on Porto's left flank, leaving Sporting Lisbon in a very passive position. But after Quaresma entered the field, all of that changed, and the deadlock was completely broken.
Just fifteen minutes later, Porto's lone holding midfielder Costinha received his second yellow card and was sent off with a straight red.
Down a man, Porto fought desperately. At halftime, they made two substitutions in succession to strengthen their midfield defense.
But that left Porto completely on the back foot.
The young Quaresma continued his brilliant performance in the second half, earning thunderous applause and becoming famous in a single match.
It was easy to foresee the flood of praise from the media and fans. Quaresma might well use this match to secure a place in the First Team's starting lineup.
Even if he couldn't become a starter, he would at the very least become a key development prospect for the First Team.
This was professional football!
Years of training—even ten or twenty years of accumulation—ultimately existed for those brief ninety minutes of brilliance on the pitch.
Su Dong envied Quaresma, but more than that, he admired him.
He deserved it.
There was no room for trickery on the football pitch. If one's ability did not reach that level, then even when opportunity arrived, one still couldn't seize it.
Quaresma was a genius, and perhaps even more talented than Rony.
At last, in the sixtieth minute, Boloni could no longer tolerate Niculae's repeated missed chances and substituted him.
The Romanian center forward's performance in this match had truly been unsatisfactory. He looked clumsy, and while Quaresma had torn Porto's defense apart, he had failed to seize the opportunities.
Jardel naturally took his place on the touchline.
The entire stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.
Only a year earlier, Jardel had been the darling of the Portuguese Super League. Although he had spent the past year playing for Turkey's Galatasaray, his legend still lived on here.
It could be said that Sporting Lisbon's toothless attack last season had made everyone look forward to Jardel even more.
The Brazilian star did not disappoint. Just nine minutes after coming on, he made a forward run from outside the penalty area, received a pass from forward João Pinto, used his body to shove Andrade aside, and smashed a powerful shot past the Porto goalkeeper from inside the box.
In an instant, all of Alvalade Stadium exploded!
Su Dong, Rony, Semedo, and all the Sporting Lisbon fans leaped from their seats and charged toward the running Jardel, shouting loudly and repeatedly crying out his name.
Su Dong, in particular, was so excited that he cheered at the top of his lungs.
The goal had come suddenly, but it was also incredibly important.
Although Porto had gone down to ten men early, its two center backs had performed exceptionally well.
Andrade needed no introduction. He was a young Portuguese international center back in whom Portugal had placed great hopes. Carvalho had performed well last season, though he was not yet very famous. Together, the two had completely frozen Niculae out of the match.
But Jardel was clearly more forceful and more dangerous than Niculae.
His crucial goal had rescued Sporting Lisbon at home.
It wasn't that Andrade and Carvalho were too weak. Jardel was simply too strong!
Su Dong gripped the railing tightly with both hands, his eyes fixed on the Brazilian forward celebrating after sprinting to the touchline below. In his ears thundered the deafening roar of the entire stadium.
More than fifty thousand people were all shouting the same name.
Jardel!
The feeling was impossible to describe.
At that moment, Su Dong was like Liu Bang in the history books when he saw Qin Shi Huang on an inspection tour. He sincerely voiced his admiration.
That is what a true man should be!
A powerful desire rose from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to become a professional player, to become a professional footballer like Jardel—one who scored goals for his team and earned the cheers of the entire stadium!
That desire had never been so intense.
He had liked Ronaldo before and longed to play like Ronaldo, but that had been more the fantasy of a young boy, separated from reality by the unreachable television screen. Tonight, however, he had felt this kind of shock for the first time. He had felt the overwhelming power of being there in person.
One goal had conquered fifty thousand people!
The match ultimately ended with Sporting Lisbon narrowly defeating Porto by one goal.
Jardel came on as a substitute and scored, though Andrade and Carvalho kept him under control for the rest of the match. The two center backs were extremely formidable, and Carvalho was named Best Player.
Sporting Lisbon had another player who performed exceptionally well: the young Quaresma.
For him, this match was like a sudden emergence. His ball control and breakthroughs on the flank, along with his dazzling technique, were breathtaking. Although he still had quite a few problems when it came to making decisions and passing, overall, Quaresma truly lived up to his reputation as a genius.
By contrast, Postiga on the opposite side for Porto looked somewhat overshadowed by Quaresma.
He had been forced to give up the central position to Pena, which meant he had to play in Pena's shadow.
The clash between the two Portuguese talents would surely become the focus of major media coverage the following day.
When the three of them left Alvalade Stadium with the ebbing crowd, Su Dong was still immersed in the match, especially the shock brought by Jardel's goal. Rony, meanwhile, wore an expression of deep resentment.
His mortal enemy had entered the First Team before him, made his professional debut before him, and performed exceptionally well. As for him, he was now behind by one step—and falling further behind with every step.
How could someone as fiercely competitive as him feel good about that?
The three of them each had their own thoughts and barely spoke on the way back. After returning to Marquis of Pombal Square, they went their separate ways.
After returning to the dormitory, Su Dong continued his physical training.
After several days of practice, he could now complete three sets of forty repetitions each, which was an improvement over before.
But his mind was filled with the image of Jardel's goal.
That kind of shock was impossible to get from watching a live broadcast on television. Only by being there and seeing that moment with one's own eyes could one feel its power and impact.
I must become a professional footballer!
A professional footballer as outstanding as Jardel!
I mailed out the contract today. Just checking in with everyone!
During the new-book period, I humbly beg for rewards, collections, and recommendation tickets! Many thanks!
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