Su Hang rushed toward Zidane on camera, and the two celebrated with joy.
Only then did Zidane finally let go of the frustration he'd been bottling up.
If not, it wouldn't have been long before he lost control and picked up another card, leaving Real Madrid a man down.
Fun fact: Zidane doesn't hold the overall red card record, but he has more than any other midfielder.
Among all the "world's number one players" in history, he's received the most red cards—fourteen in total.
His most infamous one? An all-time football classic—his headbutt on Materazzi, which cost him the title of football's third-generation king.
21st minute.
With his head cleared, Zidane joined Raúl in pressing the opposition, forcing a mistake from their defensive midfielder.
Figo intercepted the pass, surged to the edge of the box, and fired a long-range shot.
The goalkeeper caught it cleanly.
29th minute.
Su Hang pulled the same move again—receiving a pass from Roberto Carlos and sending a no-look through ball behind him.
Zidane made a clever run and found himself with another long-range chance.
But this time, the shot was blocked by the center back.
Zidane gave Su Hang a thumbs up.
32nd minute.
Zidane pulled wide on the left, received another pass from Roberto Carlos, and slipped a ball through the defense.
Su Hang made a diagonal run, reaching the ball just before the byline.
With no angle for a shot, he attempted a lofted cross into the box, looking for Ronaldo.
But the pass was too obvious and too soft—easily anticipated and collected by the goalkeeper.
Ronaldo gave Su Hang a thumbs up.
Pass quality aside, at least Su Hang was trying to set him up.
That was miles better than those players who always go for goal themselves.
Ronaldo especially disliked Solari, who had spent time at left wing.
Whenever that guy got the ball near the box, it was like no one else existed—he was always going to shoot.
35th minute.
Albacete launched a crisp counterattack, but the final shot lacked precision and flew wide. No danger.
37th minute.
Figo broke down the right and won a corner.
Beckham stepped up to take it.
In the box, Raúl, Zidane, Ronaldo, Woodgate, Su Hang, and others got into position.
Zidane nudged Su Hang as he moved backward—deliberately.
"Back post," he muttered, gesturing discreetly to Beckham.
To everyone else, it looked like he wanted the ball.
In truth, he was telling Beckham to aim for the back post.
Su Hang understood.
Instead of charging in, he drifted out of the six-yard box, as if pushed aside by Zidane.
Beckham looked up—the back post was wide open.
And Su Hang had shaken his marker.
A golden opportunity.
Bang!
Beckham delivered a perfect corner—straight to the back post!
The ball soared over everyone.
At that moment, Su Hang sprinted into the open space.
None of Albacete's defenders had tracked him.
Nearly 40 minutes in, and Su Hang hadn't taken a single shot.
Most people had forgotten he was even playing.
Bang!
Su Hang leapt high.
His ramen-style hair didn't move an inch.
Swish!
The ball smashed into the net.
"GOAL! Su Hang! Su Hang scores!"
The crowd exploded—then instantly fell silent.
The referee had blown his whistle and signaled offside.
He believed someone was out of position in the buildup.
But the assistant quickly spoke through the headset, saying there was no offside.
From his better angle, he'd seen it clearly.
The head referee accepted the correction.
The goal stood!
The crowd erupted again.
The replay confirmed it—no one was offside.
"What a scare! But Su Hang's goal stands!"
"Real Madrid leads 2–0!"
"Great work from the linesman! And credit to the ref for correcting himself. The worst kind is the one who doubles down even after making a mistake."
"A goal and an assist! I think we can all stop doubting Su Hang now."
"He really can lead Real Madrid to victory!"
Thanks to Su Hang's impressive showing, even Ronaldo shifted slightly left to give him more space to drop deep.
That kind of treatment made Morientes, sitting on the bench, burn with envy.
Ronaldo, oh Ronaldo—why did you always hog the center when I was on?
43rd minute.
Figo and Raúl linked up down the right, reaching the byline.
Figo sent a cutback into the box.
Ronaldo fired, but the shot was too close to the keeper, who saved it.
44th minute.
Real Madrid won two corners in a row.
After the second, the ref blew his whistle—attacking foul.
Turns out Woodgate had shoved an opponent.
After being pushed, the other player retaliated by tripping him.
Albacete, having been dominated all game, finally snapped.
Their players swarmed Woodgate, emotions boiling over.
The Real Madrid players stepped in to cool things down.
Order was restored.
Woodgate received a yellow card.
With more touches on the ball, his technical flaws became obvious.
He could wrestle defenders—but under pressure, with the ball at his feet, he panicked.
Halftime came soon after.
...
In the second half, Albacete came out fired up, like they'd gotten a fiery halftime pep talk.
They were desperate to score at the Bernabéu and pressed aggressively.
Zidane quickly regrouped the team, instructing them to sit back and let Albacete tire themselves out.
After ten minutes of relentless pressing, the spark began to fade.
Still scoreless, and now fatigued, Albacete started to lose their edge.
Zidane seized the moment and led a coordinated press, allowing Beckham to win the ball.
Beckham sent a sharp through pass to Ronaldo.
Ronaldo charged toward the box, taking on three defenders at once.
Bang!
After drawing them in with slick dribbling, Ronaldo squared the ball to Su Hang.
Su Hang tapped it forward without taking a touch.
One-two!
Ronaldo burst ahead, muscled past the center back, and unleashed a rocket into the top corner.
Straight into the net!
When praising a player's shooting skills, people often say, "Top five in the world."
Calling someone "the best" is too controversial.
But in this era—and the one that followed—most would agree: Ronaldo was number one.
This era's Ronaldo was simply Ronaldo.
The next era's Ronaldo would be Cristiano Ronaldo.
"The Alien puts the game to bed! 3–0! Ronaldo is on fire!"
"Another assist from Su Hang! Told you—he's got chemistry with Ronaldo! He's got chemistry with everyone! He's such a shameless flirt on the pitch—but I love it!"
"Su Hang's sacrifices are massive!"
"Some fans say he's a young Morientes, but after today... let's face it—Morientes is just the older version of Su Hang!"
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