I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 80: Chapter 4: Establishing Authority (Part 2)

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”Hello, dear viewers.”

”Welcome to the sixth round of La Liga.”

”After a brief halftime break, both teams’ players have returned to the field.”

”Getafe had the upper hand in the first half, and Real Madrid’s players seemed to be out of form.”

”Robinho and Drenthe’s performances on the field were like sleepwalking, leading to them being directly substituted.”

”Guti and Baptista have come on as substitutes, and we can hear cheers from the Real Madrid fans in the stands, showing their dissatisfaction with the first half, especially with Robinho and Drenthe’s performance.”

”The second half begins with Getafe launching an attack.”

”Pablo gains a positional advantage in his contest with Baptista.”

”Whoa! Chen Zhong!”

”This sliding tackle...”

The Getafe fans angrily booed, but Chen Zhong’s tackle was ”clean and precise,” even though Pablo was sent flying, he had jumped up himself, retracting his legs in a protective move.

He got up from the grass, gave Chen Zhong an angry look, and shouted, ”Are you crazy, kid?”

However, Chen Zhong ignored him and directly passed the ball to Guti.

A white headband tightened Guti’s golden hair as he carried the ball, running at an angle, attracting the attention of Getafe’s players, leaving a clear path in front of Chen Zhong.

Chen Zhong glanced at Cannavaro, who loudly shouted, ”Get back, get back.”

Seeing the open space ahead and seeing Guti pointing towards the space, Chen Zhong couldn’t resist his passion, charging forward without hesitation.

”That guy.” Baptista stopped his forward movement when he saw this and honestly took up Chen Zhong’s original position, moving forward with the entire defensive line while maintaining their alignment.

When Chen Zhong reached the open space, Guti didn’t pass the ball, but his gestures indicated for Chen Zhong to keep running.

For a moment, Chen Zhong was doubtful, questioning whether Guti even saw him.

But no matter what, since he’d already run there, he had no reason to hesitate; Chen Zhong kept his head down and continued running forward. The Getafe players noticed, but couldn’t figure out how to respond or decide who should handle it.

Just when they finally realized what to do, Guti, almost at the sideline, smirked, weaving a perfect line through the crowd, and with the outside of his foot delivered a pass with a huge arc.

The moment Chen Zhong looked up, he confirmed that the pass was meant for him.

He leaped high in the penalty area, forcefully heading the ball sideways, causing the goalkeeper, who was sternly waiting, to turn with a slightly embarrassed expression.

And at that moment, Robben came in from the side, blasting the ball off the inside of the post and into the net.

”0:1!”

”Guti’s pass from the sideline.”

”Chen Zhong’s header assist in the penalty area.”

”Robben cut into the penalty area from the side, he didn’t miss the opportunity.”

”With a powerful strike, he blasted the ball into the net.”

”This entire offensive sequence was perfect, with only one problem: why is Chen Zhong in the opponent’s penalty area?”

”This isn’t the first time Chen Zhong’s done something like this; he’s even dribbled all the way from his own half to the edge of the opponent’s penalty area before.”

”Although Chen Zhong has excellent defensive skills, considering his penchant for moving forward, might it be time to move his position slightly forward?”

Robben was very excited after scoring the goal, pointing at Chen Zhong and jumping onto his shoulders, enthusiastically shouting, ”To the corner flag, to the corner flag!”

At the corner flag, reporters snapped away, capturing what’s become an iconic moment of the Schuster era: ”Robben and his mount.”

This iconic moment led to a recurring scene where, whenever Chen Zhong encountered Robben in the games afterward, he always gave a cordial greeting. Consequently, in interviews, Robben often reflected on his most regrettable on-field moment, saying, ”If you ask me what I regret the most, it was during the 07-08 season against Getafe, when Chen was a center-back, and after scoring, I couldn’t resist jumping on him.”

”Honestly, I just wanted to share my joy with him, but I never imagined that some reporter would later dub that moment as ’me and my mount,’ which means every time I meet Chen afterward, I get his special attention, though we still have a good relationship.”

”In fact, I always find Chen after the match and ask him, even if it’s just a little, to be a bit gentler next time. But he told me that in their country, suffering is a blessing, and he was accumulating blessings for me. Today, facing the camera, I want to ask Chen, how much longer does my blessing need to accumulate? Chen, did you hear me? If it’s enough, please give me a call!”

At that moment, Robben hadn’t realized the gravity of the issue. He playfully looked at Chen Zhong, asking, ”Chen, if I score again, can we celebrate like this again? I think it’s really cool.”

Chen Zhong gave Robben a deep look.

You giggle, I don’t. If one day we become opponents, I’ll make sure you won’t giggle either.

Marcelo ran over from far away, obliviously asking Chen Zhong, ”Oh, Chen, that was so cool just now. If I score, can I also ride on your shoulders like Robben? Cool.”

”I’ve got an even cooler idea,” Chen Zhong said, patting Marcelo’s shoulder firmly. ”How about I ride on your shoulders?”

As Chen Zhong and Marcelo chatted while walking towards the backfield, Baptista approached, jokingly saying to Chen Zhong, ”You stole my assist, Chen.”

After a moment of seriousness, Baptista broke into a smile, saying, ”Just treat me to something later, but not at the Sports City’s cafeteria. By the way, Cannavaro seems to have something to say to you.”

The three laughed, exchanged a few words, and walked over. Cannavaro looked at Chen Zhong and earnestly advised, ”Chen, you’re too adventurous. You’re even more aggressive than Pepe, who at most just tries long shots.”

”I was wrong,” Chen Zhong raised both hands in genuine acknowledgment, saying, ”Next time I’ll be (still daring).” (The parts in brackets represent a playful twist in tone.)

On the sidelines, Schuster and Francisco were also discussing this issue, and Schuster ultimately decided, ”He wasn’t purely a center-back to begin with. Didn’t you say he was originally playing up front? In fact, I’m the one wasting his attacking talents right now.”

After conceding this goal, Getafe wasn’t content and tried to get the score back.

Yet, facing Chen Zhong’s continuous ”soul-chasing” tackles, and even coming close to conceding several times, Laudrup had to accept reality. They resorted to solid defense with sporadic counter-attacks, trying to break through Real Madrid’s goal.

”The whistle blows to end the match.”

”Real Madrid narrowly wins 1-0 against Getafe away, reclaiming the top spot.”

”Schuster’s mid-game substitutions had an immediate impact.”

”Getafe’s offensive momentum was completely stifled in the second half.”

”The MVP of this match goes to Robben, who continuously created threats on the wing and scored a goal.”

”Actually, I think Chen Zhong might be more deserving of the MVP.”

”Next, Real Madrid will head to Italy for an away match against Lazio.”

”It’s said to be tonight’s flight.”

”Let’s meet again in the Champions League group stage, bye-bye.”