All Madmen

The south gate of Edward VII Park directly faces Marquis of Pombal Square, a convergence point for five major traffic arteries in Lisbon and also an important metro station.

Go around the circular square, pass two intersections, turn east onto Duke Lore Street, and walk six hundred meters to reach Tang Jose Apartment.

This is the dormitory the team arranged for Rony.

Through the access control, he went straight upstairs to the dormitory door. Just as he was about to take out his keys, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

"Ah, Rony, why are you back so late? You've been gone all day—where'd you go?"

The speaker was a tall, strong, dark-skinned African-descended youth.

His name was Jose Semedo, from Cape Verde.

"Nothing much. I was bored alone, so I went to the park to practice." Rony replied flatly.

Semedo shrugged. Everyone on the team knew Rony was a training fanatic; he could even stay in the gym until two in the morning before being kicked out by the club's security guard.

Still, he was also one of the standout talents in the team's youth academy.

As they passed each other, Rony caught the strong scent of cologne on Semedo and frowned.

"Jose, where are you going?"

Semedo turned around, grinning wide to reveal a set of dazzling white teeth. "Hugo said he'd introduce us to some hot girls. You interested in coming along?"

It was the off-season for the league, and the youth academy had no training, so their schedules were free.

Rony wore an expression that said I knew it, shaking his head.

"Come on, Rony, you're the best-looking guy among us. Don't keep pining over that girl from Madeira. You're in Lisbon now—you should open your arms and embrace new, better things, right?" Semedo urged.

Rony shook his head. "You go ahead. I'm not interested."

"That's because you haven't tasted how good it is yet." Semedo teased.

Rony didn't respond and walked straight into the dormitory.

He and Semedo were teammates in the youth academy, and this was the only real friend he had on the team.

That was because both of them had Cape Verdean blood in their veins.

Rony's paternal grandmother was Cape Verdean.

That gave them a natural sense of kinship, making them friends and roommates, but nothing more.

Semedo left, but the air in the dormitory still reeked of cologne and hormones.

Rony let out a helpless, bitter laugh, walked over to the phone, and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello, this is Pontes." A familiar voice came through as soon as the call connected.

"Hey, Lionel, it's Rony." Rony greeted warmly.

"Oh my God, Rony, what made you suddenly think to call me? Lord, I haven't heard your voice in so long."

Lionel Pontes on the other end was very excited.

Over the years, he'd been boasting to everyone that Rony was the most talented and capable prodigy he'd ever coached.

Besides, they came from the same place—they were countrymen.

Rony wasn't great at small talk, even with someone who'd coached him for four years in the youth team and was a fellow townsman.

Soon, he steered the conversation to the purpose of the call.

"It's like this, Lionel. You have a lot of experience in youth training. I've got some training issues I want to ask you about. I hope you can help me out."

"I'm afraid that won't work, Rony." Pontes sounded regretful. "You know, I'm only good at training kids aged 10 to 15. I've already taught you everything I know. I doubt I can answer your questions anymore. I suggest you ask Aurelio or Nuno instead."

Aurelio Pereira was Rony's mentor and the team's youth academy director.

Nuno Nare was Rony's previous youth coach, though he probably wouldn't be next season.

"I'm actually asking about that age group." Rony felt a bit awkward.

"Oh, then let's hear it."

"It's like this—if there's a player who's sixteen or seventeen, and a lot of his basic technical moves aren't standard or proper, is there a way to correct them and help him improve?"

"Sixteen or seventeen?" Pontes shook his head in difficulty. "That would be tough. By then, it's already a habit, muscle memory. But Rony, your technique is pretty standard—you don't need to worry about this."

"Lionel, I'm not talking about myself. It's a friend of mine."

"That shouldn't be the case either. Normally, if his technique isn't up to standard, he wouldn't pass our team's assessment or get into the youth academy."

"He's not on our team."

"Another team?"

"Yeah."

"Your friend?"

"I just met him today."

"Oh my God, you actually made a new friend. That's unbelievable but great news—you've got a friend now, haha..."

Rony was embarrassed on the other end of the line, because he really didn't think he was aloof.

At most, he just didn't socialize much with his teammates.

How could someone who buried himself in training all day have time to make friends?

"Let's get down to business, Lionel. Is there a way?"

"He's already past the optimal age for technical development."

"I know you definitely have a way. This is your specialty, isn't it?"

"Alright, there is a way, but it's really tough. Changing someone's habits takes a lot of effort. Do you think he can do it?"

"I don't know." Rony shook his head. He'd only met Su Dong a day ago. "But I get along with him. He's a fanatical football lover, trains like his life depends on it."

"Like you?"

"Pretty much."

"Then there's still a chance," Pontes replied. "We can use training equipment and tools to correct it, and tweak the drills a bit. I'll think it over tonight and send you a file tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Rony frowned. "Can you push it to tonight? Thanks, Lionel. I'll treat you to a meal another day."

"Are you in a hurry?"

"Yeah, I've got plans tomorrow morning."

"What time?"

"Five."

As he answered, Su Dong's words echoed in Rony's mind: Have you seen Lisbon at 5 a.m.?

A faint smile crept onto his lips. I've seen it at 2 a.m.

"You really are just like him—both crazy," Pontes said over the phone.

As a Virgo, Su Dong demanded perfection from himself.

When he got back to the dorm, showered, and lay in bed, he entered the Path to the King of Football system. First, he maxed out the potential values for the four main attributes—Technique, Shooting, Speed, and Strength—all the way to 99 points.

Then he noticed he still had plenty of King of Football Points left, so he went ahead and maxed out the potential values for Defense and Tackling too.

In one go, he spent 27,000 King of Football Points, burning through almost all the points he'd earned that afternoon.

Still, looking at his personal attribute panel, with potential values all uniformly at 99, his mood lifted considerably.

That's just how a Virgo man is—simple, unadorned, and boring.

His one-on-one duel with Rony today had given him a slight boost in strength, but the improvement wasn't huge.

Su Dong felt that he still needed more professional youth training, especially to correct his unrefined technical moves and habits.

He couldn't afford to underestimate that.

Unprofessional techniques and habits not only hurt consistency but also made injuries more likely.

A lot of people said Ronaldo's frequent injuries were tied to his playing style, especially the Pendulum Dribble.

Many South American players were like that—call it creativity or a flash of spontaneity if you're generous, but bluntly, it's unscientific and unstandardized technique, everyone doing their own thing.

Of course, players trained in the more standardized, scientific European youth systems often came off as a bit mechanical, lacking some flair.

All of that was still far beyond Su Dong's level. He hadn't reached that tier yet.

For now, he just wanted to keep his feet on the ground and improve as fast as he could.

At the very least, he needed to push hard and secure a spot in Sporting Portugal's youth team, even if it was just the third-tier club's academy.

After training all day, he was exhausted and drained, so Su Dong fell asleep early.

The next morning, just before five, his alarm woke him up.

After brushing his teeth, washing his face, and changing clothes, he jogged all the way to Edward VII Park.

At the park's south gate, he spotted Rony walking over from the east side in the distance.

With no one else around, they easily saw each other and exchanged knowing smiles.

"What's all this?" Su Dong asked, eyeing the gear Rony was carrying.

"Agility ladder, cones, poles..." Rony listed off the equipment. "All stuff we'll use in training later. I put this together just for you—hellish, devilish training."

After saying that, Rony shot him a threatening look. "You can still back out now if you want."

Su Dong snorted twice, didn't reply, walked over, took the gear from Rony, and headed straight into the park.

He knew full well that Rony had prepared all this to help correct his technical flaws.

Even though they'd only known each other for a day, they shared the same passion, and feeling Rony's thoughtfulness warmed Su Dong's heart.

This was the first warmth he'd felt since arriving in Portugal.

Rony didn't say much more, following Su Dong into the park.

He did all this purely out of admiration for Su Dong, a peer with a similar temperament, without even thinking about any return.

He simply regarded Su Dong as a friend.

Wasn't this what friends were supposed to do?

The two didn't head to yesterday's three-player training ground but went straight to the largest seven-player training ground.

"Let me tell you, I learned this training method from Lionel Pontes," Rony said as he set up the field and arranged the equipment, explaining the origin to Su Dong.

"You definitely don't know Lionel Pontes, right?"

"I'm telling you, he's the best youth training expert in Portugal, especially skilled at developing players aged 10 to 15."

At this point, Rony paused, turned around, and smiled as he teased Su Dong, "Your current fundamentals are probably about the level of a 10-year-old. You're still a long way from beating me."

Su Dong knew it in his heart, but he didn't back down.

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