"Kai has improved again!" Trigueira nodded repeatedly in the stands. "Not only his technique, but his speed, physicality, and height have all improved significantly."
"Maybe he still looks small to others, but this growth is huge for him."
"He's absolutely worth the club's investment."
The senior manager beside him didn't nod.
Trigueira noticed.
"He's not just a hardworking, bulky midfielder. He can shine. The biggest difference between him and ordinary midfielders is that he can deliver the final pass… and he can even finish himself!"
The senior executive's pupils shrank.
The translation of that sentence was simple…
Kai is a midfielder who can stack stats.
Wingers can become famous with one goal because of their speed.
But what about midfielders?
Traits like organization, tempo control, and positioning aren't obvious. They're invisible to most people.
If people can't see it, fans won't cheer, and other clubs won't pay big money.
That's why young midfielders are hard to market.
Not to mention positions like core midfielder, center back, and goalkeeper — these roles naturally repel young players.
Throughout history, there have always been plenty of young strikers.
But how many young commanders are there?
If you can't package forwards, no one settles for packaging midfielders.
And if midfielders don't sell, defenders definitely won't.
Thirty-two minutes.
Kai received the ball but was knocked down by Amorim before he could turn.
Recently, Benfica hadn't given Kai any space to face forward.
He had already been taken down three times.
Under this restriction, Kai gradually lost control of the team's rhythm.
In the 41st minute, Kai finally shook off his marker and sent a long pass.
But the moment the ball left his foot, Amorim crashed into him from behind and knocked him down.
The referee signaled advantage and didn't stop play.
Because it was a beautiful pass.
On the right side of Sporting's attack, Marcelino was in a perfect position — almost one-on-one.
Lorenzo in the middle was also making a great run.
Two against one in the frontcourt!
Benfica's defenders had no choice but to rush Marcelino.
At this moment, a simple square pass to Lorenzo would've been a tap-in.
But Marcelino didn't pass.
Boom!
"Oh no! Marcelino shoots himself instead of passing!"
"He had the angle, but the key is finishing!"
"Weir makes a brilliant save and parries it away!"
"The quality of that shot was too poor — way below standard!"
After getting up, Weir immediately launched the ball to Pereira on the right.
Pereira advanced down the wing.
Veloso stepped up to block him.
Pereira passed to Amorim.
Amorim pushed forward and slipped a through ball while running.
It actually went through!
Benfica midfielder Vilela received it at the edge of the box and fired a long shot!
The ball smashed straight into the net.
"Oh! What a rocket!"
"Vilela scores! Benfica equalizes!"
"One–one! Benfica has been very aggressive lately — they're fighting back hard!"
"Kai must find a solution. If he keeps getting locked down, Sporting will be in real trouble."
After that, neither side scored again, and the game entered halftime.
In the locker room.
Veloso found Kai.
"Kai, be careful. They're targeting you with foul tactics."
Kai frowned.
Of course he felt it.
But if he backed off out of fear, the team would really be finished.
After the second half started, Kai still demanded the ball actively and kept distributing it. Most of his touches were one-touch passes, but he still tried to turn whenever he could.
Fifty-six minutes.
Veloso stole the ball and found Kai.
Kai finally shook off Amorim, received it, turned, and passed instantly without even looking!
Ronaldo collected it on the left and faced Pereira.
Pereira immediately got nervous.
In the end, he couldn't stop Ronaldo.
Ronaldo cut inside.
Boom!
Cristiano Ronaldo seemed in great form today. After cutting in, he didn't shoot — he passed directly.
Striker Lorenzo had been making excellent runs all game. He easily met Ronaldo's pass and shot.
The strike wasn't clean, and the technique wasn't great.
But that imperfection changed the trajectory and made it incredibly tricky.
The ball kissed the post and rolled in.
"Beautiful! Two–one!"
"I didn't expect Lorenzo to be the hero this time!"
"Assist from Cristiano Ronaldo!"
"Of course, don't forget Kai who started the attack, and Veloso who made the steal!"
"Sporting's midfielder Veloso and striker Lorenzo have similar names — easy to mix them up!"
This goal completely changed the mentality of both sides.
Benfica were used to winning.
They had only lost once in eighteen matches in the first half of the season.
And that loss was to Sporting.
Now, in the second stage, they wanted revenge.
Sixty minutes.
Kai received a teammate's pass.
Alexandre barged straight into him and knocked him down.
The collision was clearly intentional.
This time, Kai hit the ground hard.
Veloso saw everything from the side.
Alexandre had room to slow down.
He chose not to.
Two minutes later, Vilela received a pass from teammate Simão.
Boom!
Veloso flew in with a brutal sliding tackle, taking both man and ball down!
Vilela rolled on the ground, clutching his ankle and acting like he was dying.
Veloso bent down and said coldly,
"Stop pretending. I know exactly how hard I tackled. If I really wanted to injure you, you wouldn't even have the strength to roll around."
"What you did to Kai today went too far. Play dirty again… and you know what happens."
Vilela exploded, jumped up immediately, and went chest-to-chest with Veloso — a miraculous recovery.
But he wasn't as tall or strong, and bounced right back.
Alexandre, Amorim, Simão and the others rushed over.
Kai, Semedo, Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest also surrounded them.
The situation almost blew up into a full conflict.
Luckily, the referee separated them quickly and showed Veloso a yellow card for the rough tackle.
Veloso didn't argue.
He simply said,
"I respect your decision. But you should pay more attention to Kai. Their challenges are too aggressive."
The referee waved him off, but still took the hint.
Veloso had used his yellow card as a warning.
If the referee couldn't protect the players, they would protect themselves.
And that meant violence.
If it came to that, the referee's control of the match would be a complete failure.
So from now on, any foul on Kai would likely mean a card.
This yellow card was tactical.
It freed Kai.
Veloso showed his iron-blooded bodyguard mentality — and his intelligence as a defensive midfielder.
Of course…
This style also had a drawback.
It made you a target for retaliation.
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