Oops!
If no one told you, you wouldn't know. If someone did tell you, you'd be shocked.
Kai didn't really know much about Deng Kai who played in the previous Nike Cup—maybe he didn't even get selected.
But he knew the names that came next.
This was basically half of the future Chinese national team.
As for the age… ahem, let's not talk about that.
Kai quickly began brainstorming.
If it really was this group of people… then, unless something unexpected happened, after he changed his nationality back to China, he would inevitably become teammates with them for a period of time.
In fact, the abilities of domestic players at a young age were never inferior.
It could even be said that, at this stage, the footballing level of children in most regions was roughly the same.
No matter how talented youth players are at this age, there's a ceiling they can't break through yet.
First level, second level, third level—compared to tribulation and ascension, they're all the same.
The real gap only starts widening at the U17, U19, and even U21 stages.
Why not take this opportunity to inspect the goods first, and then think of ways to see if he could have some positive influence on these players?
If things turned out well, that would be great. Even if the improvement was small, it was still improvement.
Helping them was equivalent to helping himself.
At worst, he could maintain the status quo.
Honestly, it was hard to imagine a worse development plan for this group of players.
Under these circumstances, any damage control was basically plastic surgery.
You could say the Football Association understands football—they're capable of ruining every football talent in the country.
You could also say they don't understand football—because they still manage to ruin every football talent in the country!
With that thought, Kai came up with an idea.
He looked at Jiang Yunzhu and said,
"How about we let them play against us—Sporting Lisbon?"
"Ah?" Jiang Yunzhu unconsciously opened her small cherry mouth.
This…
"Although we're not on the level of the absolute giants, when it comes to youth academies, we're definitely first-tier," Kai explained calmly. "And we'll also be playing in European competition this year, so there's no need to worry about our reputation."
"More importantly, playing against us would let people back home clearly see the gap between Chinese youth players and European youth players at this stage."
Jiang Yunzhu couldn't believe these words were coming from the mouth of a thirteen-year-old kid.
She even ignored Kai's phrase "our Chinese youth players" because of how shocked she was.
"But you… you're still just one…" Jiang Yunzhu found it hard to believe that Kai could help with something like this.
"I've got a backer," Kai said with a smile. "Sporting Lisbon first-team assistant coach Mr. Triguera and I have a very good relationship. He came up through the club's youth coaching system and has a lot of influence within the club—
including with senior management."
"If it's just a single match during the winter break, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Even if upper management isn't enthusiastic, Mr. Triguera himself has the authority to arrange a match like this."
"Really? Oh my God!" Jiang Yunzhu excitedly pulled Kai into her arms. "You're literally my Mr. Right!"
Kai instantly raised both hands over his head, desperately calling for help.
Big!
Way too big!
He couldn't breathe!
But Jiang Yunzhu didn't notice at all.
Half a minute later, she finally let go—only to see Kai's face completely pale, like he was about to suffocate.
"What's wrong with you? Why did this suddenly happen?"
Kai waved his hand weakly. "It's nothing… my waist injury almost relapsed."
Jiang Yunzhu looked completely confused.
What did a pale face have to do with a waist injury?
In response, Kai explained seriously that the kidneys were also part of the waist.
With a waist injury, you didn't just need to protect your waist—you also had to protect your kidneys.
Otherwise, the effectiveness of the medical brace would be greatly reduced.
…
The matter of playing a match against the 'Wahaha Team' was quickly finalized.
Sporting Lisbon was also very interested in developing the Asian market.
The youth player pool in Europe had already become fixed, and Sporting Lisbon's own pool could only be considered second-rate.
This seriously affected their "black shop" development route.
To break the deadlock, they had to look elsewhere.
Africa was too chaotic, with no real conditions for building a structured youth system.
What Sporting Lisbon wanted was cooperation with organizations that already had a basic pool of young players—not to go to Africa and build a system from scratch. They didn't have the money or energy for that.
South America had a relatively mature but extremely chaotic system. Sporting Lisbon had some arrangements there, but they were labor-intensive and unstable.
In contrast, Asia was a high-quality incubation base for youth players.
The only question was whether Asian players could truly play football.
Or rather—there were currently no world-class superstars from Asia.
That alone significantly reduced the perceived value of Asian players.
But who could guarantee that an Asian king wouldn't be born in the next ten or twenty years?
This move was definitely worth making early.
Especially since China was showing so much sincerity.
After Triguera helped Kai resolve this minor issue, he still had something far more important to discuss with him.
That was Kai's positioning and tactical role within the team.
In youth football, results normally weren't that important.
But the emergence of the UEFA Youth League had changed everything.
Sporting Lisbon U15 needed wins.
This was good for Ronaldo, good for the team, and good for Maxa and Kai.
But from the current perspective, the talent of the other players on the team was indeed limited.
The only two players who could truly influence the outcome of matches were Cristiano Ronaldo and Kai.
Ronaldo was dangerous every time he played—he had proven that against Plzeň.
Maybe he'd been humiliated a moment earlier, but as long as the ball reached his feet, he could instantly become the opponent's biggest threat.
So how to fully activate Kai became Sporting Lisbon's biggest problem.
Especially since activating Kai would directly lead to even better numbers for Ronaldo.
"I've noticed that you're extremely efficient in counterattacks," Triguera said, far more professional and sharp than amateurs like Maxa. "Especially in the final third—most of your goals come from those situations."
"If the team sets up a full-pitch pressing system around you, can you be the core of it?"
This was technically a meaningless question.
No one would ever answer "no."
But Triguera still asked it.
He trusted Kai's judgment of his own ability—and his honesty.
Sure enough, after thinking for a moment, Kai shook his head.
Triguera felt a trace of regret.
"There's no need for full-pitch pressing," Kai replied. "Our physical condition—and our tactical foundation—can't support it."
"We only need high pressing in the frontcourt. Once we lose the ball, we immediately press in the attacking half. The backline can stay slightly disconnected from us. Even if we don't win the ball back, we won't give the opponent many counterattacking chances."
Triguera was instantly excited.
"But that means during the pressing phase, our midfield and attackers will often be outnumbered. Even if we regain possession, the pressure on the ball carrier will be enormous."
"That places extremely high demands on the core midfielder!"
"Even when Simão was in the youth system, he couldn't consistently control the ball or organize play under pressure from multiple defenders."
Kai puffed out his chest without hesitation.
"I can."
He was confident—absolutely confident.
Before the match against Plzeň, he wouldn't have dared to say that so firmly.
But now, he truly could.
Because… the post-match reward from that game was a critical hit.
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