"…Zenit could have beaten Nuremberg at home, completely ending the suspense and securing a spot in the next round, because their ranking and situation were very good before that. But who would have thought that Chen Hero's absence due to a cold and fever would lead to the team being held to a draw by Nuremberg at home… Now that Chen Hero has regained the opportunity to play, what kind of storm will he stir up at Everton's Goodison Park?"

If the Saint Petersburg media had any confidence, it certainly came from Chen Hero. After all, he was the team's top scorer in the league, and he had just broken Oleg Veretennikov's record for most goals in a single Russian Premier League season.

But the Moscow media didn't see it that way. They believed that placing hope in Chen Hero was doomed to failure because—"Chen Hero has only scored one goal in the UEFA Cup this season. He has played in so many games, many of which he started and played for the full ninety minutes. What does this show? This is his first time participating in the UEFA Cup, his second season as a professional, his first full season… Chen Hero's experience is severely lacking. He is just an inexperienced rookie! The frenzy in the Russian domestic league has led many people to intentionally or unintentionally overlook this point. But on the cruel European stage, this shortcoming is magnified infinitely… Expect him to score in the game against Everton to save the team? He only scored one goal against Larissa, the weakest team in the group. Everton's aerial defense is much stronger than Larissa's!"

Chen Hero was certainly aware of the outside criticism that he couldn't score in the UEFA Cup and was just a domestic specialist who couldn't perform abroad.

If Advocaat hadn't issued a gag order to the whole team, forbidding them from being interviewed before the game against Everton, he would have pointed at those critical reporters and cursed them.

Now, he had a fire burning in his chest. Since he couldn't say anything, he'd just do it. He was going to let those critics see in the game against Everton that he, Chen Hero, was born for the big stage! Those unimportant little games… he didn't even bother to score in them!

If he was going to score, it had to be in a crucial game like the one against Everton!

Okay, Chen Hero was being a bit of a tsundere, but only scoring one goal had been bothering him, so he was definitely going to give it his all this time. He didn't know how Everton would deal with him, but he was going to give the people of Everton a big surprise!

Chen Hero also had another idea—Everton was a Premier League team, and this game was being played at their home stadium, so it would definitely attract a lot of attention. European scouts and media would find it much easier to pay attention to this game than to fly all the way to Saint Petersburg. This would increase his exposure, and he would be recognized by more people. He would also have the opportunity to enhance his reputation…

※※※

At the pre-match press conference, Moyes talked about several threatening players from Zenit Saint Petersburg, saying that Zenit was a very strong team that should not be underestimated. He did not agree at all with the view that his team could easily beat them at home.

However, the threatening players he mentioned did not include Chen Hero.

The Chinese media were clearly dissatisfied with this.

Since this game was being held in England and was a crucial battle related to Zenit's qualification for the knockout stage, many Chinese reporters came. They were all paying attention to Chen Hero's game. If they won, they would be able to continue seeing Chen Hero in the UEFA Cup next year, otherwise… the level of attention would be discounted.

As Chen Hero's compatriots, they naturally sided with their own people when facing outsiders. So, seeing that Moyes didn't mention Chen Hero's name, many Chinese reporters spoke up for Chen Hero.

They were determined to make Moyes comment on Chen Hero.

"Respected Mr. Moyes, do you know who the top scorer in the Russian Premier League is this season?"

Being able to win the season's top scorer award and break the Russian Premier League's single-season goalscoring record had always been a source of pride for the Chinese media—there had been many Chinese players who had played abroad in history, but how many players had won the top scorer award in their respective leagues? Before Chen Hero, there was only Dong Fangzhuo, and he was only the top scorer in the regular season of the Belgian Second Division.

Chen Hero, on the other hand, won the top scorer award in the Russian top league, the sixth-ranked league in Europe. There were excellent center forwards like Pavlyuchenko and Pogrebnyak in this league, but Chen Hero achieved victory in the competition with them. Moreover, it wasn't just a simple league top scorer award; he also broke the Russian Premier League record.

This made everyone feel that Chen Hero's Golden Boot award was full of gold.

But Moyes actually ignored the top scorer in the Russian league, which was really… outrageous!

The Chinese media wanted to speak out for Chen Hero.

"Yes, I know he is the top scorer in the Russian Premier League this season. But I haven't watched any match footage of him playing in Russia… In short, he is also a very strong player, and his physical qualities are excellent. But we have two center backs who are equally physically strong…"

When Moyes answered this question, his eyes were a little shifty.

This showed that his mind wasn't on the question, and his answer was completely subconscious, without any deep thought.

It also showed that he didn't really value Chen Hero.

Was the top scorer in the Russian Premier League necessarily very powerful? Moyes didn't believe in these honor rolls. He only believed in what he saw with his own eyes. The fact was that he had personally watched Chen Hero's performances in the UEFA Cup, and they were really very average.

If his performance was only average in one game, it could be explained as a fluctuation in form, but if his performance was average in almost every game, what did that mean?

It meant that he lacked the experience to cope with games like the UEFA Cup.

It wasn't a big deal to dominate in the domestic league. Moyes had seen many players who were good at domestic warfare but useless in foreign wars.

The Chinese reporters could of course hear what Moyes was implying.

But they couldn't refute Moyes's "contempt" either.

Because Chen Hero's performance in the domestic league was so valiant that he killed gods and blocked buddhas. But in the UEFA Cup, he really lacked impressive performances.

Just one goal, although it was a crucial goal, it looked like a lucky goal no matter how you looked at it…

Well, they had gradually figured out this person's temperament during their interviews and interactions with Chen Hero. Now that Moyes "looked down" on him like this, what would his reaction be after he found out?

What these Chinese reporters could expect now was that Chen Hero could put on a convincing performance in this game to conquer all those who questioned him, especially to make Moyes admit that he had misjudged him. At that time, they would be very happy to force him to mention Chen Hero's name at the post-match press conference.

When it came to slapping faces… these Chinese reporters had never seen a Chinese athlete who was better at it than Chen Hero…

This Chinese player seemed to lack all the "traditional virtues" of the Chinese. He was arrogant and conceited, he was self-righteous and arrogant, he was dismissive of everyone… If these personality traits were taken out separately, almost none of them were likable.

But when put together and combined on the nineteen-year-old Chen Hero, when you stood on the same front as him, you would… like these Chinese reporters now, love him to death!

He provided a channel for those who usually looked serious and needed to be restrained by all kinds of rules and regulations to vent their true emotions.

Everyone felt great when they saw him celebrating wildly after scoring a goal on the field, slapping the faces of those who looked down on him, provoking rival fans, and saying arrogant and unrestrained things.

Because everyone had that kind of crazy idea in their heart, but not everyone could express it without burden, Chen Hero could. Those who couldn't expressed all their emotions on this big guy.

Watching him slap someone in the face was like slapping someone they didn't like in the face, which was really great!

※※※

"Hey, Hero. Clearly, you've been looked down upon!" Inside the team, the Norwegian Erik Hagen pointed at the newspaper and said to Chen Hero.

The newspaper contained the content of Moyes's pre-match press conference the day before.

Moyes talked a lot. Regarding Zenit, he mentioned several players he cared about, including Arshavin, Dominguez, Tymoshchuk, and Škrtel. The only one missing was Chen Hero's name.

Chen Hero curled his lips.

He also knew that his performance in the UEFA Cup was unwatchable. Although he scored a goal, he still couldn't shake off the outside impression that he was "good at domestic warfare but useless in foreign wars."

But if the opponent's coach also looked down on him so much… well, he suddenly thought it was a good thing.

So he smiled.

"It's okay, Erik. I'm hoping he continues to look down on me. He might as well just ignore me!"

"Ah?" The honest Hagen didn't understand.

Chen Hero's good roommate Denisov understood his friend's thoughts. "Hero is now holding back a lot of bad intentions and wants to embarrass the other party in the game, right?" He patted Chen Hero's shoulder.

Chen Hero gave him a thumbs up, indicating that he was right.

"Have you thought about how you're going to celebrate after scoring a goal? Could it be… a slap in the face again?" Škrtel asked, seeing Chen Hero looking so confident.

"Of course not." Chen Hero shook his head. "I'm going to celebrate in front of Moyes. I'm going to make him unable to ignore me!" He pointed to himself with his thumb.

Arshavin was with his other teammates. When he saw Chen Hero like this, he smiled and said to Tymoshchuk and Dominguez, "Moyes did a great job. He successfully angered a giant bear! Haha!"

Dominguez and Tymoshchuk also laughed.

Chen Hero's teammates had never doubted his ability, especially after he broke Veretennikov's record. Everyone believed that this kid definitely had the ability to do anything he wanted to do.

Before the season, he said that he wanted to be the top scorer and create his own era, and he was ridiculed by everyone. What was the result? In the league, he kept slapping people in the face. Every time he scored a goal, he slapped someone once, for a total of twenty-seven slaps.

He became the top scorer. As for his own era? Everyone believed that if he continued to develop like this, his name would really be among the top center forwards in the world of football in the future.

Zenit had to win this game. Angering Hero was good for Zenit, but it was harmful to Moyes's Everton.

It was a pity that those proud British people really didn't understand what kind of person their opponent was…

※※※

ps, asking for monthly tickets, asking for monthly tickets!

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