Chapter 1 A Very Special Meaning

For Chen Hero, the city of Milan now held a very special significance. Every time he came to this city and saw the familiar street scenes, he would think of the three-day "Milan Holiday."

Sometimes Chen Hero would wonder: Is Ivanka doing well in America?

But don't think that for this reason, Chen Hero would show mercy to Milan's two teams. Football is football, and feelings are feelings, two completely different things.

This wasn't Chen Hero's first time playing at the San Siro (Meazza) Stadium. In the first half of last season, he came here twice with his team, once against Inter Milan and once against AC Milan.

He had no reverence for this place, which he could only watch on TV before, and which his youth team teammates called the most desirable sacred place.

The fans of the Milanese clubs thought this was a sacred place. But for Chen Hero, it was just a slightly larger football stadium.

So he didn't have much respect for those big clubs either—he didn't even respect Maradona, let alone those big teams that had nothing to do with him.

Now, in the locker room at the San Siro (Meazza), Chen Hero was sitting in his seat with his teammates, listening to the coach's final instructions.

"... We can't go head-to-head with them. This is their home, and they are stronger than us. If we go head-to-head with them, we will die miserably. So in this game, we have to play defensively and counterattack."

Although the temperament of Napoli football is to go forward without hesitation, it doesn't mean they have no brains. Knowing that going head-to-head in this situation is a dead end, and still doing it, is not called bravery, it's called "stupid."

※※※

When the players from both sides entered the field, the north stand of the San Siro (Meazza) Stadium was led by the live announcer, shouting the name of every Inter Milan player who appeared on the field. The momentum was huge.

After shouting the players' names, the live broadcast began to play Inter Milan's anthem, "pAzzA_inter." The home fans in the stands sang along, and shouted in unison during the climax.

The north stand of the San Siro (Meazza) is where Inter Milan's die-hard fans gather, while the south stand is where AC Milan fans gather.

The San Siro (Meazza) announcer did not broadcast the Napoli team's roster, but when Chen Hero appeared in the fans' sight, he still received a warm "welcome" from the Inter Milan fans.

For a time, boos rose from all directions.

It seemed that wherever Chen Hero went as a visiting player, the fans of that team would boo him.

This had become a routine.

It could only be said that Chen Hero's aggro value was too high... He was born with the fate of an MT (Main Tank), and whatever he did or said would be considered taunting.

Last season, he said he wanted to beat Inter Milan twice, and that was taunting. How could Inter Milan fans not hold a grudge?

In the north stand, some Inter Milan fans held up caricatures of Chen Hero, shouting slogans of abuse and ridicule.

But they were only a minority, and most people just booed.

※※※

"This game is no longer a contest between two tall guys, because Inter Milan's tall center forward, Zlatan Ibrahimović, has left the team and joined Barcelona..."

The commentator was taking advantage of the time before the game started to introduce some information about both sides to the TV audience.

Zlatan Ibrahimović's transfer to Barcelona this summer was not the most shocking transfer news of the summer. Although his transfer fee was not low.

The most shocking news was the return of Florentino Pérez, the captain of the Real Madrid's "Galácticos" battleship. In one summer, he brought two superstars to Real Madrid—first, he bought Kaká, AC Milan's top player, from AC Milan for 65 million euros, and then he signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a transfer fee of 90 million euros.

These two transfer deals instantly drowned out Barcelona's joy of winning the Champions League. The news that Barcelona won the Champions League and became a treble winner had not been on the media long enough, and the front page headlines were replaced by their arch-rivals, Real Madrid.

Barcelona naturally refused to be outdone, so they signed the "Swedish God" Zlatan Ibrahimović from Inter Milan. To get Ibrahimović, the La Liga giants paid 45 million euros plus Samuel Eto'o, the previous season's La Liga Silver Boot winner. Some people have calculated that the final value of this transfer deal was 75 million euros. If this is the case, Ibrahimović has surpassed Kaká and become the second most expensive player in the world.

The Swede was very happy to be able to join a treble winner like Barcelona, so at the press conference to join the La Liga giants, he also kissed the Barcelona team badge to show his loyalty, which made many Inter Milan fans feel disgusted.

Some Italian media even mocked Ibrahimović for being so eager to transfer away from Inter Milan, purely because he was frightened in the competition with Chen Hero for the Golden Boot, and hoped to stay as far away from Chen Hero as possible, so he went to Barcelona.

Ibrahimović refuted this claim afterward: "My transfer has nothing to do with him. Being able to join a great club like Barcelona is a peak in my career..."

The implication was that Inter Milan was not as good as Barcelona...

So the Swede's image in the eyes of Inter Milan fans was completely ruined. Even in this game against Napoli, some Inter Milan fans held up banners targeting Ibrahimović: "You will regret this transfer choice sooner or later, Ibrahimović!"

Some fans even turned from hating Ibrahimović to liking Chen Hero. But these fans were definitely not in the north stand of the San Siro (Meazza)...

Although this game was no longer a contest between Chen Hero and Ibrahimović, he was definitely not short of opponents.

Whether it was Samuel Eto'o, the previous season's La Liga Silver Boot winner, or Diego Milito, the fourth-highest scorer in Serie A last season, they were all his competitors.

Especially the latter. Eto'o had just arrived in Serie A and was still suffering from some acclimatization symptoms. Diego Milito did not have this problem. He had been in Italian football for several years. He first landed in Europe in Italy in early 2004, when Serie B team Genoa bought him from Argentina's Racing Club and brought him to Italy. He played in Genoa for one and a half seasons, scoring thirty-three goals in fifty-nine Serie B games, sending the team to Serie A. Unfortunately, Genoa was relegated back to Serie C due to a match-fixing scandal, and Milito was loaned to Real Zaragoza in La Liga. He performed well in his first two seasons, scoring thirty-eight goals in seventy-three games. In his third season, Real Zaragoza bought him out for 4.3 million euros, and he played thirty-five times, scoring fifteen goals. But unfortunately, Real Zaragoza was relegated again. Subsequently, Genoa brought him back to Serie A for 7 million euros. In the previous season, he scored twenty-four goals, ranking fourth in the Serie A top scorers list.

Such an outstanding performance also impressed the big clubs, and José Mourinho signed him from Genoa to become a member of a championship team.

After many years, Diego Milito finally realized his dream of joining a big club.

Now at Inter Milan, he is a forward that Mourinho trusts very much.

Initially, when Ibrahimović left the team, some Inter Milan fans were worried that the team's attack would be affected, but now Milito has successfully made people forget Ibrahimović.

The league has only been going on for four rounds, and he has already scored four goals, ranking second in the current top scorers list.

Surpassing Chen Hero, the previous season's Golden Boot winner, who has scored three goals.

This is definitely a dangerous person.

※※※

From the first minute of the game, Inter Milan launched a fierce attack on Napoli's penalty area.

And Napoli quickly entered the role - they contracted their defense and waited for the opportunity to launch a large-scale counterattack.

Chen Hero was also asked to participate in the defense, but not the kind of defense where he retreated all the way to his own penalty area. Instead, he was asked to harass the opponent as much as possible in the midfield, pressing Inter Milan's ball-controlling players. If he could directly intercept the ball and launch a counterattack, that would be a godsend. Even if he couldn't, he could slow down Inter Milan's attack and prevent them from pressing forward easily.

But this was not what he was good at.

If he rushed up to intercept the ball, he would easily be passed by the opponent... It was all about that one move. If he succeeded, he would have made a profit, and if he didn't... Then he didn't.

There was no experience, strategy, or skill at all.

So, apart from running back and forth in the midfield, Chen Hero basically didn't play any defensive role.

Walter Mazzarri shook his head slightly when he saw this scene from the sidelines.

He knew that Chen Hero was not good at defending, and asking him to press in the frontcourt was also a helpless move. After all, if they didn't put any pressure on the opponent at all, it would be too cheap for Inter Milan.

He was prepared for a tough battle at the San Siro (Meazza).

Inter Milan's attack was not only powerful but also quite threatening.

Even if Napoli contracted their defense and launched a counterattack, Inter Milan still pressed forward with all their lines, constantly besieging Napoli's penalty area. Although they were pressing forward with all their lines, their defense was not strained. Because their attack was very layered, wave after wave. If one attack failed, there would be a second attack, and if the second attack failed, they could organize a third attack. In short, the ball was always in their hands, constantly launching attacks, making the Napoli penalty area feel like a storm was coming.

That momentum surprised even Mazzarri—this Inter Milan was completely different from the Inter Milan of last season... The same coach, why would there be such a change after one season?

"Eto'o... Breaks through on the wing and crosses—Diego Milito! Oh—that's close! The Argentine striker's shot went wide of the goal!"

The fans on the stands of the San Siro (Meazza) Stadium exclaimed, and the momentum seemed to be able to scare people's hearts out.

Milito held his head in his hands, with a regretful expression on his face.

And Mazzarri's brow furrowed even tighter...