Estádio do Drag?o
January 19, 2014, Sunday. The 16th round of the Portuguese Super League, the league leader Porto will be at home in the Dragon Stadium to face Marítimo, a strong team that has risen this season.
In the previous 15 rounds of competition, Porto had 11 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, with a total of 36 points, as always leading the standings.
Marseille, meanwhile, finished with 7 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses, earning 27 points to rank fifth in the standings, becoming a strong contender for European competition, including Champions League qualification.
Sporting Lisbon, who were 2 points behind Porto in the standings before, have surpassed Porto after winning this round and jumped to first place with one more game played.
So this game is crucial for Porto.
Marítimo's city rivals have won four consecutive games in the last 4 rounds, and are currently ranked 4th in the standings with a goal difference advantage over Marítimo. This game is also crucial for Marítimo if they don't want to be left behind by their city rivals.
In a match where neither side can afford to lose, the pre-match opinion has been overwhelmingly in favor of Porto. After all, with their strong squad and home advantage, Porto should be more than enough to deal with Marítimo, who have only just emerged as a force over half a season.
Most football commentators believe that Marítimo not being defeated in this match is already a mission accomplished. Because the first round of the new season was Marítimo vs Porto, and at that time, Marítimo lost 0-3 to Porto at home. This away game will obviously not be optimistic either.
In the outside world's opinion that the outcome was a foregone conclusion, the biggest highlight of this match turned out to be Quaresma's revenge against his old club, making people look forward to seeing whether he would receive applause at the Dragon Stadium where he once played.
Wu Yu, Gao Wei and Quaresma all started the match, while Dicko was on the bench.
Getting off the plane and taking a big bus to Porto's Dragon Stadium, Wu Yu felt the atmosphere of his first appearance in the Portuguese Super League. Porto is Portugal's second-largest city, and the enthusiasm of the fans here is even more than that of Lisbon, the capital.
Along the way, you can see people wearing blue and white jerseys of Porto drinking and chatting on the streets. Some fans also recognized Marítimo's team bus, and when it passed by them, they suddenly sang Porto's team song loudly, as if to intimidate Marítimo players.
After about half an hour's drive, the bus turned into a straight road. At the end of the straight road, a huge white elliptical building appeared in front of Wu Yu.
Dragon Stadium in Porto!
Another holy place for Portuguese football, after taking the first step of his career at Alvalade Stadium in the first half of the season, Wu Yu finally arrived at this admired and revered stadium six months later.
"Do you know why it's called the Dragon Ball Arena?" Quaresma, who was sitting across from Wu Yu in the corridor, couldn't help but ask when he saw Wu Yu and Gao Wei's eager expressions.
Wu Yu and Gao Wei shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.
Quaresma smiled and slowly explained the origin of the name "Dragon Stadium" in Porto:
Not far from the Estádio do Drag?o, a winding river runs through the city of Porto, which is the Douro River that gave birth to this city, also known as the Golden River.
In Portugal, there is an ancient legend that a giant dragon wanted to occupy the mines on both banks of the Douro River and often spewed out fierce flames, making people powerless. However, the clever Porto people finally extinguished the dragon's fire with the water from the Douro River, and the dragon became the servant and protector of the Porto people, helping them repel many invasions by enemies.
From then on, many Porto people called themselves "Dragons' children", and the "Dragon Stadium" was named after this.
Wu Yu and Gao Wei suddenly enlightened after listening, couldn't help but sigh at the reason behind foreign stadiums and club histories. Whether it's their names or cultures, they all have a great relationship with the historical roots of the cities they are in.
……
The big bus slowly fell outside the periphery of the Giant Dragon Stadium, and at this time, many ball fans and vendors also gathered outside the stadium. On this sunny weekend, they were ready to enjoy this feast of competition.
Wu Yu and the first away game in Lisbon, when he appeared outside the Alvalade Stadium, his mood was already different. He no longer felt tense, but had a sense of excitement and determination, wanting to conquer this giant stadium like he did with the Alvalade Stadium! "Everyone listen up, this match is crucial for us, just like it is for Porto. Don't be afraid of them, show your manhood, let them see our strength!" Martens was making his final rallying cry in the locker room, the 40-minute warm-up had ended, and the match was about to begin!
Captain Brügge stood up first, leading the other starting players to the player tunnel with a firm expression, waiting to take the field.
In the player tunnel, Porto's players were already lined up there. Some familiar players greeted each other, with Quaresma being the most familiar with the opposing team's players, after all, he had played for Porto before.
"Hey, are you Wu Yu?" A short-haired Brazilian with a flat nose greeted Wu Yu.
"Hey, hello Fernando." Wu Yu responded politely.
In response to his invitation, it was Fernando Reges, the mainstay of Porto's back waist, the best defensive midfielder in the Portuguese Super League, with a worth of 200 million euros. His fierce defense earned him the nickname "the next Emerson."
"You've done pretty well in the first half of the season, but don't think you can do anything in front of me this time." Fernando patted Wu Yu's head lightly and shouted.
"As soon as I stepped onto the field, I knew." Wu Yu didn't get angry at the opponent's provocation, but instead calmly and firmly accepted their challenge.
"Alright, see you on the field!" Fernando didn't expect Wu Yu to be so calm either, smiled and walked away.
……
"Hello everyone, I'm Cristian again. Welcome to Sport TV's focus match of this round of the Portuguese Super League, where Porto hosts Maritimo at home. Our guest commentator for today is still Luis Figo. Luis, do you think Maritimo has a chance in this game?"
"Uh... Maridimo has made a lot of progress this season, especially with the emergence of two young Chinese players, which has greatly enhanced their strength. With the addition of Quaresma, it can be said that they have very strong competitiveness."
"So does this mean they have a chance of winning the game?"
"No, I don't think so. Marítimo have made a lot of progress, but the strongest team in Portugal is still Porto. They almost never lose at the Estádio do Drag?o and I don't think this match will be an exception. Fonseca's team will control everything."
"So you think the highlight of this match is 'Porto' being able to win Marítimo by several goals?"
"Marítimo may be able to resist a little, but the final victory, I believe, will still belong to 'Porto'. However, the biggest highlight of this match is Ricardo Quaresma's return to the Dragon Stadium, facing his old club."
"Ricardo Quaresma has won too many honors in this stadium, let's see if he can make a difference today against his old club."
As the TV camera turned to the player tunnel exit, players from both sides entered the field in a line under the leadership of their respective team captains.
Wu Yu was in the middle of the team, and when he walked through the player tunnel, he could already faintly hear the singing voices of the fans at the Dragon Stadium. The match had not yet started, but Porto's fans had already turned the entire stadium into an ocean of joy.
More than 50,000 people sang together, the sound waves swirling around Wu Yu's ears, directly shocking his soul. The stands were a sea of blue and white, with flags fluttering in the wind; if Wu Yu hadn't experienced the atmosphere of Alvarade Stadium before, he would probably have been bewildered by the fans' momentum upon entering this stadium.
"Xiao Yu, this is the Giant Dragon Stadium! It's too awesome!" Gao Wei, who seemed to be lacking a screw, appeared very excited and didn't feel any pressure from the home team fans at all.
Wu Yu let out a bitter laugh, perhaps this was the advantage of being simple-minded.
In a corner of the stands, several thousand away fans wearing red and green jerseys were singing loudly, trying to find some space in the home fans' songs to cheer on their own team.
Hua Yan and Wang Peijun were also among them, along with Wu Yu and Gao Wei's agent, who was also the scout who discovered the two - Jo?o Tenório.
"Pei Jun, this stadium is so much bigger than our team's!" Hua Yan was a bit stunned by the tens of thousands of cheering fans for the first time.
"This is the Estádio do Drag?o, one of Portugal's three most famous stadiums and also very well-known in Europe." Wang Peijun explained to Hua Yan with a calm expression.
When she was in Guangzhou, the derby match between Guangzhou Evergrande and Guangzhou R&F at Tianhe Stadium would not have been much more popular than the one at Yuexiushan Stadium, it's just that they were not on the same level of fame.
"You must perform well in this match, and your name will spread throughout Europe!" Wang Peijun secretly cheered for Wu Yu in her heart as she watched him prepare to start the competition.
Inside the Dragon Ball Stadium suite, a white-haired old man in his seventies sat on the sofa, smoking a cigar while chatting with middle-aged men in the suite.
He is the president of Porto, Pinto da Costa, and he was talking to Mendes.
"Holger, they've all come here, but I'm not sure if we can get them," Da Costa said with some regret.
"Mr. Costa, I've got the news that their agent, that scout from Maridimo, has also arrived in Porto." Mendes said calmly: "You can get in touch with him and see if you can draft a contract."
Costa stood up and looked at the scene without saying a word.
The game has started.
