Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 477 Defending the Title of Best Scorer!
When the referee blew the final whistle, the Napoli players raised their arms and celebrated their victory.
Chen Hero was so excited that he took off his jersey, revealing his solid muscles.
The giant bear tattoo on his back rarely saw the light of day because he seldom celebrated goals by taking off his shirt anymore. Now, it finally had a chance to breathe.
"The roaring giant bear, this is the season's top scorer, Chen Hero! He has done something no one has been able to do in sixteen years!" The Italian commentator rated Chen Hero very highly. Winning the Serie A Golden Boot for two consecutive seasons in a league famous for its defense was enough to demonstrate his ability.
It was safe to say that if any big clubs were eyeing Chen Hero in the summer, it would be normal. It wouldn't be surprising if several big clubs offered tens of millions of euros and fought tooth and nail for Chen Hero.
Chen Hero had already confirmed that he was the league's top scorer, and he didn't even need to listen to the assistant coach's shouts from the sidelines.
Thirty-one goals; if that wasn't enough to be the top scorer, then something was seriously wrong!
Chen Hero felt great, extremely great.
Winning the Golden Boot for two consecutive seasons, and having a Golden Boot every season since his debut, except for the first year when he didn't play much due to lack of time and immaturity. How many players in history had achieved such a record?
As soon as the game ended, the reporters waiting at the sidelines rushed in with microphones and cameras, wearing headphones. Their target was clear—Chen Hero.
As the top scorer, he deserved such treatment.
"Hero, Hero, congratulations on winning the league's Golden Boot!"
"Congratulations on defending the league's Golden Boot!"
After a series of congratulations, the interview segment began.
But Chen Hero first asked them, "How many goals did Di Natale score in this game?"
He was still quite concerned about his opponent's situation.
"He scored two goals in this game," a reporter replied.
Chen Hero was stunned when he heard the number… He was so tenacious! Even though he had scored a hat trick, Di Natale still managed a brace, chasing him closely. Although he was still two goals short in the end, this spirit was truly admirable.
"He's a really good opponent," he said into the microphone in front of him. "Next season, after the game against him, I will definitely find him to exchange jerseys."
The reporters found this interesting.
Chen Hero was arrogant and boastful, so in many people's eyes, he was very proud. They weren't wrong about this; Chen Hero was indeed somewhat arrogant. He didn't even give a damn about super clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid, let alone ordinary people. Ibrahimović lost to Chen Hero in the race for the Golden Boot last season. He was a world-class player, yet Chen Hero made him a laughingstock during a post-match interview with the line, "I'm not used to sharing the Golden Boot with anyone, not even Ibrahimović." Ibrahimović still resented Chen Hero for that.
How could such an arrogant person show such respect for Di Natale, who wasn't that well-known and had somewhat of a late-blooming career?
Di Natale's annual salary wasn't even as high as Ibrahimović's monthly salary…
So the reporters found it quite interesting. Chen Hero's actions and behavior were indeed different from ordinary people.
After expressing his respect for Di Natale, Chen Hero waited for the media to ask questions.
The media quickly reacted and asked questions, naturally focusing on two points. One was Chen Hero's views on the team's performance this season and his own performance, and the other was whether he would leave Napoli.
The first question was easy to answer. Chen Hero was very satisfied with the team's and his own performance, impeccable. The only regret was that they were unjustly eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals, falling victim to UEFA.
"... I think we had the strength to reach the semi-finals, but that's how football is..." He shrugged, as if to say that football is round and no one knows what will happen next. But instead, he said, "That's how football is. It's always affected by factors outside of football. We're not afraid of Barcelona, not at all, but our opponent isn't Barcelona."
Alright, Platini's UEFA got shot again. The reporters were secretly delighted. This sentence alone was enough for them to hype up for a long time, and there would probably be another war of words.
Chen Hero knew what the reporters were thinking, but he wanted to say these things because he wasn't afraid of UEFA at all. In his hometown dialect, he didn't give a damn about them.
As for the second question, Chen Hero was very cunning and refused to reveal his true thoughts.
"Leave Napoli? At least I'll be in this team next season. But I don't know what will happen in the future. I have two years left on my contract with Napoli. Who knows what will happen in the future?"
Did he ever want to leave Napoli? Yes, and very clearly. The idea arose from the moment he was booed by the entire crowd at the Stadio San Paolo for more than half a season, and it became clearer and stronger. Whenever he appeared at the Stadio San Paolo, when he got the ball, when he scored a goal, and heard that storm of boos that was enough to make the opposing team's players weak in the legs and stop their hearts, a voice deep inside kept repeating to him: "Leave, slap these people in the face after you've succeeded, and then leave!"
Now, the boos had lessened a lot, and he had his own fan base in Napoli, but that idea hadn't changed. He still wanted to leave. Because he had figured it out; in Napoli, no matter how well you performed, you couldn't escape the shadow of "Maradona." For the people here, the best player in history will always be Maradona, and everyone else simply doesn't exist.
But for now, he didn't want to leave yet, because he hadn't succeeded yet. What is success? Does winning the Golden Boot for two consecutive years count as success? That counts as Chen Hero's personal success, but not his success in Napoli.
That's why he said that. He wouldn't be stupid enough to tell the reporters his true thoughts, nor would he wink at those Napoli fans who hated him and say something stupid like, "I'll spend my whole life in Napoli."
Becoming someone who surpassed Maradona's status in Napoli? It was indeed tempting to think about, but unrealistic. The current era could no longer produce a Maradona. He, Chen Hero, just wanted to become a football hero, but he didn't want to become the spokesperson for the working class of Southern Italy.
The reporters were not satisfied with Chen Hero's answer about his future, because what was the difference between saying that and saying nothing?
A reporter asked about another topic: "You are the first person in sixteen years to win the Serie A Golden Boot for two consecutive years! You said it before, and now you've really done it. What about that three consecutive years…?"
Before, Chen Hero had told a group of reporters that he not only wanted to win the Golden Boot for two consecutive years, but also for three consecutive years.
This sentence caused a small stir in Italy. Only Chen Hero could utter such arrogant words in today's football world.
Many people thought that Chen Hero was simply bragging and not paying taxes, just bragging as much as he could. They didn't believe it at all. Others believed that this must have been planned by Chen Hero's team, deliberately portraying him in this image. After all, in today's world, rebels are more popular and have more commercial value than those who follow the rules. Look at Chen Hero's endorsement brands now; every single one of them is a world-renowned brand. His commercial value is also rising like a rocket, just like his number of goals.
In short, not many people believed that Chen Hero could win the Golden Boot for three consecutive years. Not to mention two consecutive years, although Di Natale was only one goal behind him at the time, looking at Chen Hero's state, the chances of being overturned in the final round were not high. So everyone had to accept the reality that Chen Hero was the top scorer in Serie A for the first time in sixteen years.
"Of course, now that I've defended it, is a three-peat far away? I'm booking next season's Golden Boot!"
Chen Hero said these words with great pride, but of course, in the eyes of outsiders, this was called "arrogance."
In fact, Chen Hero said this because he was confident, not just being arrogant for the sake of being arrogant. He was very clear about his own strength. No one could be better than him when it came to headers, and long shots were also a great weapon. With just these two weapons alone, it was enough for him to score double-digit goals every season. And now, he had been practicing off-ball movement with Inzaghi in the instance dungeon for most of the season. This game finally came in handy, which greatly increased his confidence in practicing off-ball movement.
Next season, since he didn't need to be distracted by the Champions League in the first half of the season, even if Mazzarri rotated the team for the Champions League, it wouldn't be his turn. This would give him more playing time in the league. And since he was determined to grab the Golden Boot, he wouldn't have the attitude of "it doesn't matter if I play or not" in the league. He would work as hard as he did in the Champions League, just like his last season in the Russian Premier League, when he was completely crazy. Of course, this was also related to the fact that the defense level of the Russian Premier League wasn't very good…
Booking next season's Golden Boot was a good gimmick. The media only interviewed Chen Hero for a short time, and Chen Hero provided them with so much to talk about.
Sure enough, it was right to follow Chen Hero's ass! The stuff that those colleagues who went to cover Inter Milan's game came up with might not be as attractive as this!
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The reporters dispersed, and Chen Hero finally had the opportunity to join his teammates in celebrating the victory.
A group of people celebrated their victory on other people's turf, seeming unrestrained.
But the Sampdoria people didn't say much. Their fans had already started to leave.
The Napoli people didn't celebrate for long either, and soon returned to their locker room. A larger celebration was waiting for them there. Although they didn't win the championship trophy, the season was over, and the team had qualified for next season's European competition—although they had to start from the qualifying rounds, Mazzarri had just heard that Milan had also won, which made him breathe a sigh of relief—Chen Hero in the team won the Golden Boot, and everyone got bonuses and vacations. Wasn't that worth celebrating?
Some people had already started discussing where to go on vacation.
"Hero, where are you spending this vacation?" a teammate came up and asked.
Chen Hero frowned: "I don't know yet… My agent said my schedule is a bit full…"
"Oh, oh, oh! Poor big star! You don't even have time for vacation! Hahahaha!" A group of people laughed heartlessly.
Amidst the laughter, the 2009-2010 Serie A season came to an end.
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ps, today's update is over, four updates completed, asking everyone for some monthly votes!
In addition, tomorrow, I will resume the two updates per day. The specific number of updates depends on the number of manuscripts I have saved. After all, there are many things to do during the Spring Festival. I will try to write more words, save more manuscripts, and then update as soon as possible and update more often.
Don't worry, I want to update more than you do…
So, please be patient.