Chapter 022: A Good Start

While Real Madrid's clash with the LA Galaxy at the University of Phoenix Stadium wasn't the most watched contest in the inaugural Guinness International Champions Cup, it was definitely one of the most watchable.

First of all, Tang Zheng represented Real Madrid for the first time, his presence made those Chinese who work and study in the United States have a strong interest, coupled with the past 2012-2013 season Tang Zheng's performance in Dortmund is perfect, until now the Internet has circulated Tang Zheng's wonderful highlights, making people linger and enthusiastic.

It is a pleasure to be able to see Tang Zheng play football with his own eyes!

A person who is almost as tall as he can play basketball but can play with small skills on the football field is a work of art.

Tang Zheng, who was at the University of Phoenix Stadium, was indeed excellent in small skills, and frequently caused deafening shouts from the fans at the scene.

As Real Madrid's number one star, Cristiano Ronaldo's performance also has a very dazzling performance, but with the gradual transformation of his style of play, his personal breakthrough with the ball is no longer gorgeous, but more concise and practical.

However, this is not the case in the eyes of manager Carlo Ancelotti, who and his two assistants, Clement and Zidane, are looking at each other.

There was nothing wrong with each of them in the exhibition match, and it was in line with the nature of the commercial game, but Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo did not communicate anything from the start of the match until the ten minutes.

In a commercial game, the two stars do not have a direct communication, and the overall strength of the LA Galaxy is significantly inferior to Real Madrid after all, and they can find opportunities from the local area by fighting separately.

It's just that in Ancelotti's eyes, it's full of worry.

There is still half a month to go before the 2013-2014 La Liga season, and if the contradiction between Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo is not resolved, it is estimated that it is inevitable that the four major will be empty.

There was no communication in the game, it was not Tang Zheng who provoked it, but Cristiano Ronaldo thought that Tang Zheng 'isolated' himself in terms of offensive organization, and then the lack of communication between the two was normal to be suspicious of each other.

If Tang Zheng knew what Cristiano Ronaldo was thinking, he would definitely cry out, because the first two passes Cristiano Ronaldo were not the best passing points, and handing them to Xavi Alonso or Modric was the best choice.

Of course, Tang Zheng has to slowly adapt to playing football in a different environment.

He was the absolute core and spiritual leader at Dortmund, and the whole team had to die for him unconditionally.

Real Madrid is not Borussia Dortmund, and he has to adapt to the style of play of the Real Madrid star.

In the twenty-third minute of the game, Real Madrid opened the scoring.

Luka Modric took a corner kick from the right flank, Tang Zheng jumped high in front of the penalty spot, twisted his waist and threw his belly, the football fell to the far corner of the goal, and goalkeeper Lowe put the ball in hand.

The close-up of the live broadcast was explained to the scorer Tang Zheng, and the Yang 5 commentator He Wei shouted hysterically: "Beautiful! Tang Zheng used his trademark header in the box to help Real Madrid open the scoring! We thought of him scoring for Real Madrid in a thousand ways, but we really didn't expect it to come so quickly......"

The cheers at the University of Phoenix stadium continued to be high, but not many people noticed Cristiano Ronaldo's face was pale, because if Tang Zheng hadn't jumped to the top just now, he would have a 90% chance of contributing to the goal, which is equivalent to saying that Tang Zheng ...... Tiger's mouth.

Tang Zheng's goal allowed Carlo Ancelotti and Zidane in front of the Real Madrid coach's box to temporarily put aside their worries and enter into a brief celebration of the goal.

The excitement of scoring was limited, and the team's problems lingered over Carlo Ancelotti's head.

And Tang Zheng's goal Chris Da Yano Ronaldo had no intention of celebrating, and this scene happened to be captured clearly by the on-site director.

The commentator of Spanish National Television Radio 4 shook his head and said: "From here, it is not difficult for us to see that Don and Cristiano Ronaldo do have contradictions, otherwise the new teammates will not celebrate the goal together but turn around and walk back to their own half?"

Fortunately, other Real Madrid players took the initiative to run to Tang Zheng to celebrate the goal together.

This is also what Ancelotti is more pleased with, if other players treat Tang Zheng like Cristiano Ronaldo, then the new season will be a bit troublesome.

Two minutes later, Real Madrid doubled their lead.

Cristiano Ronaldo ignored Tang Zheng's off-ball run on the left side of the attack and chose to shoot a cold arrow 30 meters from goal, and what was surprising was that his long-range shot was of very high quality, and the football did not spin in mid-air, and then hung straight into the net amid the exclamations of the fans.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his trademark lightweight move after the goal, and he seemed to be saying something to the camera facing the scene. The index fingers of both hands kept bobbing up and down and pointing at the grass.

Meaning, I'm the master of the football field!

After the on-site director took care of the goal-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, he switched to Tang Zheng, unlike Cristiano Ronaldo, Tang Zheng did not keep a straight face, but hugged each other with his teammates to celebrate the goal.

Assistant coach Clement seems to have discovered a new continent, and his eyes lit up!

Perhaps, the situation is not as bad as imagined!

Just before half-time, Robbie Keane pulled a goal back for the LA Galaxy due to an oversight by Ramos.

In the second half, the two sides made a wide range of personnel adjustments to allow more young players and substitutes to get the opportunity to play on the field.

But Tang Zheng is still on the field, and in Ancelotti's tactical system, Tang Zheng's role is very important, his presence can make the game easier, and even create opportunities with super individual ability.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Tang Zheng assisted Morata to re-extend the score to two goals.

It wasn't until the twentieth minute of the second half that Tang Zheng was replaced by Khedira.

Although it was only a friendly game, it was a perfect debut with a goal and an assist in the 65 minutes he started.

※※※

At the end of 90 minutes, Real Madrid defeated LA Galaxy 3-1 to achieve their first pre-season victory, but considering that the overall strength of LA Galaxy is far from Real Madrid, the victory is not commendable.

However, a few small close-ups of the game attracted the attention of the media and fans.

After Tang Zheng scored, Cristiano Ronaldo looked very angry, with a straight face and words in his mouth.

When Cristiano Ronaldo scored, Tang Zheng opened his arms and wanted to high-five in celebration, but Cristiano Ronaldo turned a blind eye and turned around to celebrate.

Two obvious close-ups mean that Real Madrid's biggest problem is exposed at the moment.

As we all know, Cristiano Ronaldo's contract expires in the summer of 2015, and Manchester United in the post-Ferguson era are eyeing him, while Tang Zheng spent more than 100 million euros on Real Madrid.

According to Florentino, buying Tang Zheng said that in order to make the Galaxy Battleship more powerful, there will naturally be no possibility of peddling Cristiano Ronaldo.

Now Real Madrid's two gentlemen have a discord, which is a huge hidden danger to the dressing room and the team's results.

The outside world kept reporting on the problems of Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Real Madrid said that the relationship between the two was normal from the top to the coach and players.

The next morning, the Real Madrid squad flew to Los Angeles to prepare for the second match of the inaugural International Champions Cup, against Everton from the Premier League.

In response to Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo's non-passing, Ancelotti and Zidane once again divided their labor and worked together to assist in communication in the form of intermediaries.

It turned out that the situation against the LA Galaxy was a misunderstanding, Tang Zheng did not pass the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, but had a better position for his teammates.

Through the replay of the game video, Ancelotti's coaching staff found that Tang Zheng's judgment was very accurate.

Compared to passing the ball directly to Cristiano Ronaldo, the other teammates were in better position.

Although the video of the game will not allow Cristiano Ronaldo to completely let go of his dissatisfaction with Tang Zheng, at least he can let go of it.

Cristiano Ronaldo's ability to develop into one of the best players in the world is directly related to his flexible brain, in addition to talent and hard work.

I didn't buy the limited edition Ferrari Laferrari I liked at the Madrid Motor Show before, which really made Cristiano Ronaldo very unhappy.

The conflict that occurred at the training ground later was that he was vicious and courageous, although he stopped his feet in time, but if Tang Zheng did not avoid it in advance, it was very likely that there would be injuries that affected his career.

In this regard, Cristiano Ronaldo was able to understand Tang Zheng's reaction, but Tang Zheng's continuous crotch piercing made him very unhappy.

Tang Zheng, who communicates with Zidane on the right, is better solved, because in Tang Zheng's heart, the game is a game, and the off-field is off-field, if it weren't for Cristiano Ronaldo's deliberate non-passing, he would not be rash.

As for the clash at the training ground, it is a matter off the field, as long as Cristiano Ronaldo apologizes, everything will be fine.

So, in the second International Champions Cup match at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the two gradually got to pass.

Although it was just an inconsequential transitional pass, it was a big step forward for manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Real Madrid's first goal was planned by Tang Zheng, with Cristiano Ronaldo providing a direct assist, and then Benzema, who was outflanked in place, slipped the ball past goalkeeper Howard and scored an empty goal.

Ten minutes later, Benzema returned the favor by passing the ball to an unmarked Cristiano Ronaldo in a one-on-one situation.

2:0

Real Madrid made a six-man rotation before the start of the second half, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi Alonso, Benzema and other stars.

However, Tang Zheng was not replaced, he still stayed on the field to connect the team's midfield attack, and handed over the midfield to Modric, and they worked together with each other.

In the 57th minute, Tang Zheng received Modric's long pass with the outside instep and directly tiptoed the ball into the penalty area with his chest, and then the ball came directly with a half-and-a-half volley, the football hit Jagielka's thigh and refracted along the edge, and the football ghost fell past goalkeeper Howard.

Perhaps Carlo Ancelotti was already very satisfied with Tang Zheng's performance, and he was replaced by Isco to the applause of the fans.

In the end, Real Madrid beat Everton 3-0 to advance to the final of the inaugural International Champions Cup on goal difference, against the winner of Chelsea and AC Milan.

Because Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo have a connection with the stadium in this game, the outside world has a lot less noise about the instability in the Real Madrid dressing room.

But it's not that Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo have turned their rivalry into a friendship, after all, the two of them have no communication other than passing contact, which is also the fundamental motivation for the Catalan media to continue to report on Real Madrid's 'civil unrest'.

A day later, Chelsea and AC Milan played at the MetLife Stadium in New York, where Chelsea, who had a clear overall advantage, beat AC Milan 2-0 to meet Real Madrid in the final of the International Champions Cup.

It is worth mentioning that the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, which hosts the finals, will host four matches, namely the 7th and 8th place finals, the 5th and 6th place finals, the 3rd and 4th place finals and the final final.

Throughout the ages, the best is yet to come.

The same can be said for the final, which will be played on August 8 at 7pm local time between Real Madrid and Chelsea on a daily basis.

With four days to go before the final, coach Carlo Ancelotti showed his good old side by giving his players a day off to give them time to have a good time in Los Angeles.

As the second largest city in the United States, Los Angeles has so many places to go.

For example, famous Hollywood, Disneyland in California, Universal Studios, etc......

Tang Zheng did not go to Los Angeles early in the morning to go shopping and play like most of his teammates, he got up early to exercise at the gym provided by the hotel.

In his understanding, training is not a moment of relaxation, especially during the preparation period of the league.

After all, Tang Zheng has just joined Real Madrid, and he has not yet proven himself in Real Madrid, so he has to work harder to win the recognition of his teammates and fans.

Now Tang Zheng is no longer playing for himself, but ...... Fight for all Chinese!

However, to his surprise, someone in the gym actually started to exercise, and he looked at it.

Be...... Cristiano Ronaldo!

Cristiano Ronald subconsciously looked up when he saw someone coming in, but when he saw that the person who came in was Tang Zheng, he hurriedly turned his head away, looking a little weak.

Tang Zheng grinned, walked to the treadmill by himself, and began to warm up.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn't look too much, immediately realized that it was very inappropriate for him to do this, and hurriedly raised his head, ready to look at Tang Zheng.

But Tang Zheng has already walked to the treadmill, which is equivalent to saying that Cristiano Ronaldo's preparation has been useless.

About half an hour later, physical trainer Giovanni Mauri came to Ancelotti's room to report that Tang Zheng and Cristiano Ronaldo were in the gym.

Without the team in the gym, Ancelotti listened to it with great horror.

Ten seconds later, Ancelotti gave Giovanni Mauri a blank look and said, "Can you make it clear at once next time?"

When Giovanni Mauri left, Ancelotti looked through the glass window at the cityscape of Los Angeles, as if to say to himself: "Perhaps, this is a good start." ”