Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Trigra: "There's no need. Nobody remembers him anyway. Look at all these media outlets, not a single one mentions his name."

Maxa: "That's true. Jardel didn't even hold a grudge against Fonte. I guess there were too many people beating him up back then, and Fonte, with his generic face, wasn't even in the running."

……

On August 17th, Sporting Lisbon won their second friendly match.

This time, their opponent is a team from Serie B.

Jardel scored a goal, while Quaresma and Matthäus also found the net.

But perhaps it was the team's attitude towards Jardel that fueled his arrogance.

During a subsequent training match, Jardel and Terry clashed again.

The reason was that Terry tackled him.

Terry is a regular starter.

However, he was substituted by his teammates in the last two warm-up matches.

Trigra was clearly not satisfied with his performance.

This is largely due to Matthäus's frequent forward runs, Deschamps's lack of defensive toughness, and the large gaps behind Viana.

All these weaknesses have to be filled by Terry, who plays as a center-back. With so much pressure on Terry, it's no wonder he concedes goals and makes mistakes.

Terry therefore misses the training matches he used to have with Duncan.

Deng Kai's offensive attributes are no less than Viana's, but his defensive awareness is much better than Viana's, especially his interception, which is incredibly sharp and often able to interrupt the opponent's attack at the first moment.

Moreover, Deng Kai is good at controlling the rhythm. If Deng Kai is unwilling, it will be difficult for Matthäus to get up, and even if he does, he won't have a chance.

With Matthäus in the backfield, Deschamps' defensive intensity problem naturally disappears, because Matthäus' intensity is more than enough.

Does this make things easy for Trido?

Most of the threats don't even need him to deal with, so how could he not perform well?

You might even catch a cold on the court if you're not careful.

It was precisely because his starting position was in jeopardy that Terry fought so hard in the subsequent training matches.

Flying tackles might be a serious issue in other leagues, but in the Premier League, it's just a joke.

Don't even mention you being Jared Leigh. Even if you're a rising star like Beckham or Michael Owen, if your teammates decide to tackle you, you can only blame yourself for not being fast enough or having poor dribbling skills.

Did it warrant hitting someone?

After being tackled by Terry, Jardel got up and slapped Terry across the face, leaving Terry stunned.

Afterwards, Trigra called Terry into his office and reprimanded him for two whole hours.

That evening, Sporting Lisbon issued another statement, relegating Terry to the U19 team for a week of training.

This incident has sparked outrage among Chelsea fans.

Fans expressed their dismay at Sporting Lisbon for treating their youth academy captain in such a way.

"Bring Terry back!"

"I'm not going to Sporting Lisbon!"

"The Portuguese Super League is garbage!"

"How outrageous! I should have let Terry stay on the team!"

"This loan move was a huge mistake; Terry is likely going to waste a year of his youth!"

"Damn it, I'm so angry! Terry, who has already made one appearance for the first team, is going to play in the U19 team in the Portuguese league!"

"I want to tear Jadal to pieces!"

"From now on, England will beat Brazil every time we see them!"

With this situation unfolding, Porto realized that waiting for the Jardel to depreciate was impossible.

Deng Kai, Cristiano Ronaldo, all the new players Sporting Lisbon bought this year, as well as the talented young players they loaned out, have all been demoted.

Sporting Lisbon can't do without Jardel, no matter who else they have.

This means they're preparing to make Jardell their trump card!

Porto even suspected that if Matthäus and Jardel had a conflict, Sporting Lisbon might also demote Matthäus to the U19 team.

But this is easy to understand.

Nuno Gomez's outstanding performance at the European Championship has boosted Benfica's approval ratings.

Jardel was a more dominant center forward than Gomez in the Portuguese league, perhaps even more dominant.

A dominant center determines a team's strength.

Sporting Lisbon's protectiveness of Jardel suggests they're preparing to dominate the Portuguese league for the next five years!

If Sporting Lisbon were to rise to prominence, Porto would suffer a huge loss.

Having figured this out, Porto made an offer to Jardel without warning.

Fifteen million euros!

After making the offer, in order to seize the initiative, they even contacted Maxição, saying, "Jardel has caused too much trouble in your team. Team atmosphere is one of the keys to a team's success. With him around, Sporting Lisbon will find it difficult to be a cohesive unit. Why don't we take the blame?"

Maxière flatly refused: "How could that be? Sporting Lisbon will unite around Jardel in the future, and any player who disagrees with him will be dropped by us."

"His strength is undeniable. It took me a season to adapt to Sporting Lisbon, and this season is when he'll truly shine. Believe me, he'll definitely break forty goals this season!"

"I'm warning you, don't make any more offers, he's not for sale!"

How could Porto dare not believe Maksa's words?

After all, Maxija was Jardel's favorite coach at Sporting Lisbon.

Porto had already learned through Jardel's agent about Maksa's tactical leniency towards Jardel last season.

No player would dislike working with this kind of coach.

Porto: "Seventeen million euros! That's the same amount he paid last year, but his salary is higher, and he's older. You won't find any other buyer at this price point besides us!"

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

Maxa: "But we don't even want to find a buyer. Please, this is Jardel! We were even planning to bring Simão back from Barcelona to install his 'devil wingers.' I've already spoken with Quaresma; his shooting duties must be handed over to Jardel this season, or else the U19s will take care of him!"

Porto initially thought Maksa was joking.

After all, Quaresma is a true superstar who came up through Sporting Lisbon's own youth academy.

Jardel is an outsider superstar, while Quaresma is the top local star.

You're even suppressing your own people... In recent years, only one club has been able to do this, and that is... Real Madrid.

And the result is obvious.

Real Madrid won two Champions League titles in three years. Although they are outside of Serie A, they have become one of the most successful clubs, just like Manchester United, making them the dream team for countless players.

Does Sporting Lisbon want to become the Real Madrid of the Portuguese league?

Do not!

We absolutely cannot let them start this!

Two days later, Quaresma was indeed demoted!

Viana was also sent down to the countryside with him.

Triguera did not explain Quaresma's situation, but responded to Viana's demotion: "Viana has never been able to develop chemistry with Jardel. He needs some calm and some confidence, and perhaps the U19 team can help him find those."

For a time, Jardel seemed to be the Portuguese football king!

No player has ever enjoyed such extraordinary privileges at the club as he has.

Maksa even asked Jardel what kind of players he preferred to work with.

How is Deco from Porto?

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