Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Speaking of Jardel and the Brazilian national team, this year has been a happy one for Jardel.

He was called up to the Brazilian national team at the beginning of the year.

However, Jardel also received a notification from the Portuguese Football Federation.

Portugal is interested in naturalizing Jardel, hoping to bring him along with Portugal's golden generation to compete in next year's Korea-Japan World Cup.

Without a second's hesitation, Jardel decisively rejected the Portuguese Football Federation's offer.

He mentioned this during a media interview, expressing his disdain for the Portuguese team.

To be honest, if you were to compare Portugal and Brazil, you would definitely choose Brazil even with your eyes closed.

But you're playing football in Portugal, so couldn't you at least be a little more polite?

However, Jardel's words were anything but polite; his contempt and sarcasm infuriated the Portuguese fans.

Otherwise, why would Deco be Porto's most popular player in the second half of this year, instead of Jardel?

Since they had already extended an invitation to Jardel, the Portuguese Football Federation simply initiated naturalization negotiations with several other outstanding players as well.

Including Deco and others.

Most of them rejected the Portuguese Football Federation's naturalization offer, but their wording was rather tactful.

Deco said he hopes to wait until next year's World Cup.

He has been in excellent form last year and this year. If he can achieve something with Porto in the Champions League next year, there is no reason why the Brazilian national team should not call him up.

To reiterate, Brazil has a good chance, so Portugal can indeed be disregarded.

The Portuguese Football Federation has expressed its acceptance of Deco's idea, and their real goal in naturalizing players is not next year's World Cup, but the 2004 European Championship hosted by Portugal.

They had a lot of ideas about that European Championship.

The golden generation is at its peak, and with some top-notch naturalized players, they will surely give Portuguese fans a satisfactory answer.

However, precisely because of the high expectations for the two major tournaments next year and in 2004, the Portuguese Football Federation mainly recruited players in their prime last year and this year, without giving young players many opportunities.

Even if it was given, the effect wasn't very good.

In addition, Cristiano Ronaldo and Duncan, who have emerged this year, are too young. Neither the Portuguese Football Federation nor Portuguese fans have ever considered them when it comes to the selection of players for the upcoming World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

Even the most daring and die-hard fans of Cristiano Ronaldo and Duncan believe that being selected for Portugal's European Championship squad in 2004 was already quite an achievement. Of course, getting playing time and becoming an important rotation player would have been even better.

……

May 18, Portugal National Stadium.

The Portuguese Cup final will kick off today.

Both teams' players looked quite serious.

Neither side was very satisfied with their match four days ago.

Porto, who lost the match, felt they hadn't played well.

Sporting Lisbon, who won the game, felt they were at a disadvantage because they were not physically fit at the time; otherwise, they should have won by more.

Both sides are in good form today, so we can finally play a proper game.

However, the match was not as exciting as they had imagined.

With greater understanding and caution, both sides made targeted arrangements for each other today.

Deco of Porto was severely restricted.

Sporting Lisbon's Duncan also had no chance to perform.

Although other players can also create opportunities, the quality of their passes is noticeably inferior to that of the two players.

This resulted in strikers like Jardel and Ronaldo not performing very well.

Cristiano Ronaldo was very active for Sporting Lisbon today. He worked extra hard in every game with Jardel, not giving his teammates any shooting opportunities.

In the first half, Jardel had a total of four shots, two of which were on target.

One of the shots hit the post and almost resulted in a goal.

On the other side, Ronaldo was equally impressive, missing a one-on-one opportunity due to a poor first touch.

But conversely, they managed to win a penalty.

Facing the champions, Quaresma couldn't withstand the immense pressure, missing a penalty and squandering a chance to give Sporting Lisbon the lead.

Throughout the first half, both sides played with great intensity, launching constant threatening attacks, but they were always missing something when it came to scoring.

The second half began with the teams switching sides.

Having become familiar with Porto's blockade, Deng Kai began to unleash his power, hitting both of his long-range shots on target.

One was saved by the goalkeeper, and the other was blocked out of bounds by a Porto defender's body.

As it turns out, Adecco lived up to its reputation.

In the second half, Deco also adapted to Sporting Lisbon's tactics and began to frequently participate in threatening attacks.

He even got a chance to shoot into an empty net.

It at least appears to be an open door.

But actually, when the ball was touched by Terry's toe, it spun extremely hard and moved very fast, making it very difficult to shoot.

Deco's shot went wide in front of the goal, drawing laughter from Sporting Lisbon fans.

It even damaged morale in some cases.

However, Deco quickly returned to the game, using a brilliant one-two pass to bring the ball into the penalty area.

But this time Deco was too focused on perfection and played too delicately, trying to pass the ball to Jardel, who was completely out of position, even when he had a shooting opportunity.

As a result, Pepe, fearless and bold, successfully tackled and blocked the shot in the penalty area, ruining this excellent opportunity.

Jardel, Deco, and Pepe – these three could easily be the subject of a documentary, titled "Brazil in New York"... wait, it should be "Brazilians in Portugal"!

The three people were born in 1973, 1977, and 1983 respectively, representing three generations: the old, the middle-aged, and the young.

Jardel grew up in Brazil and only moved to Portugal after his professional career took off. He has a deep affection for Brazil and insisted on playing for Brazil even after the Portuguese Football Federation invited him many times.

As a result... most fans will never know this name, let alone that Jardel at this time was even qualified to be Ronaldo's replacement in the national team.

Deco also grew up in Brazil, but he came to Portugal earlier and had a more inclusive mindset, essentially choosing between Portugal and Brazil. His later fame and achievements proved his choice to be correct.

Joining Portugal and reaching the final of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal with the Golden Generation was one of the highlights of his career.

Pepe, the youngest player, joined the Portuguese league earlier and is more optimistic about playing for the Portuguese national team.

He is also the player with the longest career, the highest overall achievements, and the highest profile among these three Brazilians.

……

The match ended in the 88th minute.

Quaresma dribbled down the right flank, successfully reached the byline, feinted a shot, and then passed the ball back in a triangular pattern.

Deng Kai, near the right side of the penalty area, met the ball with a lobbed pass and executed a super-fast pass, accelerating even faster.

Imbasimovic, who played the full match today, was positioned behind the two center-backs, but he anticipated Deng Kai's pass and prepared to sprint and attack the ball.

As the football was in mid-air, Yin Bu ran from behind the two center-backs to the front, overpowering them and leaping into the air.

Although he didn't jump very high due to the other party's interference.

But don't forget, he himself is 1.95 meters tall.

Most ordinary people's vertical jump height does not exceed 20 centimeters, and their full-force jump is basically the same height as Yin Bu's, not to mention that Yin Bu jumped a little.

boom!

Yin Bu heads the ball towards the goal.

The Porto goalkeeper was helpless against such a close and sudden header.

The score has changed to 1-0!

Ultimately, thanks to Ibrahimovic's goal, Sporting Lisbon defeated Porto for the second time in four days.

Their last victory put them back at the top of the Portuguese league standings, and this time they won the Portuguese Cup!

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