Greatest Of All Legends - Chapter 175

Chapter 175: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 II
At 9:15 pm, the referee blew loudly to start the match between Desportivo das Aves and Porto and the Desportivo das Aves team kicked off first.

As the stronger side, the Porto team soon took control of the game, grabbing the Desportivo das Aves team by the scruff of its neck and applying pressure.

The Desportivo das Aves team fought back though and in a surprising turn of events they managed to take the lead from a corner, surprising everyone watching the game.

The Porto players were stunned, the fans were surprised, the manager was infuriated, and the commentator was loving it all.

{In a surprising turn of events and going against any sane prediction, Desportivo das Aves score first!}

{The Porto players look shaken and lost for words!}

{How did they allow that in!?}

{Coming off a disappointing attack that ended with them being graced a corner, Desportivo das Aves burst to life with an effort that has sent the dragons into the backseat for this match!}

{The dynamics of the game have changed!}

{The question on everybody’s mind remains the same… Can Desportivo das Aves do the impossible and defeat the dragons, or will they only be able to enjoy their ecstasy for a short period?} The commentator got on the mic to do his thing while the Desportivo das Aves team celebrated their goal.

Soon the match resumed and the Porto team immediately shifted into a more initiative style of play and attacked the Desportivo das Aves with as much ferocity as they could muster.

They passed the ball in circles around the Desportivo das Aves players and sent shots at the opponents’ goal every so often, yet they still came short and were unable to trouble the scoreboard operator for the remaining minutes of the first half.

*Fweeeeeee*

The referee blew his whistle loudly to signify the end of the first half of the game and the players of both teams walked off the field and headed into the stadium, both moving towards their their locker rooms.

The Porto team met a less-than-pleased manager waiting for them in the locker room.

Sergio Conceicao criticized their style of play first before beginning to speak about the tactical changes for the rest of the game.

Firstly, he would have the players change their formation back to the 4-4-2 holding formation that they were more used to and he rearranged the line-up to have the players fit into their new positions for the rest of the game.

Luckily for the manager, the only player he had to substitute was Mattheus Uribe for Jesus Corona who would be playing on the right side of the midfield.

Luis Diaz remained the left winger, but his position was moved back a fair bit, and Jesus Corona would be playing the same position as him on the right side of the pitch.

Sergio Oliveira was pulled back and joined Danilo Perreira in the center midfield, though their roles would be slightly different as Danilo would be playing as a center defensive midfielder while Oliveira would be playing as a center midfielder.

The defense line stayed the same while upfront, Tiquiniho moved from the right wing and joined Moussa Marega as a second striker in the formation.

After making these changes, the manager gave instructions on how he expected the players to play in the second half so that the team could quickly get an equalizer.

Soon the fifteen-minute break was over and the players were back on the field, slightly refreshed for the second half of the game, both teams having determined looks on their faces as they were both gunning for the next goal of the match as it was a potential decider for the match.

*Fweeeeee*

The referee blew loudly and the second half was soon underway from a kickoff by the Porto side and the two teams quickly picked up from where they left off.

The instructions and tactics of both teams had changed but their objectives remained the same, which was to come out on top when the final whistle was blown.

Barely ten minutes after the second half, the goal that both teams were desperately searching for was finally scored and it was scored by Desportivo das Aves who were vehemently refusing the title of underdogs for the game.

The Desportivo team had been passing the ball around carefully after retrieving possession of the ball from the Porto side and had held the ball for almost thirty seconds, as they carefully passed it around, seemingly content with holding the ball until one of the Desportivo das Aves midfielders suddenly sent the ball forward with a splitting pass that cut through the Porto defense like a hot knife through butter.

The Desportivo das Aves center forward who was being marked by Ivan Marcano somehow muscled himself out of the tight situation he was in and chased after the ball.

The Porto players immediately took off after him when they realized the gravity of the situation, yet the Desportivo das Aves center forward managed to hold off Ivan Marcano who was the closest Porto player to him.

Just as he was about to enter the Porto 18-yard box, he suddenly noticed the ferocious Portuguese defender, Pepe charging towards him with his intention to erase him from the field before he could enter the Porto 18-yard box, the striker panicked and just fired the ball with as much power as he could muster, not inclined to keep running with the ball.

The ball took flight and thundered towards the left side of the Porto goal at breakneck speed.

Augustin Marchesin immediately dived for the ball and even managed to get his hand to it, but the power in the shot was too much and he only managed to slow down the ball a bit before the ball somehow squeezed under his palm and bounced on the floor before bouncing upward into the Porto goal.

{What a shocker! What… a… shocker!}

{We thought a goal would happen at the other end, but Desportivo das Aves has taken it upon themselves and somehow managed to dig the grave of the dragons even further!}

{It’s gotten a lot harder for the Porto team to salvage anything from this game!}

{What a surprise for the home fans!}

{Their team just might end up as dragon slayers!} The commentator didn’t care to hold back his words.

He simply let them flow while the Desportivo das Aves team celebrated wildly.

The Porto players on the other hand were distraught and stunned by the current situation.

They had come off the back of consecutive victories and were now being taken for a horror ride by a team that they would never particularly pay any attention to.

“Tell Jason to warm up, he’s getting into the match immediately,” Sergio Conceicao whispered to Vitor Bruno, a displeased look on his face.

It could not be helped, his team was doing the impossible.

They had played like bottom feeders throughout the match and their playing style was completely devoid of the dominance that they as league leaders should have.

It was annoying, it was embarrassing and now he had to bring on a player with hopes that the player’s form could somehow jumpstart his team’s performance on the field.

This was a player that should be the one learning from his seniors on the team, but now he was being brought on with hopes that he could somehow bail his seniors out of the deep sh*t that they were in.

Sergio Conceicao had been planning to rest Jason for this match as he did not want his match stress to build up which could have detrimental effects on the player and would lead to an increased risk of injury, but the team was now in a situation where all his considerations had to be thrown out the window.

Benfica was supposedly only two points behind them, and if Porto lost the match while Benfica won theirs, then Benfica would become the league leaders, so it was definitely a do-or-die situation, after all, it was always harder to be the team that was doing the chasing.

Jason didn’t know what the manager was thinking but he had been told by the assistant manager to warm-up and that was exactly what he was doing, his eyes falling every now and then on the Desportivo das Aves team that was still celebrating their goal.

Quickly finishing up his warm-up routines as he didn’t exactly have much time, Jason took off his vest and adjusted his kit.

He placed his shin guards in his socks, checked his laces, and began wrapping his right hand in the cloth hand wrap as he walked to the manager for instructions.

Putting a hand around his shoulder, Sergio Conceicao started giving instructions,

“You were there at the halftime meeting, so you know about the changes I made to the formation, and also your role as a left midfielder, but I want you to lead from the front,”

“Start an attack anytime as long as it will not lead to us conceding a goal,”

“This is the time to take risks, it already can’t get any worse than this, but luckily, there’s still time for us to gain something from this game,”

“So get out there and play your best,” Sergio Conceicao finished giving instructions and patted Jason’s shoulder, sending him off to the assistant referee.