Chapter 109 The Game Begins

Boavista youth team coach Matt Linho was not with his players. He was watching the game in the VIP box with Bruno's relatives.

Watching Bruno walking at the back of the Udinese team, he also had mixed emotions.

The young man who was unable to get a call from Boavista's first team two years ago and had no choice but to go to Italy to seek opportunities is now a well-known star in European football.

As Udinese performs better and better this season, Bruno's outstanding performance has also attracted the attention of many big clubs in Europe, and he is becoming more and more known.

Matlinho felt faintly heartbroken when he thought about the ignorance of Boavista's senior management, which caused the team to miss such an excellent player.

In fact, it's not just Matrinho who is heartbroken, Boavista's management is also heartbroken. If they can keep Bruno for one more season, then they can earn an extra 25 million euros!

For Boavista, who have fallen into Portugal's third tier, this is a truly astronomical sum.

However, they sold this super genius for a mere 40,000 euros.

Matlinho is not surprised that Bruno has become famous so quickly. There was an answer to this question as early as when Bruno would practice for a few hours after training every day.

If people who work so hard don’t succeed, there is no justice!

………………

Bruno didn't know that his friends from Boavista had come to watch him play. He didn't know how his former teammates felt when they saw him like this, let alone Boavista. Regret in management’s mind.

As before, he lined up with his Udinese teammates for the media to take photos before getting ready to start the game.

As a famous five-star stadium in Europe, the Stadium of Light is of good quality. There is no chance that it will be turned into a muddy pond after half an hour of warm-up.

Or maybe it's because Benfica thinks that their promotion is not a problem, so they don't hinder Udinese in terms of venue conditions, so it doesn't matter which side they choose.

Di Natale lost the pick and then won the kick-off.

The team needs to score goals on the road, and having possession of the ball at the beginning of the game is obviously more important than which side to attack first.

After picking sides, both sides shook hands with the referee, took photos, and then returned to their respective teams.

"Let's kick off," Di Natale said to his gathered teammates. "Pay attention to the power of the pass, try to minimize mistakes, and if you lose the ball, fight back. Be active, guys!"

After everyone agreed, they dispersed and returned to their respective places.

In the pouring rain, the referee blew the whistle to start the game.

When the whistle sounded, Di Natale passed the football to Mahrez, who then passed it back to Bruno.

The game begins!

………………

Bruno stood outside the center circle. In order to ensure that the football was passed smoothly, Mahrez passed the ball with greater force. As a result, he forgot that the field was slippery and the football rolled on the turf faster than usual. This ball was faster than usual. Usually it reaches Bruno faster and earlier.

Bruno stretched his foot to stop the ball, but the football hit the inside of his foot with too much force and bounced up. Bruno had to lift his foot to remove the football.

As soon as he received the ball, he heard boos from the stands.

Benfica fans booed Bruno because in the first round of the match between the two sides, Bruno had a conflict with Benfica players, which resulted in players from the two teams almost fighting each other.

At that time, there were few Benfica fans in the away game, so there was no disturbance. Now that I'm back at the Stadium of Light, it's different.

Benfica fans have already agreed that as soon as Udinese's No. 18 gets the ball, they will boo! Keep shushing! He booed until he didn't dare to take the ball!

But how do they know that Bruno firmly believes that a player who is never hated or disliked by his opponents must not be a good player, so the boos from Benfica fans are not an insult to him, but a compliment.

They booed me because they were afraid of me, and they were afraid of me because I performed well and posed a threat to them.

Since you performed well, let's keep playing!

………………

Because he didn't stop the ball properly, he made an extra movement and wasted some time. So when Bruno stopped the ball and wanted to see what was going on in front of him, the opponent's player was almost in front of him.

Bruno turned around and passed the football back.

Bruno considered the conditions of the field when passing the ball, so he did not use too much force. He was not afraid of being intercepted by the opponent, because the ball was very fast and it was not easy to intercept the ball.

Bruno thinks more about how to pass the ball without making it difficult for his teammates to pick it up. If the central defender has to catch the ball from himself just like he receives the ball from Mahrez, and has to make two or three movements to play the football well, then he may make some mistakes when the opponent presses him.

If the central defender hurriedly passes the ball back to the goalkeeper, and the opponent continues to press, and goalkeeper Skuffet fails to stop the ball properly, wouldn't it stop directly at the feet of the opponent's player?

If that were to happen, it would be a tragedy.

Sure enough, Udinese center back Danilo caught the ball steadily and passed it to full-back Silva who was about to advance on the wing.

After Silva caught the ball, he tried to dribble it, but the slippery field caused him to lose his balance. As a result, he failed to take the ball out and slipped instead.

Benfica's right winger Salvio originally came up for a symbolic grab and didn't think anything of it, but he didn't expect the Udinese player to fall down on his own. How can this fat man be brought to his mouth? Reason for eating?

Salvio immediately hooked the football that had lost control, and then drove the ball towards the Udinese penalty area.

………………

Seeing that the team had such a good opportunity just after the game started, huge cheers rang out from the stands of the Stadium of Light.

"Come on, Eduardo! Come on!"

Udinese fans really have to thank Bruno for his playing habit at this time.

After seeing the football being passed to Silva's feet, he ran over and prepared to receive it. Unexpectedly, he didn't catch the ball, but saw the opponent's counterattack in the frontcourt, so he rushed forward without hesitation.

Salvio originally planned to cut in diagonally and penetrate into the Udinese penalty area. But just after taking two steps, before the speed picked up, Bruno was seen blocking the inside.

Although it is not impossible to force a breakthrough, why should we rush to hand over possession of the ball with such a good opportunity?

After one round of the game, Benfica players already have a general understanding of Bruno's defensive ability. At least it is not the kind of opponent that he can break through effortlessly.

So Salvio chose to control the football. Anyway, he easily gained possession of the ball, which was already very beneficial to the team.

Thinking of this, Salvio made a fake move to force a breakthrough inward, then suddenly stopped and turned around, turned the football back, and waited for his teammates to press forward.

Bruno knew what he was going to do, so while pressing Salvio, he waved his hand and pointed to the open space behind him, asking Silva, who was returning to defend, to go back to position instead of running up and defending Salvio with him. profound.

To deal with Salvio, you don't need two people, but pay attention to his possible passes.

Silva hesitated for a moment, and due to this hesitation, Salvio passed the ball through the gap between the two people, just to Rodrigo who came in at high speed from the wing.

Bruno had no choice but to chase Rodrigo, and at the same time waved Silva to follow Salvio to the inside.

This time Silva did not hesitate and followed resolutely.

………………

Bruno faces Rodrigo alone.

He caught a glimpse of Benfica's backcourt from the corner of his eye, and he noticed that even under such circumstances, none of Benfica's full-backs came up to participate in the attack.

This shows what? It shows that Benfica's tactics in this game should tend to be conservative.

Do they really think they can definitely keep a clean sheet at home?

Anyway, Rodrigo, you are planning to dribble the ball past me without anyone's cooperation?

In Bruno's opinion, Rodrigo Moreno is good for nothing except being fast.

As long as the position is stuck, no matter how fast the speed is, it will be useless in this small space.

What's more, this stupid boy can still stop the ball now.

For a speed player, he will have a chance only if the football is moving. Once the football stops, his biggest advantage will be gone.

Rodrigo made a fake move, and Bruno stood inside him, turning sideways towards him, unmoved.

Then Rodrigo threw the ball out, and Bruno took a big step and followed closely.

Rodrigo made another sudden stop and spiked the ball in the opposite direction, intending to break through.

Bruno didn't turn around because there was no need. He had guessed that Rodrigo would do this.

Acceleration, sudden stops and changes of direction are the basic skills of many wing players, so there is nothing difficult to guess. So he stepped forward with his left leg, but his right leg was still trailing behind.

Now seeing Rodrigo making an emergency stop to spike the ball, he kicked his right leg back, just in time to stop the football.

………………

Rodrigo didn't expect that Bruno still had a backup plan. The other guy collapsed from Bruno's legs, but the football was blocked. When he turned around and chased back, he was already blocked by Bruno's solid back.

Long before him, Bruno had got behind him and controlled the ball.

"Very good defense!" the commentator praised.

The Benfica fans in the stands booed again.

Amidst their boos, Bruno threw the football away. Rodrigo chased back to steal the ball, but Bruno made another emergency stop and protected the football.

After getting rid of Rodrigo, he passed the football to Kanter, who was playing as a defensive midfielder.

"Pass the ball forward!" Bruno shouted to him, pointing to Mahrez in front of him.

In front of them, Mahrez has already retreated to the center circle. There are Benfica players between him and Bruno, otherwise Bruno would pass the ball directly to Mahrez himself without having to go through Kante.