I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 428 - 65: Graceful as a Soaring Dragon

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

When Chen Zhong stood in front of the free kick, everyone went wild.

And online, countless keyboard warriors were pointing fingers and expressing their opinions,

"What? Chen is going to take the free kick?"

"Why is he taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick?"

"Cancer, bully!"

...

Of course, there were also fans who spoke up for Chen Zhong.

"How is he a bully? How is he cancerous?"

"The team is ahead, what’s wrong with taking a free kick?"

"Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t have any objections, so why are you barking?"

From the words of these people, you could feel that they were "compatriots" from a distant oriental country.

On the sidelines, Garrido was waving his restless hands, asking the coaching staff beside him: "Am I seeing this right?"

"Is that Chen standing in front of the ball?"

"Has he ever taken a free kick before? What’s his habit?"

"Ah! Ah!? Say something, won’t you!"

Garrido paced back and forth anxiously. If they couldn’t beat Real Madrid, at least don’t lose too badly at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium!

The assistant coach looked at the anxious Garrido, unsure of what to say for a moment. He could only mumble: "He seems to have never taken a free kick before."

"Maybe, he wants to play a set piece."

Those words reminded Garrido, and he noticed some Real Madrid players scattered around, like Ronaldo, Negredo, Granero...

Chen Zhong taking a free kick was just too astonishing.

Going for a set-piece play seemed more reliable.

Compared to Garrido’s confusion, Pellegrini knew a bit more of the inside story. He looked at Francisco and asked: "How is Chen’s free kick skill?"

"I remember there was a report before."

"He would seek advice from Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrea Pirlo."

"During the Milan period, David Beckham also seemed to have coached Chen Zhong on his kicking technique?"

"Yes, boss." Francisco extended his neck expectantly, as if watching a student about to take an exam, full of nervousness and excitement: "He practices free kicks during extra training sessions."

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Chen Zhong, yet he seemed completely unfazed.

Villarreal had only three players forming a simple wall, and Chen Zhong could see through their intentions. They probably thought he wouldn’t go for the goal with this shot.

Cristiano Ronaldo watched Chen Zhong from a distance, feeling complicated. On one hand, he was willing to let Chen take the free kick opportunity. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he took the free kick himself.

All these thoughts vanished when Chen started pacing back to measure the ground beneath his feet.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s face showed a slight "auntie smile" because Chen’s movements were quite similar to his own.

"Chen Zhong to take this free kick!"

"I think Real Madrid is likely planning a set piece play."

"Hmm?"

"Chen Zhong is measuring the ground beneath his feet."

"He’s backing up step by step, looking quite similar to C. Ronaldo!"

"The camera zooms in on Chen Zhong; we can see his gaze is very determined!"

"Run-up, strike!"

"A direct shot at the goal!"

As Chen Zhong stood in front of the ball and took a deep breath, all distractions vanished from his mind. In his vision, there seemed to be one or more invisible lines, and the arc of these lines was very wide.

Chen Zhong chose a path, started jogging forward, and then struck the ball.

A dull thud, the ball shot up rapidly, making some think it might fly over the bar.

But as the ball rose to a certain height, it quickly fell, as if something below was pulling it down...

This was a textbook elevator shot!

Standing in front of the goal, Diego Lopez’s heart pounded as he quickly moved, but the ball’s descent was so fast that by the time he moved, the ball had already fallen into the net from the side!

Goal!

2:0

The entire stadium erupted with deafening cheers, and the Real Madrid fans in the stands were ecstatic. This was another skill from Chen Zhong this season that amazed them, after his long passes and long shots!

Online, countless fans were frantically sending messages!

[How about that awesome! Just saying WOW covers it all!]

[Did you hear what the commentator said just now? As graceful as a startled swan, as agile as a dragon!]

[He really, really, really scored! This goal is so cool, I think it’s the most awesome free kick I’ve ever seen!]

[With that rising speed and dropping speed, who would have thought he’d go for the goal like that! Who says Chen Zhong can’t take free kicks!]

...

At that moment, the praises completely drowned out comments like [lucky], [fake], [coincidence] from the haters. Meanwhile, the two teams’ coaches displayed completely different reactions on the sidelines.

Pellegrini widened his eyes and looked at Francisco, saying: "You didn’t tell me he could kick an elevator shot like that!"

Francisco looked at the surprised Pellegrini, thinking he couldn’t say he knew Chen Zhong could take free kicks, but even he didn’t expect Chen’s free kick would be this astonishing!