The Midfield Master

Sunday, January 19, 2014. In the 16th round of the Portuguese Super League, Porto, the top team, will sit at the Dragon Stadium and face the island team Maritimo, which is rising strongly this season.

In the previous 15 rounds, Porto had 11 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, accumulating 36 points, leading the standings as always.

Maritimo, on the other hand, ranked 5th in the standings with 7 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses, accumulating 27 points, becoming a strong contender for the European War and even the Champions League.

Sporting Lisbon, which was 2 points behind Porto in the standings before, has surpassed Porto after winning this round and jumped to the top spot with one more game.

So this game is not to be missed for Porto.

And Maritimo's rival in the same city has won 4 consecutive victories in the past 4 rounds. Currently, relying on the advantage of goal difference in the standings, Maritimo has overtaken Maritimo and is ranked 4th.

This game is also very critical for Maritimo, if they don't want to be thrown off by their rivals in the same city.

Such a game where both sides cannot afford to lose, but in terms of public opinion before the game, it is overwhelmingly inclined to Porto.

After all, Porto, which sits at home and has a strong lineup, is more than enough to deal with Maritimo, who has only risen for half a season.

Most football commentators believe that Maritimo has completed the task if he does not return with a disastrous defeat in this game.

Because in the first round of the new season, Maritimo faced Porto. At that time, Maritimo, who was at home, lost to Porto with a big score of 0 to 3. This time the away game, obviously the situation will not be optimistic.

When outside public opinion believes that there is no suspense about the outcome, the biggest highlight of this game is Quaresma's counterattack against his old club, which makes people look forward to this game. Get applause at the Dragon Stadium where he once galloped.

Xia Ze, Zhang Wei and Quaresma all entered the starting list of the game, while Di Keao sat on the bench.

After getting off the plane and taking the bus to the Dragon Stadium in Porto, Xia Ze felt the atmosphere when he played in the Portuguese Super League for the first time. Porto is the second largest city in Portugal. The fans here are more enthusiastic than the capital Lisbon is even more so.

Along the way, you can see Porto jerseys wearing blue and white jerseys drinking and talking on the streets, and some fans recognize Maritimo’s team bus, and when the bus passes by them, they will suddenly sing loudly Porto's team song seems to be demonstrating to Maritimo's players.

After traveling for about half an hour, the bus turned into a straight road, and at the end of the straight road, a huge white oval building appeared in front of Xia Ze.

Porto Dragon Stadium!

Another sacred place of Portuguese football, after taking the first step of his career from the Alvalade Stadium in the first half of the season, Xia Ze finally came to this stadium that people yearn for and admire after half a year.

"Do you know why it's called the Dragon Stadium?" Quaresma, who was sitting across the corridor from Xia Ze, couldn't help asking when he saw Xia Ze and Zhang Wei's yearning expressions.

Xia Ze and Zhang Wei shook their heads, expressing they didn't know.

Seeing the dazed application of the two, Quaresma smiled, and slowly explained the reason for the name of the Porto Dragon Stadium:

Not far from the Dragon Stadium, a meandering river passes through the city of Porto, which is the Douro River that gave birth to the city, also known as the River of Gold.

There is an ancient legend in Portugal that there is a giant dragon who wants to invade the mines on both sides of the Douro River, and often spews flames, making people powerless.

But in the end, the clever Porto people used the water of the Douro River to extinguish the flames of the dragon, and the dragon became the servant and protector of the Porto people, and helped the Porto people repel many enemy aggressions.

Since then, many Porto people have said that they are the children of the dragon, and the "Dragon Stadium" got its name from this.

After Xia Ze and Zhang Wei finished listening,

It suddenly dawned on me that I had to lament the reason for the history of foreign stadiums and clubs. Whether it is their name or culture, they have a great relationship with the historical origin of the city where they are located.

...

The bus landed slowly outside the Dragon Stadium. At this time, many fans and vendors gathered outside the stadium. On this sunny weekend, they were ready to enjoy the game feast.

Xia Ze's mood is different from when he appeared on the periphery of the Alvalade Stadium in his first away game in Lisbon.

There is no tension in his heart, and there is a little more excitement and perseverance. He wants to conquer this Dragon Stadium just like he conquered the Alvalade Stadium!

"Listen everyone, this game is very important for us, and it is the same for Porto. Don't be afraid of them, show your true colors as a man, and let them see how good we are!"

Martins is doing the final mobilization in the locker room. The 40-minute warm-up is over, and the game is about to start!

Captain Brigle stood up first, and led the other starting players to the player tunnel with a resolute look, waiting to play.

In the player channel, Porto's players were already lined up there, and some familiar players greeted each other. Among them, Quaresma was the most familiar with the opponent's players, after all, he had played for Porto.

"Hey, are you Xia Ze?" A flat-nosed Brazilian with short shaved hair greeted Xia Ze

"Hey, hello, Fernando." Xia Ze responded politely.

It was Porto's main defensive midfielder who greeted him, Fernando Regis, the best defensive midfielder in the Portuguese Super League, worth 20 million euros. With his fierce defense, he is called the next Emerson.

"You performed well in the first half of the season, but don't think about doing anything in front of me this time." Fernando patted Xia Ze's head lightly and shouted.

"You'll know when you're on the field." Xia Ze was not provoked by the opponent, but calmly and firmly accepted the opponent's challenge.

"Okay, see you on the court!" Fernando didn't expect Xia Ze to be so calm, so he smiled and walked away.

...

"Hi everyone, it's Christine again. Welcome to the focus of this round of the Portuguese Super League match brought to you. Porto played against Maritimo at home. The guest commentator we invited this time is still Luis Figo, Luis, look at this game, does Maritimo have a chance?" Christine and Figo still appeared in front of the TV cameras.

"Um... Maritimo has improved a lot this season, especially the rise of two young Chinese players, which has improved their strength a lot, and the addition of Quaresma has made them very competitive. .”

"That means they have a chance to win this game?"

"No, I don't think so. Although Maritimo has improved a lot, the strongest team in Portugal is still Porto. They have almost never lost at the Dragon Stadium. I think this game will be no exception. Feng Seca's team will control everything."

"Then do you think the highlight of this game is how many goals Porto can beat Maritimo?"

"Maritimo may be able to resist for a while, but I believe Porto will win in the end. But the biggest highlight of this game is that Ricardo Quaresma returns to the Dragon Stadium to play against his old club."

"Ricardo Quaresma has won too many honors in this stadium. Let's see if he can play well against his old club today."

As the TV camera turned to the exit of the player tunnel, players from both sides, led by their respective captains, lined up on the field.

Xia Ze was in the middle of the team. When he was in the player tunnel, he could faintly hear the singing of the fans at the Dragon Stadium.

The game has not yet started, and the Porto fans have turned the entire stadium into a sea of ​​joy.

The singing voice of more than 50,000 people surrounded Xia Ze's ears, directly shaking his heart.

The stands were blue and white, with flags fluttering. If Xia Ze hadn't experienced the momentum of the Alvalade Stadium, he might be confused by the momentum of the fans when he entered this stadium.

"Ozawa, this is the Dragon Stadium, it's great!" Zhang Wei seemed very excited and didn't feel the pressure from the fans of the home team at all.

Xia Ze smiled wryly, perhaps this is the benefit of being simple-minded.

In a corner of the stands, thousands of away team fans in red and green jerseys were singing loudly, trying to find a space in the singing of the home team fans to cheer for their team.

Hua Yan and Wang Xiaolin were also among them, and Xia Ze and Zhang Wei's agent, Joao Tenonio, the agent who discovered them, also came with them.

"Xiaolin, so this stadium is so much bigger than our team's?" Hua Yan, who saw tens of thousands of people for the first time, was a little petrified.

"This is the Dragon Stadium, one of the three most famous stadiums in Portugal, and it is also very famous in Europe." Wang Xiaolin explained to Huayan with a calm expression.

When she was in Guangzhou, the derby between Guangzhou R\u0026F and Guangzhou Evergrande, the momentum at Tianhe Stadium would not be checked much more than that at Dragon Stadium, but the reputation is not at the same level.

"You must perform well in this competition, and your name will spread throughout Europe!" Looking at Xia Ze who was preparing to start the competition, Wang Xiaolin secretly encouraged him.

Inside the box of the Dragon Stadium, a white-haired old man in his seventies was sitting on the sofa, smoking a cigar while chatting with the middle-aged man in the box.

He is the chairman of Porto, Da Costa, and it was Mendes who was chatting with him.

"Jorge, they're all here, but I'm not sure I can get them." Da Costa said with some regret.

"Mr. Costa, I got news that the agent of the two of them, the Maritimo scout, has also come to Porto." Mendes said lightly: "You can contact him and see if you can initial a contract." a contract."

Costa heard the words, stood up and looked at the field, and did not speak.

The game has begun. Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 188 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 388 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 188 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 388 Red Devils Manchester United Rewards Grain 88