Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Fan Zhiyi said, "Isn't it obvious... the best striker in the Portuguese league, Quaresma; the best newcomer in the Portuguese league and the silver boot winner, Ronaldo; the best center-back in the Portuguese league, Barzagli; the best player in the Portuguese league, Deng Kai... in this match, the players who scored, assisted, and posed the biggest threat were mainly these few!"

Pfft!

Sun Jihai laughed out loud.

You know what, there's actually some truth to that.

But this is a rogue theory. After all, if we really want to be serious, what about Viana and Drogba?

On TV, the commentators were still celebrating passionately.

The Sporting Lisbon players celebrated excitedly on the pitch, as if they had already won the championship.

Liverpool's players, meanwhile, stood with their hands on their hips and sighed.

That's bizarre.

This match was absolutely bizarre.

Is this fate?

Gerald shook his head, trying to clear his mind of those distracting thoughts.

Liverpool were completely stunned, and even the coaching staff were still in shock.

All they knew was to send all the substitutes out to warm up, but they had no constructive ideas for the upcoming game.

In the 68th minute, Ronaldo received a through pass from Duncan and kicked the ball into the side netting from a tight angle, less than 20 centimeters from scoring.

In the 71st minute, Deng Kai assisted Quaresma with a one-two pass into the penalty area, but Quaresma's final touch was a bit too heavy, and Carragher risked a foul to poke the ball away.

In the 72nd minute, Deschamps and McAllister both fell to the ground while challenging for a header.

Both of them remained lying on the ground and refused to get up.

Both team doctors entered the field and, after their examinations, signaled substitutions almost simultaneously.

Fan Zhiyi: "Oh! It seems Sporting Lisbon is in trouble."

Huang Jianxiang: "Indeed. McAllister is an absolute mainstay for Liverpool this season, but Liverpool has a lot of reserves in this position. Gerrard and Dietmar Hamann are almost at the same level as McAllister and Smicer."

"Sure enough, a substitution was announced on the sidelines, with Hamann replacing McAllister."

"But the same situation is different at Sporting Lisbon. Sporting Lisbon simply can't find any midfielders or defensive midfielders who are close to Deschamps' level."

"Originally, Pepe, with his youthful speed, range of movement, physical strength, and aerial ability, could have been a substitute for Deschamps in the defensive midfield position. However, Pepe received a red card for a flying kick in the last match and also received an additional ban from UEFA..."

"I believe that if Sporting Lisbon loses this match because of this, their fans will hate Barcelona for the rest of their lives!"

"It's all Barcelona's fault!"

"Sporting Lisbon has brought on Paulo Bento, a member of Portugal's golden generation, but at his peak he was only a rotation player in the top five leagues, and now he is nearing the end of his career."

"Sporting Lisbon must make signings in this position next season; their midfield and defense lack the necessary depth."

"Of course, it's not their fault. After all, no one could have predicted at the beginning of the season that they would reach the UEFA Cup final. In fact, at the middle of the season, some people thought their midfield and attacking lineup was too redundant and didn't maximize their benefits."

After the substitutions, Liverpool's losing streak was slightly reversed.

Hamann is a defensive midfielder, and Gerrard is an all-around midfielder. Together, they can stop most of Sporting Lisbon's attacks.

But they couldn't stop a flash of genius.

In the 76th minute, Quaresma cut inside from the right wing and fired a shot with the outside of his foot, but it went wide.

In the 77th minute, Deng Kai intercepted the ball in the attacking third and made a clever backheel pass to Viana. Viana ran a little too far ahead, resulting in an awkward shot that went wide, missing a golden opportunity.

In the 79th minute, Drogba, whose physical condition was clearly declining, was tackled and dispossessed by Babel.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Quaresma complained that Babel had committed a foul, but the referee did not call a penalty.

The referee believed that Drogba's physical strength was sufficient to withstand this level of impact, and that it was a legitimate collision.

Physical exhaustion is the players' problem, not the referee's.

When you're so exhausted that even the wind generated by someone running can knock you over, you can't possibly call a foul on them.

Four matches in ten days, especially two matches in the last three days, have severely depleted the physical strength of Sporting Lisbon's players.

The effects of Liverpool's "red grape chicken blood" midfield are almost over.

Drogba has always been a tireless runner, so it's normal that he was the first to give up.

Babel passed the ball to Gerrard.

Gerrard glanced at the front of the field and suddenly launched a long pass.

The crowd gasped in amazement, as Gerrard's pass displayed the flair of a midfield maestro, seizing the opportunity perfectly and delivering an accurate pass.

However, Maxa shook his head slightly.

If it were Duncan, he could have saved Gerrard the time it would take to look up and observe, thus creating a perfect one-on-one opportunity.

Unlike now... it's a semi-single-handed attack.

"Owen received the ball, a near one-on-one opportunity, but Terry cut inside to mark Owen. The young Chelsea player on loan, John Terry, is facing off against Liverpool's star player, Michael Owen. This could very well determine Terry's status at Chelsea next season!"

"After all, no head coach would bench a guard who can defend Irving."

"Terry put a lot of pressure on Irving, and Irving couldn't shake off Terry... a lob pass! Irving had a chance to try a shot, but it was too difficult, so he chose to lob the pass!"

"Husky is in a fantastic position! He's neck and neck with Irving, and Terry can't keep up!"

"Heskey shot... What?!"

"How could you kick that away?"

"My God! Heskey has wasted another golden opportunity for Liverpool to score!"

"Heskey's shooting skills are really... well, let's just say they're questionable!"

"Drogba may not be as good as Heskey in other aspects, but when it comes to seizing scoring opportunities, I think he has surpassed his own role model!"

"Substitution! Both sides have requested substitutions again; they're going to fight to the bitter end."

"Oh, it's raining heavily... According to the local TV station, it's an expected shower that will end soon. But the rain will make the football and the field more slippery, leading to more unpredictable situations."

"This is not good news for either team's players."

"Sporting Lisbon substituted Imbasimovic for Drogba. Premier League fans might remember this player. Arsenal were interested in him at the beginning of the season, and he even appeared at Arsenal's training ground."

"But Ibrahimovic rejected Wenger's invitation for a trial, and then Duncan made the outrageous statement that Ibrahimovic never tries out, which allowed Sporting Lisbon to acquire this Swedish talent with many potential buyers."

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