Osasuna's Roberto Torres attempted to lob the ball directly into Oviedo's penalty area from the midfield, but it was caught by the goalkeeper Juan Carlos, who came out to intercept it. Holding the ball, Carlos looked up at his teammates and then sent a long kick toward the midfield. In truth, Juan Carlos's long kick wasn't ideal. Teixeira, in the midfield, failed to gain a favorable position while contesting the header. However, by a stroke of luck, Mérida headed the ball directly to Folch's feet.
Osasuna switched from offense to defense as Folch sent a ground ball straight to André in the frontcourt.
Receiving the pass, André immediately turned to face the goal. Seeing Oier rushing toward him, André stepped on the ball with his right foot. Then, facing the oncoming Oier, he executed a 180-degree turn, pulling the ball with his left foot. After completing the turn, he pulled the ball back again with his right foot, directly shaking off Oier before accelerating forward.
The Oviedo fans in the stands saw their "King Kong" pull off a classic Marseille Turn, and for a moment, they all forgot to cheer, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened before their eyes was real.
"That brat!" Sánchez said, standing beside Hierro, before looking at him and asking.
"Did you teach him that?"
"No, that move is Zidane's trademark. I don't know how to do that."
"Bollocks, I'm not talking about that! I mean the way he deliberately swung his forearm into the opponent's stomach while turning. Fernando, don't you dare say you didn't teach him that. That's a common trick you defenders use to fight for position and shake someone off."
Sánchez's observation was spot on. Just now, as André completed the Marseille Turn, his arm swing was more exaggerated than usual, hitting Oier right in the stomach. The blow made Oier feel as if his intestines were snapping on the spot. When he tried to turn and give chase, his strength failed him, and he completely lost any hope of catching up. Seeing that the referee not far away had no intention of calling a foul on his behalf, Oier knew he'd suffered a sneaky blow.
Indeed, just as Sánchez said, André had done it on purpose. Oier had been marking him the entire match, and the bastard was not only underhanded but also a great actor. Because André had a massive weight advantage, throughout the first half, whenever the two had physical contact, Oier would conveniently fall to the ground. André didn't know how many times Oier had "flopped" like that, making the match very uncomfortable for him. So he'd thought that if he got the chance, he'd definitely set the guy up.
After bypassing Oier, André didn't charge straight into the penalty area but instead dribbled diagonally to the right. On Osasuna's side, Juan Cruz knew he couldn't let the opponent keep dribbling like that and quickly moved from his position to intercept André. Learning from Oier's recent mistake, Cruz didn't lunge too hard. He prioritized maintaining a favorable position and was very careful with his hands. After all, they were already at the edge of the penalty area, and any excessive movement would surely be noticed by the nearby referee.
Ibra on the left was already prepared to cut inside, while Saúl on the right was ready to provide support at any moment.
Facing Cruz's defense, André lightly poked the ball to the right, appearing as if he intended to force a breakthrough from that side. After drawing Cruz's defensive focus, he stepped on the ball with his right foot, and the sudden stop immediately caused Cruz to lose his position. Cruz never expected this big guy to be so agile on his feet. Having created space, André swung his left leg as if to shoot, causing David García, who was providing cover, to dive to the ground to block the shot. To his surprise, this was yet another feint by André. Having successively caused both of the opponent's center-backs to lose their defensive footing, André took another light touch, then stepped on the ball to stop again. Oier, who was chasing from behind, overshot him. André then raised his left leg and swung it with great force, the inside of his left foot striking the ball. This time, it was no longer a feint.
Osasuna's goalkeeper, Sergio Herrera, had long been prepared to make a save. However, as he stretched his body in the air, he found that the shot had carved an arc through the air, curling directly into the top corner where the post and crossbar met. His desperately extended right hand could even feel a slight sensation of the ball brushing against his glove, but unfortunately, he was unable to stop the ball's trajectory.
1-0.
Near the end of the first half, André used his individual brilliance to help Oviedo take a one-goal lead.
Seeing André score, Hierro raised both hands and turned to hug Sánchez.
On the pitch, after seeing the ball go in, André ran frantically toward the stands where the Oviedo fans were located, waving off his teammates who wanted to celebrate. He then lifted his jersey, and only then did everyone see a sentence written on his undershirt: "My name is André, I'm not King Kong."
Having shown his brilliant idea to the Oviedo fans in the stands, André wore a triumphant smile. This was the plan he'd come up with last night. He'd written the sentence on his shirt as soon as he'd arrived at the training ground early this morning. He intended to lift his shirt to show everyone not only when he scored himself, but also when others scored, to reinforce the impression and completely rid himself of the nickname "King Kong." Furthermore, he'd thought of many other cool nicknames to write on his shirt for the fans once he was done with King Kong.
I'm a bloody genius. Now no one will call me King Kong anymore, right? André thought as he stood there, head held high, looking proudly at the fans in the stands.
And then, the familiar melody of a song began to play, seemingly fulfilling André's wish.
"André, André, André, we have a King Kong, his name is André, we're not afraid of you, la la la la la, we have a King Kong, his name is André, we're not..."
When the first part was mentioned, the triumphant smile on André's face grew even wider, but the latter part left him standing there in a daze. His teammates, who'd come over to celebrate the goal, burst into laughter upon hearing it. Saúl, in particular, even started singing along loudly, followed by the other teammates. Then, the fans in the stands, thinking their singing had received a response from the players, sang even louder.
It's over! I'm finished! Which bastard thought of this? Are you a bloody devil? Now I'll never get rid of that disgusting name. And that bastard Saúl—I curse you to never find a girlfriend again, and even if you do, you won't be able to keep her for more than a week!
André stood there, frozen, as the entire stadium sang his nightmare.
Behind him, Hierro was laughing so hard he could barely stand.
Sánchez was bent over, tears streaming down his face.
And thirty thousand Oviedo fans sang at the top of their lungs:
"We have a King Kong, his name is André!"
The nickname was official now.
There was no escape.
HALF-TIME: Real Oviedo 1-0 CA Osasuna
Goal: André Cristiano (45'+2)
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