Sporting Lisbon's decision instantly spread throughout the European youth academy community.
They easily changed the venue of the UEFA Youth League match, claiming that the Alcochete training base required temporary maintenance and could not host the game.
This kind of behavior simply made UEFA… greatly appreciate it!
Yeah, right. A joke.
Even when hosting the UEFA Youth League final, UEFA has never found a venue with standards as high as Alvalade Stadium.
At best, they could only find a small stadium with a capacity of around ten thousand.
After all, tickets still need to be sold, and it is almost impossible for more than ten thousand people to attend a youth match like this. Fifteen thousand would already be more than enough.
If you're used to seeing massive stadiums, ten thousand might seem small.
But in reality, the home stadium capacity of most Primeira Liga teams is around ten thousand.
This time, Sporting Lisbon directly raised the standard of the competition.
Although Alvalade Stadium is already scheduled for renovation, it is still one of the largest stadiums in Portugal.
Soon after, Sporting Lisbon announced that ticket prices for the match would be discounted by 30%, welcoming everyone to come and watch "Ronaldo Ronaldo" perform!
Portuguese fans immediately began buying tickets in large numbers.
Mostly because it was cheap.
As a result, this became the most-watched match of the UEFA Youth League so far.
It was expected that, aside from the final, no match would surpass this one in terms of scale or attention.
This placed enormous pressure on the young players of both teams.
…
The last day of October.
The fourth round of the UEFA Youth League officially kicked off.
Sporting Lisbon U15 vs. Viktoria Plzeň U15, at home.
But it didn't feel like a home game at all.
This was a scene the Sporting Lisbon U15 players had never experienced before.
Only Kai, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Petr Čech had experienced such a grand stage.
Even before kickoff, players from both sides were acting somewhat unusually.
They were overly nervous.
Combined with the burden of playing twice a week, players on both sides were clearly suffering physically.
As a result, the first half left the thirty thousand fans in attendance feeling bored.
Many people complained that they had been fooled.
They felt that a match of this level simply wasn't worth watching.
It wasn't until the 34th minute that the crowd finally regained some excitement.
Ronaldo completed a beautiful one-two on the wing, then suddenly unleashed a cold shot from outside the left edge of the penalty area!
Unfortunately, Čech was still in peak condition, calmly pressing Ronaldo's shot down to the ground.
Over the next ten minutes, Ronaldo had two more chances.
One shot flew high.
Another was hit with too much force and was once again caught by Čech.
This became the biggest topic of discussion among fans during halftime.
"This goalkeeper is insanely strong. It feels ridiculous!"
"He looks so mature—are you sure he's only fifteen?"
"Of course not! He's overage. It's unfair for him to play in U15 matches."
"I heard he used to play ice hockey, but switched to football after being cut from the hockey team."
"It's not just him. There are actually many overage players in this Youth Champions League. Teams that agree to participate have requirements. If they can't develop core youth players, they wouldn't even bother joining such a massive event."
"Čech, Robin van Persie, and Fabio Quagliarella in this group are all core youth prospects for their clubs."
"There's also Atlético Madrid's Fernando Torres and Gabi, Groningen's Arjen Robben, Bayern's Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, John Heitinga, and Thomas Vermaelen…"
"If they perform well in this Youth Champions League, they might be promoted to the first team after returning."
"So in reality, they already have professional-level ability."
"The only exception might be Chris from Sporting Lisbon. He's not even fifteen yet, but he's already slaughtering everyone at U15 level."
"But against true professional-level players, Chris is still a bit green."
"At least his performance against Čech hasn't been impressive."
"Čech's saves are so calm. If you told me he had the mentality of a twenty-seven-year-old goalkeeper, I'd believe it. I'm extremely optimistic about his future!"
Fifteen minutes later, both teams returned to start the second half.
However, neither side's attack improved.
Viktoria Plzeň's attacking ability was honestly mediocre.
If it weren't for Čech's long distribution, they might already be at the bottom of the group.
The first twenty minutes of the second half nearly turned into Čech's personal highlight reel.
But starting from the 75th minute, the situation changed.
"Oh! Kai is actively asking for the ball. He's in a great position. He receives it, passes, runs, receives again, passes again, runs again… Kai's stamina is incredible. He's gradually taking control of the entire midfield!"
"Plzeň's midfielders are clearly exhausted—they can't keep up with Kai anymore."
"Incredible! Kai currently ranks first in running distance for the entire match, yet he's still sprinting relentlessly! Is this kid's physical fitness really that terrifying?"
"Many people may still not know Sporting Lisbon U15's No. 24. His name is Kai, also known as Football Caesar."
"Three years ago, Kai received invitations from top clubs such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester United, but he chose to decline them and completed Portugal's twelve-year compulsory education in just three years."
"This year, after being admitted to the University of Lisbon, the top university in Portugal, he returned to football and joined Sporting Lisbon."
"This is his first appearance in European competition, so most people haven't seen him before—but his strength cannot be underestimated."
"Two months ago, he was even left out of the squad because he couldn't adapt to the U15 level."
"But his improvement has been astonishing. In the last two league matches, he recorded four goals and three assists, helping the team secure their first two-match winning streak of the season."
"He is now Sporting Lisbon's biggest threat after Chris."
"Plzeň have clearly done their homework. They assigned players to mark Kai early on to limit him. But physical exhaustion has caused their midfield to fall apart."
"And Kai—what a chance! Kai dribbles forward, gets intercepted by Plzeň's midfielder, immediately counter-presses, wins the ball back… and shoots!"
"Beautiful shot! As expected, he now has four goals in two games, three of them against world-class opponents. That strike was powerful and heavy—even more threatening than Chris's earlier goals!"
"This is also the first time Čech has truly been tested in this match! He barely manages to push the ball over the goal line, conceding a corner!"
Yes!
He pushed it out!
Watching Čech angrily scold his defenders, Kai felt a strange sense of disbelief.
That long-range shot had just triggered Black Panther Hunting.
And yet… Čech still saved it.
This level of shot-stopping had already reached that of a second-division professional goalkeeper.
What a freak.
No wonder Čech could still shake the world even after suffering a devastating injury later in his career.
These superstars were simply built differently from childhood.
At the same moment, Čech finished scolding his teammates and turned his gaze toward Kai.
His heart was surging.
What a terrifying shot.
In terms of long-range shooting outside the box, this Kai was better than Chris, better than Quagliarella, and even better than Van Persie.
If that shot came again, Čech couldn't guarantee he'd save it a second time.
What puzzled him was that this player didn't look capable of such power—whether in speed, technique, or physical build.
Truly, appearances can deceive.
This guy cannot be allowed any more shooting chances.
So Čech emphasized this point loudly to his teammates.
Damn Kai.
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