Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

drop!

After Emerson's pass was blocked by the opponent, Duncan signaled a substitution towards Triguera.

In particular, Deng Kai pointed at the two substitute center-backs, Altino and Orlando.

Trigra had been waiting for this signal for a long time.

However, he needs to confirm through some probing that Rio Ave's players on the field truly have no will to resist before he can make this radical substitution.

"Oh! Triguera is making two substitutions in quick succession, but why two center-backs?"

"It's normal for Kirop to be substituted due to a yellow card, but Fonte seems fine right now. Or is he preparing to strengthen the defense by adding another center-back?"

"Wait! Altino has replaced left-back Serafim. Although Altino is a center-back, he has been effective at left-back this season, making him a versatile player in the backfield."

"Orlando didn't substitute Kirop, but instead... Flavio! This..."

"They've gone up! Fonte and Orlando have both gone up front. Are they going to form a three-man center forward formation with Anderson?"

"Ronaldo on the left, Alex very far forward when attacking, on the right... Is this a five-striker formation?"

"Emerson, Macedo, Duncan."

"Altino, Orlando... This is outrageous! This creates a 2-3-5 formation?"

"Has Morales gone mad? What if they retaliate?"

"Fonte had played as a center forward before, and it worked surprisingly well. We thought the two-tall-man tactic was the limit of Moreirense's imagination, but this time they've gone and pulled off a three-tall-man tactic! This is outrageous!"

Trigra smiled.

Nonsense?

Ha ha!

As he previously stated, being pinned back in one's own half and only able to pass the ball for the purpose of evasion is meaningless passive ball control, which theoretically offers almost no help to the attack.

Launching a counterattack sounds easy, but it's actually quite difficult at this point.

At the very least, there are three 1.9-meter tall guys standing in the penalty area. Are you sure you can defend them with three or four defensive players?

If a one-to-one defense is sufficient, then there would be no such thing as an impenetrable fortress.

Triguera bets Rio Ave's coach doesn't dare to bet!

But Morales dares!

In the 82nd minute, Alex crossed the ball from the wing.

Three towering men, all around 1.9 meters tall, bombarded Rio Ave's penalty area, leaving it riddled with holes.

In the 83rd minute, Rio Ave's players tried to regain possession of the ball from Duncan's feet.

However, after Deng Kai turned and made way, he immediately passed the ball with his left foot to Ronaldo, who had been widening the width on the left flank.

Cristiano Ronaldo dribbled past his opponent with ease before crossing the ball.

His crosses were of lower quality, the ball flew higher and was slower, and theoretically shouldn't have posed a threat, but... Moreirense has the "three highs" (high height, high speed, and high body) to keep up!

These days, who isn't afraid of the "three highs" (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol)?

boom!

Kilop jumped at the near post, won the header, and headed the ball across.

Anderson, realizing he wouldn't get the ball, directly blocked the defender next to him.

This provided Fonte with an environment free to take off.

boom!

Fonte heads the ball into the goal!

The football slammed into the goal.

"Goal! Fonte! Fonte has scored!"

"Two-two! Moreirense has equalized. They haven't given up yet!"

"Oh! Anderson rushed into the goal and pulled the ball out. Moreirense needs to score another goal to advance and become the Portuguese First Division champions."

"Otherwise, if the score remains the same, they'll only be fourth in the Portuguese Second Division! They can't accept a draw!"

"This is also why Rio Ave proactively retreated to defend earlier; their advantage wasn't just one ball, but two!"

"Even when they were down 2-1, they could still retain their Portuguese Second Division title by conceding a goal."

"Unless Moreirense scores another goal."

"But given Moreirense's efficiency in scoring that equalizer, it's going to be difficult for them to continue scoring; there won't be another 20 or 30 minutes left in the game."

If Rio Ave's midfield commander had previously harbored some desire to find counter-attacking opportunities from Moreirense's attacks...

From that moment on, no one in Rio Ave wanted to launch any offensive attacks anymore.

They've fought tooth and nail, and they only have less than ten minutes left to live!

We must hold on!

With Rio Ave's long ball failing to find their striker, Moreirense regained possession less than 30 seconds after the opponent kicked off.

Rio Ave has completely retreated.

Similarly, Moreirense's three center forwards, plus Ronaldo and Emerson on the left, all rushed to the front, waiting for their teammates' crosses.

Altino, Orlando, Macedo, and Duncan played in midfield.

Deng Kai passed the ball to Alex, Alex

I intended to cross from the byline, but the opposing defense had enough personnel to cover it.

Alex passed the ball back, and Deng Kai crossed it at a 45-degree angle, but the ball was quickly cleared by the players in the penalty area.

Deng Kai then passed the ball to Macedo on the left, but Macedo's run to the byline was also blocked by the opponent.

At this point, Moreirense's defense is relatively vulnerable, so it's best not to make any risky moves or try to dribble past opponents one-on-one.

To be on the safe side, Macedo also passed the ball back to Deng Kai, who was running over.

Deng Kai delivered another cross at a 45-degree angle, this time creating a corner kick.

This explains why many teams, when launching a late-game cross attack, don't opt ​​for a more threatening low cross from the byline but instead use a less threatening 45-degree angled cross.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!

The player delivering a cross at a 45-degree angle is positioned near the left or right flanks, essentially connecting with the midfield, backfield, and even the attacking third.

If you are forced to steal the ball by the defender, you have a wide range of options and it is not easy to lose possession.

As for crossing from the byline... if the opponent cuts off the defensive line, it's easy to lose possession, and then they can easily launch a long ball...

I won't go into which specific matches this scene resembles, but I'm feeling really down.

After that, Moreirense got three more corner kick opportunities because of that corner kick.

But without exception, none of them could threaten Rio Ave's goal.

The closest he came was when Deng Kai took a corner kick that curved very close to the goal.

The disadvantage of this type of corner kick is that, because it's so close to the goalkeeper, it's easy for the goalkeeper to catch it.

However, the advantage is that this arc is in front of the positions chosen by most attacking and defending players. If someone can get to the ball before the goalkeeper, they will hardly be interfered with by anyone else.

Cristiano Ronaldo has this kind of chemistry with Deng Kai.

He faked a run, then jumped forward.

At one point, his head was less than ten centimeters away from the football!

boom!

Rio Ave's goalkeeper punched the ball away.

No matter how high your head is positioned, it can't be as high as your hands.

There's a reason why these corner kicks aren't very threatening.

Ninety minutes.

Ninety-one minutes.

Ninety-two minutes.

Time is like poison, slowly extinguishing the hope in the hearts of the Moreirense players.

Although everyone was still struggling to reach the top, their bodies were gradually getting cold.

They already had a bad feeling.

In the 93rd minute, Deng Kai and Alex took a tactical free kick, and Deng Kai quickly dribbled the ball to the right side of the penalty area.

This is not a wise choice.

Once the ball is conceded, not only is the attacking opportunity lost, but Rio Ave can also easily seize the opportunity to score a goal.

really!

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