Chapter 459: Chapter 459
This ferocious speed ignited the entire Bernabéu Stadium.
Tommasi and Huang Kaiwen were old acquaintances from Serie A, and the moment Camacho charged up, he knew Camacho would not succeed.
Tommasi immediately rushed to his defensive teammate’s side, ready to join the defense against Huang Kaiwen.
Luis Rubiales made a flying tackle from the wing towards the center.
Huang Kaiwen quickly passed back the ball with a backheel to Guti, dodging Rubiales and running to the right.
Cassano had no choice but to vacate his position, starting to move forward from the center.
Guti received the ball and quickly passed it back to Huang Kaiwen.
Huang Kaiwen accelerated with the ball as Alex Jose retreated all the way back into the box.
Jose’s teammate, Frederic Dehu, charged at Huang Kaiwen, but Huang Kaiwen was one step ahead and raised his right foot to shoot.
The ball was extremely fast,
Levante’s goalkeeper, Jose Molina, dived sideways but couldn’t touch the ball. It hit the left post and bounced out of the large penalty area, where Gaspar cleared it with one kick.
"Wow, Huang Kaiwen’s shot was really tricky, but he sought too much angle and hit the post."
"We’ve said before that Huang Kaiwen has a very wide shooting range. Even though he usually plays on the left, his shooting from the right is also formidable. He just entered the box and shot, always managing to shoot before the defenders could extend their legs."
A few minutes later, Real Madrid’s attack came roaring back.
Raul got the ball in front of the large penalty area, turned around, and passed it to Cassano.
Cassano quickly got rid of Rubiales and crossed from the bottom.
Huang Kaiwen dashed from the center to the goal and dove for a header. Levante’s goalkeeper Molina came out but couldn’t touch the ball, knocking Huang Kaiwen down.
Then, another sound of the ball hitting the post echoed.
Huang Kaiwen’s header hit the crossbar and bounced out, with Alex Jose quickly clearing the ball away.
Huang Kaiwen, pulling the goalkeeper’s hand, got up.
Cassano, who ran over, saw Huang Kaiwen was alright and, heaving a sigh of relief, asked, "What’s with you today?"
Huang Kaiwen said, speechless.
Even for a scout drone, hitting the post twice should have completed its scouting mission by now.
Applause erupted around Bernabéu Stadium, the fans encouraging Huang Kaiwen.
Most of the time, Huang Kaiwen performs exceptionally well; the occasional hitting of the post, even the Real Madrid fans wouldn’t wave the white hankie Package.
By the 23rd minute, Levante was organizing in their own half.
Higuain cooperated with Huang Kaiwen to intercept on the left, and after taking the ball, Huang Kaiwen drove into the large penalty area.
"Huang Kaiwen’s at it again!"
"Beautiful, Huang Kaiwen’s high-speed dribbling is really good. He dodges a tackle, and there he goes, dancing the waltz in Levante’s box, shooting!"
"Ah, another post, the ball rebounds to Higuain’s feet, and Higuain scores on an empty goal."
"Today Huang Kaiwen just lacks that bit of luck, hitting the post three times already."
[Huang Kaiwen’s bar] was filled with laughter.
"Damn, Huang Kaiwen is really out of luck today, hahaha it’s killing me."
"One left, one right, one center, is Huang Kaiwen pasting Spring Festival couplets or what? Haha!"
"Damn, that’s quite the image, Huang Kaiwen is paying everyone an early New Year visit."
"Why not invite Huang Kaiwen to this year’s Spring Festival Gala and let him perform hitting the post, since he’s so good at it?"
"Rarely see Huang Kaiwen so out of luck, I’m gonna ask the internet manager to put an extra packet of noodles in my ramen to celebrate."
"February 5th, right? I declare today as our bar’s commemorative day, remembering Huang Kaiwen pasting Spring Festival couplets on the field."
Capello frowned as he watched the field and motioned Ramos to come to the sideline.
"Tell them to pass more to Kevin, today we must get Kevin to score."
Capello said seriously.
Continuously hitting the post can really damage a player’s confidence, and Capello couldn’t just watch Huang Kaiwen’s confidence falter.
Ramos smiled and nodded, "Okay, coach."
Unexpectedly, Capello, usually stern, understood the game quite well.
Ramos felt Capello’s handling was quite good; this situation called for more passes to Kevin.
After the game restarted,
Real Madrid passed the ball directly to Huang Kaiwen.
Apart from Capello’s instruction, most players also felt they should pass the ball to Huang Kaiwen now.
Huang Kaiwen’s previous performance had convinced them.
Also, Huang Kaiwen was well-liked off the field.
Previously, there had been considerable conflict between the Brazilian Gang and the local players.
Capello disliked the carelessness of Brazilian players—Ronaldo couldn’t stand it either and had transferred, Carlos had been underused before, and after being seriously injured in the Copa del Rey, he couldn’t play now.
All these measures had exacerbated the problems in the Real Madrid locker room.
Capello’s approach was simple: if you can’t change the attitude of Brazilian players, then they have to go.
After the end of the Galacticos Phase One and in the post-Zidane era, these incidents were inevitable, unless you were someone like Ancelotti who could coddle the players.
Otherwise, it would be tough for any normal coach taking over Real Madrid at this time.
With Huang Kaiwen present, the Real Madrid locker room didn’t feel as divided.
Hearing Capello’s tactical plan, the whole team energetically began passing the ball to Huang Kaiwen, not even considering an alternative.
In the 27th minute, Huang Kaiwen received the ball on the left flank and once again accelerated to storm past Mustafa Riga.
Since Huang Kaiwen’s strength was speed, he maximized this advantage.
As long as his speed was sufficient, he didn’t need fancy technical moves to dribble past players.
Seeing Huang Kaiwen breaking past Riga, Camacho rushed to the sidelines, lowered his center of gravity, and went in with a flying tackle.
The rapidly moving Huang Kaiwen couldn’t avoid it in time and was pushed out of bounds, ball and all.
"Team doctor! Team doctor!"
Accompanied by Capello’s heart-rending cries, Real Madrid’s medical team hurried onto the field with medical kits and stretchers at the ready.
The Meringues had an illusion; their medical team seemed well-trained.
Regardless of the medical treatment, when it came to the speed of entering the field, they were definitely top in European football.
Lying on the sidelines, Huang Kaiwen knew he was injured.
An "Immunity Card" not being enough would lead to situations .
The Yellow Ball King wanted to play more matches, but it ended up not as good as arranging a sensible schedule.
He didn’t know if this injury would affect the next UEFA Champions League knockout matches.
Being carried off the field, Huang Kaiwen made a call to have his butler arrange a flight.
When it comes to sports injuries, Milan’s medical team is the most professional.
As Huang Kaiwen left the field, Capello’s mind wasn’t on the game anymore, and in the second half, Levante’s striker Sebastian Viera scored to tie the match.
In the 77th minute, Levante received a corner, and Camacho in the penalty area suffered at the hands of several Real Madrid players, his nose broken by an elbow strike, and Pepe only received a yellow card.
In the end, Real Madrid tied 1:1 with Levante at home.
At the post-match press conference, Capello sternly said, "I have mentioned more than once about the player issues in La Liga. Today, Kevin was injured again and had to be carried off the field. The Royal Spanish Football Federation must enhance its management in this regard, and the person who injured Kevin must face severe punishment. In the upcoming matches, we must not see such incidents."
Capello repeatedly stressed the word ’must,’ letting the journalists sense his anger.
"World Sports News" reporter even asked, "Today, Kevin hit the post three times. Does this mean he is panicking when it comes to scoring?"
Capello couldn’t hold back and threw the microphone at the journalist.
He was pulled away by the Bernabéu’s press officer.
Back home, Capello was restless.
Fortunately, Huang Kaiwen called him and reported that he didn’t injure his ligament or muscle, and he could recover and get back to training in about a week, which reassured Capello.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation acted swiftly.
The next day, it announced punitive actions against certain players.
Camacho, guilty of malicious foul play, was suspended for 3 matches.
Pepe, for intentionally using an elbow, received an additional red card and a 2-match suspension.
Ramos was guilty of multiple retaliatory fouls, and though he escaped the referee’s notice, he too was given a red card suspension for one match.
This was Ramos’s third red card of the season.
Strangely, he wasn’t disciplined internally by Capello.
Not just journalists, but even fans could see what was going on.
At Real Madrid, taking a red card to defend Huang Kaiwen didn’t result in coach’s censure.
On February 10, Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 2:1.
A week later, they drew 0:0 at home to Real Betis.
Including their previous encounters with Real Betis in Copa del Rey, Real Madrid had met them three times this season, achieving only one victory.
On February 19, Huang Kaiwen returned to the team for brief training, preparing for the next day’s UEFA Champions League home match against Bayern.