Francisco's voice echoed in the locker room, and the players' expressions varied as they learned the starting lineup.
Those not named, like Van Nistelrooy, Casillas, Ramos, Guti, and others, appeared relaxed. They weren't starting because they had already proven their abilities and didn't need further assessment.
While the mindset of players like Bueno, Cordina, Granero, Baptista was quite different.
Some knew their fate was inevitably a loan or sale, while others anxiously watched the transfer market.
Take Baptista for instance, his position now was more central, and Real Madrid was negotiating for Ballack's transfer. If Ballack's transfer to Real Madrid were confirmed, it would almost certainly seal his fate to leave.
Players named, such as Cannavaro, Raul, Higuain, also showed a slightly relaxed demeanor. Their performances in earlier matches had been commendable, and being named might be the team's way of asking them to find their rhythm.
But players like Cicinho, De La Red, Saviola had considerable psychological pressure. They hadn't performed well in the cup matches; Cicinho's performance was mediocre, Saviola missed many opportunities, and De La Red had some highlights but not enough to keep him at Real Madrid.
They were fully aware that this starting opportunity might be their last chance.
Compared to the above situations, Marcelo and Chen Zhong could be called a tale of two cities; Marcelo was visibly delighted, even performing a short dance afterward, each of his moves, bright with excitement, made onlookers smile involuntarily.
His passionate performance earned applause from many.
Chen Zhong, meanwhile, stood nearby like a statue, exuding an aura that seemed to say the world has nothing to do with him. Some thought he was stunned by great joy, but in reality, he was contemplating deeply.
He now faced a dilemma, whether to use the free attributes he held.
Perhaps due to his hoarding nature, coupled with this being his first time in three years possessing free attribute points, he had kept them, resisted using them, since this was the only way to boost a certain ability in the short term.
And now, facing such an opportunity to showcase himself, Chen Zhong began to seriously consider whether to use the points, as according to system norms, he needed to play to start the path of becoming stronger.
And using the points involved a question: Should he extend his strengths or compensate for his weaknesses?
As a center-back, Chen Zhong's strengths were his impressive balance and strength.
This ensured he wasn't disadvantaged in physical confrontations and he also had decent defensive awareness.
His composure allowed him to position himself timely and remain calm in various situations, while he had good reaction times and a 90 in sliding tackles, giving him confidence when tackling.
His weakness was an agility score of 67.
This made him less nimble when defending.
In a previous duel with Van Nistelrooy, he had used his body as a shovel to block the opponent's shot completely.
A score of 68 in acceleration also made him sluggish and cumbersome against moving targets, unless the opponent approached him directly or waited like Drenthe, he could easily become stiff.
Moreover, tackles and interceptions below 80 made him less outstanding as a center-back, often resorting to aggressive defensive strategies, like sliding tackle...
Taking down the player and the ball together, combined with the "Butcher" aura to instill fear.
Finally, tailoring a system and using taunts to provoke the opponent for a tough encounter.
This has been Chen Zhong's survival trick as a defender.
"What are you thinking about?" The baldhead short hair barely showing traces of a model-level handsome young man, his smile sunshine and bright, first impression extremely good: "I noticed you seem to be pondering about something, my little partner."
Fabio Cannavaro, a man whose baldness couldn't hide his handsomeness, resembling Beckham in that sense.
"I..." Chen Zhong shivered a bit, unsure why, he always felt Cannavaro's gaze was overly gentle, gentle enough to be cheesy, yet not evoking negative emotions, rather like an elder, a fatherly feeling.
In fact, Cannavaro had long been voted "the most qualified father" by Italian fans, not only that, he was a devoted family man, even having his wife and children's names tattooed on his right calf, and nine years ago, at 25, Cannavaro was already a father of three, his eldest son being a 90s' child just like Chen Zhong.
"Nice tackle."
"What?"
Chen Zhong looked at Cannavaro somewhat surprised, but quickly understood what Cannavaro meant, referring to the encounter with Van Nistelrooy, the final blocking tackle.
In Cannavaro's career, one of his skills that made him famous was his extremely precise tackles.
With Cannavaro initiating the conversation, the two started a simple chat, and as they talked, Chen Zhong opened up, respectfully seeking advice from Cannavaro.
He could not directly mention the attribute points issue, but politely asked: "What do you think makes a good center-back?"
Cannavaro raised an eyebrow, looking at Chen Zhong with some admiration, and said with satisfaction: "Many young people only see their advantages but fail to notice their shortcomings, and that's bad for a defensive player."
"I have a saying for you, maybe you've heard it but I'll tell you again, an attacking player is assessed by his attributes, but as a defensive player, you need to recognize your weaknesses."
"Weaknesses?" Chen Zhong looking at Cannavaro's smiling face seemed to understand something and asked again: "What do you think is my biggest weakness now?"
"Speed." Cannavaro gave his answer: "You need to be more explosive."
The two chatted a bit more, Cannavaro imparted some center-back experience and thoughts on the future trends for center-backs, making Chen Zhong feel his mind was expanding.
Finally, he decided to invest all 6 free attribute points into speed.
This raised his speed to a comprehensive score of 75, acceleration to 74, and max speed to 77. For someone 190CM tall, that's quite fast.
"The pace of future football will become increasingly quicker, demanding higher speed and fitness levels." Chen Zhong carefully pondered these words, the first time stepping out of personal perspective to view world football trends.
To put it playfully, at this moment, Chen Zhong's perspective widened.
...
2007, August 6
Moscow, Locomotive Stadium
Russian Railways Cup Final
In the player tunnel, Real Madrid players lined up, waiting to enter the field. Chen Zhong touched his jersey, a strange feeling resonating in his heart.
"Looks nice, right?" Marcelo, standing next to Chen Zhong, chattered: "Actually, this jersey was worn during last season's championship. Are you nervous, Chen? Let me tell you, don't be nervous, look at our chest, bwin, Bwin!"
This season's jersey ditched last season's black stripes for a regal purple, and the black shadow design below the collar turned into purple wing patterns, symbolizing our new season hopes to soar and reclaim the summit of Europe.
The chest sponsor also changed to Bwin.
Chen Zhong stood in line, feeling his neck a bit uncomfortable, wanting to touch it, but Marcelo noticed this, and prattled again.
"Chen, it's a fake collar, it's painted on; we don't have a collar." Marcelo explained while tugging his jersey, looking at Chen Zhong: "By the way, did you cut your socks? Is the opening big enough? Let me help if not."
"Time's up, time's up!" Unable to hold it back, Chen Zhong tapped Marcelo and then followed his teammates out of the tunnel.
The outside sunlight was dazzlingly bright, so bright it was somewhat blinding, while the broadcast faintly mentioned his name, as Chen Zhong's name was announced, the grandstand capable of holding tens of thousands erupted into thunderous cheers.
They cheered for Chen Zhong's appearance, simply because he wore that pure white jersey.