Chapter 125 Italian Record

"Hero starts for the away game against Palermo. With such a dense schedule and both competitions at crucial moments, Mazzarri doesn't dare to use rotation recklessly. Chen Hero is the kind of player who can score goals, so it's important to guarantee him playing time, because maybe his goal can bring the team a victory... Ah? Look at this ball!"

The commentator was speaking when Napoli lofted the ball into the penalty area.

Then Chen Hero leaped high in the crowd, like a crane standing among chickens.

He jumped so high that no one around him could compare, truly… he had a panoramic view of the smaller mountains!

As the ball flew towards him, he twisted his waist and swung his head.

The ball flew into the net in response…

"Beautiful! Goal!!" The commentator shouted loudly.

"Thirty-four goals! Hero has scored his thirty-fourth goal of the season! The Serie A single-season goal record is thirty-five goals, set by AC Milan's famous Swedish striker Nordahl in the 1949-1950 season! And Hero has now scored thirty-four goals! He is one goal away from the record and two goals away from a new record! And with four league games remaining, he has every chance to break the old record and create a brand new one!"

The commentator roared desperately.

Any qualified Serie A fan knows what Chen Hero's goal means.

In fact, when he scored his thirty-second goal, the media had already begun to speculate about when Chen Hero would break Nordahl's record.

However, Chen Hero himself didn't know about this, because... he no longer buys newspapers to see what the media is saying about him, like he did when he first started out.

So he had no idea what scoring thirty-four goals meant.

But he found out after the game.

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In the mixed zone, a group of excited reporters stopped Chen Hero and immediately said, "Congratulations, Hero! You scored your thirty-fourth league goal of the season!"

Chen Hero was a little surprised. He had scored thirty-three league goals before, but he didn't see the reporters so excited…

"What's there to congratulate? Isn't this what I've been doing all along?"

Seeing his calmness, the reporters immediately felt that this was worthy of a star, calm and composed!

So their admiration for him increased by another point.

"You are about to catch up with Nordahl and set a historical record for goals in a single Serie A season. What are your thoughts?" the reporters asked.

Chen Hero was stunned by the question.

"Almost caught up with the historical record for goals in a single Serie A season? Aren't there still four goals to go?" Although he also felt that the difference of four goals wasn't that big, it couldn't be considered "almost caught up," right? Did these reporters have that much confidence in him?

His words also stunned the reporters.

"Still four goals?"

They looked at each other, then turned to Chen Hero and said, "Who told you that, Hero?"

"I, uh... I don't remember, but I remember that Nordahl's record should be thirty-eight goals, right?" Chen Hero really thought so, and had always thought so.

So that was why he was so calm!

A group of reporters suddenly had the urge to cover their foreheads—what was going on!

"Cough cough." An old reporter coughed a few times, then stood up and explained to Chen Hero, "Actually, Hero... the historical record for goals in a single Serie A season is thirty-five goals, not thirty-eight. It was set by AC Milan striker Nordahl in the 1949-1950 season…"

Chen Hero grinned. He realized that he seemed to have made a big joke in front of so many media…

He muttered, "Is that so? I thought it was thirty-eight goals, so I was trying hard to catch up…"

A group of reporters really wanted to fall to the ground for Chen Hero to see… so the reason Hero hadn't mentioned this matter was because he felt that he was still quite far from the record!

Okay, anyway, Chen Hero finally understood how many goals the historical record was. So the interview could continue.

"Okay, Hero, now you're only one goal away. What are your thoughts?" The same reporter repeated his question.

"Hmm... well, creating a new record is always a happy thing. I think I will try to raise this new record as high as possible, so that it won't be so easy for later generations to catch up, hahaha!"

Chen Hero grinned at the group of reporters.

As if it were an illusion, the reporters felt a glint of cold light flash across the corners of Hero's mouth.

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The next day, the Italian media were discussing Chen Hero's thirty-fourth goal, and a feeling that an old record was about to be broken spread throughout the Apennine Peninsula. It was like a virgin opening her legs, waiting for that membrane to be pierced.

Of course, the AC Milan people must have felt uncomfortable. Because this record belonged to them, to their Nordahl.

It had been maintained for sixty-one years, and now it was finally about to change hands.

The whole of Naples was filled with a festive atmosphere of joy. It wasn't just the media, even the fans seemed to have endless things to say about Chen Hero.

This was a phenomenon that had never happened before.

Chen Hero had been with this team for three seasons, and he gradually transformed the fans here with his unique charm and constant goals.

At first, the whole city hated him, but now at least half of them had been pulled into his camp, and many extremist fans were slowly defecting.

Now the boos that appeared at Napoli's home stadium, Stadio San Paolo, were getting smaller and smaller, leaving only some very extreme hardcore stubborn factions still holding their ground.

Even the once-famous slogan "You're not worthy to shine Diego's shoes, you bastard!" was no longer visible.

Many people had quietly changed their positions, but not everyone was embarrassed to admit it.

But Chen Hero was definitely influencing this city. More and more fans wearing jerseys printed with Hero's name and number appeared in the stands of Stadio San Paolo, and on the streets of Naples…

This city, once deeply influenced by Maradona, was now also marked with Hero's imprint.

※※※

While the whole of Italy was discussing the imminent breaking of Nordahl's record, far away in England, there was also someone who was very concerned about this matter.

These days, Ferguson had almost become a "Hero expert" because his office desk was piled with all kinds of newspapers, magazines, game statistics, and videos related to Chen Hero.

He hadn't studied the others in Napoli. As an opponent who had already faced Napoli twice in the group stage, he knew enough about the others in Napoli. Only Chen Hero, who was suspended in the group stage, was new and unfamiliar to him.

But it was easy to find out about Chen Hero. With his arrogant personality, there was no shortage of news about him in the media.

Not to mention that he was in red-hot form now.

He was a hot star in Europe, and many wealthy clubs had set their sights on Chen Hero. Some media analysts believed that regardless of what Napoli achieved this season, Chen Hero's departure from Napoli was a foregone conclusion.

How to deal with such a fierce center forward?

Ferguson frowned as he considered this question.

He suddenly understood Leonardo a little. His team was hit with a hat trick by Hero at home, becoming a stepping stone for Hero to catch up with Messi. This made Leonardo a target of some ridicule, believing that he wasn't doing a good job as a coach.

But the more Ferguson studied, the more he felt that Leonardo had unspeakable difficulties—there really wasn't a good way to stop a center forward with excellent scoring ability.

Unless... he was in a slump.

This situation had happened to Chen Hero before. Especially in the first two seasons, he always had a concentrated burst of games, scoring many goals, and then fizzling out for a while. Like a fountain, sometimes there, sometimes not.

It was normal for young players to have unstable form.

But... Ferguson himself didn't believe that Chen Hero would suddenly be in poor form before the game against Manchester United. He wasn't Ronaldo before the 1998 World Cup final.

Besides, in the just-concluded thirty-fourth round of Serie A, Chen Hero scored his thirty-fourth league goal of the season, only one goal away from the thirty-five-goal historical record created by Nordahl. It had come to this point, so do you think Chen Hero could suddenly be in poor form? He was probably in good form now, just waiting to use Manchester United to continue his hot streak!

How to deal with Hero?

This question was really a headache…

※※※

Ferguson was considering how to deal with Chen Hero, while Mazzarri was considering how to deal with Manchester United.

Ferguson had a headache, but Mazzarri didn't.

Napoli had already faced Manchester United twice in the group stage.

And the results of the two encounters were not bad. The first time they lost 2:3 away, and the second time they won 1:0 at home. If these scores were moved to the upcoming two-legged semi-final, then Napoli would eliminate Manchester United with a total score of 3:3 and the advantage of two away goals.

In the group stage, it was just a zero points and a three points.

But these two games brought out Napoli's momentum. Although there was no Chen Hero, Napoli performed unyieldingly against the strongest opponent in the group. Especially in the away game, after being 0:3 behind in the first half, Napoli chased two goals in the second half, almost tying the score. Returning to the home court, they defeated Manchester United 1:0, laying the foundation for qualifying from the group.

So in fact, Napoli was not afraid of Manchester United, even in the semi-finals.

This was Napoli's temperament. After two consecutive years of training in the high-level Champions League, Napoli was no longer the bumpkin-like promoted team.

They faintly had a trace of "aristocratic temperament"…

Mazzarri's idea was very simple. In the first leg at Stadio San Paolo, Napoli was playing at home, striving to win the game, and to win by as many goals as possible.

The 2:1 against Inter Milan could not be repeated, because they couldn't always pin their hopes on Chen Hero's outburst of a hat trick and the team's sudden good form. Looking back at that game now, it was actually very dangerous. They conceded a goal just twenty-five seconds into the game. If such a scenario happened again, the final result might not be what it is now…

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