"Four assists! Cristiano Ronaldo has just set a new record in his career!"
Peter Schmeichel got back to his feet. He was fine. His first reaction was to check on Kai… and Kai also seemed fine.
Schmeichel pulled Kai up, rubbed his head, and Kai patted him on the vest in return.
Once again, warm applause echoed around the stadium—but there were no cheers.
Sporting Lisbon fans were clearly conflicted.
They were proud of Kai and Ronaldo.
But at the same time, they were devastated—their first team had just been knocked out of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals.
No one had expected this before the match.
Moreirense… had actually made it to the final.
They had already faced two of the "Big Three" of Portuguese football.
Tomorrow, FC Porto would face Boavista.
There was a real chance that Moreirense would face all three giants this season.
And if that happened…
Could they actually beat all three in a row?
"Kai!"
"Kai!"
"Kai!"
The fans began chanting his name.
Before, it had been affection—like cheering for a kid from their own academy.
But now?
This was expectation.
They were placing their hopes of winning the Portuguese Cup on Kai.
Players like Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo were no longer just prospects—
They were becoming pillars.
But the match wasn't over yet.
And the ending… didn't come easy.
89th minute.
After kickoff, Hugo Viana, Ricardo Quaresma, and Mário Jardel combined brilliantly, slicing through Moreirense's defensive block.
Quaresma danced into the penalty area—
And was brought down by José Fonte.
Penalty.
Quaresma stood over the ball, eyes blazing.
As the club's top young talent, his competitive fire had been completely ignited by his "junior brothers," Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo.
He wanted to prove—
Who the real boss was.
But then Jardel stepped forward.
"The team's not winning anyway. Let me take it. I've already scored two—I want the hat trick."
He wanted a consolation.
But the way he said it…
"What do you mean we're not winning?" Quaresma snapped.
That was the problem with youth.
They didn't accept fate.
"If I score this, we've got stoppage time left. Why the hell can't we equalize?"
"Where's your pride? Your dignity?"
Jardel, if he could read Quaresma's mind, would've replied calmly:
"Because 99.99% of the time, we lose from here."
But there was no "if."
The two clashed.
Quaresma slapped Jardel's hand away from the ball.
Jardel stepped forward.
Quaresma shoved him.
Voices rose.
The crowd was stunned.
Even more ridiculous—Kai, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fonte and others rushed in immediately to break it up, acting like they were part of Sporting Lisbon themselves.
Then Sporting players joined, and the situation was finally calmed.
Quaresma stepped up.
One strike.
Goal.
4–5.
Sporting Lisbon still had a chance.
Just one more goal, and they could drag it to extra time.
Five minutes of stoppage time.
As the final seconds ticked away—
Viana unleashed a long shot that won a corner.
The referee allowed one last attack.
Viana delivered the corner.
And as always—
The more desperate the moment, the easier it is to screw things up.
Moreirense focused entirely on marking Jardel.
But at the back post—
Quaresma slipped free.
No pressure.
He leapt.
Headed toward goal.
Perfect delivery.
A near-certain equalizer.
But then—
Jardel's head appeared in the flight path.
Blocked.
Altino had pinned him down with a sneaky move. Jardel couldn't jump—he was even pushed off balance.
Altino lost track of Quaresma—
But at the same time, his interference dragged Jardel into the line of the shot.
And killed the goal.
Fate, decided.
No miracle.
Boom!
Macedo cleared the ball out of the box.
Beep—beep—beeeep!
Full time.
Moreirense 5–4 Sporting Lisbon.
They were through to the Portuguese Cup final!
Coach Triguera and the entire bench stormed the pitch.
The camera lingered on Triguera's face—as if silently asking:
If he were still in charge of Sporting Lisbon…
Would they have fallen like this?
No one knew.
Post-match interviews followed.
Schmeichel didn't hold back:
"As a 37-year-old goalkeeper, I've faced all kinds of shots. But today, Kai… he shocked me."
"That's talent. He has a special connection with the ball."
"I watched him take the ball away from me—twice."
"It's hard to find a player like him. Not just at Manchester United—anywhere."
"He can play in the Portuguese top flight. And if you ignore physical limitations… even the Premier League."
Viana looked crushed.
"This match… I felt out of control."
"We didn't make many mistakes, but we just couldn't lead. Not for a single minute."
"It's suffocating."
"I keep thinking… is it me? Am I not good enough? Did my return hurt the team?"
"I'm starting to doubt myself… even whether I should be playing football at all."
"Especially after seeing how fast Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo are improving…"
"They're real geniuses."
"And I…"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
He looked completely broken.
After hearing both interviews, Kai responded calmly:
"Those two goals? Even I couldn't replicate them."
"So Schmeichel can relax—he won't concede like that again."
"It's extremely hard to score against him. He's still world-class."
"Coming to Portugal doesn't mean he's declined."
"He can stay at this level for at least three, maybe five more years."
"And he deserves to keep winning titles during that time."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to [Alexandru Gusa] and[William Wohlman] for joining my Patreon page!🎉Your support means the world to me. 🙏
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 400+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
📢 Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[Marvel: Living the Laid-Back Life]