Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

Deco walked to the corner flag area and then took the corner kick.

But Vieira cleared the ball to the far post first.

Viana chases after the ball.

He didn't push Mark too hard in the past.

He clearly knew about Viana.

Every single one of Portugal's attacking players is incredibly skilled at dribbling past opponents.

If Viana gets past Mark in this position, the threat would be too great.

It would be better to give Viana a chance to cross the ball.

This is the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils.

It's impossible for you to say that Viana won't be given any chances at all.

Unless your abilities are overwhelmingly superior.

But Viana is no pushover.

The new talents from Portugal in recent years have been quite interesting.

Simão, Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Deco, Viana, and Deng Kai.

Why this permutation and combination?

Because the first three are all wingers and attackers.

If you look at it from the perspective of a top soldier and general, they are all "generals".

"Soldier" refers to a workhorse player. They are the most basic pieces of a team, representing the team's minimum standard.

A key player, a special talent! Possessing strong defensive capabilities, exceptional scoring ability, and more. You could say they are "pieces of the championship puzzle."

A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a good general is hard to come by.

The leader is the core of the team's system and the linchpin! Of course, more often than not, he is the core of the offensive system; they represent the ceiling of a team.

Most teams leave their defense to others.

However, because of his strong overall vision, the "handsome" player can often participate in the defense, or use passing the ball to defuse any potential defensive attacks that might come early.

Good fighters have no illustrious feats.

They always nip defensive crises in the bud.

When a real crisis occurs in the defense, it can only be handled by specialized "defense engineers".

Kings, on the other hand, are non-system players who bring their own system to the table. They can play the role of the core or the spearhead in a system, appearing as either a "commander" or a "general".

But when their team's system is countered, their system can then truly shine.

Simão, Quaresma, and Cristiano Ronaldo are all generals.

That is, the degree of application is different.

But Viana and Deco are handsome.

Their development paths are different.

And it would be almost impossible for him to become king.

But if a handsome man is capable enough, he can become a king.

For example, Zidane is a prime example of a coach who turned a player into a master.

Of course, there are also exceptions.

Deng Kai started as a midfielder, and he played like a king.

This is also why he was not well-received in his early years.

Because his system is incompatible with the team, but his individual ability is not enough to perfectly integrate himself into the existing system.

The switching between these two is not smooth.

This manifests as him not performing well for the team, but he always manages to deliver some strange assists and score some difficult goals.

boom!

Viana chipped a pass into the middle.

The handling method was similar to Mark's expectations.

From this perspective, Mark Lailai suppressed Viana.

His trajectory is still slightly better than that of the young Inter Milan star.

Moreover, Mark's positioning was also very deliberate; he stood quite deep, close to the baseline.

This dashed Viana's hopes of creating an own goal by sweeping across the goalmouth.

From now on, it's up to the rest of the French team.

The football flew into the penalty area.

However, most of the players from both sides were actually inside the penalty area at that moment.

Meanwhile, Deco and Duncan, who rushed in from the outside to prepare for a shot, were completely blocked by Thuram and Desailly.

Cristiano Ronaldo turns around, with his back to the goal, as if he wants to stretch out his leg to control the ball, then pass it to a teammate or turn around and shoot.

This approach is perfectly acceptable.

But then he heard Deng Kai's voice in his ear: "Cristiano Ronaldo! Bicycle kick!"

For a moment, Ronaldo seemed to see that summer of 1998 again.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Duncan became good friends when they were young, in Sporting Lisbon's youth academy.

The two often train together.

Cristiano Ronaldo completely dominated Deng Kai at that time.

Only one thing...

He dares not use a reverse hook!

He was afraid of getting hurt.

He tried barbed hooks as a child, fell to the ground and grimaced in pain, which left him with psychological trauma.

But Deng Kai dared.

This is also one of the reasons why Ronaldo admires, oops... barely even thinks highly of, Deng Kai.

Deng Kai's courage was evident in his actions, including his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's outnumbered victory against his teammates.

Watching the football fly towards me.

I'm thinking about the moment Deng Kai lifted the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Cristiano Ronaldo powered with his right foot.

He leaned back and suddenly found himself suspended upside down in mid-air.

boom!

Cristiano Ronaldo's right foot slammed into the football.

Then he fell heavily to the ground.

When he turned over and knelt on the ground, looking towards the goal.

Barthez, who was stunned, knelt straight down on the lawn.

His face was etched with the words "helplessness".

"Goal!"

"Goal! Cristiano Ronaldo has scored!"

"My God! That's a world-class goal!"

"Upside-down kick!"

"This is amazing! It's like magic!"

"Cristiano Ronaldo had never attempted a bicycle kick before, but this time he was divinely inspired!"

"One-nil! Portugal has taken the lead!"

Alvalade Stadium exploded instantly.

Realizing what was happening, Cristiano Ronaldo immediately rushed towards the corner flag area.

"I did it! I did it!"

No one knows why Ronaldo was so excited.

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

Everyone thought the reason was that he scored in the European Championship final, which was of great significance.

But actually, it's because Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke through his own limitations.

He overcame his fear.

He defeated Deng Kai, who was six years ago!

Watching Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate wildly.

Deng Kai nodded.

Cristiano Ronaldo's bicycle kick... came fourteen years early!

What he actually overcame was time.

Deng Kai turned around, but his gaze met Zidane's.

Both of them saw a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes.

……

This goal clearly triggered a stress response from the French team.

They fought even harder.

The pace quickened.

Forty-second minute.

Trezeguet tried to set up Henry, but Henry didn't have the chance, so he passed the ball back.

Zidane unleashed a powerful shot from 23 meters out.

when!

The goal kept trembling.

"Oh! What a pity!"

Zidane's long-range shot hit the post!

"So close!"

"However, Zidane's shooting skills are really strong; that shot just now felt like a thunderclap from a clear sky."

"With such an offensive attack, even if Portugal takes the lead by one goal, no one can be sure that they will definitely win the game."

Forty-fifth minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo was fouled by Vieira when he dropped back to receive the ball, creating a free kick in a good position.

Deng Kai stood in front of the ball to take the penalty.

Despite the French team's wall jumping desperately.

But Deng Kai's crescent-shaped blade still gleamed coldly as it bypassed the wall of men.

when!

pity!

The Kelley arc hit the crossbeam and bounced away.

Deng Kai missed an opportunity to extend Portugal's lead.

Both teams of players were constantly going back and forth between feeling "cold sweat" and "very regretful".

This continued until the end of the first half.

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