Away match against Sporting CP

  Remember in one second

  An hour before the game, Wu Yu and 17 teammates came to the stadium for pre-match training. When he walked out of the tunnel from the locker room onto the field, he was still shocked by the atmosphere of Alvarade Stadium. Although the fans have not yet fully entered the stands, there are still many empty seats on the yellow-green stands, but the sunlight shines through the top of the stadium and shines on the green grass, making him truly feel that his dream is so close.

  The pre-match warm-up was nothing special, similar to what Wu Yu saw on TV live broadcast, all running stretching, passing the ball and shooting.

  The magnesium light that flashed in front of him from time to time was still a bit unaccustomed to him. Noticing Wu Yu's abnormality, the 34-year-old captain Brigel walked over and asked Wu Yu what was wrong.

  Wu Yu would not say that he was excited about the possibility of performing a virgin show on this field, which seemed too cowardly, and his Portuguese was not yet at such a level. He just smiled and shook his head, thanking the kind captain for his concern.

  As the crowd poured in, the singing at Alvalade Stadium grew louder. Maritimo's fans were never many to begin with, and this time only a little over 1,000 die-hard supporters made the trip, compared to Sporting's more than 40,000 green-and-whites, it was like an ant encountering an elephant, but soon drowned out by the singing of the Sporting fans.

  The 40-minute warm-up has ended, Wu Yu wipes off his sweat and follows the team into the locker room for final adjustments.

  "Alright lads, today we've arrived in Lisbon, one of Portugal's greatest stadiums, and we're up against the top three teams in the Portuguese Super League! Our strength may not be as good as theirs, our fans may not be as many as theirs, but look at this, this is the biggest stage in Portugal, we should fully show ourselves here! Come on lads, fight like men, let them see our strength!"

  Martins stood in front of the locker room, making a pre-match mobilization with excitement.

  "Alright, take them down!"

  "Let them know the ferocity of Maridimo!"

  ……

  Every player in the locker room was inspired by Martins, shouting loudly to cheer themselves up. Although Wu Yu couldn't quite understand what Martins said, under this exciting atmosphere, he himself was also excited and eager to try.

  Under the leadership of Captain Brigel, the starting players lined up and walked into the field through the player tunnel, while Wu Yu followed behind the team and sat down on the substitute bench with other substitutes.

  This match between Benfica and Marítimo was highly anticipated, and Portuguese TV channel SportTV also broadcast it. In the SportTV studio, two middle-aged men wearing casual suits appeared on screen.

  "Good afternoon everyone, welcome to watch SportTV's Portuguese Super League live broadcast on this sunny weekend, I'm your host Cristian."

  "A man in his 40s, with a neat and short haircut, slightly grayish temples, flashed a charming smile at the TV camera and said: "Today we have invited the former national team captain, the legendary star of Real Madrid, Luis Figo, as our guest to comment on this match. Luis, what do you think about this game?"

  "Obviously, everyone can see that I'm watching this game on TV." Louis Figueroa said with a smile, revealing his signature deep dimples and strong masculine charm. "Of course, it's just a joke. Today, the home team is on a four-game winning streak, leading the league, and morale is high, so Maritimo will likely suffer a defeat as well."

  "Today, the visiting team Marítimo was indeed more difficult, due to their severe midfield injury situation, so much so that they had to put a Chinese player with no game experience on the substitute bench." Kristin nodded slightly in agreement. As the host, he couldn't show too much bias, so he changed the subject: "Okay, let's take a look at the starting lineups of both teams first."

  Marítimo's starting lineup today is 433: the goalkeeper is Josa, the defensive line from left to right are Rúben Ferreira, Marcio Rosário, Igor and captain Briguel; the three midfielders are Artur, Gret and Periera, the three forwards are Danilo, Dily and Heilton.

  "And the home team Sporting Lisbon today is in a 4-2-3-1 formation..."

  Wu Yu sat on the substitute bench, with the sound of the competitive team's fans' songs coming from his ears, as if he was in a 3D concert hall, with songs coming from all directions. The jerseys of both Maritimo and Sporting Lisbon were mainly green, so the stands around him were a sea of green and white, with hardly any other colors mixed in.

  "Patrício, Portugal national team's number one goalkeeper, participated in the 2012 European Cup, tall and good at single-handed saves..."

  "Max Roho, left back, Argentine international, participated in the 2011 America's Cup, extremely fast..."

  Wu Yu looked at the starting players of Benfica, reciting their names, positions and characteristics like a treasured family heirloom. These people may not be well-known globally, but in the Portuguese Super League, they are all household names. In the half month since arriving in Portugal, after training he had nothing to do, he had already familiarized himself with all the "famous generals" on the Portuguese Super League stage, remembering each person's characteristics by heart. The number of excellent players owned by the top three teams in the Portuguese Super League was even more astonishing to him.

  "André Martins, a talented youngster from Sporting Lisbon's youth academy, plays as a midfielder and is highly touted for a call-up to the Portuguese national team..."

  "Montero, the Colombian forward who emerged this season, has scored 5 goals in the last 4 rounds and is currently at the top of the Portuguese Super League scorer list..."

  ……

  The match began with Wu Yu announcing the opponent's player data, and Sporting CP had the upper hand in terms of timing, geography, and human factors, launching a fierce attack on Marítimo from the start.

  Fortunately, Martens had already anticipated such a situation, and in the tactical deployment, how to defend against the opponent's attack, and how to arrange the big bar at the door were all clearly stated. So although the opponent's attack was fierce, they could not break through Maridimo's gate after all.

  In Wu Yu's eyes, it wasn't like that. He only saw his teammates being attacked by the players of Lisben Athletic in turn, and the fans at Alvarade Stadium also shouted wave after wave with the team's offense, directly impacting Wu Yu's fragile heart.

  "Martins takes the ball, okay, passes it to Roho on the left. Roho breaks through the defense with his speed and sends a cross from the bottom line! Ah, what a pity, Rosario clears it out just in time!"

  "Patricio's long pass finds Montero, who knocks it back to Adrian Silva. Silva beats Artur and gets into the box, with a chance to shoot. A yellow figure flies in with a sliding tackle, intercepting the ball - it's Gret! Maritimo have a counter-attacking opportunity!"

  ……

  In the SportTV studio, Cristian was watching the live signal from the field while commentating on the match, and Figo occasionally made comments about the game.

  Marítimo survived the first 15 minutes of Sporting's crazy attack and slowly stood firm, starting to have some sporadic counterattacks, with the game developing into a stalemate favorable to Marítimo.

  "Good job, hold on, resist their offense, and we'll slowly push forward!" Martens shouted loudly from the long side. He knew that not conceding a goal in the first 15 minutes of the game was the perfect execution of his team's tactical setup.

  "Alright, the match has been going on for almost 20 minutes now. Sporting CP had a fierce attack in the first 15 minutes but failed to score and now the pace seems to have slowed down. Marítimo is also starting to organize some threatening attacks.

  In the Sport TV studio, Cristian comments on the scene: "Luís, it seems that the situation is developing in favor of Marítimo, what do you think will happen next?"

  The charm of football lies in the fact that you never know what will happen next.

  "Now Sporting Lisbon seems a bit wilted, Marítimo seems to have found the way to deal with them, but in the ever-changing football field, it is impossible to predict what will happen next." Luis Figo is clearly a fan of Sporting Lisbon, and his support for the team he once played for remains unwavering.

  "Perhaps as Luis said, the charm of football lies in its unpredictability. Alright, let's take a look at Marítimo's counterattack this time!"

  Maridiemo intercepted the ball in midfield by Gret, this game has been going on for 20 minutes, he has already made four or five steals, and his performance is quite eye-catching. He passed the ball to midfielder Artur, who immediately distributed it to the wing, where Hailton was already rushing forward quickly.

  After Artur made a pass, he quickly made a run into the box. Heldon broke through to the corner of the penalty area and made a cross-field pass to Dilly in the middle. Dilly was tightly marked by an opponent's defender and couldn't turn around, but he cleverly flicked the ball with his heel to the top of the penalty arc where no one was present. Artur, wearing a yellow jersey, happened to appear in front of the ball and got an excellent long-range shooting opportunity!

  "What a chance, put it in!" Martens shouted nervously from the sidelines.

  "Stop him, don't let him shoot!" Leonardo Jardim, the head coach of Monaco, shouted urgently.

  Just as Artur started his kick, a green figure sprinted out of the penalty area with both feet on the ground and cleared the ball!

  Bang!!

  Both sides collided fiercely, Artur let out a miserable cry, was knocked to the ground by his opponent, clutching his right foot in agony and rolling around, his right hand slapping the grass violently.

  But the referee indicated that this cut-off was no problem, and the ball was obtained by Sporting Lisbon's defender, and the game continued.

  "Foul! That's a foul!" Martens, seeing the opponent's rough tackle without getting corresponding punishment, angrily argued with the fourth official on the sidelines.

  The players of Sporting Lisbon did not stop their offensive pace, taking advantage of Artur's injury to fall to the ground, a good opportunity for the opponent's midfield defense to appear with gaps, and Montoro scored in excellent condition.

  The Alvalade Stadium erupted in a deafening roar, while in the background of Sporting Lisbon players celebrating the goal, Artur was still lying on the ground in front of the opponent's penalty area, clutching his right foot in pain.

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