Chapter 13

On June 16th, in the thirteenth round of the league, St. Petersburg Zenit challenged Khimki on their home turf.

This wasn't a key battle. Khimki ranked ninth in the league and weren't considered a strong opponent. However, this game attracted the attention of many media outlets because Chen Hero, who was suspended in the previous round, was back on the team.

In the last round, they were forced to a draw by Lokomotiv Moscow. Although they were still first in the league, the point difference with second-place Spartak Moscow had narrowed to only one point.

"Brothers! Let them taste our power!" Before the game started, Chen Hero, finally able to play, was eager to try and shouted to his teammates.

He was full of fighting spirit—after being cooped up for a league round, of course he was full of fighting spirit. He wished those messy pre-match rituals didn't exist, so he could go directly into battle!

Advocaat put him on the starting list, which showed the Dutch coach's trust in him. Initially, Chen Hero was only brought into the first team as a replacement for the injured Teke. Now, Teke had become Chen Hero's substitute and hadn't seized the opportunity in the last league match, achieving nothing. This made the St. Petersburg media clamor after the game: "Goals? We still need Hero!"

A goal was produced in the eleventh minute of this match. Chen Hero headed the ball to Kerzhakov, who took the ball and broke into the penalty area, only to be brought down by Khimki's defender. The referee decisively awarded a penalty.

Although Chen Hero was the team's top scorer and was also competing for the league's top scorer, this penalty wasn't given to him because everyone knew that Chen Hero wasn't good at penalties. The penalty taker was the captain, Tymoshchuk.

The Ukrainian calmly kicked the ball in, and St. Petersburg Zenit, playing away, took a 1:0 lead!

Of course, Zenit wouldn't be satisfied with just a one-goal lead; they were constantly looking for opportunities to score.

In the thirty-fourth minute, they found the opportunity!

After Arshavin and Dominguez played a one-two on the wing, Arshavin burst down the wing. This time, he didn't directly send the ball into the penalty area, even though Chen Hero was there, he was surrounded by people.

Since Chen Hero helped other teammates attract attention, he naturally had to pass the ball to other teammates…

He sent the ball to Dominguez, who had moved up from behind.

Dominguez raised his foot and shot!

But it was too straight, and the ball was bravely pushed out by the goalkeeper Roman Berezovskiy!

The ball didn't fly out of the baseline, or directly out of the penalty area, but… landed right in front of the goal!

"Dominguez shoots! It's pushed out!" the commentator Shirgayevski shouted. Then he turned his attention to Chen Hero in front of the goal... He wanted to see if Chen Hero could grab the ball.

But what did he see? Chen Hero was being entangled by the opponent's defender, Mantas Samusevas. This guy, who was one meter ninety-three tall and weighed ninety-one kilograms, had his hands wrapped around Chen Hero's waist, and at first glance, it looked like judo!

If Chen Hero had screamed and fallen to the ground, he might have been able to get another penalty.

But Chen Hero's mind wasn't on cheating for a penalty at all. His eyes were fixed on the ball, and he stretched his foot out to kick.

Unfortunately, the opponent's hands held him tightly, making him feel like he was carrying a ninety-one-kilogram burden while trying to score…

Damn it!

You want to stop me with this kind of defense?

Chen Hero gritted his teeth, veins popping out on his forehead and neck. His body was like a tightly wound spring that suddenly released, and he exerted force, actually breaking free from the opponent!

Immediately afterwards, he stretched his long legs forward!

He poked the ball in front of another Khimki defender!

The ball was poked directly into the goal by him, and what about the goalkeeper? He had just gotten up from the ground and didn't have time to react…

"Goal… goal!" Shirgayevski was stunned for a moment, then roared.

Samsavas, who was broken free by Chen Hero, was shaken by Chen Hero's strength and sat down on the ground. He stared blankly at the opponent who was running wildly to celebrate the goal.

He hugged so tightly that he wouldn't refute if he said he fouled, but that person actually… actually broke free like that!

"Ahhhhh!" Shirgayevski was particularly excited because when he saw Chen Hero being held tightly, he thought this attack was hopeless. Who would have thought… "This ferocious Northern Bear! Samusevas, who is one meter ninety-three tall and weighs ninety-one kilograms, couldn't stop him from scoring even with his judo skills! Humans can't stop this Northern Bear!!"

Chen Hero was very excited, not because of the goal, but because… this was the first time he scored a goal that wasn't a header or a long shot! A goal scored with his foot in the penalty area! This made him feel more like a center forward, instead of a freak.

He excitedly lifted his jersey, about to take it off. But then the yellow card flashed in his mind. If he got suspended again for taking off his shirt to celebrate, it would be terrible…

Suppressing the thought of taking off his shirt in his heart, he put his shirt down again, just patted his chest hard and roared loudly!

Advocaat, who was off the field, felt his heart tighten when he saw Chen Hero lift his jersey—did this kid forget his request again!

Then he saw Chen Hero put his clothes down again, and he breathed a sigh of relief…

What a worrisome guy…

The score remained the same until the end of the first half, 2:0, with St. Petersburg leading on the road.

In the second half, Khimki pulled one back in the sixtieth minute, changing the score to 1:2. The home team was still one goal behind.

But with Chen Hero around, how could they allow the opponent to tie the score?

The draw in the last game must not be repeated!

In the seventy-first minute, Chen Hero scored twice. This time, it was his specialty, a header.

Chen Hero in the air first bumped into Andrey Stepanov, then competed with Samusevas in the air. The two collided, but in the end, it was Chen Hero who headed the ball into the goal!

"Bear! Bear—!" Shirgayevski no longer called Chen Hero by his name, but directly called him by his nickname. "Northern Bear! Too violent! Zenit leads the opponent 3:1 on the road!"

After landing, Chen Hero waved his arms vigorously and roared loudly, like a brown bear roaring in the jungle.

"If you don't count the game in the middle that he was suspended, he has scored twice in two consecutive games! What a terrifying bear…"

"This is his thirteenth goal of the season! When he said before the season that he wanted to win the season's top scorer, there was a lot of ridicule and laughter. Now? Every goal he scores is slapping those who used to ridicule and mock him in the face! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! A full thirteen! Last season's league top scorer Pavlyuchenko scored eighteen goals, and now Hero is five goals away from this number! The league is not even halfway through… it is entirely possible to achieve this!"

In the end, in this game, Chen Hero used his head and feet to score twice, helping the team defeat Khimki 3:1 on the road.

In this game, Shirgayevski's passionate roar, "Northern Bear! Northern Bear! This terrifying and terrifying Northern Bear!!" also made his nickname spread throughout Russia.

The media used this nickname to refer to Chen Hero.

Although Chen Hero used to hate being called a "bear" by people, and even fought with people who called him that. But now he likes this nickname very much. Because he feels that he really has the feeling of a Northern Bear now!

In the thirteenth round of the league, he has already scored thirteen goals, an average of one goal per game. Considering that he didn't play in two games, he actually only played in eleven rounds. Scoring thirteen goals in eleven games, averaging one point one eight one goals per game! This kind of scoring efficiency is really terrible.

No wonder Shirgayevski would shout so passionately about the "Northern Bear" when he was a commentator.

After the game, his photos were on the prominent positions of all media. TV stations, radio stations, and the Internet were discussing his crazy state.

"A cliché question—who can completely stop this Northern Bear? Note that it is 'completely stop', not 'stop'. The latter is too simple…"

The news of Chen Hero's prowess in the Russian league was also sent back by the Chinese media. The Russian Super League has been going on for almost half of the season. After each round of the league, there is news about Chen Hero returning to China. Domestic fans can easily know what outstanding performances Chen Hero has made.

He also caused a controversy on the Chinese Internet and media.

The content of the controversy is nothing new. It's just whether everyone likes such an arrogant person more, or hates him more?

A group of people fought dimly, and Chen Hero knew nothing. It is estimated that he doesn't care whether the people in China like him or hate him more. He doesn't even care whether the people in Russia like him or hate him more, otherwise he wouldn't repeatedly make provocative moves towards the fans.

Just like what he said to Sharapova, if anyone bullies you, you bully them back. He just follows this principle to act, so naturally some people hate him and some people like him.

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"Northern Bear?"

Sharapova stared at Chen Hero's photo on the webpage and curled her lips at the nickname.

Hey, so arrogant!

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Chen Hero especially liked the nickname Shirgayevski gave him. In order to express his gratitude, he even found out Shirgayevski's work address, and then sent him a postcard with the words: "Thank you for the nickname, I personally like it very much!"

The signature was "Northern Bear".

When Shirgayevski received this postcard, he laughed for a long time. He felt that this kid was really interesting—he had been commentating on games for so many years, and it was the first time he received a feedback postcard from a player…

So how much does Chen Hero like it?

When the team is training…

"Hey, Hero!" Denisov greeted Chen Hero who was attending training as usual.

Who would have thought that Chen Hero would say to him with a serious face: "Please call me 'Northern Bear', or 'Bear' for short, thank you!"

Denisov responded with boos and middle fingers.

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