I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 227: Chapter 87: Tank

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

All eyes were on Chen Zhong, his coordination with Sneijder was clearly well-rehearsed, his strong body was like an unstoppable tank, roaring through Valencia’s ironclad defense to create an opening.

Albiol had already done everything he could.

Now the only hope was the goalkeeper standing in front of the goal.

The German Hildebrand, valued by Koman, had been under media scrutiny; whenever opponents shot, fans felt like he was a paper window that would break with a poke.

The ball shot from Chen Zhong’s foot, like a fatal bullet flying from a gun’s muzzle, aiming to take the life of the bat in front.

However, Hildebrand’s reaction in front of the goal was very quick.

The ball hit Hildebrand’s hands, then slipped to the ground, but he immediately pounced on it like a hungry tiger, dispelling the others’ thoughts of a follow-up shot.

”Hildebrand!”

”A beautiful save!”

”Last season at Stuttgart, he helped the team win the Bundesliga championship after 15 years.”

”He made miraculous saves time and again to turn the tide.”

”He is seen as the successor to Kahn and Lehman.”

”He even broke Kahn’s record of minutes without conceding a goal in the 03-04 season.”

”He managed to set that time to 884 minutes.”

”Finally, he found his feel in front of the goal once more.”

Domestically, some fans unfamiliar with Hildebrand were looking at each other; if the commentator hadn’t said so, they wouldn’t have known he was so formidable!

In the stands, Mourinho was also nodding repeatedly at Hildebrand, fully aware of this goalkeeper’s misfortunes.

Due to the national team having Kahn and Lehman, he has always been the third-choice goalkeeper, continuously proving himself in the league, last season even helping Stuttgart win the Bundesliga.

But none of this earned Hildebrand the starting goalkeeper position in the national team.

Mourinho was a bit sentimental, once represented by Hildebrand, Kuranyi, Hleb, Hinkel, Lam, Stuttgart’s ”Young Tigers” practically announced their dissolution after Hildebrand left Stuttgart.

After experiencing the ”three horse carriages” and the ”Young Tigers,” when will Stuttgart rise again?

No one knows!

Koman, watching Hildebrand’s save from the sidelines, couldn’t help but punch the air in celebration.

Making Hildebrand the team’s number one goalkeeper was a decision that brought tremendous pressure, especially with Schuster’s previous example in mind.

Hildebrand and Metzelder both joined their respective teams as free agents, with Metzelder losing Schuster’s trust due to poor performance early in the season and unable to play later due to injury issues.

Hildebrand was appointed the first-team’s main goalkeeper by Koman, but his performance had always been under scrutiny; however, this world-class save in the match and his recent one-on-one confrontation were enough to relieve much of the pressure off Koman and the players.

Schuster waved his fists a bit annoyed, wanting to give Francisco beside him a smack.

But Francisco deftly dodged out of the way.

”I hope in the future, we can have Chen practice his shooting skills.”

”He is like a Tiger tank, dominating the battlefield.”

”The only problem is, he’s lacking a bit of precision.”

Schuster, being a German, referred to the Tiger tank, a type of heavy tank used by Germany in World War II.

Overall, Schuster was satisfied with Chen Zhong’s performance, believing that if Chen could possess the shooting precision of Van Nistelrooy at his peak, he would become the new ”King of the Penalty Box.”

Francisco looked at Schuster’s restless expression, feeling like Schuster’s expectations for Chen Zhong were getting higher and higher, as if Chen Zhong were some kind of panacea.

In Schuster’s eyes, Chen Zhong had nothing but strengths, but in Francisco’s perspective, Chen Zhong still had many areas needing improvement, such as...

Shooting skills!

After missing the opportunity, Chen Zhong gave Sneijder a thumbs-up, and Real Madrid also gained momentum from that shot.

”Real Madrid’s attack.”

”Sneijder has the ball again.”

”Dribbling, moving forward.”

”Machena!”

”Foul!”

”Is he not giving a card for this?”

”He is, a yellow card!”

”Machena committed a foul in midfield.”

”That’s his seventh yellow card this season.”

Facing Real Madrid’s attack, Valencia could only attempt to stop it with fouls, and finally, that damn referee realized the game was slipping out of control, showing the first yellow card of the match, trying to regain some order.

Real Madrid won a free-kick opportunity, and Guti quickly took it, linking up with Robinho in a one-two, with Robinho grabbing the ball like a sharp dagger trying to pierce the heart of Valencia.

He weaved through two defending players effortlessly, and at that moment, in all the fans’ eyes, this Brazilian player seemed to glow!

”Robinho!”

”Continuous dribbling!”

”Burst into Valencia’s penalty box!”

”Goes for the shot!”

Robinho, steadying his slightly staggering posture, lifted his head to gauge the position of goalkeeper Hildebrand and raised his foot to take the shot, when suddenly, an orange figure flashed by from the side.