Is This Su Dong?

"Su, what position do you usually play?"

On the sidelines, the coach who had been temporarily filling in asked Su Dong.

"Striker."

The coach frowned after hearing that. He looked at the other players, then back at Su Dong before saying, "I'm afraid we can't let you play striker today. We already have two strikers and three wingers."

This was also a major feature of the Youth Team. Almost everyone had gone for the striker position.

"How about this? Your physical condition isn't bad. Why don't you temporarily fill in as a center-back?"

"Center-back?" Su Dong was somewhat stunned.

He was a striker. How could he be a center-back?

Those two positions were at opposite ends of the pitch. How could he fill in there?

"Coach, I..."

"Alright, it's decided for now." The coach waved his hand and cut him off, clearly not taking his opinion or thoughts to heart. "Get ready. Try your best to perform later. Don't take the result too seriously. What matters is taking part."

They were the weakest team, so they could only comfort themselves by saying that taking part was what mattered.

Su Dong was furious.

He refused to accept this.

In the personal inventory of the Path to the King of Football system, Su Dong chose to use the Titan Concoction.

Suddenly, he felt a warm current rapidly flowing through his blood before spreading throughout his entire body.

"Titan Concoction used. The host's strength has increased. Duration: 120 minutes."

Su Dong was helpless. He always felt that the system was manipulating things behind the scenes because it had not even told him exactly how much the Titan Concoction had increased his strength by.

But he quickly opened the Personal Attribute Panel and discovered that his strength had risen from 37 points to 41.

In other words, it had increased by roughly ten percent.

Afterward, he immediately used the Swiftness Concoction and Energy Concoction as well. Both potions lasted for 120 minutes.

The two potions also increased his speed, Explosive Power, and stamina by ten percent.

Taken individually, the improvements seemed insignificant, but after he had all the buffs, the overall increase was quite obvious.

"Hey, hurry up! Why are you dawdling around on the sidelines?"

Seeing Su Dong lingering there, the coach grew impatient and urged him.

Everyone nearby also looked toward Su Dong in unison. They all felt that this Chinese kid was holding them back.

Su Dong paid no attention to their gazes. He grabbed a bottle of Bull, took a few gulps, and only then leisurely stepped onto the field.

He had tested it that morning. Bull Drink could help his body recover faster than usual.

So he was playing center-back?

Just wait and see!

Su Dong made up his mind as he entered the field.

The match began.

Although they were all young players aged fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen, the gap in ability was huge.

The team wearing the Yellow Vests, which Su Dong was on, was clearly much weaker. They were at a disadvantage from the very start.

It did not take long for the opposing team to score.

This made the coach on the sidelines stomp around angrily.

"Su, what are you doing? That was supposed to be your defensive position."

Su Dong glanced back at the head coach on the sidelines. He really wanted to argue that his partner had clearly run out of position, forcing him to move along, so how had it ended up becoming his fault?

But he knew this was a form of prejudice.

So he did not explain any further.

The Red Vests were indeed stronger, and their teamwork was better. In contrast, the Yellow Vests, Su Dong's team, were not only weaker but also lacked coordination, with the players making many mistakes when passing and receiving.

Under the opposing team's tight pressing, a midfielder made a passing error and sent the ball straight to the opposing striker.

Hadn't that just turned into an assist?

Su Dong was thoroughly depressed, but there was nothing he could do about such a useless teammate. He could only return to his position immediately.

The opposing striker had just scored and was brimming with confidence. After receiving the ball and turning around, he charged toward Su Dong.

It looked like he wanted to beat Su Dong one-on-one and score again.

Su Dong watched his opponent's movements closely while constantly retreating.

Over the past month or so, he had competed against Rony countless times, all of them one-on-one battles.

At that moment, as he watched his opponent dribble toward him, he had a strange feeling—the opponent was too weak.

He had grown accustomed to the intensity of competing against Rony. When he suddenly encountered an opponent who was much weaker, he realized that no matter what the other player intended to do, he had a way to defend against it, or even take the ball.

That feeling was especially strong. When the opponent dribbled into his defensive zone, Su Dong, who had been retreating, suddenly decided not to delay any longer and stepped forward.

The two nearly brushed shoulders. The opponent stumbled and almost lost his balance, but the ball at his feet had vanished.

A burst of shocked cries immediately rose from all around.

What a beautiful tackle!

After winning the ball, Su Dong quickly dribbled forward.

The sudden forward run by the center-back disrupted the opposing team's defensive arrangements.

Youth Team matches were tactically unsophisticated to begin with. Once things became disorganized, gaps appeared everywhere.

Before the defenders could close in, Su Dong passed to a midfielder and quickly pointed ahead.

"Pass it forward."

The ball was like a hot potato. His teammate had just received it and was afraid of being hounded by the opponent and losing possession, so he was eager to pass it away. Hearing Su Dong's shout, he did not think twice and kicked the ball forward.

The moment he passed, Su Dong, who had been moving forward with the ball, sprinted ahead at top speed. His entire body was like an arrow, piercing through the two defensive lines in the Red Vests' midfield and back line.

The opposing team also had a defender rushing back, but Su Dong still got there first and stopped the ball outside the penalty area.

One-on-one.

Su Dong gave his opponent no chance to react. After controlling the ball, he immediately dribbled closer while keeping an eye on the goalkeeper behind him.

Step by step...

When the opponent could not resist reaching out with his foot first, Su Dong suddenly pushed the ball to the right, chased after it, and unleashed a furious shot.

There was only a loud bang. The ball shot out like a cannon shell and, with blinding speed, flew into the goal behind the goalkeeper.

From beginning to end, Su Dong had given neither the players on either side nor the spectators on the sidelines any time to react. It was only after the ball went in that everyone realized what had happened.

Thunderous applause soon broke out from the sidelines.

"Wow, what a beautiful goal!"

"So fast and powerful!"

"I never expected him to be able to produce a shot like that."

The spectators were full of praise, and the players from both teams were equally astonished. Even the coach and head coach Gorba on the sidelines were completely shocked.

Was this really Su Dong?

"That was just luck, right?" the coach asked, unable to believe it.

Gorba also found it hard to believe. In his memory, Su Dong had never possessed such ability.

If he had, Gorba would have remembered him.

"It must have been a fluke. It definitely was," the coach said with certainty.

As the temporary coach of the Yellow Vests, he actually did not believe in his own player.

Gorba tried hard to recall everything that had just happened. From winning the ball to making a late run, especially the sudden burst forward after passing, Su Dong's performance had left him incredulous.

Forget the Youth Team—even in the First Team, many players might not have been able to do it.

Could this really be just a fluke?

"Let him play striker," Gorba said. He wanted to see whether it had truly been a coincidence.

Before the coach could react, the head coach added, "Have the other players pass to him more."

The two instructions were quickly relayed onto the field.

When the Red Vests prepared to restart the match, Su Dong was already standing in the striker's position.

Another attack by the Yellow Vests.

Near the edge of the penalty area, Su Dong used his body to hold off the opposing center-back. His first touch was slightly heavy.

But it did not matter. He quickly turned, chased after the ball, and unleashed another furious shot.

Once again, the ball was blasted into the Red Vests' goal like a cannon shell.

"Beautiful!"

Gorba, watching from the sidelines, grew excited.

And it was not just because of Su Dong's goal.

The surrounding spectators were equally fired up. A goal like that was simply too satisfying, filled with a kind of violent beauty.

"His goal reminds me of Batistuta," Gorba said excitedly.

Once was a coincidence, but twice made it a certainty.

He could now say with absolute confidence that Su Dong's goals were not accidental.

How had this kid suddenly started performing so well?

Could he really have been training diligently in silence over the past month?

Gorba did not intend to investigate the matter. He had seen a sharp blade in Sporting Portugal's hands.

A young player who had suddenly risen above his peers.

No one understood what that represented better than Gorba.

In a match lasting only sixty minutes, Su Dong scored four goals.

Two in each half.

Although scoring goals was not difficult in Youth Team matches, scoring four goals in a single match for a club like Sporting Portugal was still extremely rare.

Gorba had already forgotten who the last player to do so had been.

But he was certain of one thing: that player had left soon afterward.

Sporting Portugal was destined to be unable to retain players like that. Whenever they emerged, they were immediately noticed by clubs at higher levels, especially Belenenses.

As part of their partnership, Belenenses had first refusal on Sporting Portugal's players.

Of course, every player who left brought Sporting Portugal a considerable fee—sometimes one hundred thousand euros, sometimes only thirty or forty thousand. It all depended on how well the player performed.

For a big club, that money was insignificant. But to Sporting Portugal, it was a huge sum.

Gorba had long grown adept at handling such matters.

As soon as the scrimmage ended, he abandoned everything else and went straight over to Su Dong.

"Su, your performance just now was fantastic!" Gorba praised him with a broad smile. "If I remember correctly, your training contract with us is about to expire, right?"

Su Dong nodded. It would expire in two days.

"Would you be interested in renewing it?" Gorba asked with concern.

His eager attitude made him seem like an entirely different person from earlier.

Su Dong immediately understood. After seeing his performance, the club wanted to keep him.

This was within Su Dong's expectations, but it still made him happy.

He had no particular feelings for Sporting Portugal, and he did not even like Gorba or the others in the slightest.

But he needed a team. He needed a stage on which to prove himself.

"Of course, you don't need to answer me right away. Come to my office later and listen to our arrangements and plans for you, as well as the sincerity we're offering. Go home and discuss it with your family and agent before giving me your answer."

Gorba's words put Su Dong at ease.

He really could not make a decision on the spot.

During the new book's launch period, I humbly ask for rewards, collections, and recommendation votes! Many thanks!