The Big Shot in the Changing Room

The Portuguese Super League's Winter Break was said to be two weeks, but in reality, the players only had one week off.

Christmas had barely passed before the team immediately began training camp.

This week of training camp was crucial for every team, because it was a rare chance to recharge midway through the season.

As for leagues like the Premier League, which had no Winter Break, they had always complained about how grueling the schedule was.

On the morning the team resumed training, Su Dong and the other two took Pontes's car to Alcochete.

On the way, Pontes told Su Dong that he had already received the club's official notice: next, he and Nare would continue to be responsible for Su Dong and Rony's intensive training, and they would focus on tracking the two players' training progress.

For Su Dong, who was a stranger in an unfamiliar place, this definitely counted as good news.

Rony also had an excellent impression of this fellow Madeira Island native, so naturally he had no objections.

After arriving at Alcochete, the four of them went their separate ways.

Rony and Semedo took Su Dong around Alcochete, because when Su Dong had come for his medical last time, he had not had time to properly look around, to the point that he could not even tell which area belonged to the first team and which to the youth team.

The reserve team and youth teams both trained and played matches on the north side, while the south side was the first team's exclusive territory. There was only a wire fence between the two, yet it felt as if they were two different worlds.

For example, when Semedo was with the reserve team and youth team, he usually only needed to attend training in the afternoon.

But if he trained with the first team, it was different. There were two training sessions a day.

They were at 9:30 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon respectively.

Although Su Dong and Rony had both been arranged to train with the first team, their matches were still with the reserve team, so they still went directly to the reserve team to report to head coach Jean James.

"Although you'll spend the vast majority of your time training with the first team, I'll still temporarily call you back to the reserve team for certain important training sessions, such as some tactical drills and integration training. That's very important."

As soon as Jean James met Su Dong and Rony, the two players who had been called up to the first team, he gave them a warning in advance.

After many players entered the first team, they became very resistant toward training and matches with the reserve team or youth team. This was normal. People strove upward, water flowed downward; it was a good thing for players to have ambition.

But for young players to enter the first team matchday squad, that was not something that happened casually.

Even someone as strong as Quaresma still occasionally returned to the reserve team to play matches.

The reason was simple: he needed matches to maintain his form.

If a player could not get matches with the first team for a long time, even the most talented player would one day fall away.

Su Dong was not resistant to this at all, because before this, he had still been playing for a third-tier team like Sporting Portugal.

"Su, I believe you should also have learned a bit about the team from Rony. Our reserve team is made up of young players, and there are quite a few young players in the first team too. The atmosphere within the squad is very good. The competition is fierce, but the squad is very united, especially with the team performing well this season."

Su Dong nodded, but he was half-convinced and half-doubtful about those words.

Because there had been constant rumors outside that Jardel would leave during the Winter Break, and his transfer destination would be one of the Big Four Leagues.

Perhaps seeing the doubt on Su Dong's face, James smiled and said, "I know you must have seen some news reports, but what I can tell you is that before the club makes an official announcement, Jardel is still a Sporting Lisbon player. He's a smart man. He knows to follow the team's rules."

Su Dong understood.

Yesterday, Mendes had told him personally that every professional team had rules. Some rules existed everywhere, while others were unique to each team.

For example, many people knew that whatever happened in the locker room could not be casually revealed to the outside world.

This was an iron rule. Whoever broke it would be rejected by the locker room.

Another point was that every player should, as much as possible, protect the unity of the locker room in front of outsiders.

Many players liked to reveal explosive locker-room stories to the media or fans, but in fact, that was something people found extremely distasteful.

"Since the first team's training hasn't started yet, you should go take a look at the reserve team first," James suggested.

With Rony and Semedo, these two old hands who knew the way, accompanying him, Su Dong went straight to the reserve team rest area.

Before they even walked in, they could already hear the sounds of joking and messing around from inside, coming from a distance outside.

"Hello, everyone, I'm back!"

As soon as Jose Semedo walked into the rest area, he immediately spread his arms and greeted everyone with a big laugh.

"Hey, Jose, you were almost late." Someone was the first to come up to him.

Watching the two of them affectionately open their arms and hug, Su Dong looked at Rony in some surprise, then looked at Semedo.

When Su Dong's gaze returned to Rony, the Madeira Island teenager shrugged, wearing an expression that said he did not care.

He really had not expected that Jose Semedo would actually be even more popular than Rony in the locker room.

But wasn't Rony the ace player of the reserve team? The genius rising star Sporting Lisbon valued so highly?

This was a mistake Su Dong had made subconsciously.

The best player was not necessarily the most popular player in the locker room.

To put it plainly, even in a team like Sporting Lisbon, geniuses would always be an extremely small minority.

A genius like Rony was indeed invincible on the pitch, but off the pitch, he did not fit in, because deep down he was still very proud. And once he started training, he was as if he did not care about his life at all. It was hard for anyone to become friends with someone like that.

Jose Semedo was the opposite. He had the openness and optimism unique to Black people. He smiled at everyone he saw and hugged everyone he met. Moving through the locker room, he was as comfortable and natural as a fish entering the sea.

When Su Dong realized this, he found he really had to change some of his views.

Perhaps every team needed a genius like Rony, but it also needed a role like Semedo.

"Come on, Su, let me introduce you. This is Hugo Pina."

Semedo quickly pulled an old friend over to Su Dong.

Su Dong was no stranger to the name. It was said that Jose Semedo often went out chasing girls with him.

"Hi, Hugo, nice to meet you. I'm Su Dong." Su Dong quickly reached out his hand.

"I've heard of you, Su. Jose often talks about you to me. I'm glad you came to Sporting Lisbon." Hugo Pina was also very friendly toward Su Dong, clearly because of Semedo.

"Hugo, Su Dong's transfer fee has tied your record, so don't show off anymore," Semedo said with a hearty laugh.

Hugo Pina had clearly heard about it too. He shrugged. "I was only fifteen back then."

The implication was: I'm worth more than three hundred thousand Euros now.

Su Dong did not mind it and just laughed.

"Su, let me introduce you. This is Jose Fonte, our main center back."

Semedo brought Su Dong in front of a tall player. "Jose, this is Su Dong. He's about as tall as you, but much faster, and his technique on the ball is better than yours too. I reckon you won't be able to mark him."

There was not much expression on Fonte's face. He reached out and shook Su Dong's hand perfunctorily, then said with no lack of provocation, "If there's a chance, let's have a go on the training pitch."

After saying that, he deliberately glanced at Semedo.

The Cape Verdean shrugged. "Anyway, I can't mark Su Dong anymore."

After following Jose Semedo around the rest area, Su Dong discovered that Sporting Lisbon truly was packed with talent.

So far, he still had not seen Quaresma, Marcelino, or Viana, the three geniuses who had entered the first team, nor had he run into Gisvi and Lourenço, the two forwards who played the same position as him, but the reserve team still had plenty of talented players.

There was Fabio Costa, who was said to officially inherit the crown of the youth team's number one after Rony entered the first team; there was also Andres Cruz, the extremely strong former number two brute of the Sports Tower; there was Miguel Paixão, the midfielder who had taken over Viana's authority; and there was Hugo Pina, who still held the youth team's transfer-fee record to this day...

These people were all very young, but none of them looked simple.

For example, from the moment Su Dong walked in, he had seen Andres Cruz practicing with dumbbells the entire time.

Fabio Costa, meanwhile, was juggling the ball off to the side like a performer, dazzling Su Dong.

However, he soon discovered that as soon as Jose Semedo, Hugo Pina, Miguel Paixão, and the others gathered together, they immediately started talking about women. It was nothing more than topics like so-and-so had hooked up with another beauty, but each of them spoke with great enthusiasm, looking exactly like a flock of roosters overflowing with male hormones.

After Su Dong got to know everyone, he sat back down beside Rony.

He now began to understand why Rony seemed so out of place.

He estimated that in the days to come, it would be very difficult for him to fit in with these people as well.

At least, so far, he had not yet met a single girl who made his heart stir.

Or perhaps making a picky Virgo man fall for someone was not an easy thing in itself.

After staying with the reserve team for a while, Su Dong left with Rony.

The two walked side by side through the wire fence and arrived at the first team's locker room.

The team captain was the veteran Pedro Barbosa. This midfielder had been with the team since 1995 and had rendered outstanding service. He was the kind of big shot who would retire at the club and enter management in the future.

Barbosa had clearly known about Su Dong long ago, not to mention Rony, the gifted youngster from the youth academy. He had already arranged everything for them and led the two into the locker room, introducing them to the other players.

Su Dong felt extremely nervous and excited the whole way.

A few months ago, he had only been in the stands, watching Sporting Lisbon's first-team players compete. Back then, he had envied them so much, and that group of people had seemed so far beyond his reach.

Who could have thought that a few months later, he would enter Sporting Lisbon's first team and gain the precious opportunity to train with them?

Right now, he was still very far from making a first-team appearance, but being able to train with these famous European players was already something extraordinarily rare and precious for Su Dong.

Because of that, he followed nervously behind Barbosa all the way and stepped through the door of the locker room.

To him, this was not merely a door, but a brand-new future.

Dear big-shot readers, please support me! Tips, favorites, recommendation votes—more of anything is always better!