2. Chapter II
2 And he was not at all like his father
Gonzalez looked at the young man training on the field without saying a word, he seemed to have been praised by the technical and tactical coach, but he just nodded, there was no superfluous emotion on his face, and his eyes were focused on the football at his feet. The assistant coach whispered in his ear: "He doesn't look like his father at all, but like a sprinter, and he's amazingly fast." If it weren't for the color of his skin, I would have almost thought he was Henry's son. β
He made another joke that wasn't funny at all, Henry was Zidane's teammate in the French team, a black player who had always been known for his incredible speed and explosiveness. With 123 international appearances and 51 international goals, he is France's all-time leading goalscorer, although there are rumours that Henry and Zinedine Zidane have been on a bad relationship since the World Cup in France in '98.
At this time, the training ground had begun to be grouped for confrontation training, and Leo was in a group with many post-90s players, running back and forth on the field in silence, with almost zero communication with his teammates.
The assistant coach said: "This kid is very cool, he doesn't communicate with anyone, and several people in the team say that he is the son of a superstar, looks down on ** silk, and is very arrogant." β
Gonzalez smiled, he remembered that the great Frenchman, who also gave the illusion of rejection on the field: "I don't think so, his father was also a silent and introverted person, and their character was just not good at communicating with people, not arrogant. β
He was right, the Assassins were born with a cold temperament, always keeping a clear head in order to make the most correct judgment at the most critical moments. But in fact, Cangchen is a person who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside, retains a pure heart, repays kindness, is kind and loyal, and he will always remember the kindness of others to him. Living with a life hanging by a thread all year round, the external indifference is just to better protect yourself.
Marchis, the only young striker on the team who took the initiative to talk to him and became a good friend, said of him: "Leo looks cool, but he's actually a silly white sweet. He didn't mean to be distant, he really didn't know what everyone was talking about (-Π')"
Leo silently took his phrase 'silly white sweet' to heart, and after the training, he deliberately took his mobile phone to check what it meant on the Internet.
The assistant coach shrugged his shoulders noncommittally: "I hope so." β
Gonzalez glanced at him and said, "It's good to have speed and explosiveness, dare to fight and disrupt the opponent's defense to create opportunities......"
Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a sudden burst of cheers from the players, coaches and staff watching the game from the sidelines, followed by thunderous applause. At the moment when Gonzalez turned his head to speak to the assistant coach, Leo had completed a series of actions on the field to receive passes from teammates, control the ball, get rid of defense, and shoot and score.
The ball fell from the net pocket onto the grass and rolled towards the goalkeeper who was still making a save.
"Oh my God, I just saw the color of his jersey flash in front of my eyes."
"Fernandez's speed is so fast, it's like a bolt of lightning."
"I didn't even see how he burst between the two of us with the ball."
"There's a little motor behind him."
The members of the same group stepped forward to high-five and hug Leo, some put their arms around his shoulders, and some patted him on the head. Leo just responded to everyone's congratulations with a friendly smile, obviously a little reserved in the face of the intimate gesture of his teammates, but still said thank you in a friendly way.
Gonzalez's eyes lit up with a strange light, and the ballpoint pen in his hand tapped Leo Fernandez's name twice: "I'm going to take him to the Camp Nou." β
On the team bus from the hotel to Camp Nou, Marchis, who was sitting next to Leo, took out his mobile phone to watch the news to pass the time. Leo glanced at it and found his name in a barcelona-headline news.
He turned his head to look out the window, and his eyes were full of fans wearing Barcelona jerseys and holding Barcelona flags. They flocked to the Camp Nou stadium in droves, singing and cheering, and they guarded the great team of Barcelona with their unquenchable love and passion to create one glory after another.
However, I don't know if it was because the child's obsession was too strong, or because of the influence of Zidane, Leo's heart was destined to only pretend to be Barcelona's sworn enemy Real Madrid. The Galactic Battleship is starry. One day, he will return to the Bernabeu as Leo Fernandes, not as 'son of Zidane'.
Just as he was distracted, his mobile phone rang, it was a text message, a few words: "I heard that you went to Camp Nou with the team, you are going to play against Barcelona, and use the Marseille maneuver to hit Messi's little man in the face if he plays." β
This text message comes from the brightest star on the Galactic Battleship - Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speaking of Leo's father, Zidane, has a deep relationship with Ronaldo, and in the last period of Zidane's career, Ronaldo is only now Leo's age and has just emerged on the international stage. The pair met once in the 2006 World Cup semi-finals, but Portugal was led by Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane's former Real Madrid team-mate.
Later, when Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or, it was rumored that Zidane said in an interview with the French media: "Ribery is more deserving of winning the Ballon d'Or than Ronaldo." β
At that time, Zidane was the assistant coach of Real Madrid at the time, and according to the reporter of "Penalty Point", "Ronaldo was very sad when he heard the news".
Later, another good thing media said: "It doesn't really matter what Zidane says, because if the same thing is said by Mourinho, it will really hurt Ronaldo." β
The fact is that Zidane did not say this at all, and he could not find this interview at all, and it was just the French media talking to themselves. Real Madrid president Florentino spoke personally on the matter: "I have communicated with both of them and there are no problems between Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. β
In private, Ronaldo and Zidane actually have a very good relationship, otherwise when he heard Zidane say that he was not as good as Ribery, Ronaldo's reaction should be angry rather than sad. Zidane has also said more than once, publicly or privately: Ronaldo is the best player in the world, there is no one.
Obviously, reporters underestimated the relationship between Zidane and Ronaldo, and overestimated the friendship between Ronaldo and Mourinho.
Leo had several opportunities to train with the first team before leaving Real Madrid, and Ronaldo took good care of him because of his father. And the so-called care is nothing more than patting the shoulder and saying: "The little thing is still far from your father, and if you don't work hard, you can only play in the B team for the rest of your life." β
Leo thought for a moment and replied to the text: "I don't necessarily play. β
Ronaldo said: "You can rest assured that since the manager has taken you to Barcelona, he will definitely give you the opportunity to play." β
Leo wanted to laugh a little, but found that the person who laughed didn't know: "If you play, you won't necessarily win." β
At dusk before Leo left Real Madrid, everyone had already left after training, leaving him alone on the open grass for set-piece practice.
With the Assassin's keen senses, he turned back almost the moment he noticed someone was looking, only to be blinded by the sparkling diamond stud earrings in the setting sun.
Ronaldo patted him on the shoulder and showed a smile that fascinated the world: "I heard that you are leaving Real Madrid, so I passed by here to see you." β
Leo was flattered to be spotted by the superstar, but he didn't know exactly where he was going to pass by one of the most remote training grounds in the entire base.
Leo nodded, "Go to Granada." β
Cristiano Ronaldo put his hands in his coat pockets and looked careless: "You have to know how many young people in the world who have the same football dream as you, envy that your career started at Real Madrid, and the head coach is your father, but you stupidly want to give up this qiΔ." β
As far as Leo knew now, he didn't know if anyone envied him. However, reading the newspapers and the Internet, there are many people who poke his backbone and scold him for being a wasted person, and it is impossible to have the same achievements as his father. What if his career started at Real Madrid, as he said before, is it possible to play in the B team for the rest of his life?
Leo said very solemnly: "If I stay in Real Madrid, I will always be Zidane's son, and when I go out, I am Leo Fernandez." β
Ronaldo hooked the corners of his lips and smiled a little disdainfully: "You think that if you leave Real Madrid, you will not be Zidane's son, a naΓ―ve child." β
Leo was speechless, Ronaldo was right, the fact that he is Zidane's son cannot be changed. However, for the pride of an assassin's heart, he didn't want to be anyone's son, he just wanted to be himself.
Leo raised his head and looked at him: "As long as I work hard, maybe many years later, people will say that Zidane is Fernandez's father." β
Ronaldo smiled noncommittally, his smile always gave people the feeling of recklessness and contempt: "Then go and work hard for this, fantasy will never achieve what you want." β
After finishing speaking, Ronaldo turned around in a chic manner, and his tall back faded away in the afterglow of the sunset. Leo's gaze was always on his long legs, which were different from the rest of his bicycle.
Real Madrid played away to Villarreal today, and Ronaldo should have been on the team bus to the Love Song Stadium, and his message came back quickly: "Then what else do you go to, stay in the B team and play for the rest of your life." β
Leo really knelt down for the football leader: "I'll give it my all, but I can't decide the game. He edited the text message when the bus arrived at Camp Nou and pressed the send button.
He got out of the car behind his teammates, wore a low-pressed baseball cap, and walked through the crowd towards the player-only tunnel, but he still couldn't escape the eyes of reporters.
The cameras of various media followed all the way, and it was enjoyable to shoot in all directions.
They even teased on live TV without disguise: "Look! The kid who looks like a movie star is Zidane's eldest son, who thought he would be able to play La Liga after leaving Real Madrid's B team, but was hidden by Gonzalez for 5 rounds. β
"Obviously, I have a romantic and elegant prince face, how good it is to go back to the French fashion circle to eat with my face, why do I have to think about not starting school and my father playing football."
"A straw bag is a straw bag, it's the same everywhere you go, you can still fight for a captain if you stay in Real Madrid's B team, and you can only sit on the cold bench when you go to Granada."
"Football requires talent, his grandfather was a night watchman and his dad became a legend on the pitch, and our little Leo has been blessed with a football environment since he was a child, but he has grown into what he is today."
The media, the group that is most responsible for what they say, is the most irresponsible, they can make up nonsense one day and then go back and slap themselves in the mouth the next day.
But this time, they didn't expect that two hours later, the young man they had mocked for nothing would swell their faces at the Camp Nou.