I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 768: Chapter 38: Youth Training and the Ballon d’Or

The four goals showcased Chen Zhong’s versatility.

Headers, long shots, pinpoint finishes...

Hercules was completely overwhelmed, conceding five goals before the first half even ended. They had utterly lost the courage to continue, and if Real Madrid hadn’t repeatedly squandered chances afterward, the score could have been much worse.

As the whistle blew to mark the end of the first half, the Real Madrid fans in the stands celebrated joyously, satisfied with everything their team had shown in this match, especially Chen Zhong’s constant goal-scoring.

Most of the Hercules fans began to leave early, leaving large swaths of empty seats in the away fans’ section at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

"The second half begins."

"Real Madrid is still maintaining their offensive momentum."

"Hercules has noticeably increased the intensity of their physical confrontations in the second half."

"Di Maria has the ball."

"Oh, that’s a foul!"

After Di Maria got the ball, he tried once more to break through and cross from the byline.

But Hercules decisively stopped Di Maria’s attempt, and he fell just outside the penalty area. The referee blew for a free kick and also gave a yellow card to a Hercules player.

This free-kick position allows either a direct shot or a coordinated play with teammates.

"The referee shows a yellow card."

"Di Maria looks a bit uncomfortable."

"A free kick is given."

"Chen Zhong stands in front of the ball."

"He’s taking this free kick."

"Will it be a direct shot or a passing maneuver?"

"Adebayor and Benzema are both up front."

"Probably a coordinated play."

In contrast to the commentators’ caution, the Real Madrid fans in the stands had entirely different thoughts, watching Chen Zhong muttering to himself. If someone got close enough to listen, they would clearly hear him saying, "Shoot, shoot."

Scoring past the goalkeeper, heading a goal, long-range shots, finding the net from close quarters.

With one more free-kick goal, Chen Zhong would have demonstrated all typical scoring methods.

Standing in front of the ball, Chen Zhong also heard the cheering fans in the stands, understanding what they wanted to see.

Chen Zhong looked up, took a deep breath, then stepped back, measuring the ground.

Mourinho, watching from the sideline, couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "That doesn’t look like he’s planning to pass."

Just as Mourinho’s words trailed off, Chen Zhong sprinted forward and struck the ball powerfully, not with his right foot, but his left.

The ball curved in a bizarre trajectory, evading the jumping wall.

The goalkeeper had absolutely no expectation of the ball coming from such an unusual direction, attempted a dive, but couldn’t stop it at all.

He could only watch the ball enter the net again.

And as the ball hit the net, a huge cheer erupted throughout the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, with Real Madrid fans roaring and celebrating Chen Zhong’s goal.

Mourinho was shaking his head while looking at Francisco, as if to say, did you see that? Did you see that?

Did you know he would go for goal directly?

How did he dare do that?

"It’s a goal!"

"A direct free-kick goal!"

"This is Chen Zhong’s fifth goal of the match."

"6:0"

"We can see many Hercules fans have already left early."

"What a phenomenal display from Chen Zhong in this match!"

"Long shots, free kicks, headers."

"He has shown himself to be unstoppable in every way."

After the goal, Chen Zhong ran to the corner flag, then leaped up high, performing his signature celebration move. As he landed, countless fans were shouting his name loudly, echoing throughout the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium: "Chen!"

After this goal, Hercules’s morale fell completely, and the final score settled at 9:0.

At the post-match press conference, the Hercules coach did not attend and left the venue directly, and Mourinho didn’t say much about the game either, only responding to questions about Chen Zhong.

When a reporter asked whether Chen Zhong was in contention for the Ballon d’Or, Mourinho responded affirmatively: "I’ve never considered him not to be in the running for the Ballon d’Or."

"I admit Barcelona’s Messi has performed exceptionally well this season, scoring many goals."

"But Chen Zhong is a midfielder, and goals are not the only criteria for the Ballon d’Or."

"I think Chen has always been a strong candidate for the Ballon d’Or."

"If we can achieve the Triple Crown this season, then it’s almost certain that the Ballon d’Or will be coming to Madrid."

In the post-match interview area, Chen Zhong was also intercepted by reporters. Having scored five goals in this game, Chen Zhong had been previously criticized in earlier seasons for scoring too much against weaker teams, accused of inflating his statistics. In this match, besides marveling at his number of goals, reporters also discussed this issue.

To this, Chen Zhong did not shy away and simply said, "I don’t deliberately try to pad my statistics."

"During a match, if I see an opportunity, I just think of trying to seize it."

"As the results show, I’ve seized those opportunities quite well."

When asked for his thoughts on Messi, Chen Zhong didn’t hold back, saying, "Messi has scored a lot this season and performed exceptionally well. From the current trend, he might surpass my goal tally from last season."