I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 68: Chapter 39: Reminiscence

”Why is he in that position?” Shaf took off his sunglasses, eyes filled with surprise, but soon the surprise turned into tension. He could no longer remain calm, yelling at the top of his lungs from the sidelines like an air raid siren, ”Fall back! Fall back!”

While everyone was still stunned by Chen Zhong’s interception, Chen Zhong had already climbed up from the ground. With a ”bang,” he kicked the ball out, initiating a quick counterattack.

Initially, people did not realize the severity of the situation; Werder Bremen’s players were still jogging. But slowly, their jog turned into a full sprint, quickly falling back under Shaf’s anxious shouts.

The ball bypassed Werder Bremen’s midfield. Van Nistelrooy, while running, chased towards the ball’s landing spot. This spot wasn’t great; compared to Sneijder’s or Guti’s passes, it was like a pile of crap.

But at this moment, there’s such a roughly accurate ball passed to this location, what more do you need?

”Oh~”

”A very beautiful ball control!”

”Van Nistelrooy, this volley stop.”

”It’s practically a replica of the Bundesliga logo.”

”Van Nistelrooy, facing the defensive player’s pressure, chooses to chip pass behind.”

”Raul, diagonal run!”

Fluid coordination, Van Nistelrooy and Raul have perfect chemistry; their combination is the epitome of soft and hard power. Raul carries the ball, sprinting furiously, continuously disrupted by Werder Bremen’s players.

Raul makes a sharp stop to break away, feeding the ball to Higuain, who burst in between the center-back and the full-back spaces. Higuain takes the ball, charging toward Werder Bremen’s goal, choosing a low shot at the arc top of the penalty area.

This low shot was fast and powerful, brushed out instantly; Werder Bremen fans were in despair, Real Madrid fans were ready to cheer.

However, the goalkeeper did not give up.

The ball brushed the goalkeeper and flew out the baseline.

”Damn it!” Schuster had been half-squatting by the sideline preparing to celebrate, but seeing Higuain’s handling, he exploded like a lit powder keg, yelling angrily, ”No one bothered him, no one bothered him! He could’ve gone even closer, what’s in his brain, damn, damn! Would be better than the number 9 from Almeria we met last time!”

”Alvaro Negredo.” Francisco reminded beside him, ”We have a buy-back clause in his contract.”

Schuster glanced at Francisco, Francisco looked naturally confident; he’s always believed Negredo was an excellent center forward, if supported by the team, could rival even Van Nistelrooy.

Both tacitly stopped discussing further and focused their gaze on the field.

Higuain’s excitement slowly faded, his pounding heart became calm; with both hands on his head, he seemed a bit dazed.

He actually missed such a golden opportunity?

In this game, playing as a right midfielder, Higuain took on a supporting role, but inside he always had the dream of being the main striker; however, when the chance came, his mind went blank, and he burned all out, bet everything eagerly.

But after losing it all, he realized, damn, I could’ve done better.

”What have I done! Damn it.” Higuain muttered, unsettling thoughts flooded his mind with deep anxiety.

”Hey.” Higuain felt someone patting his shoulder, turned back and saw Chen Zhong, someone who rarely interacted with him, encouraged him, ”It’s not a big deal, at least we have a corner kick, or are you not planning to participate in this corner?”

”Don’t act like that, be a man, you played well, your shooting skills are fine.”

”You just need to find a better time to finish your shot.”

”Don’t be a coward standing here, you can’t change anything standing around.”

Chen Zhong pulled Higuain along into the penalty area. This Argentine rising star had attracted the attention of several top clubs after scoring two beautiful goals in the previous season’s Argentine Super Derby for Riverbed, eventually transferring to Real Madrid at 13 million Euros, wearing the number 20 jersey.

Joining Real Madrid was a huge leap for him, considering before joining Real Madrid he had only played two seasons at Riverbed: first season, 5 goals in 15 matches; second season, 8 goals in 17 matches; then transferred in the winter to Real Madrid, scoring 2 goals and 3 assists in 19 matches, barely satisfactory performance.

The new coach’s bold reforms for Higuain are both opportunities and challenges; he genuinely hopes to perform better in his coach’s first Champions League match, and then...

Just like the man beside him, slowly becoming an indispensable part of the team.

Oh my, he’s even younger than I am.

Looking at the hand held by Chen Zhong, looking at Chen Zhong who was pulling him forward, Higuain’s initially chaotic eyes slowly settled, yet the calm gaze turned into ripples, thrown stones stirring waves within.

”This is Real Madrid’s corner.”

”Chen Zhong pulled Higuain into the penalty area.”

”Seems the relationship between them is quite good?”

Gonzalo Higuain, is undoubtedly a highly gifted player; the two are close in age, but apart from being teammates in training matches, they hardly interact, barely exchanging greetings when passing by.

Chen Zhong, during his time training at Real Madrid, because of his appearance and performance on the field, was often regarded as an ”idol” by some young players, leading him to often take on motivating roles on the field, hence just naturally encouraged Higuain when passing by.

This act, plus the domestic education he received, although faint, he remembers the teacher taught to learn the spirit of Lei Feng: treat comrades like spring warmth, work like summer heat, treat individualism like autumn leaves swept away, treat enemies with winter’s brutal cold.

Such a distant memory!

Sometimes, he misses the days wandering the streets, breaking neighbors’ windows, scrambling for the ball with a group without order.

Chen Zhong restrained his thoughts, stood within the penalty area, Sanogo continued marking him, but this time without too much chatter, saying things like, you won’t score past me.

Both teams’ players were poised in the penalty area when Sneijder, at the corner flag, raised his right hand high.

Chen Zhong’s gaze suddenly sharpened.