Chapter 25

After the match against Real Madrid, the Naples media was jubilant and began to look forward to entering the quarterfinals.

But the team still had to deal with domestic competitions.

In the upcoming twenty-fifth round, they would host their strong rival, Inter Milan.

In the first half of the season, Inter Milan lost two games, one of which was to Naples.

For Mourinho's Inter Milan, Naples was a disease, a disease that made his head ache whenever he thought about it.

Logically speaking, he should have fielded his strongest lineup in this game, striving to defeat Naples on the road, to avenge their loss at home.

But Mourinho didn't do that.

Because three days later, they would face Chelsea at home. This was the Champions League round of sixteen. Compared to the league, the Champions League was obviously more important. The league had been going on for twenty-four rounds, and Inter Milan had sixteen wins, six draws, and two losses, with fifty-four points. And AC Milan, ranked second? Only forty-eight points, a difference of six points, giving Inter Milan enough room to temporarily shift their focus to the Champions League without worrying that the outcome of one game would drop them from the top of the league.

Before Mourinho took office, Inter Milan had won the league title for three consecutive seasons. It can be said that what Inter Milan values now is not the domestic league title at all, but the greater... Champions League title. Inter Milan had been waiting for this championship for a full forty-five years. The last time they won the European Champions Cup was in 1965, which was the "Grande Inter" era that Inter Milan fans were most proud of.

As a world-renowned powerhouse, it was a pity that they hadn't touched the highest European honor—the European Champions Cup—for forty-five years.

Therefore, Inter Milan's desire for the Champions League far exceeded that of the domestic league. To this end, they hired the famous coach José Mourinho, who had experience winning the Champions League, hoping that Mourinho would instill his experience of leading Porto to win the Champions League into this team.

From Inter Milan's club president Moratti to ordinary fans, everyone hoped to see Inter Milan make some breakthroughs this season.

Mourinho knew this very well, so domestic leagues were really insignificant compared to the Champions League.

Even if their opponent was Naples, the only team that had defeated them at the San Siro this season.

He didn't plan to send all the main players to fight Naples in this game.

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"Just as the media speculated before the game, Mourinho really rested half of his main players in the game. Obviously, his goal is the Champions League round of sixteen against Chelsea, not the league against Naples."

The commentator said this after the game started.

Naples originally had a "chicken blood bonus" at their home stadium, and Inter Milan played with half of their main players and half of their substitutes, and their minds were not on this domestic league...

And what about Naples? They were playing at home, had just defeated Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and their morale was high. They didn't have to worry about any Champions League games next week, so they could unleash all their strength on Inter Milan.

※※※

"Hero—goooooooooooooooL!!"

A burst of cheers rang out at the Stadio San Paolo, and the Blue Giant Bear organization in the west stand waved the blue flags and red Chinese national flags in their hands, cheering for Chen Hero.

Their favorite idol had scored.

"Hero received Hamsik's wonderful pass in the penalty area, leaned against Inter Milan's center back Cordoba, and then directly swept the ball into the goal! When he uses his physical advantage to protect the ball in the penalty area, it is really difficult for a center back to take the ball down alone, unless they foul... Hero didn't give Lúcio a chance to come up and surround him, and quickly fell to the ground and swept the ball. Goalkeeper César was unable to save it... Hero looks more and more like a real center forward!" Liu Jianhong said with relief.

Everyone can see Chen Hero's growth. As a commentator for Serie A, Liu Jianhong has watched Chen Hero go from not being able to do tactical runs to now being able to receive his teammates' passes in the penalty area and then shoot to score.

He is proud and proud of every progress Chen Hero makes. It's a pity that such a player can't serve the country.

At the beginning of this year, a crackdown on match-fixing swept through Chinese football. Nan Yong, who once clamored, "As long as I am in the Football Association for a day, Chen Hero will never want to enter the national team," was also arrested, which made many people see hope for Chen Hero to return to the national team.

But there was no follow-up to this matter, and no one knew whether Chen Hero could enter the national team...

※※※

After scoring the goal, Chen Hero rushed to the west stand and waved his fist to his fans. As he moved, the fans in that stand also shouted, "Hero! Hero! Our hero!"

Of course, the boos of the extreme fans are also indispensable. But now their boos are more like salt in a dish—although indispensable, they are no longer the main ingredient.

Chen Hero didn't care whether Inter Milan was playing with all their main players or half of their main players. Anyway, winning is something to be happy about.

Since you are so humble, then we will not be polite!

Seeing him celebrate the goal excitedly, some commentators finally remembered—a year ago, this person said that he would beat the defending champion twice in the new season. Before, everyone thought he was arrogant, talking big to hype himself up... who would have thought that he really did it this season...

The most critical of these matches was the one at the San Siro, where he scored twice in the game to help the team defeat Inter Milan, also bringing Mourinho's home unbeaten record to an end.

His two wonderful goals in the game were unforgettable.

Naples won in the tough away game. Returning to the home game to play Inter Milan, there was really no psychological pressure for them, who had already defeated Real Madrid.

"Some people say he is arrogant and嚣张, but I think it is precisely this unreasonable arrogance that makes him continue to progress and always create miracles that make us feel incredible..."

The commentator of Sky Italia sighed.

But unfortunately, such sighs are destined not to resonate. Because the media's publicity only focuses on the flawed aspects of Chen Hero's character, highlighting his arrogance, ignorance, and two-mindedness in the hearts of fans, just like they treated Cassano in the past. Over time, fans have accepted the "fixed image" shell that the media has put on Chen Hero.

This kind of thing happens often. In David Beckham’s case, the media always tirelessly promoted Beckham's handsomeness, his celebrity wife, his popularity, his good shirt sales, and his high commercial value, but they did not mention or rarely mentioned his dedicated professional attitude, superb football skills, and the spirit of never giving up, which were hidden under those dazzling "commercial auras." When Beckham first arrived in La Liga, the Spanish media even commented: "How to become a world-class superstar? You only need a Beckham's face."

It wasn't until the last half of Beckham's season at Real Madrid that the media gave the Englishman justice. Then, the whole world seemed to have reacquainted with David Beckham, and everyone said: "Although he earns a lot, he is handsome, and he has high commercial value, as a football player, he is worthy of respect."

It’s not as good as the former Inzaghi. Everyone always habitually called him "the one who picks up the leaks", thinking that there was no technical content in front of the goal, and although he could score a lot of goals, he was ultimately difficult to reach the heights. But as he kept scoring and scoring, and the number of goals in the Champions League has surpassed Shevchenko, and he was about to catch up with Raul, everyone changed their view of him and called him a "master"...

There are many such examples. In the football world, everyone is always easily affected by arrogance and prejudice. Especially easily happens to those young players.

When Cristiano Ronaldo first debuted, he liked fancy moves and liked to dive, so everyone thought he was flashy and had a problem with his character. Once this fixed impression is formed, it is not easy to change. I'm afraid we really have to wait until the Portuguese is about to retire before he can be "vindicated"?

Twenty-one-year-old Chen Hero has been labeled with such and such hats, and these hats will accompany him through most of his career. Perhaps even people in the football circle, his opponents, will be affected by this and have a sense of contempt and disdain for him.

But we all know that Chen Hero is always happy to slap those pretentious guys who look down on him. But this will only exacerbate people's impression of him as "arrogant, 嚣张, big-mouthed, and two-minded."

I really don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing for him...

But one thing is perhaps undisputed, that is... Chen Hero doesn't care at all what others think of him.

※※※

Before the end of the first half, Hamsik scored another goal for the team from outside the penalty area, leading Inter Milan by two goals. Mourinho on the sidelines looked calm, as if the team that lost the ball wasn't his.

The media didn't hype up the grievances between the two teams before the game. They were busy hyping up Mourinho's reunion with Chelsea. If they hyped up his past stories with Naples again, there wouldn't be enough space...

In the second half, Inter Milan successively replaced three main players, letting them find their rhythm. Inter Milan's offensive gradually picked up, and they scored a goal before the end of the game. In the end, Inter Milan lost to Naples 1:2 away.

"The game is over! Naples defeated Inter Milan 2:1 at their home stadium! They continue to maintain their home unbeaten record this season!"

After the final whistle of the game sounded, the TV camera kept following Chen Hero. He was not the best player in this game, following him was because he really successfully beat the defending champion twice this season!

"When Chen Hero said last season that he would beat Inter Milan twice, many people were incredulous and thought it was completely nonsense and daydreaming. But he really did it! Although Chen Hero is indeed very arrogant sometimes, his enemies have to painfully admit that he has the strength to be arrogant..."

Chen Hero in the TV picture is celebrating the victory with his teammates.

Those Inter Milan players and coach Mourinho who left in a hurry became the best background for this scene.

At the post-match press conference, Mourinho refused to talk about "Chen Hero and his agreement."

"That's an agreement between your media and him, not between me and him. I have nothing to do with him." Mourinho put on a stinky face, unwilling to talk to anyone. Although he had decided to temporarily abandon the league for the Champions League, he was still a little unhappy about losing to Naples.

And when Chen Hero was interviewed in the mixed zone after the game, he also talked about this matter: "Yes, double kill! I haven't forgotten, I'm very happy to be able to beat the defending champion twice, so I seemed very motivated in the game. But in fact, from the time I beat them at the San Siro, I felt that beating Inter Milan twice was no longer a difficult or incredible thing..."

Chen Hero "showed off" again after the game, saying that beating Inter Milan twice was not surprising. I believe that after the media's amplification the next day, many Inter Milan fans will be very unhappy with him.

The next time he goes to the San Siro to play, he may get more boos.

But Chen Hero, who came out of the boos all over the Stadio San Paolo, said that the pressure was not great.