Chapter 138 Heel Stop
On February 8, in the 21st round of the Portuguese Super League, Sporting Lisbon played against Braga at home.
Su Dong, who has been in great form recently, once again put in an incredible performance.
After nearly an hour of fierce competition between the two sides, Braga's defense finally showed a flaw.
In the 54th minute, Su Dong received a through ball from Tonito in a quick counterattack, used his speed to break through the opponent's defense, and shot into the goal in the penalty area, scoring the first goal for Sporting Lisbon.
Just six minutes later, with cooperation from the left, Rui Jorge received a pass from Ronaldo and made a 45-degree pass to the penalty area. Su Dong was the first to grab the best landing point, overpowered his opponent, and scored a header to score his second goal.
2-0! Sporting Lisbon finally defeated Braga with two goals thanks to Sudon's goal.
He scored a hat trick in the last round and scored twice in this round, scoring five goals in two rounds. Su Dong's performance not only shocked the entire Portuguese football world, but even the European football world began to pay close attention to this young Chinese player.
Spain's Marca reported after the game that this Ronaldo fan has begun to enter the vision of Real Madrid's technical team. With his impressive record of scoring nine goals in six games since the winter break, the 18-year-old Sudong has made Sporting Lisbon fans completely forget about Jardel.
"A crazy goal like this is comparable to Jardel's from last season!"
"But don't forget, Su Dong is only eighteen years old!"
Gazzetta dello Sport also revealed that after receiving Albertini's recommendation, AC Milan's technical team closely monitored Su Dong's movements.
"Although Ancelotti stressed that the team's forward line is not short of people, Galliani still locked his summer transfer target on two young players, namely the talented young player Kaka from Brazil and Sudon from Sporting Lisbon."
"These two young players are more of a talent reserve for the team in the future."
Turin Sports Daily revealed that Juventus is also closely watching two newcomers of Sporting Lisbon, center forward Sudon and winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Lippi is more interested in Su Dong. He has told the technical team that a center forward like Su Dong will bring great improvement to the team. He hopes the team can seriously consider bringing him to Turin."
But Turin Sports Daily also revealed that the Juventus management is not only interested in Su Dong, but also Ajax's Swedish center Ibrahimovic. This player and the team's core Nedved have the same agent, Italy's Raiola.
"It is clear that Raiola is closer to Juventus."
Mundo Deportivo from Catalonia, Spain, revealed that Barcelona has a strong interest in the three young players of Sporting Lisbon, but there is a order of priority.
"Kluivert's career at Barcelona was not successful, which made many people worry whether Su Dong, a center forward whose playing style is very similar to Kluivert, can adapt to Barcelona?"
"In the team's recruitment order, the first choice for forward recruitment is Eto'o. Only if the introduction of Eto'o fails, Barcelona will consider whether to introduce Su Dong."
"Quaresma and Ronaldinho are also Barcelona's targets, but this summer is Barcelona's presidential election. One of the candidates, Laporta, has put forward Ronaldinho and Beckham as campaign cards, which makes the three young players, Sudon, Quaresma and Ronaldinho, not worth considering at all."
"Barca's technical team believes that they do not yet have the ability to play for Barcelona."
…………
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The transfer market is in turmoil, but Su Dong has no time to pay attention to it.
After the 21st round, we will rest for a week and then immediately start the 22nd round.
This time, Su Dong was placed on the bench.
Because the first leg of the UEFA Cup round of 16 will be held in the middle of the week.
In the away game against Wazim, Joao Pinto opened the scoring for the team in the 34th minute.
This made everyone feel like they had seen victory.
But in the 58th minute of the second half, Sergio Carvalho equalized the score for Wazim from a corner kick.
The game then came to a complete stalemate.
Boloni replaced Sa Pinto in the 55th minute and Quaresma in the 71st minute, but neither of them could turn the game around.
It was not until the 80th minute that Boloni finally could not sit still and replaced Barbosa with Su Dong, adopting a double center forward tactic.
Wazim seemed to have been prepared and replaced two players in one go, a midfielder and a defender, both to strengthen the defense.
Head coach Jose Costa obviously had a strategy in place.
His team had focused on practicing how to restrain Su Dong before the game.
But the actual effect...
…
"Sporting Lisbon intercepted the ball in the backcourt."
"Albertini managed to break the ball and passed it to the left, to Rui Jorge."
"Left back gets the ball."
Su Dong retreated all the way to the center line and raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Behind him was the Brazilian midfielder Gilma, who kept trying to use his body to push Su Dong away, but found that Su Dong in front of him did not move at all.
When Rui Jorge passed the ball, Sudong used his body to firmly suppress Gilma, while stretching out his right foot and using his heel to pass the ball to his right rear.
After taking the ball off the court, Su Dong suddenly turned to his own right side, which is the left side of the court.
Gilma was firmly suppressed in the middle by Su Dong and was unable to stop it at all.
"Nice heel stop!"
"Su Dong turned around!!!"
"The startup speed was very fast, and it left Gilma behind!"
Su Dong exerted force with his legs and moved like a rabbit. He quickly shook off the Brazilian midfielder and chased after the ball.
But at this time, Wazim's defense line was still there and was not in chaos.
After Su Dong turned around, he strode quickly all the way, holding the weapon in his mouth, slanting towards the middle, pressing the defense line and not giving his opponent any chance to breathe.
When he reached the middle, the opponent's defense had retreated to the front of the penalty area.
At this time, Quaresma had also caught up.
Su Dong made a diagonal pass behind him and sent the ball to the top of the arc.
Quaresma advanced at the fastest speed, dribbled the ball into the penalty area, and then knocked it to the back post.
The goalkeeper was standing on the right side, and the entire left half of the goal was empty. Sa Pinto, who had been lying in ambush and waiting for an opportunity, finally caught up and easily shot the ball in front of the goal.
“The ball goes in!!!!”
"Goal from Sa Pinto!"
“Two to one!”
Sa Pinto rushed out of the stadium excitedly, followed by Sudon and Quaresma. They hugged the former star tightly on the sidelines and congratulated him on his goal.
Other Sporting Lisbon players also rushed over one by one to celebrate the team's goal.
"Su Dong's heel stop was crucial, and the subsequent turn and dribbling forward completely disrupted Wazim's defense and created opportunities for Quaresma and Sa Pinto."
"This is the role of Sudon, which is something that other players of Sporting Lisbon do not have."
"Although he didn't score a goal, he was still the key player to break the deadlock on the field."
…
In the end, thanks to goals from João Pinto and Sa Pinto, Sporting Lisbon defeated Vazm 2-1 away.
But the real surprise came after the game.
When the game was over, Sporting Lisbon received news from the distant island of Madeira.
In the expedition to Maritimo, Porto finally showed signs of decline.
They lost the ball in the 17th minute of the game. Although Dellei equalized the score in the second half, Maritimo took the lead again just four minutes later, and the score of 2-1 remained until the end of the game.
Porto suffered another defeat.
As a result, after 22 rounds of matches, Porto continued to lead the Portuguese Super League standings with 54 points.
But behind them, Sporting Lisbon ranked second with 53 points thanks to its winning streak since the winter break.
From being seven points behind at the beginning to only one point behind now, Sporting Lisbon seems to have seen hope of a reversal.
Benfica is third with 47 points, followed by Guimarães with 39 points.
It can be said that the current situation in the Portuguese Super League is very clear. Porto and Sporting Lisbon are the strongest contenders for the championship, and Benfica has basically lost hope of winning the championship.
This round of loss resulted in the team's lead being reduced to one point, and Porto's situation was precarious.
Head coach Mourinho publicly stated after the game that he was satisfied with the team's match in Madeira and believed that the players' performance basically met his requirements.
"In the middle of the week, we need to play well in the League Cup, so we need to make appropriate rotations. No team can maintain their highest level when rotating. This is unrealistic."
Mourinho is full of confidence in Porto, thinking that even if they are caught up by one point, "we are still the leaders."
The young Portuguese coach said that Porto will try their best to play well in all the remaining games, and he believes that Sporting Lisbon cannot avoid mistakes all the time.
"Just wait and see, they will also face a two-front war."
What Mourinho said actually makes sense, so everyone at Sporting Lisbon remained calm and rational.
Su Dong said in an interview with the media after the game, "The team is in good shape and performing very stably, but the real test is fighting on two fronts, but we are confident that we can play well in every game."
"We will definitely overtake Porto in the standings!"
Su Dong's powerful words received support from his teammates.
Ronnie, who was also interviewed by the media, was very sure, "We will successfully defend the Portuguese Super League title!"
But Porto players also expressed optimism about the team's ability to defend its leading position.
"Don't forget, the final match of the last round of the league is between us and Sporting Lisbon, and the game will be held at our home stadium!" Carvalho vowed.
The implication is obvious. Even if the game is really deadlocked and the two teams are tied, Porto will definitely beat Sporting Lisbon to win the championship in the last home game.
The main midfielder Deco admitted that Sporting Lisbon is a tough opponent, "but we will definitely have the last laugh."
"Fighting on two or even three fronts is not just a test of physical fitness, skills and tactics for any team. We are more mature than Sporting Lisbon."
Most of the outside opinions also agree with Deco's point of view.
After entering the battle of two or even three fronts, it will be difficult for Sporting Lisbon to maintain the state it has been in since the winter break.
(End of this chapter)
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