At that moment, Deng Kai was talking to Feng Te. The two returned to their respective positions to face a new round of offense from Figo's team.
The 78th minute.
Ronaldo dribbled from the flank to the center, encountering Deng Kai.
To say encountering isn't quite correct, it should be said that Ronaldo found Deng Kai.
Then, with a series of fancy step-overs that failed to trick Deng Kai, he pushed the ball, changed direction, accelerated, and breezed past Deng Kai.
From a defensive standpoint, this was almost an insult to the defender.
Deng Kai tenaciously stuck by Ronaldo's side and caused a tiny bit of trouble for Ronaldo's breakthrough. His tugging was very uncomfortable for Ronaldo, but due to his slower pace, he was ultimately shaken off completely by Ronaldo.
However, just after getting past Deng Kai, Ronaldo was intercepted by the proactively defending Feng Te.
This was also Feng Te's first interception of Ronaldo in the entire match.
Afterward, Feng Te tapped the football to his teammate Pereira, and then, watching Deng Kai's figure running forward, suddenly became teary-eyed.
Deng Kai's words were true!
Deng Kai really had a way to limit Ronaldo's performance!
Feng Te's psychological shadow was being healed by a little shorty.
He was filled with confidence for the rest of the match.
On the other hand, after Pereira received the ball, he and Deng Kai played a quick one-two, passing two players and moving the football past the midfield.
Figo's team hadn't felt the attack from the Black Panthers for a long time; they were busy positioning themselves and did not press aggressively.
As a result, Pereira continued to carry the ball into the offensive third before Figo's midfielder Amorim destroyed the ball with a sliding tackle out to the sidelines.
"Lisbon Athletic rubbish! Go Benfica!" After the tackle, Amorim shouted the slogan to encourage himself.
His teammates and the fans in the stadium also cheered along.
This was a way for defenders to apply pressure to the opposition after a successful defense.
This sentence also revealed Amorim's standpoint.
But Deng Kai looked at Amorim several times and finally recognized his identity.
Goodness!
Worthy of the Diamond Generation Invitational Tournament, the players who came were all destined to be well-known in the future!
Without any surprises, in a few years, this staunch Benfica follower, Amorim, would be swept out by the club and then join the rival team Lisbon Athletic, where with outstanding performance, he became the successor in midfield that people had in mind for the Portuguese national team.
Although his growth ultimately did not meet expectations, his story was not a simple one.
This guy became the head coach of Lisbon Athletic in March 2020, at the "young" age of thirty-five.
Yes, not Benfica but Lisbon Athletic.
And after Chelsea's manager Tuchel was sacked in 2022, he became the rumored manager for the Blues.
He was quite a significant figure among the younger generation of football coaches.
A living little Guardiola, right?
When he coached Lisbon Athletic against Benfica at that time, could he still shout "Go Benfica"?
Deng Kai laughed.
His laughter made Amorim's scalp tingle.
Dude, play football, no funny business!
"Feng Te, come up!" Deng Kai looked at the position of the throw-in and called Feng Te over, signaling to Pereira to let him take the throw-in.
The two dawdled, providing Feng Te time to come up.
"Go to the penalty area, header on goal!" Deng Kai instructed Feng Te and then wiped the ball on his shirt meticulously, pretending to be very serious about it.
Out of consideration for the players' well-being, today's youth match was not played on a standard-sized field.
Instead, they were playing on a slightly smaller field with redrawn lines.
After all, how could players with an average height of 1.5 meters be expected to run as well as those with an average height of 1.75 meters?
Moreover, young players at the child phase naturally have less stamina.
A player's physical peak is roughly at twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
Before that is an uphill struggle, after that a decline.
This strategy of sending a central defender into the penalty area caused much confusion.
Figo turned to Eusebio, "Is this your special arrangement?"
The latter shook his head.
Then, as everyone was watching Deng Kai prepare to take the throw-in, he stepped back at least three meters.
He lifted the ball over his head.
He took a running start.
He accelerated.
He came to an abrupt stop at the sideline, using his momentum and arm strength to hurl the football fiercely.
The football took to the air.
It flew over the nearby, waiting Pereira.
It flew past Amorim beside Pereira.
And continued... flying into Figo team's penalty area!
Feng Te, who was 1.8 meters tall, leapt high into the air.
Miguel Veloso, a center-back for the Figo team who was nearly half a head shorter than him, reacted a moment too late and watched helplessly as Feng Te headed the ball towards the goal.
Bruno Vale, the Figo team goalkeeper, did not make any move to save it.
Because he never expected Deng Kai to be able to throw the ball that far.
"GOAL!"
The commentator is always the first to react.
"An incredible goal has occurred!"
"Feng Te with a header, but the highlight of this goal isn't him, it's Deng Kai who threw the long throw-in!"
"It's hard to imagine, such a small player having such great strength!"
"I mean no offense, but he really reminds me of the dwarves from fantasy novels, legendary for their prodigious strength!"
"This isn't a throw-in, it's practically a hand grenade!"
"Panther Team's aerial bombardment, Figo Team's sky has been conquered!"
"Two to three! The match still holds suspense!"
"Deng Kai's entrance has given the Panther Team new energy. Up to this point, Deng Kai has contributed one steal, two interceptions, one free kick, one threatening pass, and one assist!"
"But oddly, we've found no information about him."
"Please wait a moment, don't go anywhere. More information about this player will be announced shortly."
...
"What's going on, how are you defending! Veloso, Bruno, what are you daydreaming about?" Figo was very dissatisfied with the goal conceded because, after all, the throw-in was not fast, and even if it went beyond everyone's expectations, Veloso should have marked Feng Te.
Veloso looked unhappy, indeed he had a chance to stop Feng Te, but he wasn't as tall as Feng Te.
Height is very important for a center-back.
Although Veloso was 1.7 meters tall, compared to his peers, he was considered short for a center-back.
If this were to continue, it's likely he wouldn't be able to play as a center-back.
He even felt the pressure from the team already.
If it weren't for his father being Benfica's main center-back and team captain, he might have been kicked out of the youth team already.
The reason Veloso was so eager to participate in the "Diamond Generation Invitational" was to hope for a good performance to regain the coaching staff's expectations.
Instead, his lack of height became even more evident.
Deng Kai shook his head at the agitated Veloso.
This was just the beginning.
According to the trajectory of his previous life, Veloso was about to be expelled from Benfica's youth team.
Afterward, in order to keep playing football, he had no choice but to join the youth team of their arch-rivals, Sporting Lisbon, and later won the Primeira Liga championship with Sporting, together with Mutinho, who had just been outclassed by Ronaldo.
It was said that on the day Veloso won the championship, his father locked him out of the house, not allowing him in.
Soon, the match restarted.
Ronaldo grew increasingly eager; he hoped to score in front of Deng Kai.
True to his reputation as a big-game player, his performance improved more and more, drawing rounds of applause.
However, Figo Team's attacking fluidity considerably decreased as a result, and their threat seemed less than before.