Semedo's Sorrow

Edward VII Park was very quiet in the morning.

On the indoor football pitch near the south gate, Su Dong treated the obstacle poles in front of him as defensive dummies and practiced his shooting over and over again without pause.

Sometimes he would take a touch and then unleash a furious shot; other times, he would receive the ball with his back to goal, turn, and shoot.

The difference was that every shot simulated a different situation, requiring a different technique and angle.

The training was terribly dull, but Su Dong seemed not to feel it. He repeated the movements again and again on the pitch, sweating profusely.

In the shade by the sideline not far away, Rony and Jose Semedo sat on the ground together, watching silently.

"Have you noticed that something's been off with him these past few days?" Semedo suddenly asked.

"What's off?"

"Hard to say. It just feels like he's been training even harder than before."

"Probably got provoked by something," Rony guessed.

"You mean the opening match?"

Rony did not answer. Su Dong had never said anything about it either, but he guessed that was probably it.

In fact, after the opening match, Rony himself had been training harder than before.

He had already fallen behind Quaresma and did not want the gap to grow wider.

Working hard did not necessarily mean he could catch up, but without working hard, he would never catch up.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Rony looked deeply at Semedo, his longtime roommate, who was somewhat lazy. "To be honest, Jose, you should really think about it too. If you keep this up, forget about the First Team—you'll probably be sent out on loan sooner or later."

Jose Semedo had not stood out in Sporting Lisbon's youth academy. Otherwise, he would not have been released in the first place.

And after returning, he still seemed not to have learned his lesson.

After hearing this, a trace of evasiveness flashed in Semedo's eyes, though he put on an unconcerned expression and laughed. "Going out on loan wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I can't get playing time here, but I might become a starter somewhere else."

After saying that, he gave two dry laughs himself.

Rony acted as if he had not heard what he said, sighed, and stood up from the ground. "Enough talk. We still have to train. One day, I'll crush Quaresma!"

With that, he quickly charged onto the pitch.

"Su, I'll train with you!"

Jose Semedo lazily half-reclined by the sideline, watching Su Dong and Rony battle one-on-one on the pitch. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by envy—and deep sorrow.

He had been born into a poor family of Cape Verdean immigrants in Setúbal and had played football on the streets from an early age.

Though he was not especially tall at only 1.83 meters, he possessed the muscles and speed of an African player. He had been faster and stronger than his peers since childhood, so it was only natural that he gradually stood out and caught the eye of several clubs. He joined a powerhouse like Sporting Lisbon at an early age to receive training.

He had been twelve that year.

By Sporting Lisbon's youth-training standards, Semedo's technique was not outstanding. It did not even meet the club's requirements. Since childhood, his style of play had relied on his physique and speed.

That worked very well in the Youth Team, but if he could not gain an advantage in strength and speed, he had no answer.

Sporting Lisbon had noticed the problem. They had designed a targeted training program specifically for him early on, but Semedo was ultimately not Rony. He could not endure such dull, monotonous, and utterly tedious training.

During the period after Sporting Lisbon released him, he had once deeply reflected on his mistakes and resolved to turn over a new leaf.

Because he knew that he carried the hopes of his entire family.

His family was counting on him to make a name for himself, become a professional footballer, perhaps even a star, earn more money, and completely change the family's fate.

That determination allowed him to return to Sporting Lisbon, but unfortunately, it did not last long.

The outside world was simply too wonderful.

There were beautiful women who threw themselves at him as soon as they heard the name Sporting Lisbon; reporters who were always ready to treat them to meals, drinks, dancing, and singing, just to pry a few secrets about the team from their mouths; and fans who followed them around eagerly, basking in their reflected glory...

Wasn't that better?

Why train so hard?

Even walking along the roads in the old district and listening to the street singers was far more interesting than training, wasn't it?

Semedo was not ignorant of the truth.

Children from poor families matured early. He understood it—better than anyone.

Every time he saw Su Dong and Rony, he wanted to steel himself and work hard alongside them, but every time, he failed to persevere.

It was simply too painful!

He could not understand how Su Dong and Rony managed to keep going.

Just as Su Dong and Rony could not understand why he could not persevere.

Perhaps, as Su Dong had said, the weak could never understand the desires of the strong, while the strong could never understand the sorrow of the weak.

Thinking of this, Semedo silently stood up. Without saying a word to his friends, who were locked in a heated battle on the pitch, he drooped his head and quietly left Edward VII Park.

The two men battling on the pitch were both completely focused and did not notice.

The Portuguese Second Division was Portugal's third-tier league. It was divided by region into three groups: North, Central, and South.

Sporting Portugal played in the Southern Group of the Portuguese Second Division, which had sixteen teams in total.

This was also a format adopted by the Portuguese Football Federation to account for the financial pressure on lower-level leagues. The Southern Group still faced relatively heavy pressure, however, because several teams came from the Madeira Islands, west of the African continent.

Sporting Portugal hosted their second-round match, welcoming Loretano, who had taken all three points in the opening round.

The club came from Loulé on Portugal's southern coast and also had a long history. Backed by the two cities of Loulé and Faro, Loretano possessed considerable financial strength. It was one of the few professional teams in the Portuguese Second Division, and every season, it aimed to win promotion to the Portuguese League.

Of course, the club was still in the Portuguese Second Division to this day, which showed that it had yet to achieve that goal.

But as a fully professional team, its strength was not weak.

It was their first home match of the new season, after all, and Sporting Portugal's fans still showed up in decent numbers.

The home ground had eight thousand seats, and with standing tickets, its total capacity reached fifteen thousand. More than three thousand fans came to the match.

They all sat in the stands on either side, creating a respectable turnout.

They really should not be dismissed. According to the club's internal statistics, this attendance rate was already considered very high.

With the average ticket price at around one euro, Sporting Portugal averaged roughly one thousand fans per match.

In other words, Sporting Portugal had completely missed all three of the income sources known as the three pillars of European clubs—matchday revenue, broadcasting fees, and commercial operations. Relying solely on the little more than one thousand euros earned per match was nowhere near enough to support a team.

That was why Sporting Portugal had to develop more side businesses, including training classes and taking on training contracts from the government. The government would also provide appropriate financial support and various subsidies, such as stadium maintenance costs.

That was also why Gorba had suddenly placed such importance on Su Dong after the assessment.

If Su Dong played well and they sold him to a bigger club, they could earn a five-figure, or even six-figure, transfer fee in no time.

A club like Sporting Portugal basically had no chance of resisting such temptation.

Thus, Su Dong was naturally included in the match squad.

He had been performing better and better in training, and Matello also rated him highly, but he still started this match on the bench.

"Pay close attention to your opponents. I hope you can perform well after you come on," Antonio Pereira encouraged him.

Su Dong nodded silently.

Loretano kicked off first.

Before the match, Sporting Portugal's players had mocked the club in the dressing room for trying to win promotion year after year. But from another perspective, the team was indeed quite strong. Otherwise, it would not have had the confidence to keep challenging for promotion.

Sure enough, right after the match began, Loretano took the initiative and seized the advantage away from home.

Although Sporting Portugal were playing at home, they adopted a defensive approach.

Even so, Loretano repeatedly advanced into the thirty-meter zone and even pushed close to the penalty area.

The role of veteran captain Matello came into play at times like this. Besides standing in front of Sporting Portugal's goal like an anchor, he actively directed his teammates in defense and instructed the back line's movement.

Looking at Matello on the pitch, resembling a commander, and then at Antonio Pereira by the sideline, sitting as motionless as an enlightened monk, Su Dong finally understood why everyone believed Matello would replace Pereira.

After all, this was only a third-tier team. Once the defense stabilized, it became difficult for Loretano to create any real threat.

Su Dong also began paying attention to the opposing defense.

Both of the opposing center-backs were slightly taller than Su Dong. One of them was over 1.9 meters tall, and both were visibly a size more heavily built than Su Dong. Judging from their movement and style of play, Su Dong estimated that directly battling them physically would definitely not work.

They were somewhat slow and lacked agility, so he should run more. But Sporting Portugal's striker was like a stubborn donkey, insisting on confronting the opponents head-on. The result was obvious: he was beaten thoroughly.

Perhaps it was not that he was single-minded. Perhaps this was simply the only move he knew.

At that moment, Su Dong suddenly realized how important it was to be well-rounded.

"Hey, Su, why are they making you sit here?"

A familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

Su Dong stood up from the bench and turned around. He saw Rony and Jose Semedo sitting in the stands behind him, grinning mischievously at him.

"Why are you guys here?" Su Dong asked in surprise as he walked over.

"I just found an excuse and took the day off," Rony said indifferently. "But what about you? Why aren't you playing? That guy is much worse than you. He can't even control the ball."

By the end, Rony's face was full of disdain.

Although he criticized Su Dong every day, that was the kind of disdain shared between friends. In his heart, Su Dong had improved tremendously and was far better than Sporting Portugal's other attackers. The coach's decision not to play Su Dong was simply a waste of his talent.

"The coach wants me to observe for now. I'll probably come on in the second half," Su Dong replied.

"What's there to observe? Those two are stronger than you, but they're clumsy, slow, and inflexible. Just play against them the way you play against Jose."

Jose Semedo, sitting nearby, looked thoroughly displeased.

What, brother? What exactly are you trying to say?

How can those two compare with me?

And don't make me sound as if I'm easy to deal with, all right?

Sure, I'm no match for you, but you don't have to insult me like that.

"Su, hurry up and tell your coach to put you in and crush those two!"

Semedo did not dare get angry at Rony, so he could only vent all his resentment on Loretano's two unfortunate center-backs.

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