Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Sporting Lisbon easily defeated their opponents 2-0.

Deng Kai made his debut this round, scoring a goal with a long-range shot.

Deschamps provided an assist.

Viana carried his good form from European competitions into the league, completing a goal and an assist.

This round of the Portuguese league has garnered significantly more attention than in the past. Media analysis has revealed that the excess traffic originated from various European countries, primarily Italy.

This is the boost that European competition provides to a team.

Soon, Sporting Lisbon's opponent in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals was also announced.

It was the Bundesliga team that accomplished the Kaiserslautern miracle a few years ago!

This team once put tremendous pressure on Bayern in the league.

Their head coach is one of the most legendary figures in football, Rehhagel.

The most noteworthy player on this team is German youth player Miloslav Klose.

The reason he is considered a young player rather than a young star is because Klose at this stage is not yet a big star.

He joined Kaiserslautern last year, gaining the opportunity to play in one of the top five European leagues.

In his first season in the Bundesliga, he scored nine goals for the team.

It also helped the team reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

This has led most people to favor Kaiserslautern.

They have the genes of the UEFA Cup.

Sporting Lisbon... can only be considered a powerhouse in the Portuguese league; in the broader context of European clubs, they're merely a moderately well-known underperforming club. In terms of brand value, they're even inferior to Kaiserslautern, who recently achieved the second-best result in the Bundesliga.

Klose played as a winger last season, but his attacking abilities have been further developed after he switched to center forward this season.

Based on his current performance, he has a very high probability of winning the Bundesliga's top domestic scorer award this season, and he can also compete for honors such as the Bundesliga's best young player.

To encourage Klose, Rehhagel has repeatedly stated this season that Klose is qualified to be selected for the German national team.

Unfortunately, these words were not heeded.

But if Klose continues his current performance, even if he doesn't make the German national team this year, he can make it next year.

Another key player for Kaiserslautern is Novak Djorkaeff.

He is a second-generation star; his father, Jean Djorkaeff, was a French national team defender in his early years, and he followed in his father's footsteps to become a national team player as well.

And before Zidane emerged, he was the undisputed core of the French team's attack.

Zidane's arrival seemed to have cast a spell on the French team.

In the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship, Djorkaeff stood on the top of the world with the French team.

At the club level, Djorkaeff also had a brilliant time at Inter Milan.

He is also the only superstar in Inter Milan whose form did not decline significantly after the club adopted its superstar strategy.

He astutely chose to leave Inter Milan just as Lippi arrived. He was among the first to voice his dissent against Lippi, a Juventus-affiliated coach, taking charge of Inter Milan.

The results proved Djorkaeff's foresight.

Since arriving in Kaiserslautern, Djorkaeff has continued to shine, becoming the undisputed core of the team's attack.

Rehhagel, Djorkaeff, Klose.

Legendary head coach, superstar player, future superstar.

Kaiserslautern has virtually no weaknesses.

Although Sporting Lisbon defeated Inter Milan, after the heated discussion, everyone believed that Inter Milan's collapse stemmed from within; they lost to themselves and had little to do with Sporting Lisbon.

It's hard for anyone to lose when facing an Inter Milan team like this.

This was further confirmed in the Italian Cup.

Inter Milan faced strong league rivals Parma and lost 1-6 on aggregate.

The media began digging up what Deng Kai had said in a previous interview: "Inter Milan will definitely lose the match against Parma, losing by at least three goals over two legs!"

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In retrospect, Deng Kai was still too conservative.

Inter Milan lost by five!

The worse Inter Milan fares, the less people care about Sporting Lisbon.

So much so that even two weeks before the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final, betting companies were already offering very high odds.

Kaiserslautern has an 86 percent chance of not losing the first leg.

Sporting Lisbon's chances of winning are only 14 percent.

Bundesliga vs. Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Rehhagel vs. Trigla (the unknown).

Djorkaeff (in his prime) vs Matthäus (old and struggling)

Klose vs. Viana, Quaresma

Aside from the fact that the two sides are evenly matched in terms of young talents, Kaiserslautern has the upper hand in every aspect.

……

The quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup kicked off on March 1st.

From this round onwards, it's almost entirely a competition between Portuguese league teams, with only one Portuguese second division team making it into the quarterfinals.

Sporting Lisbon's opponent is their "second team," Moreirense.

The two sides met last season, with Moreirense, led by Duncan and Cristiano Ronaldo, defeating Sporting Lisbon.

To be precise, they defeated three of the Portuguese league's top teams!

Their Portuguese Cup victory last season is the most legendary in the history of the Portuguese Cup.

The match will be held at the Alvadela Stadium, and Sporting Lisbon will share half of the tickets with Moreirense.

This match was very rewarding for Moreirense.

After more than 20 rounds of the Portuguese league, Moreirense has most likely secured a relegation spot.

Without a great head coach like Trigár and talented players like Duncan, Ronaldo, and Gilop, Moreirense simply cannot reach the level of the Portuguese league.

Their signings have proven to be mediocre, and the players they bought to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and Duncan have fallen far short of the standards of the Portuguese super team's core players.

The most noteworthy players on this team right now are center Anderson and right-back Alex.

They are still performing well this season.

Anderson has already scored ten goals in the Portuguese league, a remarkable achievement for a newcomer to the league.

Alex, with his attacking attributes, became a distinctive full-back.

Many of the teams interested in Anderson are mid-table teams in the Portuguese league, but many of the teams interested in Alex are strong teams from the top five European leagues.

Strong teams have a great need for attacking full-backs.

In the player tunnel, Duncan greeted Anderson, Alex, and other teammates from last season.

The two sides had already faced each other in the league before, so the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

After the players came on the field, Sporting Lisbon fans applauded Moreirense.

With the sound of a whistle, the competition officially began.

Because of Triguera, Sporting Lisbon is very familiar with Moreirense's tactical system.

In just five minutes, Sporting Lisbon had firmly grasped control of the ball.

Moreirense continued his strong team style for half the season last year, but this season he has completely regressed to a weak team style.

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