Chapter 26 A Different Kind of Hero

Everyone was praising Chen Hero's goal during halftime; it truly was a beautiful header.

Many people went to touch his head, wanting to understand how he managed to score that.

Advocaat also praised Chen Hero's goal, but his smile didn't last long. For him, the second half might be the decisive battle.

After all, the fifteen minutes of halftime offered countless possibilities for the second half of the game. No one knew what adjustments the opponent would make.

Judging from the first half, both sides performed well, and the goal was reasonable. It also showed that both sides had strong offensive capabilities and could break through the opponent's defense to score.

So, should they attack or defend in the second half?

Advocaat didn't hesitate on this question.

"In the second half, we will continue to attack and strive to score again, score more goals!"

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At the same time, at the home stadium of CSKA Moscow.

Gazayev praised the players' performance. Although the team conceded a goal, his tactics were generally successful. After the test of the first half, his idea of "attack against attack" was correct.

The only problem was that he and the team lost their composure after scoring…

He felt that Chen Hero's goal was entirely luck. In the same situation, if Chen Hero headed the ball again, it probably wouldn't go in nine times out of ten.

He admitted that when he saw Arshavin pass the ball into the air, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the attack was over. Who would have thought that Chen Hero would jump in the air and head the ball directly into the goal!

Wasn't that luck?

That kind of goal, in that situation… if it weren't for that damn luck, they might be leading by two goals now!

"In the second half, we will continue to play as we did in the first half, but the defense must be careful not to give the opponent such opportunities again!"

Both coaches chose to continue attacking, which was obviously good news for the fans.

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While the two coaches were strategizing in their respective locker rooms, carefully preparing for the second half, the fans used the break to go to the toilet, or get some drinks and snacks to fill their stomachs. Watching the game was also a physical activity, after all.

In the box, Russian President Putin was chatting with his aide, Prime Minister Medvedev.

"What do you think of the first half, Dmitry?" Putin asked.

"It's a pity we didn't take the lead!"

Medvedev's answer made Putin laugh.

"It's not that easy for you to take the lead. We are the defending champions! This season, CSKA will also dominate Russian football."

Medvedev said with a smile, "This is a battle between the first and second place teams. I think the result of this game is enough to explain the problem."

"Alright, Dmitry, let's finish watching this game."

Next March is the date of the Russian presidential election. Putin has already served one term, and according to the regulations, he cannot be re-elected, so he must give up the position of Russian president this time, even though he is currently very popular in Russia.

Thus, who will become Putin's successor has become a topic of endless speculation by the media.

Many people believe that Putin's friend, Medvedev, will become his successor. Putin has also publicly expressed his support for Medvedev.

But since then, he has never discussed this topic again, and Medvedev doesn't know what Putin is really thinking.

Judging from Putin's words just now, it seems that he is still somewhat attached to power? But what can he do even if he is attached? He will still have to step down eventually, at most he will make a comeback in the future…

This game, because of some subtle thoughts between the two men, was suddenly given more meaning.

One side is CSKA Moscow, which Putin likes as a symbol of the traditional forces of Russian football, and the other side is Zenit St. Petersburg, supported by Medvedev as a symbol of the emerging forces of Russian football.

A conflict between new and old forces?

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After the second half of the game started, both sides began a thrilling offensive battle for the audience.

"Joao! Shot—dangerous!"

"Kerzhakov pretended to pass the ball, but suddenly shot! Akinfeev was very focused and quickly pushed the ball out!"

"Arshavin suddenly cuts inside… Foul! CSKA committed a foul! Gave Zenit a free kick on the right side of the penalty area, about twenty-five meters from the goal… Domingues takes the penalty… The ball bypasses the wall! What a pity! It went just wide of the post!"

"Hero header! Akinfeev makes another wonderful save! But… Hero's header this time seems a little too straight…"

"CSKA's fast counterattack, Zhirkov! Beautiful! He breaks through Arshavin very easily… Arshavin is chasing back, he passes the ball, a one-two! Cross!! Martin Škrtel heads the ball out! That was close!"

"Hill passes the ball to Hero, he runs forward himself, seems to want to do a one-two… but this time…"

Hero didn't pass the ball!

He pushed the ball to the center, twisted his body, put the opponent behind him, and then took a step forward.

Almost at the same time, the fans let out huge boos. These were all for Chen Hero.

They fulfilled their promise before the game, using the most intense boos to "entertain" Chen Hero.

Chen Hero is not good at dribbling, so it is rare to see him dribbling past five people alone in the game, and finally passing the goalkeeper and pushing the ball into the empty goal… not to mention that, he rarely even dribbles past people.

After he gets the ball, he always passes it out quickly. At most, he just adjusts it.

But today, he suddenly dribbled forward, which made the CSKA Moscow players a little confused about what he was going to do…

Just when they didn't understand, Chen Hero raised his right foot…

Long—shot!

The ball flew towards the goal like a cannonball. Akinfeev didn't dare to neglect it and jumped to save it.

He didn't touch the ball, but the ball didn't fly into the goal either.

The ball whistled out of the field and crashed into the advertising board behind the goal, making a muffled "bang".

This sound woke up many people, and they remembered—yes, Chen Hero's long shot is also very good! Although he hasn't scored a goal with a long shot this season…

At the same time, the CSKA Moscow fans exclaimed, "Woo—"

After a short pause, boos came from all directions again, attacking Chen Hero.

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After seeing this shot from the sidelines, Advocaat suddenly had an idea—so far, the two teams are evenly matched, but in terms of aerial defense, it can be seen that Gazayev, that old fox, has put in a lot of effort.

Why should I continue to fight him head-on in the air?

If it were last season's Chen Hero, Advocaat could only let Hero compete with the opponent in the air. But now it's different, he has seen how powerful Hero's long shot is in training.

He made up his mind, got up and walked to the sidelines, and took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to pull Arshavin, who was closest to him, to his side and gave him instructions.

"Let Hero pull back a little, don't rush to the front!"

Arshavin was stunned.

"Let Kerzhakov go to the front and help him attract the defense… and then, find a way to create a long-range shooting opportunity for him!"

Arshavin understood that this was to use Chen Hero's long shot.

Although Chen Hero had the ability to shoot from long range before, and everyone recognized it in training, he lacked the opportunity to use it in actual games.

This is why he hasn't scored a single long-range goal after eleven rounds of the league, all of them have been headers.

Now Advocaat has made adjustments, just wanting to use his long shot.

Arshavin nodded to show that he understood, and then returned to the field to find an opportunity to convey the coach's latest instructions to Chen Hero.

Advocaat returned to his position. He had been worried that Chen Hero would be marked to death. Let's use this game as an experiment… to see if Chen Hero can transform into a "heavy artilleryman" well.

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When Kerzhakov learned from Arshavin that he was going to cover for Chen Hero, he was a little surprised—Chen Hero has always been in the front, attracting the defense for him. What's going on with suddenly switching him?

Arshavin patted Kerzhakov on the shoulder: "The coach wants you to set up a cannon for Hero."

Kerzhakov suddenly understood.

This is to use Chen Hero's long-range shooting ability—in regular training, Chen Hero has made many high-quality long-range shots, but he has not scored a goal in the game.

Obviously, the coach also felt that it was too wasteful to keep Chen Hero's long-range shooting ability in a high place and not exert its due role.

All waste is a crime!

Since it exists, it must be used well, used to the extreme.

After explaining to Kerzhakov, Arshavin ran to Chen Hero again.

He said: "Use long shots to bombard their goal!"

Chen Hero knew that Arshavin had just been called to the sidelines by Advocaat, and he asked, "The coach's meaning?"

Arshavin nodded: "Yes."

Chen Hero clenched his fists: "I know what to do."

"Come on, Hero!" Arshavin patted him on the back and gave him a thumbs up.

Chen Hero returned a thumbs up to him: "Thank you, Shava." (short for Arshavin)

He was very grateful to Arshavin. This absolute core of the team didn't put on any airs when facing him, a rookie. When he needed help, he took the initiative to offer help, showing that he was a warm-hearted person.

He was especially glad that he had rejected CSKA Moscow and came to Zenit St. Petersburg.

Here, he met the leader, the deputy leader, Kerzhakov, Škrtel, Arshavin, Hagen… and so on, these friends.

These were the feelings he had not experienced in domestic clubs. His popularity was not very good in that team…

He wanted to defeat CSKA Moscow, not just to embarrass the other party, but also to help his team win.

The championship this season, we Zenit will pre-order it in advance!

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ps, A new day has arrived! A new week has also arrived!

I am working hard to code and write manuscripts, everyone must also be full of fighting spirit to start a new day and a new week!

In addition, last week thank you for working hard to put Hero on the third click list and recommendation list on the homepage!

This week, please don't be merciful and continue to push him!

I want monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!

The longer this book appears on the homepage, the more likely it is to attract more friends who did not read sports novels before to pay attention, so that sports novels will gradually no longer be a niche subject, and our strength will gradually expand!

We will not be alone!

Thank you all!