Drenthe furrowed his brow, the age gap between them was four or five years, and Drenthe had already played professional matches in the Eredivisie in 2005.
While in 2005, Chen Zhong had just joined Real Madrid's youth training, and they simply wouldn't have had the opportunity to face each other, so naturally there wouldn't be any grievances.
He looked around, glancing at the players gathered around, shrugged, and said with a defiant air, "Training! You mad?"
"Training?" Chen Zhong blocked Marcelo with one hand, this bold move made Marcelo, who was somewhat indignant, look at Chen Zhong in surprise, and even with some grievance in his eyes.
What's going on, buddy, I'm here to back you up!
Chen Zhong gave Marcelo a reassuring look, then smiled at Drenthe and said, "Alright, let's continue."
Everyone returned to their positions, Marcelo approached Chen Zhong and whispered, "He did it on purpose."
After hesitating for a while, Marcelo spoke again, "Maybe it's aimed at me."
Drenthe's career initially started as a winger, later transformed into a left-back, shining in the position, and this year performed well in the European Youth Championship, leading Real Madrid to buy him.
Joining Real Madrid, Drenthe realized his predicament during this period; he could play as a left-winger, but couldn't compete with Robben and Robinho in that position.
And for the left-back position, the experienced Heinze was Schuster's first choice, for which Drenthe couldn't compete at this stage, his direct rival was solely Marcelo.
As for targeting Chen Zhong, on one hand, Chen Zhong was close with Marcelo, and on the other, Francisco had just greeted Chen Zhong, hoping to draw the coach's attention by competing with Chen Zhong.
In sports, being bad is the original sin.
After several attempts, Drenthe confirmed that Chen Zhong was just a "rookie!"
"No, he's targeting me." Chen Zhong patted Marcelo, his expression relaxed, not taking the matter seriously; having come up from the youth team, he'd seen it all.
As for anger, he felt even less; he just wondered, was he being too low-key?
Drenthe's provocation not only didn't anger Chen Zhong but even got him a bit excited.
Chen Zhong stood in the center, surrounded by other members of the group, who were all watching with interest, and no one stepped in to mediate, simply agreeing that later they would pass the ball to Drenthe more often.
Not far away, Schuster and Francisco, present onsite, also noticed this scene but didn't intend to intervene; Schuster was even somewhat thrilled, worried that stepping in would make this confrontation "die prematurely," he might have already joined to cheer.
"Shouldn't we go over?" Francisco feigned concern, "This is during training, is it okay?"
Schuster gave Francisco a sideways glance and said, "What's the problem? These days are just recovery training; there'll be time to train during the camp."
"I just love watching the excitement."
"Youngsters sure have a fiery temper!"
Schuster, a notorious "troublemaker" in his player days, initially seeing Chen Zhong being provoked, appeared somewhat disappointed with his restrained demeanor.
Thought this kid was a wimp.
He disliked wimps.
Now, Schuster felt satisfied; professional players let skills speak, is there a problem? No problem, if Chen Zhong threw punches, he'd despise it, but a direct 1V1 suited him well.
Thinking about this, Schuster's recent gloom almost dissipated, just eagerly waiting for the showdown between the two.
This was a confrontation between Chen Zhong and Drenthe, everyone understood.
Pepe and Marcelo passed twice, Chen Zhong teased for a moment, then after Marcelo received the ball again, decisively passed it to Drenthe, who was prepared to receive it.
However, when he tried to stretch his leg to stop the ball, his leg didn't touch the ball, but his body felt like it hit a rock.
With a tremendous impact, Drenthe's body was shaped like a V, between his legs were Chen Zhong's thick thighs, upper body crashed into Chen Zhong's broad shoulders, hanging mid-air for a moment before landing.
"Oh~"
An uproar erupted around, the short Drenthe climbed up from the ground, gritting his teeth as he stared at Chen Zhong, who stood with the ball under foot, arms crossed triumphantly watching him.
Neither spoke, naturally switching positions.
Drenthe glared at Chen Zhong, wanted to call him a Black Panther, but at 190CM versus 167CM, it felt more like a small Teddy.
"This won't end quickly!"
"I will steal from you again and again."
"Just wait!" Drenthe muttered to himself, like a Cheetah ready to hunt, filled with power, poised, waiting for the moment others pass the ball to Chen Zhong, then swiftly spring into action.
He had already intercepted Chen Zhong several times; he was confident he could handle this little kid!
He wants to!
Begin his hunting moment!
As expected by Drenthe, he easily intercepted the ball, but it was because Chen Zhong, after controlling the ball, didn't intend to pass, instead pushed the ball forward, right to his feet.
As Drenthe watched the "stolen" ball, seeing Chen Zhong walking to the center, an inexplicable sense of foreboding arose within him.
"Ah!"
"Oh!"
"Ugh!"
This was already Drenthe's 7th time turning into a rolling gourd, their group's passing drill had become ineffective at this moment.
No, rather, once Drenthe targeted Chen Zhong, it was ineffective.
"You!" Drenthe couldn't help but erupt, feeling full of grievance too, is this training? You're clearly "abusing" me!
"Training! You mad?" Chen Zhong, arms crossed, slightly lowered his head to look at the little dwarf in front, his every interception touched the ball first before body contact, no fouls involved, completely normal physical confrontation, merely not as reserved as before.
Drenthe clenched his teeth, the echoed words from Chen Zhong angered him; glancing around, he saw others watching amusedly, wanted to concede but hesitated, finally said harshly: "If you're so good, don't let me get the ball."
In Drenthe's mind, Chen Zhong's skill lay in stealing, perhaps his passing wasn't excellent; just look at his build, definitely a "blockhead."
Chen Zhong laughed at Drenthe, then beckoned to Marcelo, who was juggling the ball and watching from the side.
The action seemed somewhat disrespectful, but Marcelo didn't mind, instead obediently passing the ball over.
After controlling the ball, Chen Zhong planted his foot on it, arms crossed, looked down at Drenthe, saying, "Come steal."