"Wait a minute… what is Kai complaining to the referee about?"
"Hold on! The referee has signaled a retake of the penalty! A player violated the rules!"
"It's Thomas Hitzlsperger! He entered the penalty area too early. Kai kept staring at the penalty box the whole time—what a sneaky guy!"
"Kai had a quick word with Ricardo Quaresma. Looks like he's encouraging him."
"Alright, Quaresma is stepping up to take the penalty again…"
"GOAL! It's in!"
"Quaresma converts the penalty and scores his second goal!"
4–0!
"Portugal have basically ended the match before halftime!"
"The German players look completely drained. After conceding again, they're standing there in a daze."
Because there had already been so many goals, the referee added four minutes of stoppage time in the first half.
For Germany, it felt more like four extra minutes of torture.
Portugal calmly passed the ball around midfield while Germany barely pressed.
The first half was about to end.
Suddenly—
From deep in the backfield, Kai unleashed a powerful ground pass that sliced through the grass like thunder breaking the silence.
The ball cut straight through the entire German defense.
Germany immediately paid the price for their passive play.
Several German players were close enough to intercept it.
If they had reacted positively, any one of them could have cleared the ball.
But instead, they were all just a step too late.
Cristiano Ronaldo started his run.
Cristiano Ronaldo fell!
Cristiano Ronaldo was brought down.
Florian Klinger slid in recklessly and wiped Ronaldo out.
The referee blew the whistle instantly.
Yellow card.
Germany's third yellow card of the match.
Klinger didn't even argue.
He stood up quietly and walked toward the penalty area.
He knew perfectly well that the tackle deserved a card.
This was a dangerous free-kick position.
Left or right, far or near—either way it was perfect for a direct shot.
Quaresma happily ran over from the right side, preparing to take it.
A hat-trick seemed to be calling his name.
But halfway through his run—
He stumbled.
His boot nearly came off.
Quaresma frowned.
Many football players are superstitious.
Sometimes they rely on psychological signals to build confidence.
But sometimes those signals do the opposite.
They make you hesitate.
They make you doubt yourself.
Quaresma suddenly felt like this was a warning from God.
He had already missed one penalty earlier.
Maybe this free kick…
wasn't meant for him either.
After tying his shoelaces, Quaresma walked toward Kai and whispered:
"How about you take this one?"
Kai was slightly surprised.
Even at club level, players rarely give up a free-kick opportunity so easily.
And this was the national youth team, a temporary squad.
Kai thought to himself:
Your emotional intelligence is impressive.
No wonder that in the future, even though Simão Sabrosa and Ronaldo would fall out with each other, Quaresma would remain one of Ronaldo's closest friends.
Maybe reading "Emotional Intelligence" really does help.
As Quaresma stepped away from the ball, the commentators became excited.
"Oh! Did Quaresma just give the free kick to Kai?"
"That could've been a hat-trick chance for him!"
"Quaresma is known for his precise free kicks. In the second match of this tournament, he even scored directly from one!"
"This shows incredible team spirit! No wonder Portugal has reached the semi-finals!"
"Wait… why is Cristiano Ronaldo walking toward Kai?"
On screen, after the referee signaled that the free kick could be taken, Ronaldo approached Kai.
Kai understood what Ronaldo wanted.
He planned to shield the ball and create space.
But suddenly, Kai had an idea.
He winked at Ronaldo.
Ronaldo instantly understood.
Sometimes true friends can communicate with just one glance.
So Ronaldo walked over and said loudly:
"Let me take the free kick."
Kai shook his head.
Ronaldo insisted, even holding up two fingers, reminding everyone that he had already scored twice.
He was only one goal away from a hat-trick.
Everyone suddenly remembered.
This would be Ronaldo's first chance to score a hat-trick for the national youth team.
His excitement made sense.
But Kai kept refusing.
Soon the two began arguing and shoving each other.
Portuguese fans in the stands were stunned.
What the hell?
Plastic brothers?
The famous Sporting Lisbon twins were actually fighting?
So they can share hardship…
but not glory?
Suddenly—
Kai pushed Ronaldo away.
Many people were shocked.
They had expected Ronaldo to be the stronger one.
Instead, Kai won the shove.
Then—
Tap!
Kai lightly poked the ball.
The ball rolled toward Ronaldo, who had just been pushed back.
While retreating, Ronaldo suddenly turned and accelerated.
The German defensive wall had been set up against Kai.
But now Ronaldo was closer to goal and positioned far to the right, completely bypassing the wall.
"Stop him!"
"He's going to shoot!"
"It's Ronaldo!"
Philipp Lahm and the German defenders reacted instantly.
A player from the wall rushed toward Ronaldo.
Too late.
BOOM!
Cristiano Ronaldo blasted the ball.
A thunderous strike from outside the penalty area.
The shot flew toward the corner—
Almost perfectly placed at the ten-o'clock angle.
GOAL.
"GOAL!!!"
"A beautiful tactical free kick!"
"Kai and Ronaldo pretended to argue! Kai pushed Ronaldo away and secretly passed him the ball!"
"Ronaldo then blasted a shot like it was a training exercise!"
5–0!
"Cristiano Ronaldo completes a hat-trick!"
"This is his first hat-trick for the national youth team!"
"In five matches in this tournament, he has now scored six goals!"
"That efficiency is terrifying!"
"And congratulations to Kai as well!"
"This is his fourth assist of the match!"
"His first four-assist performance for Portugal's youth national team!"
"Unbelievable! In the very last seconds of the first half, Germany suffer another devastating blow!"
"At this scoreline, no tactical adjustment can save them."
"In the second half, Germany only has one mission—"
"Stop Portugal from scoring more, or this result will become humiliating for these young players."
Halftime
The match entered the break.
Coach Orlando Duarte Violante couldn't stop smiling in the locker room.
His face would probably hurt tomorrow from smiling too much.
His main focus was injury prevention.
Portugal could not afford to lose any more players.
Quaresma, Ronaldo, Kai, Meireles and others received specific instructions.
There were almost no substitutes available for them.
Kai also suggested to Violante:
"Maybe we should substitute some of them early."
"After all… I've never heard of anyone losing a match when they're already 5–0 ahead."
FC Barcelona: ???
Paris Saint-Germain: ???
Violante accepted Kai's suggestion.
Second Half
Kai became almost invisible.
He dropped deeper into midfield.
The versatile Ruben Amorim was pushed forward to support the attack.
Amorim looked extremely unhappy.
Inside his mind he was swearing nonstop.
Damn Kai is such a dog.
If you're afraid of getting injured, does that mean I'm not afraid?
What made it worse was that when Violante noticed Kai had changed positions on his own…
He approved it immediately.
His expression practically said:
"Good job, Kai. Protect yourself."
"Let Amorim take the hits instead."
So Amorim could only endure the German players' anger in Kai's place.
He was furious.
50th Minute
Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked down during a physical duel.
Violante immediately substituted him.
Lourenço came on.
52nd Minute
Kai finally got the ball again.
He quickly passed and played a one-two with right-back José Bosingwa.
Bosingwa pushed forward and combined with Quaresma.
Quaresma cut inside.
Then delivered an inverted-triangle pass.
Amorim rushed into the box from deep.
Long shot!
GOAL!
6–0!
After scoring, Amorim immediately turned around and ran toward Kai in excitement.
"Mr. Kai is amazing!"
"Thank you, Mr. Kai!"
"Mr. Kai is the best!"
If Kai hadn't secretly switched positions earlier, Amorim would never have had the chance to attempt such a long shot.
Normally, his role would never allow him to reach that area.
And as the saying goes—
If someone feeds you the ball, you're family.
Of course Amorim chose to forgive Kai.
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