I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 157 - 53: When Chen Wants It, Everyone Helps Him
During the subsequent corner kick, after Sneijder delivered the ball, it directly found Chen Zhong within the penalty area. Chen Zhong’s header was deflected, and as he squeezed past nearby defenders, he poked the ball before the goalkeeper could secure it, striking it directly at the goalkeeper’s face. Chen Zhong gritted his teeth, chased the ball from the side, and attempted to score with a sliding kick.
The ball arced through the air, and the retreating Kartuis blocked it with his body.
Raul clutched his head with both hands, Robinho sighed, Baptista grimaced, and Van Nistelrooy, seeing the reactions of the other players, merely gave Chen Zhong a cool look while muttering under his breath, possibly thinking, "If it were me, I would have scored that damn goal."
In the stands, the fans initially voiced their frustration. Some were about to criticize openly, but upon seeing that it was Chen Zhong, the 16-year-old youngster, they shifted to good-natured laughter, and some even whistled and applauded.
This left Chen Zhong feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Hahahahahaha." Schuster laughed heartily as he looked at Francisco and remarked, "Chen is quite the popular guy; everyone’s passing him the ball!"
Even the commentators on television were murmuring to themselves, "Is today a special day?"
"Why does everyone want to pass to Chen Zhong?"
As the first half concluded, it seemed Levante had caught on, realizing that Real Madrid was determined to pass to Chen Zhong. As a result, they tightly marked him, and since Chen Zhong’s shooting skills weren’t exceptional under pressure, he never managed a scoring opportunity.
This increasingly darkened Van Nistelrooy’s mood.
During halftime, Schuster criticized the team’s state, not for passing to Chen Zhong, but for lacking variety in their attacks, indicating that without exceptional shooting, it would be hard for Chen Zhong to break through the defense.
With the start of the second half, neither team had scoring opportunities. Marcelo dribbled down the wing, reaching the baseline, and then knocked it back to Van Nistelrooy. Had Van Nistelrooy sent a reverse pass to Chen Zhong, Chen Zhong would have faced an open goal, a perfect setup.
Had that ball been delivered, it would have been the best scoring chance of the entire match.
If it had gone in, it would have been an easy tap-in goal.
However, Van Nistelrooy only glanced at Chen Zhong and then decided on a low shot, attempting to break through the opponent’s net.
Unfortunately, the shooting angle was too narrow, and Van Nistelrooy’s shot hit the side netting.
Marcelo frowned at Van Nistelrooy, while Raul kept looking back at him, and even Baptista crossed his arms, staring at Van Nistelrooy.
Finally, it was Chen Zhong who spoke up: "Nice shot!"
And applauded vigorously, signaling that he didn’t mind and praised Marcelo’s pass and Van Nistelrooy’s attempt.
In the 53rd minute of the match, Baptista, under pressure from two Levante players in front of the box, lost his balance and nudged the ball to Chen Zhong, who easily pushed it into the net.
"0:1"
"Goal!"
"Real Madrid’s super rookie."
"Chen Zhong scores his fourth goal in the league."
"In this match, the whole team seemed determined to let Chen score."
"Finally, in the 53rd minute, Chen achieved his goal."
After scoring, Real Madrid players almost all ran towards Chen Zhong, who sprinted to the corner flag, leaping high and showing off his jersey.
"Not a bad pass, huh?" Baptista said naively.
"Chen, Chen, Chen!" Marcelo called urgently, "I also passed to you."
As everyone chatted and laughed, Raul and Cannavaro found it hard to join the conversation.
With Chen Zhong scoring, Levante seemed deflated, as Real Madrid launched a series of attacks. Raul, Van Nistelrooy, and Robinho repeatedly had scoring chances, but all failed to beat Levante’s net.
Considering the upcoming tight schedule, Schuster replaced Baptista with Guti in the 59th minute. Guti, eager to make an impact, tried a long-range shot right outside the penalty area.
Unfortunately, it didn’t challenge the goalkeeper at all. Raul followed up with a similar attempt, shooting from the left edge of the box.
Seeing his teammates getting fidgety, Chen Zhong loudly called for the ball, suggesting they pass to him. Guti glanced at Chen Zhong, frowned slightly, but decided to heed his advice, calming Real Madrid’s attack. In the 70th minute, Real Madrid subbed Higuain in for Sneijder.
With Guti and Chen Zhong on the field, Sneijder’s role became awkward.
Once Higuain was on, he immediately made a friendly gesture to Chen Zhong, fondly remembering Chen’s comfort in past matches, and during meals, Higuain would try to sit closer to Chen.
In the 75th minute, Chen Zhong intercepted the ball at midfield, passing it to Guti, who then delivered a through ball to Higuain. Higuain quickly advanced and crossed the ball, aiming for a teammate sweeping in from the center.
The ball struck a defender’s arm, and the referee blew the whistle, awarding a penalty.
Joy spread across Van Nistelrooy’s face, but before he could grab the ball, Higuain picked it up and approached Chen Zhong. Raul and Guti merely looked at Chen Zhong, their eyes questioning.
As if asking, "Haven’t you scored enough, still want a penalty?"
Seeing Higuain walk over, Chen Zhong was both amused and exasperated. Noticing Van Nistelrooy’s conflicted gaze, he said, "Sigh, why are you giving me the ball?"
"He’s the primary penalty taker." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
"Oh!" Higuain blinked, "Give it to him?"
"Of course!"
With Chen Zhong’s confirmation, Higuain tossed the ball to Van Nistelrooy, who took it with an ambiguous expression, feeling both pleased and thinking to himself that the penalty was his by default as the primary taker.
Standing at the penalty spot, Van Nistelrooy confidently scored.
0:2
Real Madrid secured the victory.
And after scoring this, Van Nistelrooy seemed to find his touch. In the 87th minute, Chen Zhong passed the ball to Guti, who then played a cross. Van Nistelrooy took a direct shot, the ball bouncing into the far corner of the net, 3:0.
Real Madrid cruised to a comfortable win against Levante, maintaining a 7-point lead in the league.
In the post-match press conference, Schuster spoke about the special attention Chen Zhong received, saying, "He’s the youngest player on the team."
"Everyone tends to look out for him, and when Chen wants to achieve something, everyone helps him."
This explanation offered a certain level of protection for Chen Zhong.
Up next was the second leg of the King’s Cup Round of 16. Given the imminent league match against Atletico Madrid, Schuster decided on a large-scale rotation for the home match against Mallorca.
Chen Zhong wasn’t even on the roster.
In this match, Real Madrid still opted for a 442 formation:
Goalkeeper: Dudek
Defense: Sergado, Cannavaro, Ramos, Marcelo
Midfield: Drenthe, Guti, Diara, Gago
Forwards: Higuain, Saviola
Chen Zhong watched the match live, and before it started, no one expected Real Madrid to lose. The fans in the stands cheered wave after wave of Real Madrid’s attacks, but in the end, the result was somewhat unexpected.
