Compared with Ronaldo's training results, Kai's sessions were much messier.
Whenever his dribbling speed increased, he lost control of the ball.
Facing the ball, he often didn't even have a chance to save it on uneven grass.
In passing and shooting drills, if the distance was too far, he simply couldn't execute it.
His training performance was at the bottom of the echelon.
Yet what puzzled Maxa was that Kai's overall performance had improved tremendously.
After just half a month of training, although he was still at the bottom of the echelon, he had caught up in all events. The huge gap between him and the rest of the echelon was shrinking.
If he continued like this, he could reach the middle tier of the echelon in two months.
Keep in mind, this was U15—and Kai had just turned thirteen.
A two-year age gap in youth training is massive.
The U15 national youth team could easily win the U13 World Cup!
Except for a few physically oversized players like Lukaku, who could break age limits, players as strong as Cristiano Ronaldo usually only reached full physical development at sixteen or seventeen—then their combat power skyrocketed.
Seeing Kai's physical data, Maxa worried again.
Kai's physical development was relatively slow, and his upper limits didn't seem very high.
Yet Trigla repeatedly urged Kai to focus on training, which Maxa couldn't understand.
Even if Kai became a star in the U15 echelon and dominated everyone…
What would happen when he turned sixteen or seventeen? Would other clubs even buy him?
If he wasn't properly trained, forget it. If he was trained, he might only become a core midfielder capable of dominating youth leagues.
How many club resources would be wasted?
How many fans would sigh in disappointment?
This kind of seemingly hopeless cultivation shouldn't even exist.
Of course, Maxa didn't dare say this to Trigla.
He didn't know exactly how many "treasures" Trigla had invested in Kai, but it had to be considerable.
Every morning, Kai and Ronaldo ran from home to the training ground with the ball, and every night they ran back home with the ball. It was as if their energy was limitless.
Sometimes Ronaldo would get tired.
Kai never did—he even forced Ronaldo to push past his own limits until exhaustion.
How could someone like Ronaldo, who refuses to admit defeat, tolerate being out-endured by a short kid?
The two of them tortured each other, paving the way for the start of the Portuguese U15 League.
The U15 League had a unique competition system, divided into three stages.
Stage One: Regional competitions. Portugal was divided into five regions, each with ten teams playing a round-robin (18 games). The top two from each group advanced directly to a group of ten teams.
Stage Two: Third and fourth-place teams from each group entered playoffs. Two winners advanced and were randomly assigned with the previous ten teams for the North and South regional competitions, again in a round-robin (10 games).
Stage Three: The top two teams by points advanced to the final championship round—four teams. They played an internal round-robin (6 games), and the team with the highest points became the U15 league champion.
The advantage? Strong teams had enough games. Weak teams avoided being stuck in too many early-season matches and could focus on training.
The controversial part: no single knockout game determined the winner. Points decided the champion.
Supporters argued it protected underage players psychologically—they were still young, and sudden-death games could leave long-lasting trauma.
Opponents argued it didn't prepare players for professional football, where hardship and knockout matches are inevitable.
Ultimately, the points system prevailed in Portugal.
Recently, UEFA introduced a knockout-style youth competition: the UEFA Youth League, mirroring the Champions League, aiming to create a "Champions League" for European youth players.
The announcement sparked excitement across Europe.
Everyone knew the NBA was the most commercially valuable basketball league, but the NCAA was the most popular locally—not because the level was higher, but because it engaged families, schools, and communities.
The UEFA Youth League had a similar effect in Europe. Most youth players would never play in professional European competitions, or even in football-related industries.
Clubs weren't naturally supportive. The league increased costs for youth teams, and club honors were focused on first teams, not youth awards.
After UEFA's efforts, 26 clubs met the requirements and agreed to participate—including Sporting Lisbon.
If successful, UEFA might launch a U17 version, attracting more attention.
This year, Sporting Lisbon U15's schedule was packed.
But Maxa, just promoted to U15 head coach, wasn't considered outstanding.
On August 18, Sporting Lisbon U15 played its first league match. Kai and Ronaldo teamed up—but Kai's performance was unsatisfactory.
Long passes were poor.
Physical duels were weak.
Speed was insufficient.
High balls were uncontested.
These weaknesses were fully exposed. After all, it was a competitive match, not training. Everyone targeted the weakest link.
By the 40th minute, Maxa had to substitute Kai.
Things improved for Sporting Lisbon thanks to Ronaldo's brace, winning 4-2 away against Ives.
On August 24, the second-round home game arrived. Kai was substituted after less than thirty minutes. Sporting Lisbon lost 2-5 to visiting Sacha Venezia.
Lisbon football media outlet Bora called Kai's performance "disastrous."
They commented: "This is a performance-based recruitment. Sporting Lisbon and Kai both benefited, but the victims are the fans and the seven players expelled from the echelon because of Kai's joining. Real youth training!"
The statement immediately rocked the Portuguese youth training scene.
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