Chapter 145 Su Dong's First Time
It turns out that not only veterans like Albertini are worried, but head coach Boloni is even more worried.
Although he still deployed a 4-3-3 formation, he adopted a three-defensive midfielder configuration.
At the same time, in the locker room before the game, he repeatedly urged the team to stabilize their defense after the start of the game.
"Remember, this is the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. You can never be careless at any time!"
But when the players walked out of the locker room and headed towards the player tunnel, Sudong, Ronnie and Quaresma gathered together.
"I think everyone seems to lack confidence." Su Dong expressed his concerns.
"It's normal. Compared with us, Lazio is indeed too strong," Quaresma said.
The disparity in strength is indeed an objective fact, and it is normal for players to appear to lack confidence because of this.
Using the most obvious comparison made by the media, the gap between the Portuguese Super League and Serie A is that the Portuguese Super League champion and the fourth-placed team in Serie A will participate in the third round of the Champions League qualifiers together.
If we compare a little deeper, the salary of Lazio's star player is almost equal to that of the entire Sporting Lisbon team.
This is indeed a huge gap that is difficult to make up! But if you go into the game with this kind of mood, how can you possibly win?
Ronnie looked at Su Dong, smiled slightly and asked, "What are you going to do?"
The two best friends have a very good understanding of each other. Ronnie can guess what Su Dong is thinking.
"How about trying to launch an offensive attack after the opening?"
Ronnie laughed happily and said, "Let's see if Lazio is really that strong?"
"Of course!" Su Dong also laughed.
The two of them looked at Quaresma. The latter actually did not have much courage, but when he saw that Su Dong and Ronaldo had reached a consensus, it was a one-on-two situation, he could only nod his head to show his support.
"I will fully cooperate with you!"
When Su Dong and Ronnie heard this, they walked over and walked forward, holding Quaresma on the left and right.
"Relax, Ricardo. When you get nervous, your movements become stiff and you're half a beat slower than others. How can you perform to your full potential?"
"That's right. Favalli is just a 30-year-old man. Can't you kill him?"
All three of them laughed.
Andre Cruz was walking behind them and heard their conversation, feeling a little sad.
His and Albertini's ideas are mature at best, but they are cautious at worst.
Although Su Dong and other young people are a bit fearless, if they want to win the game, don't they need their fighting spirit?
It’s good to be young!
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How do you feel about facing the world's top superstars? Su Dong's answer is that he is starting to feel a little nervous.
The moment I saw Stam, I really started to get nervous.
The Dutch central defender was tall and had a face full of flesh. He looked like someone who was not easy to mess with, especially when he glanced at Su Dong with a majestic and domineering look. His sharp eyes seemed to be issuing a warning, "Boy, don't mess with me. I can't control myself when I get angry!"
This was once a world-class central defender, and even after being seriously injured, he was still rated by Albertini as one of the world's top central defenders.
How strong is he?
Su Dong had no idea at all because he had never played against a central defender like this before.
Tonight is his first time! Just when Su Dong was a little hesitant, wondering whether he should take the initiative to go up and say a few words to Stam, express his admiration for him, and say something like "I grew up watching you play", Su Dong felt a chill in his heart.
Following my feeling, I found that there was someone in the Lazio queue who was peeping at me.
Number 14, Diego Simeone.
Su Dong is not unfamiliar with this guy. The most profound impression he has of course is the 1998 World Cup in France, the red card that made Beckham the public enemy of the whole of Britain, and Simeone was the culprit.
Of course, Beckham did commit a foul, but on the other hand, Simeone's playing style is indeed too dirty.
This guy looks like a gangster, and you can tell at first glance that he is not a good person!
"You know what? They say that this guy is like a hyena from the Pampas. He only eats meat. Especially when he sets his eyes on his prey, he will never let go until he bites off a piece of meat." Andre Cruz reminded from the side.
Su Dong saw that what he said was a bit scary, so he smiled and said, "Aren't hyenas all in Africa?"
Andre Cruz was stunned. At this time, he was still able to argue?
But, that’s right, the attitude is good.
"Anyway, you'd better be careful with this guy!" Andre Cruz cursed angrily.
The Soviet Union will not underestimate Diego Simeone.
At the pre-match preparation meeting, the materials submitted by Sporting Lisbon's scouts emphasized the importance of reminding the players to pay attention to Simeone.
Although he plays as a defensive midfielder, Simeone is not actually a rough and rude man. On the contrary, he is an Argentine midfielder who is good at both offense and defense and has delicate footwork. He can even play on the wing.
Simeone's runs from behind are very threatening because he usually doesn't run forward, but whenever he does, he must achieve results.
Either on offense or on defense.
In this game, Mancini fielded two forwards, Chiesa and Lopez, both of whom are not tall. The former has scored 22 goals in Serie A twice and even almost won the Serie A Golden Boot, while the latter is Lazio's top scorer this season.
Also sitting on the bench was Inzaghi's younger brother, Inzaghi Jr.
All in all, tonight's match is no less challenging for Sporting Lisbon than the one against Porto.
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With the referee's whistle, the game officially kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon adopted a defensive counterattack posture at the beginning of the game, but Lazio was not aggressive from the beginning.
Albertini is right, Boloni is a conservative and Mancini is not radical either.
As the game started, Sporting Lisbon soon had a chance to advance to the opponent's 30-meter area.
When the ball reached the left side, Su Dong immediately ran to the left side of the penalty area, blocked his position, and raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Ronnie seized the opportunity and made a diagonal pass, sending the ball into the penalty area.
Generally speaking, the next development of the plot should be that Su Dong grabs the ball, heads it, or makes a pass.
But just as the ball flew over, Su Dong felt a huge force coming from behind, sticking to his back, pushing him so hard that he had to stagger forward and lose his position.
The ball just flew over his head.
Su Dong turned around and saw the back of a man wearing the No. 31 jersey.
Jaap Stam! In just one move, the Dutch central defender completely pushed him away, causing him to lose his position. This feeling had not been experienced by Su Dong for a long time.
But for Stam, it seemed like he had done something very insignificant.
This made Su Dong feel a little embarrassed and annoyed.
…
Soon, Sporting Lisbon tried to break through from the wing and earned a corner kick.
Albertini quickly took a corner kick and made tactical coordination, and Su Dong ran over to receive the ball.
As soon as he received the pass from Albertini, Su Dong turned around and tried to pass the ball, but unexpectedly, Stam, who was guarding him behind him, suddenly kicked out and blocked the ball directly.
Out of bounds.
The Dutch center back slowly retreated again, his eyes not lingering on Su Dong.
This made Su Dong feel contemptuous.
Perhaps, in Stam's eyes, the eighteen-year-old Su Dong was just a young boy just starting out.
…
Sporting Lisbon had two consecutive throw-ins and was forced to retreat to the center line by Lazio.
Queiroga stood out of bounds, holding the ball with both hands.
Quaresma was sticking to the right sideline, while Su Dong saw an opportunity, left the center back area and ran over to receive the ball.
Queiroga also threw the ball to Su Dong as soon as possible.
Lift your foot to stop the ball, turn around and start...
Just as Su Dong was about to rush forward and exert force with his legs, he felt that his whole body had lost its balance.
Diego Simeone bumped into him hard from the side, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward.
The Argentine midfielder raised his hands to indicate that he had not committed a foul.
The referee only gave Sporting Lisbon one chance for a set piece in the frontcourt.
Su Dong sat up from his knees on the grass, surrounded by Lazio players. Everyone looked at him with ill intent, as if they were ready to tear him to pieces at any time.
Is this a show of strength? Su Dong climbed up from the grass and looked at the stars in front of him, who were all familiar to him, and who were only seen in newspapers and on TV, but now they were competing with him.
But they weren't cute at all.
It was at this moment that Su Dong truly realized what it was like to compete against these stars.
They are all using every possible means to deal with me! But I am not a pushover! Su Dong gritted his teeth, saw Queiroga was about to take a free kick, and immediately ran over and raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Queiroga quickly kicked the ball to Su Dong in the open space.
After Su Dong stopped the ball, without waiting for Simeone to get close, he kicked the ball with his right foot and passed Cesar who was retreating to the wing of Lazio and fell behind him. He then quickly cut into the middle of the penalty area at a 45-degree angle.
Quaresma stopped Su Dong's pass with his chest before left-back Favalli, and quickly used his right foot to pass the ball back to Su Dong in mid-air.
Su Dong sprinted at a very fast speed. At the front of the penalty area, no matter how hard Mihajnovic pulled him, he managed to create a gap for him. He headed Quaresma's pass into the penalty area, broke free from Mihajnovic's entanglement, and accelerated into the penalty area.
The ball is just ahead.
Su Dong chased after him at the fastest speed, stood firm on his left foot, swung his right foot and was about to kick.
But at this critical moment, a strong figure rushed out from the side, slid on the ground, got one step ahead of Su Dong, and shoveled the football in front of him. At the same time, he also tripped Su Dong, causing him to lose balance again and fall in the penalty area.
After rolling twice, Su Dong finally sat up and saw that the ball had been tackled away.
Stam was not far in front of him, and had just stood up from the grass, staring at him fiercely, obviously very angry at his sudden intervention and almost posing a threat.
At this moment, the Dutch center back was like a lion, staring at the enemy who had invaded his territory with a terrifying look in his eyes.
Su Dong stood up from the grass, grinned and smiled.
Finally he is willing to face his opponent!
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(End of this chapter)
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