Chapter 1 The pressure's on
Naples showed amazing momentum right from the start of this match. At first glance, you'd think they were the ones eager for revenge…

Naples' offensive was like a tide, and Chen Hero naturally got many chances to shoot.

But he was facing no ordinary center back.

When Chen Hero faced Maldini, intending to break through with the ball, the ball at his feet was tackled away by Maldini, without a foul!

Chen Hero initially wanted to take advantage of Maldini's age, slow turning, and lack of agility. Who would have thought that although he was old, his experience was still there, his positioning was extremely accurate, and his prediction was also extremely accurate. Chen Hero twitched his butt, and he knew what he was going to do, blocking him in advance, waiting for Chen Hero to bump into him, and then using his superb tackling skills to destroy the football.

This tackle was clean and neat!

Chen Hero staggered, and the man rushed out with inertia, but the ball remained at Maldini's feet.

Fortunately, his reaction was quick enough. Seeing the ball lost, his first reaction was not to hold his head in his hands and pose with regret, but to turn around and pounce again.

Maldini originally planned to get up and control the football before passing it.

Who knew that he suddenly had a dangerous intuition, so he decisively gave up his original plan, fell to the ground and swept his leg, sweeping the football to Kaladze next to him.

Just after he had done this, a gust of wind swept past his ear, and the big man strode over.

What a scare!

Maldini cried out in his heart, but there was no expression on his face. As a forty-year-old veteran, he had long learned to hide his inner activities.

What surprised Maldini was not that his ball was almost intercepted, but that such a big man was so agile… He was over 1.9 meters tall, but after being tackled just now, he quickly turned around and immediately counter-attacked. Such agility was amazing.

Just like teasing a monkey in a rondo during training, Chen Hero turned around to counter-attack, but missed. He was also secretly amazed in his heart - the forty-year-old guy is still so powerful, which really surprised him. Not to mention the tackle just now, just the sweep pass on the ground is enough to illustrate his experience and intuition…

In fact, Chen Hero initially looked down on Maldini, because Maldini's age was almost the same as his father's. Can a forty-year-old compare with a twenty-year-old like himself? He had this kind of mentality.

Even if his experience is rich and his skills are good, he can completely blow the opponent away with his body alone.

Who knew that when he really got into the game, he found that it was not the case at all.

As the former world's best defender, Maldini is indeed difficult to deal with…

He can always get stuck in a position that makes him feel very uncomfortable, so he doesn't need to fight Chen Hero desperately for the header, nor does he need to compare speed and body with Chen Hero. He only needs to make appropriate defensive actions in this position.

But Chen Hero felt uncomfortable. If Chen Hero is compared to a healthy and strong adult, then Maldini is a thin but tough fishbone, stuck in the throat of Chen Hero, this adult, neither up nor down, just stuck there, making him extremely uncomfortable. He wanted to cough but couldn't, and he wanted to swallow but couldn't.

After coming to Italy, Chen Hero has also met many first-class defenders, but Maldini is the top one he has met. This is his first collision with Maldini. When the two sides played against each other in the first half of the season, Maldini was not even on the roster. This will also be the last time, because Maldini will retire after this season. This is the last season of his career.

When Chen Hero was repeatedly stopped by Maldini, he was not angry, nor was he furious. On the contrary, a smile appeared on his face.

He was lucky to have caught up with Maldini's last season! To be able to play against a legendary figure once in his career… His trip to Italy was not in vain!

That's what Chen Hero thought.

Before he was born, Maldini was already active in Serie A, and when he started playing football, he had already achieved fame. So it is really not easy to meet such a fossil-like figure when he started playing professional football.

Chen Hero cherishes the opportunity to compete with masters, because he knows that it is an effective way to improve himself. Moreover… he also wanted to use this game to feel Maldini's strength, and then maybe he can perfectly present it in the copy (a simulated practice environment) …

Since he discovered that the copy can perfectly simulate everything on the football field, he had this idea - will frequent training and sparring with masters be more helpful for his strength growth?

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"Hero jumped up! He heads the ball! What a pity - under Maldini's interference, he headed it off course!"

After Chen Hero landed, he waved his hand a little annoyed. This time he grabbed the position in front of Maldini and blocked him. He originally thought it would be a goal, but… Maldini interfered behind him and headed it off course.

Maldini could feel that every time he played against Chen Hero, this kid was doing his best. It felt like he was going to knock himself flying.

So don't look at the fact that in the confrontation between the two people, he has not let him score, and it seems that he has the upper hand, but in fact he is also very tired.

Looking at the distinct muscles under Chen Hero's tight jersey, he couldn't help but sigh at his old age. If he could be ten years younger, he wouldn't be so tired today…

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The collision between Chen Hero and Maldini has attracted the attention of many people. One is a rising star who has just landed in Serie A this year and is highly expected, and the other is a legendary veteran who is about to retire. It seems to mean the end of an old era and the arrival of a new era.

This kind of symbolic duel can attract the most attention and inspire writers the most.

But a football match is not a one-on-one duel. There are also wonderful performances on other battlefields.

While Chen Hero and Maldini were competing, the score on the field had changed.

Naples, who played at home, took the lead in the twenty-first minute. The scorer was not Chen Hero, but Chen Hero played a restraining role in this goal. He alone restrained Maldini and Kaladze, the two Milan center backs, allowing Hamsik to assist Arshavin successfully. The Russian national team captain, who shined in the European Cup, calmly shot after breaking into the penalty area, and the football rolled into the goal from Dida's fingers.

San Paolo Stadium was filled with jubilation.

Many people shouted Arshavin's nickname: "Shava! Shava! Shava!" This sound even gave Arshavin the illusion that "This is St. Petersburg, this is Petrovsky Stadium."

Because this voice only sounded there.

"It seems that Arshavin was quickly welcomed by the fans here! His situation is really very different from that of his good friend…" the commentator sighed.

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The lagging AC Milan launched a crazy counterattack. During this period, Naples' offensive weakened, and most of them retreated to participate in the defense.

Chen Hero was able to get much less support, so the number of direct dialogues between him and Maldini was not as frequent as before.

Naples' defense was successful. They did not let the powerful AC Milan equalize the score until the end of the first half. In the end, the two sides entered the half-time break with a score of 1:0.

With Arshavin's goal as the dividing line, Chen Hero's performance was also divided into two different situations. Before Arshavin's goal, Naples' offensive was like a tide, and Chen Hero also got a lot of opportunities, and he frequently appeared on television broadcasts. But after Arshavin scored, AC Milan's offensive came up, and Naples could only temporarily avoid the edge and choose to retreat to defend. As a center forward who is very dependent on the support of the midfielders and defenders, Chen Hero had fewer opportunities, and naturally less time appeared in front of television viewers.

Mazzarri is now faced with a choice - should he continue to defend in the second half? Or continue to attack?

They are now leading by one goal, but a one-goal lead is simply insignificant. Naples originally played with three defenders, and their defensive strength was weak. If they continue to push out to attack, they will inevitably be found by AC Milan to equalize the score. You must know that there are still three superstars sitting on AC Milan's bench, and any one of them has the ability to change the outcome of the game alone.

But what about defense?

Is it too early to start defending from the second half?

Mazzarri struggled for a while, and finally made a decision - defend!

So during the half-time break, he conveyed this information to his teammates.

When Chen Hero heard that the team was going to continue to defend in the second half, his brows furrowed. Of course he knew what this meant for him. It means fewer offensive opportunities, and fewer chances for him to score.

He felt that the coach was a little too cautious.

But the other party is the coach after all. He can't possibly stand up in the dressing room and directly accuse the coach of being tactically conservative, right? Then he can forget about making a name for himself… Look at Lavezzi, that's what happens when you go against the coach.

Since the coach does not intend to invest too many troops in the attack, it also means that most of the time, he has to rely on himself.

※※※

Mazzarri believed that the team's shrinking defense should be able to withstand AC Milan's defense. After all, when they shrink, Naples is playing a 541 formation. Three center backs, two full backs, four midfielders, and one forward.

Who would have thought that only five minutes into the second half, their goal would be pierced by Inzaghi…

No one thought that Inzaghi would appear in that position, but he did appear in that position, and he stretched out his foot and gently touched the football, and the ball flew into the goal…

Inzaghi was very excited after scoring the goal. He opened his arms, waved them, roared, and rushed to the sidelines.

The always handsome and suave Inzaghi even distorted his face with ecstasy after scoring the goal. Looking at his excitement, he was like a teenager who scored a goal on his debut. This may be the reason why Inzaghi can continue to score goals at the age of thirty-five - for him, every game is like his professional debut, he is full of endless desire and crazy passion for football, for the game, and for scoring goals. He will never stop chasing goals. Some people regard "staying young forever" as a wish, but Inzaghi has already practiced it for eighteen seasons.

When Inzaghi was running wildly on the field to celebrate, the Naples fans fell silent. They were feeling frustrated that the team was equalized.

What about Chen Hero? His eyes have been following Inzaghi, who is running wildly to celebrate. This striker, who was already famous when he started playing football, is now in front of him. Chen Hero feels that coming to Italy is the right choice, because he can always meet those legendary figures that he could only watch on TV before, and compete with them, becoming opponents that they need to work hard to defeat.

"Can you imagine that he will be thirty-six years old in a few months?" Hamsik, who was standing next to him, suddenly said.

Chen Hero shook his head.

"He is a true immortal legend!" Even as an opponent, even if his team was just tied, Hamsik did not hide his respect and admiration for this great man.

Looking at Inzaghi's running back, Chen Hero suddenly said: "I want to become a legend too!"

Hamsik was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Hero, and he could not see any joking expression on his face.

He patted Chen Hero on the back: "Go for it!"