At this time, Kai was talking to Fonte, and the two returned to their respective positions to prepare for the Figo team's next attack.
Seventy-eight minutes.
Ronaldo dribbled the ball from the wing toward the center and met Kai.
To say the encounter was inaccurate would be wrong—it was more accurate to say Ronaldo found Kai.
Then he pedaled his bicycle in a fancy move. After failing to shake Kai, he changed the ball's direction and accelerated, trying to eat Kai alive.
From an offensive and defensive perspective, this was almost humiliating for the defender.
Kai followed Ronaldo tenaciously, causing problems for his breakthrough. His pulling made Ronaldo uncomfortable, but because Kai was slightly slower, Ronaldo eventually shook him off.
But just after passing Kai, Ronaldo was intercepted by Fonte, who had taken the initiative.
This was Fonte's first interception of Ronaldo in the game.
Fonte then knocked the ball to his teammate Pereira and glanced at Kai running toward the court, feeling a surge of confidence.
What Kai said was true!
Kai really has a way to limit Ronaldo's performance!
Fonte's psychological shadow was being cured by the little man. He felt ready for the next play.
Meanwhile, after receiving the ball, Pereira and Kai executed a wall pass sequence, passing between themselves twice and pushing the ball past half-court.
Figo hadn't felt pressure from the Panthers' offense for a while and was busy getting into position, failing to press.
Pereira entered the offensive third, but Figo midfielder Amorim cleared the ball out of bounds with a tackle.
"Sporting Lisbon is rubbish! Long live Benfica!" Amorim shouted after the tackle, pumping himself up.
Teammates and fans cheered along.
This was a classic defender's way to assert pressure after a successful play. From this, you could also tell Amorim's position on the field.
But Kai observed Amorim closely and finally recognized him.
Good guy!
Indeed, this was the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament, and the players here were destined to become famous.
If nothing went wrong, in a few years Benfica's star Amorim would eventually leave the team, join rival Sporting Lisbon, and with his outstanding performance, be seen as the successor to Portugal's national team midfield.
Though his growth didn't fully go as planned, his story was far from simple.
This guy became head coach of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020 at the "young" age of thirty-five.
Yes—Sporting Lisbon, not Benfica.
And after Chelsea coach Tuchel was fired in 2022, Amorim became a rumored candidate for Chelsea.
He could be considered a moderate figure among young head coaches in football.
A living little Guardiola?
At that time, coaching Sporting Lisbon against Benfica, could he really have shouted "Long live Benfica"?
Kai smiled.
His smile made Amorim's scalp tingle.
Brother, let's play football—don't get cute!
"Fonte, come on!" Kai called, pointing to the sideline ball and signaling Pereira to let Fonte take the header.
The two delayed, giving Fonte time to get into position.
"Go into the penalty area and head the ball toward goal!" Kai instructed, wiping the football on his jersey repeatedly, looking serious.
Due to practical considerations, today's youth tournament was not held in a standard stadium.
The pitch had been re-lined and was slightly smaller.
After all, how can the running ability of a player averaging 1.5 meters compare with one averaging 1.75 meters?
Moreover, young players are naturally less physically developed. A player's physical peak is probably around 24 or 25 years old.
Before that, it's uphill; after, it's downhill.
Sending a central defender into the penalty area in this way was a clever tactic.
Figo glanced at Eusebio: "Is this your special arrangement?"
The latter shook his head.
Later, everyone watched as Kai prepared the sideline throw. He stepped back at least three meters, lifted the ball over his head, approached, accelerated, and suddenly stopped at the sideline. Using inertia and arm strength, he hurled the football hard.
The ball flew through the air.
It passed Pereira, who had come in to receive it, and soared over Amorim standing nearby.
And all the while… it flew into Figo's penalty area!
Fonte, standing 1.8 meters tall, leapt high.
Figo center back Miguel Veloso, half a head shorter, reacted a beat too late and watched Fonte's header fly in.
Figo goalkeeper Bruno Valle didn't make a save—he never expected Kai to throw the ball that far.
"GOAL!"
The commentator was first to react.
"An incredible goal has just happened!"
"Fonte scored with a header, but the real highlight was Kai, who threw the ball from long range!"
"It's unbelievable that such a small player has so much strength!"
"I don't mean to insult him, but he really reminds me of the powerful dwarves in fantasy novels!"
"This isn't a hand-thrown ball—this is a grenade!"
"The Panthers bombed from high altitude, and Figo's sky was conquered!"
"Two to three! The game is still full of suspense!"
"Kai's appearance has injected new energy into the Panthers. So far, he has contributed one steal, two interceptions, one free kick, one threatening pass, and one assist!"
"But strangely, we have no relevant information about him."
"Please stay tuned. We will announce more about this player later."
…
"What happened? How did you let him through! Veloso, Bruno, what are you doing?" Figo yelled, furious about the lost ball. After all, the throw wasn't fast—Veloso should have jammed Fonte.
Veloso frowned. He did have a chance to stop Fonte, but he wasn't as tall. Height is critical for a central defender.
Although Veloso was 1.7 meters, he was smaller than most central defenders of the same age. If this continued, he might not be able to hold a center back position.
Even now, he felt pressure from the team.
If it weren't for the fact that his father was Benfica's main center back and team captain, Veloso might have been expelled from the youth team.
The reason Veloso had participated in the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament was to regain the coaching staff's confidence.
But now, his height disadvantage was painfully obvious.
Kai shook his head at the frustrated Veloso.
Where are we now?
Based on past events, Veloso was about to be expelled from Benfica's youth team. He would have to join Sporting Lisbon's youth setup, eventually reach the first team, and team up with Moutinho—who had been broken by Ronaldo—to defeat his old club Benfica and win the Portuguese Super League.
On the day Veloso won the championship, his father reportedly locked him out of the house.
Soon, the game resumed.
Ronaldo grew increasingly eager, desperate to score against Kai.
He was indeed a player with a big heart—his performance improved with every touch and earned rounds of applause.
However, Figo's offensive flow was significantly disrupted, and their threat had diminished compared to earlier.
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