Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

The teammates nodded in agreement.

Perhaps no one has confidence in this game.

But Deng Kai has it.

Because... Arteta's whiteboard showed that Wu Xudong, Yu Shihao, Hao Junmin, and Shao Jiawei's adaptability to passing and control tactics had exceeded 85%.

Hao Junmin has a very high level of comprehension, reaching as high as ninety.

The team's other midfielders and defenders also account for nearly 70%.

This means that the team's passing and possession tactics have reached a certain level of maturity.

Before mastering the passing and control tactic, its effectiveness is very weak, which is an important reason why Deng Kai had a very high error rate before.

Compared to tactics like counter-attacking and long balls, before the passing and control system is fully developed, it's as weak as a lump of mud.

However, once some success is achieved, it can provide some positive effects, such as covering up the player's own shortcomings, strengthening the player's technical advantages, and turning the ball control advantage into a scoring advantage, etc.

Today, Sporting Lisbon's opponent is Boavista U17.

Boavista has also been a well-known strong team in the Portuguese league in recent years, and once broke the monopoly of the three giants on the championship.

Deng Kai's teammate in the European U16 Championship, Meireles, is the core of this team.

Of course, Meirelei is now playing for Boavista U19.

In fact, if it weren't for playing in the UEFA Youth League, he might have gone directly to the U21 team.

The UEFA Youth Champions League held for U15s last year was a great success.

After careful consideration, UEFA and the major clubs decided to hold this year's UEFA Youth League in the U19 age group.

The competition level is higher in this age group, the star players are more popular, and it is more conducive to attracting investment.

Moreover, the U19 stars are on par with many club first-team players, indicating a promising future for commercial development.

Any player who performs well in the UEFA Youth League might be bought by a top club or directly given a prominent role in the first team, achieving instant fame.

This further enhances the brand value of the UEFA Youth League.

Of course, this also means that Deng Kai will miss the UEFA Youth League this year.

Unless he skips from U17 to U19 during the winter transfer window.

In normal European competitions, players who transfer during the winter transfer window cannot be registered for the Champions League.

Ronaldo missed half a season of Champions League matches as a result.

Twenty years later, the regulations were relaxed, allowing players to re-register during the winter transfer window. This led to the remarkable phenomenon of Haaland scoring goals for two different teams in the Champions League in a single season.

However, the UEFA Youth League does not have relevant regulations due to the high mobility of youth players and the instability of the matches.

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This is also why Veloso was able to play in the second half of the UEFA Youth League after transferring from Benfica to Sporting Lisbon in the winter transfer window last year.

In the first five minutes of the match, Boavista pressed aggressively, and Sporting Lisbon struggled to maintain possession.

In the sixth minute, Hao Junmin lost possession after being pressed.

He complained to the referee about the foul, but the referee believed it was normal physical contact.

Boavista then launched a fierce attack and almost scored.

When the football slid out of the goal, the entire stadium booed.

This is Boavista's youth training ground, and there are over a thousand fans here.

Their boos were directed at Hao Junmin, and also at Sporting Lisbon.

It was full of mockery of Sporting Lisbon's inability to control the ball.

"It's okay, this is normal. They won't be able to play like this after ten minutes." Deng Kai exchanged a few words with Hao Junmin. "At this stage, you can drop back a little more and remember to pass the ball back to me more often."

In adult competitions, the pace of the game is actually abnormal for the first ten minutes or so.

It will be much faster.

Because at this time both sides are full of energy and the players are in high spirits.

During this period, regardless of whether you are a possession-based team or a counter-attacking team, you will not be able to maintain possession and will lose possession a lot.

This is perfectly normal.

For both sides, not conceding a goal at this stage is a victory.

Therefore, although Hao Junmin's mistake was dangerous, it was not unforgivable.

He just didn't do better than expected.

really.

After ten minutes, the ball was basically in Sporting Lisbon's possession.

Deng Kai's running range has expanded significantly this season, which has enhanced the team's dominance in possession.

His individual passing and receiving count even exceeded the total passing and receiving count of the entire Boavista team.

The team lost three consecutive games, and Ronaldo's absence was a key reason.

The maladaptation of young Chinese players like Yu Shihao is a secondary reason.

But there is another important reason: Deng Kai, who has grown taller, has not yet fully adapted to his body.

It's not that I'm not used to this height.

1.65 meters isn't tall.

The main reason is that after his height increased, Deng Kai's weight, strength, and speed have been changing and getting stronger every day in the past two months.

A pass that was just right in training today would be too fast and too long in a match two or three days from now.

So the forwards collectively failed to receive the ball, and besides their own skill level, they also took a lot of blame for Deng Kai's poor performance.

In the past three games, Deng Kai's passes would have made even Cristiano Ronaldo break out in a cold sweat.

Twenty-second minute.

Sporting Lisbon's prolonged passing of the ball has provoked discontent among fans in the surrounding area.

They booed again.

This behavior is an attack on Sporting Lisbon, but it also exposes that these fans don't really understand football.

Because those who understand football know that when the passing of the ball makes the fans a little sleepy, the killer move... is not far away.

Twenty-fourth minute.

Yu Shihao dropped back as usual to receive Deng Kai's pass in the middle.

But this time, after Deng Kai passed the ball, he didn't spread out laterally or retreat as usual.

Instead, it initiates the insertion process before starting.

The pace of the game suddenly accelerated at that moment.

Before Deng Kai moved forward, he gave Yu Shihao a look.

Yu Shih-hao immediately passed the ball to Deng Kai.

Deng Kai passed the ball to Yu Shihao again.

The two worked together, bumping into the wall to push forward.

Boavista's defensive midfielder rushed towards Duncan.

However, Deng Kai did not attempt any breakthroughs. He decisively passed the ball to Hao Junmin, who was following up on the left wing, and then started his forward run again.

Hao Junmin received the ball and passed it back to Yu Shihao.

boom!

Yu Shihao delivered a through pass.

In a short period of time, six or seven passes in quick succession broke through Boavista's defense.

Deng Kai directly challenged the opposing center-back at the edge of the penalty area.

"It's a pity. It would have been better if Yu Shihao had moved to that position. As a striker, Yu Shihao would have posed a greater threat to the opposing center-backs."

"Deng Kai's passing is quite good, but challenging center-backs isn't his strong suit. His dribbling is rather simple and lacks deception. He's also much slower than Shi Hao, making it difficult for him to overpower opponents. Physically... although he's grown taller this season, his ability to withstand physical contact hasn't improved significantly in the short term, he..."

"Riding a bicycle! Deng Kai is actually riding a bicycle!"

"Three, four, five bicycles in a row! The movements were incredibly coordinated!"

"Boavista's center-backs are very strong. He held his ground and didn't fall for their feints."

"Pass the ball! Deng Kai is preparing to overpower his opponent with his speed!"

"Past! Deng Kai past... and fell to the ground!"

drop!

A whistle blew.

The referee points to the penalty spot.

At the same time, a yellow card was shown to Boavista's center-back.

He pulled Deng Kai down just as Deng Kai was about to rush over.

At that moment, Deng Kai's foot had already stepped into the penalty area.

Boavista's entire team struggled to accept the result. They kept explaining, but the referee's eyes were sharp. This wasn't a dive; it was an absolute penalty!

He stood by his ruling.

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.