"This isn't even as good as my boss, Lei???"
"What's wrong with this old man? He's driving me crazy!"
"Barbie Q is here? Does this mean my boss Lei is destined to be a benchwarmer in the first round of the World Cup?!"
On June 16, during the match between Portugal and Spain, the spectators who came to watch the Thunder's World Cup debut were somewhat desperate.
The match had reached the 85th minute, and Portugal was struggling to defend against Spain's relentless attacks while trailing by one goal. However, even under such circumstances, the Portuguese coach remained calmly standing on the sidelines, watching the game, without showing any intention of making any substitutions.
This angered many of the fans of the Thunder, who are now the most loyal supporters of the Thunder. The Thunder's strength has already been proven on the European stage. He is an absolute contributor to Arsenal's four-time champions. How dare Santos not use him!
At the massive Fisht Olympic Stadium, some people were already chanting slogans of discontent, calling Santos a big idiot.
Fans, the excitement before the game has completely vanished, and that's a terrible experience.
They don't care why you don't let Lei Ming play; they just want to see the team defeat every opponent.
On the sidelines, the old man Santos still stood with his arms crossed. Even though he could hear the jeers coming from the fans behind his own stands, he remained unmoved, believing that the team still had a chance.
Spain's defense appears aggressive, but they have a lot of open space in their own half. If they can capitalize on their opportunities, the team still has a chance, because they have one of the best strikers in the world – Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the bench, Lei Ming's posture was almost identical to that of the head coach, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, watching the game calmly. He naturally heard the fans' insults, but in order to cooperate with the head coach, he made no response.
He was just quietly watching the man.
In this match, the opponent scored two goals almost single-handedly, and he was curious whether he could go further.
I'd only ever seen them in highlight reels or videos before, so this was definitely the first time I'd been this close to one of them. I wonder how far they can go on the World Cup stage, being able to partner with such an outstanding striker.
Suddenly, as gasps rang out from the stands, Lei Ming noticed that Pepe had intercepted the ball from the backfield and delivered a precise pass directly to the open space in front of Ronaldo.
Faced with such an opportunity, Ronaldo almost instantly started his run, and without even taking a few extra steps, he unleashed a powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty area. The shot was so sudden that the Spanish defenders had no time to block it, and goalkeeper De Gea was completely taken aback by Ronaldo's reaction. The ball flew over his head to the right and into the net.
In an instant, the fans in the stadium cheered, roared, and vented their excitement!
In the 88th minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved to the world his ability as a top center forward.
Although Ronaldo performed his classic goal-scoring gesture after scoring, he then ran to the sidelines to call out to Lei Ming to celebrate together.
Lei Ming and his teammates had already stood up excitedly to celebrate the goal.
"Cristiano Ronaldo, you're absolutely amazing! I love you so much!"
With the team mostly on the defensive in the second half, Ronaldo managed to capitalize on his limited attacking opportunities to change the score – that's the ability of the world's best striker!
How can you not love a Ronaldo like this, a captain like this!
After that, Spain lost their momentum and called it a day early. The last few minutes became garbage time, with neither team making any significant contributions. Clearly, being tied by Portugal in the final moments of the game had caused their hard-earned morale to plummet, and the exhausted players were unwilling to expend any more energy.
A draw in the first group stage match would be an acceptable result for both teams.
After all, there are still many games waiting for them.
The World Cup schedule is much more intensive and dangerous than club competitions. Almost everyone is fighting for their country and for honor. If you're not careful, you could be kicked off the field. Therefore, players generally know when to quit while they're ahead and how to protect themselves.
For both teams, the real competition always begins after the round of 16.
Ultimately, after the referee blew the final whistle, Portugal and Spain finished the match in a 3-3 draw.
Although it was a draw, the two teams put on a spectacular show with their goals that fans still talked about. Cristiano Ronaldo also secured his place as the world's top scorer with his hat-trick in the first match.
In this match, head coach Santos did not even give substitute goalkeeper Lei Ming a single minute of playing time, drawing much criticism.
Everyone initially thought that this was just because the World Cup had just begun, and that Leiming would still have a chance later on. However, they all realized that they seemed to have misunderstood.
Over the next ten days, Portugal played against Morocco and Iran. Regardless of whether the team was leading or trailing, Lei Ming was not given a single minute of playing time. Many foreign media outlets even reported rumors of discord between Santos and Lei Ming. Clearly, Lei Ming's arrival did not attract Santos' attention, and he did not give him any chance to play in the three group stage matches.
This has caused great concern among many Thunder fans.
Fortunately, under Ronaldo's leadership, Portugal managed to secure 5 points without major incident, finishing second in the group on goal difference and advancing to the Round of 16 alongside Spain.
But the problem that everyone was most worried about still came.
The old man still hasn't gotten rid of his arrogant habit.
Outside the team, almost everyone who cares about Lei Ming has heard rumors of discord between the Portuguese head coach and Lei Ming, creating a tense atmosphere. However, within the team, the atmosphere is actually quite harmonious. Santos does not treat Lei Ming coldly as outsiders say. On the contrary, he often goes to Lei Ming's side to explain his words and their impact, fearing that the boy might misunderstand him like outsiders do.
Fortunately, Lei Ming was also well aware of what the old man wanted to do, and both indicated that they had no problem with it.
Although he didn't play in the game, he privately had the team's forwards bombard him with attacks to maintain his form, and he was looking forward to the moment he could play in the World Cup.
Let the bullets fly a little longer!
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