Chapter 1518

At the award ceremony, Liverpool captain Gerrard received the Club World Cup, symbolizing the highest honor in the world of club football, from Blatter. Though somewhat overrated, it was nominally the highest honor in the world. Liverpool could now call themselves the strongest club in the world, a scope that included not just Europe, but also Africa, South America, Asia, Oceania, and North and Central America and the Caribbean.

They were truly "the strongest on Earth."

As for Chen Hero, he attended a separate award ceremony after the main event. On the stage, he held high the Toyota car key model, symbolizing the Most Valuable Player award of the tournament. Behind him was a Toyota Sequoia SUV.

This was the prize for being the best player.

However, he wasn't interested in this high-performance SUV worth over a million RMB. First of all, he was the spokesperson for the Hummer brand, so naturally, he wouldn't be driving a Toyota SUV. Secondly, he couldn't take the car with him, nor did he want to.

So, as soon as he stepped off the podium, he asked the Toyota representative in charge of the award ceremony a question that left them speechless: "Can I exchange it for cash?"

The Toyota representative's expression froze—they had never seen someone so impatient!

But in the end, they still complied with Chen Hero's request, converting the car directly into cash, which they gave to Chen Hero, while they kept the car themselves.

※※※

After the game, Liverpool had one night off, and everyone was free to do as they pleased.

The Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Squad didn't go to Shinjuku's Kabukicho to enjoy themselves this time, but instead went to the commercial district to buy things for their families.

Chen Hero didn't go anywhere. He took this opportunity to grind in the training instance in the system with the reserve team in his hotel room, preparing for the League Cup and FA Cup.

For the past half-season, he had been doing this in the training instance. He had even temporarily put aside the Master League. Ever since he had witnessed the benefits of this type of training last season, he felt that he could continue doing it long-term. Especially since the reserve team's overall capabilities were not as good as last season's, it was even more necessary to make up for it in the training instance.

Usually, he shared a room with someone else, so there weren't many good opportunities. This time, everyone had gone out shopping, so he could take advantage of the situation to grind in the training instance. He had told his teammates with a face full of righteousness, "As a Chinese person, I will never contribute a single GDP to Japan!"

As a precaution, he had been grinding in the bathroom. If his teammates came back, he could calmly come out of the bathroom and say that he had just been using the toilet. Moreover, he could also take a shower after the training, killing two birds with one stone.

※※※

The next day, the entire Liverpool team ended their trip to Tokyo and flew back home with the Club World Cup.

At John Lennon Airport, they were warmly welcomed by Liverpool fans.

When Gerrard and Chen Hero together showed everyone the glittering Club World Cup, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd.

Liverpool fans were truly the happiest group of fans in the world in this passing year.

In this year, their team had won every trophy they could possibly win. Not a single one had slipped through their fingers.

Some excited fans unfurled banners at the scene and shouted the slogan "This is our era!"

Chen Hero gave a very short speech on behalf of the Liverpool team at the airport.

It was indeed very short, just one sentence.

He raised the trophy and said to everyone, "There will be more and more trophies in the future! Until you get tired of them!"

The thousands of fans present answered him in unison: "We will never get tired of them!!!"

Old Samuel Mertz didn't go to the airport. He was old, but he sat at home and watched the entire live broadcast on television.

When he heard Chen Hero say this, he thought of the promise Chen Hero had once made to him in person.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mertz. Liverpool will definitely have to build another trophy room in the future!"

At the time, he had burst out laughing when he heard Chen Hero's answer.

Now, thinking about it again, it still made him feel happy, and a smile curled up at the corners of his mouth, revealing a happy smile.

Go, Hero! Lead us forward!

※※※

The European media also gave a lot of coverage and attention to Liverpool's victory in the Club World Cup.

No matter how much they hated Chen Hero, they had to admit that this Liverpool team, with Chen Hero, had become the number one team in the world.

Their performance in 2015 had been dominant.

Historically, only Guardiola's Barcelona in 2009 could be compared to them.

And Barcelona had one less title than Liverpool.

In this year, Liverpool had become the undisputed, unique seven-time champion!

Many media outlets had stopped calling Barcelona the "Universe Team" and had started calling Liverpool the "Universe Team" instead.

Other media outlets said that European football had officially entered the Liverpool era.

Some people analyzed how to defeat Liverpool. After analyzing it, the final conclusion was that if they wanted to defeat Liverpool and end their dynasty, they would have to hope that Chen Hero would get lost. But this was too unrealistic and only existed as a theoretical possibility. Everyone knew that Chen Hero had a close personal relationship with Liverpool's boss, Chen Xing, and general manager, Niang, and even head coach Martin O'Neill had to follow his lead.

Anyway, in the end, everyone realized that if Liverpool really unified Europe, it would definitely not be good news for European football.

So, no matter what means they used, they had to suppress them, stop them, and not let them continue to be so successful.

But when Barcelona dominated Europe, no one had ever said, thought, or done this.

This may have been related to Barcelona's football style. Everyone felt that Barcelona played artistic football, which was aesthetically pleasing. Liverpool's football, on the other hand, was too utilitarian. They launched a frenzied attack at the beginning, and after taking the lead, they would shrink back and play defensive counterattacks.

Such football was indeed not very likable.

And they also had an annoying Chen Hero.

If such a team gained power, and if Chen Hero gained power, no one would have a good time.

But was Liverpool so easy to stop?

Liverpool, who had returned to England, immediately ushered in the eighteenth round of the league, in which they challenged Charlton away from home.

The final result of this match was 3:0, with Liverpool winning a complete victory on the road.

Chen Hero scored twice in the game.

Continuing his good form.

At the same time, he also proved to the world that Liverpool, after a long flight, did not show any signs of fatigue. They would win the games they were supposed to win, and anyone who thought that Liverpool was exhausted and planned to take advantage of the opportunity would die miserably. Charlton was their role model!

After this game, as the end of the year drew closer and closer, many people began to speculate about the winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or in January of next year.

Looking at it now, there was no suspense. It was undoubtedly Chen Hero.

If Chen Hero's influence in the world was not as great as Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's, then this was no longer a problem.

With Liverpool sweeping seven titles in a year, Chen Hero's name had become known to the world. Not to mention, his name and image had already been popularized around the world with the commercial promotion of various brands.

Chen Hero's popularity was now no weaker than Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's in their prime, and may even have surpassed them.

The last time Chen Hero won the Champions League, he had just transferred from Napoli to Liverpool, and everyone thought that he would definitely win the FIFA Ballon d'Or that year.

Even he himself thought so, but who would have thought that the final result would be a major reversal!

The FIFA Ballon d'Or was awarded to Messi, who had been completely defeated by Chen Hero in the Champions League final.

Chen Hero was so angry that he directly stormed off, and even made a bold statement.

This matter caused quite a stir, but FIFA's final punishment was very weak and painless.

Because what they did was indeed not ethical.

But these were all old stories.

This year, everyone was convinced that no one would be able to take the Ballon d'Or from Chen Hero.

※※※

After playing the game against Charlton, the annual Christmas devil schedule began.

On December 23, Liverpool will host Sunderland at home.

Three days later, on the 26th, Liverpool will challenge Blackburn away from home.

Four days later, on the 30th, they will continue to play away, challenging Tottenham Hotspur.

Two days later, on January 1, Liverpool will host Bolton at home.

On January 6, Liverpool will play in the FA Cup again.

Fortunately, the English FA adjusted the schedule and postponed the League Cup quarter-final, which was originally scheduled for December 21, to January 10, otherwise Liverpool's schedule during the Christmas period would have been even more intensive.

Even so, Liverpool would still face the devil schedule.

In addition, they had just returned from Japan, and many people still did not believe that their physical fitness had not been affected.

If physical fitness was affected, the chances of injury would be greater with the intensive schedule. Many players were injured in the winter, which was related to the weather. The English winter was mainly cold and rainy, which was not suitable for outdoor sports, which increased the chances of injury, coupled with the intensive schedule... It was simply a nightmare for professional players.

Therefore, a long time ago, famous coaches such as Wenger and Ferguson had called on the English FA to establish a winter break for the Premier League to allow players to get enough rest. The Premier League teams already had more games than the teams in other countries' leagues, because there was one more domestic cup competition.

However, this reasonable request had never been approved or implemented. Until now, the Premier League still had the most intensive schedule in the world, and there was no winter break. Every Premier League player must learn from the Iron Man, otherwise they would not be able to survive.

In this context, everyone was convinced that Liverpool would stumble during the devil schedule.

So, if Liverpool, who were far ahead of the pack, wanted to slow down, this was the best opportunity.

At the same time, for those enemies who were watching them closely from behind, if they wanted to replace them, this was also a godsend.