As for Sporting Lisbon, Li Ang did not think they were stronger than CSKA Moscow, whom they had met in the semifinals. In the original history, CSKA Moscow was that year's UEFA Europa League champion. The Russian Premier League team of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was the brightest team in the UEFA Europa League this season. However, in the semifinals, the Muscovites were eliminated by Sporting de Gijón with a score of 3-0 at home and 1-2 in the away game for a total score of 4-2.
Li Ang regarded CSKA Moscow as Sporting de Gijón's biggest obstacle to winning the title. After overcoming this obstacle, Li Ang believed that his team's overall strength was stronger than Sporting Lisbon's. The opponent's biggest asset was their home game.
But as soon as the game began, Sporting Lisbon gave him a head-on blow.
In the sixth minute, Sporting Lisbon's Brazilian striker, Liedson, performed a magic trick in the penalty area. First, he tricked Hierro into losing his center of gravity. Then, he suddenly accelerated and nimbly spiked the ball to pass Pepe's tackle. Then, he shot a low shot into Sporting de Gijón's goal.
Faced with Liedson, who was short and as agile as a rabbit, the veteran Hierro tried his best to defend. But in terms of turning and reaction speed, the veteran was indeed half a beat slower, and Liedson easily broke through.
Pepe's fill-in was timely, but the Brazilian striker's footwork skills were praiseworthy. He spiked the ball to pass Pepe in the narrow space and then shot a shot. The entire breakthrough and shot were seamlessly connected.
When he saw this scene, the corner of Li Ang's mouth twitched.
For this game, his preparation was not inadequate. The condition of his players was not bad either. He had considered almost everything that could be considered, but he really could not control the individual play of the opposing player.
Who would have thought that the short player named Liedson would be in such a good state? Just at the start of the game, he consecutively bypassed people in the penalty area and then scored a goal!
This caught him off guard.
The game had just begun. The Brazilian's activity had to be enough to alert him. He had to make an effective response.
*****
After the goal, Liedson ran and roared in celebration. This Brazilian player, who was 175cm tall and weighed only 63kg, was skinny and nicknamed 'Bamboo'. But now, he had created a magnificent feat. This was his 10th goal in the UEFA Europa League this season!
The entire Estádio Alvalade erupted in cheers. Sporting Lisbon's fans chanted in unison, "Liedson will settle it!"
This was a slogan that the Sporting Lisbon fans had specially created for Liéderson. In Alvalade's stadium, there was a sign that read, "Liéderson will solve it." Using goals to solve all the team's problems.
Liéderson's number of goals this season was staggering. In the league, he scored 25 goals for Sporting Lisbon. In the UEFA Europa League, Liéderson scored nine times against the opponent's goal. He was affectionately called the "Lightweight Golden Boot" by the fans. Of course, now it was 10 goals.
In fact, Europe was now talking about the story of Sporting de Gijón's French player, Franck Ribéry. The story of the treasure that Li Ang dug up from the construction site had become a household name after Ribéry became famous this season. However, because the Portuguese Super League did not pay much attention, Liéderson's story was not a household name. Before he played professional football, he was a supermarket clerk. This short man, only 1.75m tall, often had to work hard to straighten the shelves of the supermarket. This supermarket clerk laboriously worked in Brazil for nearly five years.
Before coming to Lisbon, Liéderson could only do odd jobs in Brazil. He played football with teenagers on the streets of his hometown. Later, he joined an insignificant amateur club, but Liéderson had to find another job to make a living. At that time, he was already 19 years old and still had the dream of becoming a professional footballer.
Now, May 2005. Liéderson? Da? Silva? Munis had become the "Golden Boot Striker" Liéderson. He still had to go to the supermarket, but not to climb the shelves to get the top row of children's toys. In the supermarkets of Portugal, Liéderson was the most popular football star — a player who almost single-handedly sent Sporting Lisbon to the UEFA Europa League final that night. It was the Prudentópolis club in the Brazilian state of Paraná that helped Liéderson make his first professional leap. From there, he transferred to Coritiba and later joined Flamengo.
In Brazil and Portugal, his ability was doubted by his clubs. This was because he was relatively short and weighed only 63 kilograms. But Liéderson quickly won everyone's respect with his speed and excellent dribbling skills. His dazzling skills reflected his outstanding ability: he skimmed across the turf like a civet cat and delivered the decisive blow. People often inadvertently discovered that this player was a "late bloomer" type: he officially became a professional footballer at the age of 24. In two and a half seasons in Brazil, he contributed 29 goals. From the summer of 2003 to the present, he had scored 40 goals in the league. Moreover, if he had not fallen into the opponent's offside trap many times, he could have scored even more goals. This also reflected Liéderson's football experience as a teenager. The frequent offside traps proved that he had not received a traditional and solid football education. However, this did not mean that he did not have a unique way of dealing with it, because many referees simply could not keep up with his quick start.
In this goal concede, the Brazilian player's exquisite footwork and his cat-like start could be seen. He was like a fish in water in the narrow penalty area.
*****
The Sporting Lisbon people were very excited. They were leading 1-0. The Sporting Lisbon people's celebration was a little over the time, and the main referee, Merkel, had to remind the host players to pay attention to the time.
Li Ang took advantage of this time to call Hierro to the sidelines and explain the defensive problems exposed in this goal concede. His response was to let Carlos focus on harassing Liéderson. Then he called Ribéry to the sidelines.
"Franck." Li Ang put his arm around Ribéry's neck. "We're behind now."
Ribéry nodded.
"The team needs you to step up." Li Ang pointed to the field. "The opponent's number 31, Liéderson, is very active on the right flank. I need you to pressure the Sporting Lisbon players on the left flank!"
"Disrupt them?" Ribéry asked immediately.
"That's right. That means to mess them up! "Li Ang laughed." I like that word. "
"Leave it to me, boss." Ribéry patted his chest and said. In the Sporting de Gijón team, other than Mata, Carlos, and a few other players that Li Ang had brought with him from Team B, Ribéry had always insisted on calling him "boss." The French "Scarface" felt that this was the treatment of a direct descendant and was proud of it.
"Do you know what the Sporting Lisbon people call you?" Li Ang suddenly said.
"What?"
"They call you 'Gijón's Liéderson,'" Li Ang said, winking.
Ribéry's eyes suddenly widened, and the scar on his face looked terrifying.
"Bastard!" Ribéry cursed. "Why isn't it that guy called Lisbon's Ribéry?"
"Go!" Li Ang gave Ribéry a feint kick and sent him back to the field. From Ribéry's reaction, there was no need for him to say anything more. This kid must be in high fighting spirit now, the kind that was screaming.
Banderas came over and looked at Li Ang. His expression seemed to say, 'Gijón's Liéderson?' Why haven't I heard of it? The French kid really has this nickname in Lisbon.
Li Ang ignored his assistant's shocked expression and leisurely returned to the technical area to sit down. He even crossed his legs … He wanted to use this relaxed posture to send a signal to his disciples: It's just a goal loss, no big deal, everything is under control.
PS: Second update.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
