Chapter 173

Martin O'Neill was worried when he saw Juventus being so low-key. He didn't think they were intimidated by his star player Chen Hero, nor was he happy about it.

On the contrary, he was very worried.

He knew Juventus. Juventus's nickname was "The Old Lady." This was a wealthy club with a profound history.

Even in recent years, they had experienced great storms. They had been ordered to relegate to Serie B for match-fixing, and they had won the Serie A title undefeated after returning to Serie A.

The biggest characteristic, or tradition, of this team was... "Stability!"

Like a dignified old lady, perhaps she didn't have the invincible youth and loveliness of those young girls, nor did she have the charming appearance and shapely figure of those young girls.

But she was like an old woman who had seen a hundred years of wind and rain, sitting peacefully in her chair, draped in a wool shawl, quietly and calmly watching the changes in the world, unmoved.

She didn't speak, she just sat there, with a touch of lazy nobility and elegance.

It was certainly impossible to make such an old woman who had seen through the world quick. You rarely even saw her wave her arms excitedly, raise her voice, and speak loudly and urgently.

Even if she was angry, she would only look more serious when looking at you, and her speech would become even slower.

The quieter such a person was, the more terrifying they were. Because you couldn't know what she was planning in her mind to deal with you...

That was how Martin O'Neill felt now. Juventus was very quiet, too quiet, so quiet that it was unfathomable.

He found it terrifying because he didn't know what Juventus wanted to do.

This was in line with Juventus's characteristics. When they calmed down, they had often already aimed at your fatal weakness.

Juventus's greatest characteristic was "stability," or, to put it bluntly, a lack of passion. Therefore, although this team had the most supporters in Italy, its number of fans in other countries was far less than that of AC Milan and Inter Milan, and they were unpopular.

Most people thought they were old-fashioned, hidden in the shadows, and always calculating how to screw you over.

In this regard, their temperament was very similar to that of the team's former legendary manager, Moggi.

A stable team could cope calmly with any situation. They had the ability to reverse the game in the final moments of a match under extremely unfavorable circumstances. They could also use desperate stability to wear down their opponents and win after taking the lead.

Of course, it wasn't to say that such a team was invincible. In fact, stability wasn't always the best.

Juventus was stable, so they could maintain stable performance during the long season, which made it easy for them to win the league title.

But in cup competitions, stability sometimes seemed too conservative and pedantic. In knockout cup competitions, what was needed was explosive power, or, to put it bluntly, freakishness, nervousness.

Juventus lacked this.

This was also why Juventus had the fewest Champions League titles among the three major Serie A clubs. Since winning a Champions League title in the summer of 1996, Juventus had been out of touch with the club's highest honor. In those nineteen years, AC Milan had won the Champions League in 2003 and 2007 respectively, and Inter Milan had also won in 2010.

Juventus lacked such explosive power in the Champions League.

But what Martin O'Neill feared now was Juventus's stability, not their nervousness.

He hoped that Juventus would be more nervous, because they weren't used to being nervous, and a sudden freak-out might burn out their brains, rather than exploding their potential and doubling their combat effectiveness...

If they were always silent, it would make Martin O'Neill worry about what insidious plans the team was plotting behind their backs.

But he wasn't good at verbal warfare.

He knew who was good at it. But he didn't want to issue the order.

His bottom line was that he didn't care if you engaged in verbal warfare, but he couldn't actively let you go.

This was really trying to have your cake and eat it too...

At this moment, Chen Hero seemed to have a telepathic connection with O'Neill, and actually took the initiative to provoke!

O'Neill breathed a sigh of relief.

※※※

Turin and the Italian media reported Chen Hero's ridicule that Juventus was afraid of him—in this place, the Italian media handled it very cleverly. Chen Hero's original words were that Juventus was afraid of Liverpool, and they said the same when they retold the story.

But they only mentioned this sentence when reporting Chen Hero's original words, and then pointed the finger at Chen Hero, drawing everyone's attention to Chen Hero.

Interpreting this sentence as Juventus being afraid of Chen Hero was obviously more sensational and had more value for hype than interpreting it as being afraid of Liverpool...

The world's media were united as one family. Having a professional ethic to create hype without hype was completely the same in China, the United Kingdom, or Italy.

Martin O'Neill watched TV at night. Although he didn't understand Italian, he could understand the photos and Chen Hero's name.

He knew that the whole of Italy was discussing this matter.

Hype it up, hype it up.

For the first time, Martin O'Neill hoped that the media would hype these gimmicks.

It would be even better if they could successfully stir up the anger of the Juventus players.

This was like Chen Hero setting a fire, and the thick smoke smoked Juventus out of the tunnel where they were hiding.

※※※

It must be said that Chen Hero's taunting skills were completely top-notch, without the need for any extra talent bonuses.

The next day, Juventus players came out to fight back, and they weren't lightweights.

It was Juventus's captain, Chiellini.

"I heard his words, yes." At the entrance of the hotel, Chiellini was blocked by the media, and everyone asked him what he thought of Chen Hero's words. "We are very familiar with him. When we were in Naples, we often played against each other. We all know that he always likes to cause trouble before the game. He hopes to provoke our anger and make us lose our composure, but we will not let him get his wish. Yes, we are very familiar with him, we know his methods... He will not succeed!"

These words were firm.

Martin O'Neill smiled.

He now admired Chen Hero very much, and felt that Chen Hero's ability to provoke people was really too strong... With just such a simple sentence, he achieved the effect he wanted.

Don't look at Chiellini saying things like "We won't be fooled" and "He won't succeed," but if he really hadn't lost his composure, why would he repeat this?

Obviously, the anger in his heart had already burned up.

He couldn't even control his emotions.

Chiellini was the captain of Juventus, and his attitude actually represented the attitude of the entire Juventus team. So, if he was now burning with anger, then the other Juventus players were no better off...

Sometimes Martin O'Neill also wondered what magic Chen Hero had, why could he make his opponents jump up and lose their original composure with just a few words. Even if they were gentlemen before, they could be forced into lunatics by him...

Why was that?

Yes, why was that?

Martin O'Neill would never know that Chen Hero had planted a deeply rooted impression in the hearts of many people through a series of foolish performances—I really hate this Chen Hero!!!

Since they already couldn't stand Chen Hero, then no matter what he said or did, they would feel that this person was talking nonsense and doing nonsense. They couldn't help but want to slap this person in the face, no matter how fierce his previous record was, no matter how many people he had slapped in the face, they wouldn't care so much.

That's why Chen Hero's provocations always succeeded—because he was really the kind of bastard that everyone wanted to beat up when they saw him!

※※※

Bastard Chen Hero was being interviewed by reporters at the entrance of the hotel at this time.

Chen Hero didn't need to watch TV news and newspapers to know what had happened. Because reporters had already relayed Chiellini's words to him.

He smiled.

"I know, I know Juventus is always very calm and composed, like a tortoise hiding in its shell..."

Damn it!

This was simply unbearable!

Chen Hero had even ridiculed Juventus as tortoises!

Those reporters from Turin and other Italian media were stunned after hearing this sentence.

Then they had the above thoughts in their minds.

They could even imagine what kind of monstrous waves this remark would cause if the Juventus players heard it!

Some reporters had already pushed aside to make phone calls. They lowered their voices and whispered into the microphones: "Yes, yes... He just said it, he said it like that, he said Juventus is a tortoise..."

※※※

Now it was the Internet age, and the speed of information dissemination was much faster than before. What the traditional media hadn't reported had already spread on the Internet.

Immediately on Twitter and Facebook, reporters broadcast Chen Hero's words live.

This naturally aroused the anger of Juventus fans.

However, it also attracted cheers and applause from Napoli fans. Everyone said that Chen Hero, you are worthy of being from Napoli! The hatred for Juventus is simply innate! Well done!

※※※

Browsing Twitter and Facebook was now a hobby for many professional players in their spare time. For example, on the way from the hotel to the stadium, or in the locker room after the game, everyone would take out their mobile phones, take a selfie, and then post it on their Twitter or Facebook accounts.

This kind of entertainment activity didn't take up much time, and could be picked up and put down at any time. It saved time and was efficient, so it was naturally very popular among professional players.

So in the hotel, when everyone was bored waiting for the evening game, many people began to pick up their phones and browse Twitter.

Claudio Marchisio was browsing Twitter when he suddenly cursed: "Damn it, this bastard!"