Chapter 1 Media Frenzy

The media was still in a frenzy about that matter, spreading Chen Hero's glorious image around the world.

However, some people were easily confused. Just two days ago, the same people were shouting that Chen Hero's late nights out were trampling on team discipline, being irresponsible to the whole team, and if they lost to Arsenal, he would have to take full responsibility... How could their tone have changed so much in just two days? What was going on?

Those who were confused were the ones who readily believed the media, always trusting them, never doubting.

Those who had seen through the media's true colors were used to it.

That's just how the media is, cheap and easily swayed.

Chen Hero didn't care whether the media was scolding him or praising him, and he didn't need them to help promote his glorious image.

His mind was still on soccer.

After all, soccer was his main job.

Next up was the Champions League group stage, and Liverpool had to go to Greece to face Olympiacos.

But in Martin O'Neill's eyes, this game was one where the reserve players could get some experience.

He had decided to leave most of the players who participated in the game against Arsenal in Liverpool; he sent a group of second-string players to the away game.

Liverpool had already qualified early as the top of their group, so this last group game didn't matter to them whether they won or lost.

Martin O'Neill didn't insist that the team had to win all the games in the group stage, and he wasn't too interested in breaking any records. As long as the team could qualify, that was enough. Records and face-saving weren't as important as letting the players get more rest and avoid injuries.

Christmas was coming up, and the schedule would be packed, and the chances of the players getting injured were also high, so he had to prepare early.

Of course, although he planned to send a reserve lineup to play the away game, there was one person who definitely had to go with the team, and had to play as a starter.

That person was Chen Hero.

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Playing away against Olympiacos, there wasn't much to say about this game.

Olympiacos hadn't won a single game, nor had they drawn one, in other words—they had lost every game.

They were the only team in this Champions League season to lose all their games; they were true minnows.

If their opponent hadn't been Liverpool in this final game, they might have wanted to fight for their dignity.

But facing Liverpool was another matter entirely.

Before this game, Chen Hero and Cristiano Ronaldo were tied for the top scorer spot with six goals each.

Messi was close behind with five goals.

This was why Chen Hero absolutely had to come to this away game.

He wanted to score goals, many, many goals. He didn't want to share first place with Ronaldo, even temporarily.

The game against Olympiacos was a godsend opportunity; the opponent was weak, and the team had no pressure, so he could easily play to his full potential.

So the final score was 5:1, Liverpool won big away against Olympiacos, and Chen Hero completed his first hat-trick in the Champions League this season. His individual goal count also reached nine.

He easily shook off Ronaldo and took the lead, with nine goals at the top of the Champions League scorer list.

But this result made Ronaldo a little unconvinced. Real Madrid's game was before Liverpool's, a day earlier, and he scored a goal in that game, bringing his goal count to seven, but it was still not enough compared to Chen Hero's nine goals.

In an interview, he said unconvinced that Chen Hero's nine goals were all scored against weak teams, nothing to be proud of. As for Real Madrid, they were placed in a group of death, with Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, and Twente, every game was a tough battle, and it was not easy for Real Madrid to qualify as the top of the group with an undefeated record.

And he was able to score seven goals while facing these strong enemies, which was even more difficult.

So the value of his goals was obviously higher than Chen Hero's. If Chen Hero wasn't lucky, he would definitely be the top scorer.

Chen Hero's reply to Ronaldo's remarks was: "Let's wait until the end of the Champions League to see the results."

Actually, Chen Hero didn't need to pay attention to him, because everyone knew whether Chen Hero only picked on the weak. He was a famous big-game player, who liked to score goals against strong enemies in key games.

But Chen Hero was a guy who couldn't keep his mouth shut; he always had to find someone to argue with.

※※※

The Champions League group stage ended, and Liverpool finally qualified with six wins and eighteen points, securing their place at the top of the group, which gave them an advantage in the upcoming group draw.

Liverpool's performance was so strong that everyone thought that Liverpool had to be added to the list of top contenders for the Champions League title this season.

Last season, they almost made it to the final, if it wasn't for excessive physical exertion and injuries at the end, with incomplete personnel, they might have really made it to the final. And Chen Hero was a big-game player, if Liverpool made it to the final, it was hard to say what the final result would be, maybe Bayern Munich wouldn't have won the championship. Because compared to Bayern Munich, who shrank back in the penalty area and dragged the final into a penalty shootout, Barcelona was obviously more afraid of Chen Hero...

Back in Liverpool, the team welcomed a league game, they beat Wigan Athletic 2:1 at home. Chen Hero didn't score in this game, and his streak of scoring in sixteen consecutive league games this season was stopped.

Including last season, the number of consecutive goals stopped at nineteen games.

But Chen Hero didn't care about this. As long as the team could win, it didn't matter if he didn't score in one league game.

"This is not news. Anyway, the record belongs to me, if I want to break it, I can do it anytime, I'll refresh it whenever I'm in the mood. But not now."

He said this lightly in the mixed zone, but it made people feel his confidence and domineering aura.

No one would think that Chen Hero was bluffing, he really had the ability!

Liverpool fans didn't care about Chen Hero not scoring in one game. Chen Hero had scored in sixteen consecutive games, so what was one game without a goal? If he hadn't scored in sixteen consecutive league games, and he scored in this game, it would be surprising.

Chen Hero was just one person, no matter how beautiful his data was, he was a living person, not a steel warrior from the future. So what if he didn't score in one game? It's as normal as eating every day!

So the local media in Liverpool knew very well that this matter couldn't be hyped up.

If the media really wanted to hype it up, they would only be laughed at. People would say that the media had degenerated to this point, even Chen Hero not scoring in one game was being hyped up so much, they were really getting worse and worse!

Many media outlets really couldn't afford to lose face.

※※※

Time entered the second half of December, and as the time for the announcement of various awards in world soccer approached, there were more topics in the media about the winners.

This year was a major tournament year, because there was the Brazil World Cup, so according to the usual practice, the performance of the national team would become an important weight for players to win awards in the end. On this point, even if Chen Hero scored more goals at the club, he had no chance. Of course, Messi had no chance either, because in the past season, his Barcelona not only didn't win the Champions League, but he also didn't help Argentina win the World Cup. Apart from scoring a lot of goals, he really didn't have much achievement.

A long time ago, everyone said that as long as Messi could lead Argentina to win a World Cup, he would definitely be the next king of soccer, but fate joked with Messi on this matter, no matter how hard Messi tried, his Argentina just couldn't win the World Cup. But later, Messi's supporters began to modify the "rules", they claimed that even if Messi couldn't lead Argentina to win the World Cup, just his performance at the club was enough to be crowned king!

But unfortunately, Messi might not be able to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or this time.

Of course, Chen Hero also had a high chance of not winning, because national team games were Chen Hero's fatal weakness.

The person most likely to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or now was Brazil's core player Neymar, this new Pele of Brazil, had been playing in Brazil, but his influence had already surpassed the limits of Brazil, and he had been famous for a long time.

At the Brazil World Cup, he helped the Brazilian national team lift the Hercules Cup at their doorstep, and for a time he was in the limelight, and his value soared.

After the Brazil World Cup, he finally left Brazil, and under the call of many fans and wealthy clubs, he arrived at... Camp Nou.

He joined Barcelona for a transfer fee of 78 million euros.

He jumped to become the second most expensive player in the world, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo's 94 million euros when he joined Real Madrid.

However, his performance in Barcelona was not as dazzling as it was in Brazil and at the Brazil World Cup.

It wasn't because he didn't have the strength, but because in Barcelona, he was destined not to be the core, and without being the core, he couldn't use all his talent.

In Barcelona, Messi was the undisputed core, everyone had to serve him, and sacrifice themselves for him.

So many people thought that Neymar's transfer to Barcelona was really a brain fart, maybe it was the agent who was pushing it behind the scenes.

In short, Neymar's transfer to Barcelona was definitely not a good thing.

Now Neymar himself regrets it, and it is said that he plans to transfer away from Barcelona next summer, he has no shortage of suitors among European wealthy clubs. But his failure experience at Barcelona for a season, I believe he will mature a lot, and he has already fired his original agent, which shows his determination to leave Barcelona.

Of course, these have nothing to do with his award. Just with his performance at the World Cup, it was enough for him to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

If there were no accidents, the Ballon d'Or would ultimately be his.