I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 770: Chapter 39: Nicknames and Considerations

Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg

Lyon is already feeling restless, Real Madrid’s recent strong performances have shown them what true despair means.

In the matches, they showcased their powerful offensive lineup with a string of big wins, while off the field, various debates concerning Mourinho have begun to settle.

Recently, Chen Zhong has also been under scrutiny, his sudden surge in the latter half of the season has made him a hot contender for the Ballon d’Or, and the performances of Real Madrid and Barcelona this season may well be decisive for the Ballon d’Or outcome.

Although in the first leg, Real Madrid’s big win almost ended any suspense of advancing, Lyon Club still has no intention of giving up.

Before the match, Lyon Club president Oulas expressed hope that former Lyon striker Benzema does not perform at his highest level in Wednesday’s Champions League match.

This Wednesday, Lyon will face off against Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 second leg match away.

Meanwhile, Benzema has been in excellent form recently, scoring in consecutive matches.

Oulas also mentioned Chen Zhong, saying: ”I’m not sure if Chen will play in the next match, but I hope he won’t.”

”Regarding this match, we cannot place great hope before it begins.”

”Real Madrid is playing at home, and theoretically, their lineup is stronger than ours. But if coach Puel and his players can deliver a surprise for the club and the fans, that would be a magical moment for us.”

Concerned Mourinho might ”act up” and adopt a defensive posture, Oulas also engaged Mourinho in psychological warfare, using motivational tactics to tackle him.

Oulas said, ”Mourinho will keep it 0-0!”

”I know he will do that.”

”After all, they won the first leg.”

”Or, could he reveal a bit?”

...

From these words, it’s clear Oulas really wants Lyon to continue, but unfortunately, Mourinho had no intention of responding to Oulas.

Why should he respond to his opponent to ease their mind?

Compared to Lyon, Real Madrid internally is much more relaxed, Mourinho does not want to put too much pressure on the players, partly due to the excellent performance in the first leg and partly because Chen Zhong is present.

The players are quite relaxed within the team, Real Madrid is advancing triumphantly in all competitions, they even have the leisure to discuss each other’s nicknames.

In the world of football, many players have their own nicknames or monikers.

Based on their appearance or playing style, people come up with catchy nicknames, while others are simply abbreviations of longer names, like Kaka and Pepe.

As is well known, in the talent-rich Argentine football scene, almost every star player has a nickname, for example, Canigia known as ”Child of the Wind” for his speed, Saviola and Tevez dubbed ”Little Rabbit” and ”Beast” for their resemblance.

Currently playing at Barcelona, Messi was called ”Little Flea” by his peers from a young age because he was smaller than his peers and his bouncing performances on the field.

Since Messi moved to Spain from an early age, this nickname didn’t spread across Argentina until Aguero learned about it during the 2005 Netherlands Youth World Cup. With Aguero’s big mouth promoting it, the nickname spread among the National Youth team, along with Messi’s agile playing style and unpredictable dribbling direction, akin to a sprite, the ”Flea” persona became more widely known.

Actually, within many clubs, players prefer to give each other fun or catchy nicknames instead of addressing each other directly by name.

Real Madrid’s discussion about nicknames today is due to a recent revelation by Madrid media of the bizarre monikers within the Real Madrid squad, some of which fans are familiar with, while most are unfamiliar to them.

Real Madrid’s players are like a group of young-at-heart kids, spending training time together, listening to Mourinho’s ”lectures,” and privately giving each other nicknames, teasing one another.

Most illustrative: Ozil and ”Nemo”

In Real Madrid’s locker room, the most illustrative nickname has to be that for the German ’Big Eyes’ Ozil.

Although he only transferred to Real Madrid after last year’s World Cup, his nickname is among the most interesting of the team — Nemo.

This is the name of the little protagonist in Disney’s ”Finding Nemo,” a yellow-striped clownfish.

’Big Eyes’ Ozil’s bulging, widely-spaced eyes resemble Nemo, making this nickname quickly spread in the locker room.

As for who came up with the nickname, the locker room can’t recall anymore.

One player said, ”Sergado used to love giving teammates nicknames, Heinze too, but now there are too many young people in the team, our ability to give nicknames seems to have declined, especially those with ill-intentions.”

Of course, though ’Big Eyes’ Ozil’s nickname is illustrative, it’s just for laughs. As a marginal figure in the team, rarely getting playing time, he is almost invisible in the fans’ eyes.