Chapter 1 Chen Hero Becomes the Focus

Chen Hero, who completed a hat trick in the match against Lyon, became the focus of the media after the game.

As soon as he arrived in the mixed zone, he was surrounded by reporters, unable to leave even if he wanted to. As for the other players... no one paid any attention to them at all.

"Hero! Hero! A hat trick! How did you do it?"

"Your first game back from suspension and you complete a hat trick. What are your thoughts, Hero?"

"Congratulations on your hat trick. Say a few words!"

"Hero..."

"Hero, Hero!"

...

All sorts of voices rose and fell, all directed at Chen Hero. Everyone just wanted to hear a few words from Chen Hero. Generally speaking, once he said something, the media would have material to hype.

Chen Hero didn't answer each question individually, because if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave for at least half an hour.

He waited for everyone to finish asking their questions before coughing, which was his way of telling the reporters: *This* grandpa is about to speak, so all of you shut up!

Sure enough, the originally very noisy mixed zone suddenly quieted down. Although it wasn't quiet enough to hear a pin drop, it was already very difficult for the busy mixed zone to be so quiet. This showed Chen Hero's influence.

Chen Hero coughed twice. "Of course, the hat trick makes me very happy, but I'm not surprised, because it was expected—I'm quite confident in my own strength."

He spoke shamelessly, but no one was shocked, because everyone knew that was Chen Hero's style.

"Before this game, people have been surprised, disbelieving, and unconvinced that I would defend my title as the Champions League top scorer. Now I want to know how many people are still skeptical about this?"

Chen Hero looked at the reporters in front of him with a smile. Among them were many who had been doubtful of him.

Now, it felt good to slap them in the face.

However, some of them lowered their heads, their expressions very awkward.

One reporter asked, "Is this a challenge? Is it a challenge to Eto'o, Messi, Gomez, and the others?"

Generally speaking, such a question was intended to stir up discord between several people, because if you admitted it, it would be equivalent to placing yourself on the opposite side of those people. You would be competitors, and also enemies.

So most normal players would choose to avoid answering this question, or express humility.

But standing in front of them was Chen Hero, and he wasn't an ordinary player, he was a "moronic player."

He nodded vigorously. "Yes, this is a challenge, not only to them, but also to those who question me, doubt me, disbelieve me, and even insult me."

He pointed at the camera and then walked away.

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Of course, such a wonderful performance wouldn't be complete without the supporting roles of others. Mazzarri and Chen Hero's Napoli teammates were all asked about Chen Hero's hat trick after the game.

"I have never doubted his ability. He will be a strong contender for this Champions League top scorer!" Mazzarri, as the head coach, was a little conservative in his words.

His players didn't care so much.

Hamsik: "I have always believed that he has the strength to do it."

Arshavin: "Surprised? No, I'm not surprised at all. I've seen Hero do even better things, so I'm not surprised."

Sanchez: "Hero is just that amazing! He's my idol!"

Cavani: "I transferred to Napoli to play with Hero. This game proves that this transfer was the right choice."

De Sanctis: "I'm very glad that I'm his teammate, not his opponent..."

The Napoli players were all cheering for Chen Hero.

And on Lyon's side...

The French national goalkeeper, Lloris, had conceded three goals to Chen Hero and was a little frustrated, but he spoke honestly: "This Hero is indeed much stronger than when we played against him last season... I think... if Napoli can reach the final, he might really be able to do it?"

Lyon's coach, Pierre, was also helpless: "I have always known his danger, but to be honest, there's not much I can do. After all, this is Napoli's home ground, and it's his first game back after being unbanned. I can completely understand how eager Chen Hero is to play..."

As for the question of how much chance there was to turn the tables in the second leg at home after losing 0:4 in the first leg, Pierre also admitted that the pressure was great.

"I'm not thinking about this question now. The next game is the league... but we will try our best..."

The media after the game were all reporting on Chen Hero's hat trick.

*The Roma Sports News* quoted Chen Hero's answer as the title, and a photo of Chen Hero holding up three fingers high after scoring a goal was the title image, with the words: "To all the doubters: This is a declaration of war!" written on the photo.

*The Milan Sports News* also praised Chen Hero's hat trick and believed that Messi and Eto'o should really be careful.

The Chinese media were ecstatic. The print media and the internet were full of praise for Chen Hero. Since Chen Hero played for Napoli, the label of "successor to the King of Football" had long been placed on Chen Hero's head.

Of course, Chen Hero himself would definitely not like this title...

Chinese fans and netizens excitedly searched everywhere for news reports and video clips about Chen Hero in this game. Every word of praise and compliment for Chen Hero made them happy for a long time. The videos of Chen Hero's three goals against Lyon were uploaded to China's major video websites in less than half a day, and then spread through Weibo, QQ, Tieba, and other channels. So even those who didn't stay up late to watch the game could see Chen Hero's outstanding performance in the game against Lyon yesterday.

With the increasing influence of new media such as Weibo in China, portal websites have entered Weibo one after another, and have begun to attract celebrity and famous people resources to increase the popularity and expand the influence of their websites.

Chen Hero, a star player known as "the last conscience of Chinese football," is naturally also a popular commodity.

Several Weibo websites are already contacting Chen Hero's agent, Decra, hoping to have Chen Hero's verified Weibo account based on their own website.

Decra is waiting for the highest bidder. Basically, there are only two companies to choose from, Sina and Tencent, which are currently the most influential and well-managed Weibo in China.

If this contract is negotiated, it will bring Chen Hero another income every year.

Even the French media were cheering for Chen Hero. Chen Hero's performance last night was impeccable. His hat trick completely defeated Lyon and made them worry about the second leg of the game, believing that Lyon had basically been eliminated in advance...

Only the Catalan media were still stubborn, believing that Lyon was not strong, and that their state was not good in that game, so this game could not prove anything at all. Moreover, Chen Hero could only score goals against teams of Lyon's level, but such a crazy scoring state could never last, so everyone should not be alarmed, the top scorer will definitely belong to our Messi!

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Chen Hero ignored how stubborn the Catalan ducks were. He was a person with serious business to attend to and wasn't like reporters who just liked to engage in verbal sparring.

After playing the Champions League game against Lyon, Chen Hero put on his armor again in the league. Mazzarri rotated the squad in this game, but Chen Hero was not rotated out, he continued to start.

And he lived up to expectations, scoring a goal in the game, helping Napoli beat Catania 1:0 at home.

This goal in the game was also his twenty-fifth league goal this season.

Twenty-five goals had already been scored in twenty-six rounds of the league. Di Natale, who ranked second in the scorer list, had only scored eighteen goals, and the gap between the two sides had widened to seven goals.

Such a huge gap almost declared that the competition for the league's top scorer this season had lost its suspense.

"Chen Hero is the most perverted striker I've ever seen. He seems to be a natural goalscorer. Twenty-five goals in twenty-six rounds is a very impressive achievement. It seems that it is not an incredible thing for him to win the Serie A Golden Boot for three consecutive seasons..."

"The Serie A league, which was once the world's top defensive league, has now been easily conquered by one person. As an Italian, I really don't know what expression I should have... but I still have to sincerely say that Hero is the only center I have seen in my thirty years in the industry. His goalscoring ability is the best of all the strikers I have ever seen. I think Mazzarri is right—in terms of goalscoring ability alone, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are no match for him at all!"

"Many people criticize Chen Hero, saying that he doesn't have a high tactical awareness, that he is very selfish, that his dribbling is not good-looking, that his passing is not accurate enough, that he has no manners, is rude, and impolite... that he is lustful and likes to flaunt... These are all true, but are those the criteria for measuring a center forward? No, it's scoring goals, he is very capable of scoring goals, isn't that enough? Facing a center forward who has already scored twenty-five goals after only two-thirds of the season, what else can you criticize and be dissatisfied with? You must know that how many coaches hope that their team can have a player like Chen Hero!"

Yes, this season, many teams' coaches have mentioned Chen Hero's excellent performance after playing against Napoli, and have expressed envy, jealousy, and hatred for Mazzarri's ability to have such an excellent center forward.

Some people even said sourly that it wasn't that Mazzarri was so good, but because he had a group of excellent players, especially Chen Hero, who always brought goals, so his team always won...

These people have forgotten that if Mazzarri hadn't customized tactics for Chen Hero, Chen Hero's performance would have been discounted. Otherwise, Reja had also coached Chen Hero, so why was he the one who was dismissed in the end?

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ps, Lin Hai is going from street to street: "Vote for monthly tickets—vote for monthly tickets!"