Dominating Football with Perfect Ball Control

Chapter 167: 167. Hazard, De Bruyne, and Dembélé are all my teachers

Check out advanced Chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari

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Player feuds are player feuds.

Everyone knows that professional players only get a handful of World Cup opportunities.

With the World Cup held every four years, most professional players, from 18 to 35, can at most participate in four World Cups.

Excluding the early and late stages of their careers where they sit on the bench and don’t get opportunities, many more only have two World Cup chances in their prime.

Kevin De Bruyne counts on his fingers, if all goes well, he will have at most three World Cups.

2014, 2018, 2022. His peak will be in 2018.

It is estimated that by 2022, if Belgium doesn’t have a continuous influx of new talent, they might quickly fade away like shooting stars.

Therefore, Kevin De Bruyne cherishes 2014, and he hopes to go as far as possible.

Stopping at the World Cup Round of 16 is clearly not very meaningful; they should at least reach the quarterfinals or semifinals!

However, their next opponents are the two strongest players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi!

Portugal and Argentina’s overall lineups are not considered incredibly strong, but with the ”two GOATs” present, they are very likely to step up and dominate the game.

Kevin De Bruyne dared not be negligent.

Therefore, no matter how much he hates Thibaut Courtois, the two must temporarily put aside their differences and focus on playing well.

Kevin De Bruyne still possesses this basic level of professionalism.

Looking at his teammates on the training ground, Kevin De Bruyne frowned slightly.

Whether it’s Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas, Dries Mertens in the attack, Axel Witsel, Moussa Dembélé, Marouane Fellaini in the midfield, or Vincent Kompany, Daniel Van Buyten in the defense... they are at most excellent enforcers, unable to become the soul of the team and lead it forward.

Kevin De Bruyne mused that he was not a qualified soul figure.

When facing tough battles and playing from behind, Kevin De Bruyne himself doesn’t perform well either.

Only two people have the chance to turn the tide: one is the peak Eden Hazard, whose individual combat ability is off the charts and can break through anything.

The other is the one with the greatest potential, the current true backbone of the team, his ”little brother” Lance.

Lance has grown into an indispensable core within Belgium.

Marc Wilmots is even slowly building tactics around Lance.

This kid is adapting really well!

”Lance...”

”What?”

”Nothing. Want to do an extra set of training after this session?”

”Gladly!”

During Belgium’s training camp, Lance was also growing.

This growth was not the hard growth of Fusion Value that comes with the system.

Having spent a long time with Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Moussa Dembélé, and others, Lance had been trying to learn their dribbling styles and absorb their experience and small tricks.

Especially Moussa Dembélé.

He looks like a fierce strong man, but he’s actually a kind and honest person who patiently taught Lance many practical dribbling techniques.

Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, of course, need no mention.

Moussa Dembélé is definitely a famous dribbler in the Premier League.

At Tottenham, setting everything else aside, his dribbling and progression are considered top-tier in the Premier League.

Even in terms of pure dribbling, Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne would have to admit defeat.

Lance once heard Kevin De Bruyne comment on his teammates, saying, ”If it were a 5-a-side game, Moussa would definitely win the World Cup.”

It’s just a pity that his speed, passing, and shooting aren’t particularly outstanding, which led to Moussa Dembélé’s football achievements not matching up to the later young player with the same name, Ousmane Dembélé.

In short, having learned many dribbling techniques from Moussa Dembélé, Lance felt his football skills grew very quickly during the World Cup.

Completely without the cheat, relying solely on his own strength, he would probably be rated 79 in the FIFA game, infinitely close to 80!

What does an 80 rating mean?

Wu Lei, during his highlight period with Espanyol, who famously equalized against FC Barcelona, was rated exactly 80.

Additionally, Japan’s Kaoru Mitoma also rose to 80 in FC24.

It can be said that he is a relatively first-class presence among Asian players, but not yet top-tier.

The top-tier Asian player, Son Heung-min, is at least an 87, close to 90, in the game.

Lance’s current strength still has a considerable gap compared to Son Heung-min in his prime.

Of course, it’s different when you factor in the system.

At critical moments, he can compete with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo!

The next match will be the moment to test Lance!

...

The 2014 Brazil World Cup, Round of 16.

The previous matches had already concluded, and the Belgium vs. Portugal clash was scheduled for the last day of the first round of the knockout stage.

Brazil 1-1 Chile;

Host Brazil seemed to be a favorite to win the championship, but they had already exposed huge problems in the knockout stage.

They were held to a 1-1 draw by Chile in 90 minutes and only narrowly advanced to the quarterfinals through a penalty shootout.

Colombia 2-0 Uruguay;

James Rodríguez’s incredible long-range goal saw his value skyrocket from 6 million euros to 75 million, catching the eye of Real Madrid.

It truly was a goal that made his name.

Netherlands 2-1 Mexico;

Costa Rica 1-1 Greece (penalties 5-3);

France 2-0 Nigeria;

Germany 2-1 Algeria;

Argentina 1-0 Switzerland;

In the upper half of the bracket: Germany, France, Brazil, Colombia.

In the lower half: Argentina, Netherlands, Costa Rica...

The knockout stage results were successively released, and now the whole world was waiting for the winner of Belgium and Portugal!

July 2, 2014, 00:00 East Eight Time Zone.

Salvador, Brazil, Arena Fonte Nova.

Lance and Cristiano Ronaldo were already standing on the green field, waiting for the kickoff.

Before the match, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal coach Paulo Bento jointly attended the press conference, where both expressed full confidence.

”I admit, Portugal didn’t play well in the group stage. If Cristiano hadn’t stepped up at critical moments, we would probably have bought plane tickets home... but we successfully advanced to the knockout stage, and I believe no one can stop us. Portugal is stronger than everyone imagines!”

Paulo Bento said a lot, but when it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s turn, he only had one sentence:

”We will win this match. Messi is already waiting in the quarterfinals, and I won’t miss this opportunity. As for the opponent, Lance is excellent; I almost lost to him in the Champions League. I believe this time, I can still lead my team to eliminate him.”

Standing at the center circle kickoff point, Cristiano Ronaldo’s sharp gaze directly met Lance’s.

It left Lance puzzled.

Bro?

I’m the one who wants revenge, why do you look so bitter?

But it doesn’t matter; anyway, Cristiano Ronaldo must be eliminated today!

— — — —

Equipped Template: Bachira Meguru (Fusion Value 45%)

— — Skill: Beast Dribbling

— — Skill: Monster Passing

— — Skill: Locked (Unlocked at 75% Fusion Value)

Rage Value: 0%

Assisting Character: Nagi Seishiro - S (Fusion Value 100%)

Assisting Status: On

— — — —

After the group stage, the Fusion Value soared by more than ten percentage points!

The World Cup bonus left Lance speechless!

He wished he could play in the World Cup every day.

It’s a pity that such a fast event for grinding Fusion Value only lasts for a little over a month.

Considering that Portugal might play a possession-based game and Belgium is more accustomed to defensive counter-attacks, Lance specifically equipped the Bachira Meguru template, utilizing the character’s strength in dribbling runs to attack Portugal’s fragile defense.

Beep — —

With the referee’s whistle.

Cristiano Ronaldo nudged the ball to a teammate, and this World Cup knockout match had begun!