"Be aggressive—go for both the ball and the man. We have to leave one behind!"
"If we let them cross the ball and let their attackers combine in our defensive zone, then the defense has already failed! Don't wait until they cross into the penalty area—by then, it's already too late!"
It was not difficult to see from the expressions on the faces of the Moreirense players that many of them still did not understand what Triguera meant by defense.
So that's it.
No wonder the coach was so angry—because what everyone had been doing before was completely opposite to what the coach wanted.
"I know it's difficult to change everyone's defensive habits immediately. I will arrange specific defensive coordination and training in the future," Triguera continued. "For the next match, I won't make things too difficult for everyone. There's no need for everyone to rush out blindly."
"Kirop, at the front of your defensive zone, when the opponent's main attacker is holding the ball and preparing to attack, you must step out of the penalty area to apply pressure. It doesn't have to be a perfect tackle, but you must show a fighting posture. You understand defense—you should be able to do this well."
"Macedo, you must cover before Kirop steps out. He will fill your space on the defensive end. Do you understand?"
"As for the two full-backs, I can accept the opponent completing crosses in your defensive zone. But I cannot accept you doing nothing about it!"
A series of instructions were given.
Many players might not have fully understood everything.
For example, Macedo—in terms of positioning, he needed to act as a defensive midfielder covering Kirop's lateral movement.
But in practice, when Kirop wasn't shifting laterally, Kirop would instead cover for Macedo's defensive position.
If the understanding between the two wasn't good enough, gaps would appear in the middle—which would be extremely dangerous.
But even so… it was still better than having no structure at all.
The second half began.
Penafiel also made some targeted adjustments.
They focused their attacks on Moreirense's right side, targeting Alex.
Because Alex's defense was really not good—even when he held his position, he was often easily beaten.
Fortunately, Moreirense's defense became more aggressive and didn't give the opponent enough time to organize attacks.
The opponent's crosses and cut-backs were destroyed three times in a row.
Sixty-seventh minute.
Moreirense launched an attack from the left. After Alex was suppressed, this became their only reliable attacking outlet.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo, who no longer dared to use flashy moves, was intercepted again.
He had been knocked down repeatedly earlier, and the opponent's trash talk made him hesitate. So now, every time he received the ball, he played it safe.
Without variation, the opponent easily read his rhythm, and he lost the ball several times in a row.
Penafiel transitioned quickly through midfield and switched play to Alex's side.
Alex was beaten again.
The opponent cut the ball back with an inverted triangle pass.
This time, Kirop and Fonte couldn't stop the goal.
Two to one!
Penafiel pulled one back.
Their morale rose, and their attacks became more dangerous.
Seventieth minute.
Kai, who had already received a yellow card, was in excellent form and completed an interception in the backcourt.
He cleared the defender with a long kick, then dribbled laterally to stabilize the rhythm instead of launching a rushed attack.
After seeing Anderson get into position, Kai sent a high ball from the backcourt directly to him.
Anderson held off the opponent's midfielder, controlled the ball with his chest, raised his arms, and successfully shielded it.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Flavio made runs, pulling defenders away.
At this moment, Kai also moved forward.
Anderson passed the ball back to Kai, then immediately turned to run forward again.
Kai responded with a Marseille turn, beating the pressing center-back head-on.
With the defensive midfielder dragged away by Anderson, a huge gap opened in front of Kai.
Boom!
Kai pushed the ball forward and accelerated straight through the center, charging directly toward goal.
Penafiel's other center-back rushed over to cover.
Kai performed rapid stepovers, pedaling his bicycle frantically.
In this match, what had disappeared from Cristiano Ronaldo appeared in Kai.
As Kai's stepovers increased, the opponent kept retreating.
Finally, the defender couldn't hold on any longer.
He stuck out a leg—
Boom!
Kai shifted the ball with his right foot, but was clipped by the opponent's calf and fell forward.
"Foul! That's definitely a foul!"
"Oh! Wait! This position!"
"When Kai was doing the stepovers, he seemed to have entered the penalty area!"
"Yes! When Kai pushed the ball forward, he had already stepped into the box!"
"Penalty! This is a penalty! The referee shows a yellow card! The Penafiel center-back had no choice!"
"But it doesn't matter—the referee has pointed to the spot!"
"Moreirense's first penalty taker… has been transferred. The second… also transferred. The third is Altino, but he's on the bench…"
Kai stood at the penalty spot, holding the ball with determination in his eyes.
Anderson, who initially wanted to take the penalty, wisely stepped away.
Kai was fired up today.
He wanted to respond with a goal.
At the same time, he had been playing at the level of a core midfielder. He created this penalty himself—he had every right to take it.
Moreover, after he and Triguera "disciplined" the team at halftime, his authority in the locker room had clearly risen.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo, who usually took penalties alongside Kai in youth training, didn't step forward this time.
Ronaldo was thinking, damn it—although he scored today, his overall performance hadn't been great.
How could he have the confidence to compete with Kai for this penalty?
Wouldn't Kai just slap him back?
If you play well, Kai will naturally pass you the ball.
If you don't, then you just accept it.
Ronaldo stayed calm. Kai was probably the only one he wouldn't fight over penalties with.
After all, he still needed Kai to keep feeding him chances in the future.
Boom!
Kai struck the penalty decisively, blasting it powerfully to the right.
Penafiel's goalkeeper expected a trick shot and stayed rooted in the middle.
In the end, he could only drop to his knees—he didn't even make a save.
Three to one!
Moreirense sealed the victory!
In the 80th minute, Triguera substituted Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been brought down several times earlier.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo didn't perform well overall, he remained the team's most dangerous attacker. Once he adapts to the Portuguese Liga, he will definitely be a Golden Boot contender—so he couldn't risk injury.
In the 85th minute, Triguera also substituted Kai, who was already on a yellow card. Another booking would mean a red, which would be unnecessary.
After just one match, it had already become clear—
This team could not function without Kai.
As a result, in the 88th minute, Moreirense, without their attacking focal point and midfield core, conceded another goal.
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