Chapter 1 Naples' Quick Strike

The first half was very difficult for Napoli fans because their starting goalkeeper, Matteo Gianello, was subbed off in the thirty-second minute due to injury.

It caught Mazzarri off guard.

The first half hadn't even started and he had already used up a substitution, and this was on the road, where many unexpected things can happen.

So for most of the first half, Napoli was on the defensive, and Chen Hero couldn't play to his strengths.

But it seemed that after the darkest hour comes the dawn.

The second half had just begun when Fiorentina's forward Stevan Jovetic was also injured and had to come off...

Now the two sides were even, both having used up a substitution early.

But just when Napoli fans were relieved, Fiorentina scored!

Fiorentina's Brazilian midfielder, Mario Alberto Santana, scored the first goal for his team in a chaotic scramble.

"Ah! Damn it!" In the press box, some reporters from Naples couldn't help but swear when they saw their team fall behind. This was the umpteenth game in a row that they had conceded first... There were indeed problems with the team's defense.

Some had previously said that Mazzarri's 3-4-3 formation with three defenders was too risky.

But Mazzarri himself knew that this Napoli team couldn't find suitable full-backs, because according to Reja's transfer strategy, they had almost exclusively signed center-backs. So he could only continue to use Reja's personnel and play 3-4-3.

To change the team's current defensive situation, he would have to wait until the summer to bring in reinforcements.

What he needed to consider now was how to equalize the score...

Lavezzi didn't come to this game, but he still lined up in a 3-4-3, with Chen Hero in the middle, Arshavin on the right, and Vitale starting on the left. Except for the absence of Lavezzi, the starting lineup was almost identical to the one that reversed Roma in the last game.

However, the last game was not a good reference. Because it was almost Chen Hero who defeated Roma with his own strength, not Napoli's victory. Even Roma's coach said after the game, "We lost to Chen Hero," he didn't say "We lost to Napoli."

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"Napoli is behind again. Fiorentina scored two minutes after Jovetic was injured and taken off. In the last game, Napoli was able to rely on Chen Hero's outstanding performance to reverse Roma, but in this game... Chen Hero hasn't had time to show his ability. In the first half, he only had two shots, neither of which were on target. His best header also had no chance to play—one statistic can illustrate the lack of Napoli's offense in the first half: the number of corners they got in the first half was... zero!"

As the commentator said this, Chen Hero and Arshavin stood in the center circle, waiting for the kickoff.

Chen Hero wasn't worried about falling behind.

He was talking to Arshavin about it.

"We'll get it back. Shava, like at Zenit."

Arshavin nodded.

"I know what to do."

Chen Hero looked up at Fiorentina's goal: "I think my performance in the first half must have left them with the impression that I'm not in good form this game."

He was right.

After watching the first half, everyone thought that Chen Hero was in another inexplicable slump. He was always good for one game, bad for a few, good for a few games, then bad for a few again.

No one knew why he was like this, so unstable.

The problem that people had been worried about seemed to have finally reappeared.

Those who liked him and supported him were frowning, while those who hated him were all smiles.

You were so arrogant last game, let's see how arrogant you can be now!

"Let's give them a surprise!"

Arshavin smiled when he heard this. "What are you planning to do?"

"Let's do something fast!"

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The Napoli fans and media in the stands were all frowning. Away from home, being led by the home team, once they built up their morale, Napoli's road trip would be difficult.

"Bad luck!" Some attributed the goal to bad luck—in the chaotic scramble just now, the last person to touch the ball was a Fiorentina player, and the ball actually went into the goal... What else could it be but bad luck?

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Fiorentina's players were still celebrating their goal. The ball had already been kicked over and was under Chen Hero's foot.

Hamsik stood outside the center circle, waiting for the kickoff. The expression on his face was quite depressed.

At this moment, he saw Chen Hero waving to him.

"Come here, Marek, come here!"

Hamsik ran over. "What's up?"

"How about we do a quick attack?" Chen Hero asked him.

"A quick attack? How quick?"

"Lure them out." Arshavin pointed to the Fiorentina players who were still celebrating. "Hero and I discussed it and felt that after taking the lead at home, these guys will definitely want to score again, they will definitely press forward. We can lure them out, so that when large areas of space appear behind them, we can take advantage of it."

"Lure them?" After listening to Chen Hero's translation, Hamsik frowned, thought for a while, and then his eyes lit up. "I know what to do!"

"You know?" Chen Hero asked Hamsik.

Hamsik nodded and said, "Yes, I know. Later, when you kick off, run forward, Hero, you run straight, Andrei, you go wide."

Chen Hero translated Hamsik's words to Arshavin.

Arshavin nodded in agreement after listening.

"Good, Hero. In a moment, after you kick the ball out, don't worry about anything else, just run forward, don't stop, and don't hesitate. It's our responsibility if the ball doesn't reach your feet." Hamsik wasn't old, but he had the demeanor of a general, which was due to his experience of venturing out on his own at a young age, being very independent and self-reliant. "Let's give them a quick one!"

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The Fiorentina players finally finished celebrating their goal, and they ran back to their own half.

The referee stood outside the center circle, and when all the Fiorentina players had returned to their positions, he blew the whistle to restart the game.

Chen Hero gently nudged the ball forward, which counted as the kickoff.

Then he buried his head and charged forward.

When he passed the first Fiorentina player, Alberto Gilardino, Arshavin had already passed the ball back to Hamsik, and after passing the ball, Arshavin also ran out on a diagonal line, heading straight for the sideline.

After receiving the ball, Hamsik turned around and passed the ball to center-back Paolo Cannavaro.

At the same time, those Fiorentina players who had just scored and were still in a state of excitement, also eagerly rushed up. They wanted to take advantage of their momentum of having just scored a goal and strive to score another goal. Leading by two goals in the second half would basically mean locking in the victory.

Paolo Cannavaro did not pass the ball long directly, but passed the ball horizontally to his center-back partner, Aronica, next to him.

Hamsik faced the defensive line and glanced back to see where Arshavin and Chen Hero were.

He saw that Arshavin was almost at the sideline, and Chen Hero... was already approaching the opponent's defensive midfielder.

That was enough, running any further would be offside.

So he waved to Aronica, who was planning to make a long pass, and said, "Pass the ball to me!"

Hamsik was the tactical core of Napoli, responsible for connecting and organizing the team's offense and defense, so Aronica couldn't refuse his request.

So he changed his mind and passed the ball to Hamsik.

Hamsik let the ball slip between his legs, and at the same time turned around to complete the adjustment.

Then, without continuing to dribble the ball, nor looking up to observe, he directly swung his right leg and made a diagonal long pass!

The ball flew directly from the backfield, heading straight for the right side of the field!

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Arshavin had just arrived at the sideline, and he looked back. The ball was flying towards him.

Because Fiorentina had pressed forward in a big way, the sideline was relatively empty at this time. When Arshavin stopped the ball with his chest on the sideline, there were no Fiorentina players around him. Facing Arshavin, who was almost stepping on the sideline, the Brazilian defensive midfielder Felipe Melo, who was playing as a center-back in this game, simply stood far away in the inside lane and did not come up to press. After all, it was the sideline, even if he allowed him to take the ball calmly, he could only operate on the sideline.

Blocking the center and waiting for his teammates to return to defend was enough.

After stopping the ball, Arshavin did not continue to dribble the ball, but made a direct diagonal pass!

The ball passed behind Melo, close to the grass, drawing an arc!

"Arshavin passes the ball—a beautiful through pass!"

The ball bypassed Melo and reached behind the entire Fiorentina defense.

It was passed to the top of the penalty arc.

Another Fiorentina center-back, Luciano Zauri, who was returning to defend, saw the ball rolling towards him. Unable to control the ball, he could only choose to tackle, hoping that his sliding tackle could force the ball to change direction and fly towards the baseline.

Because he knew very well how dangerous it would be if the ball flew past him!

Behind him was a tigerish bear watching intently!

He threw his whole body out, sliding on the grass, his eyes fixed on the ball, straightening his toes, hoping to increase the length of his foot, even if it was just a touch, a slight touch would do, so that the ball would change its flight path, deviating a little, which could interfere with the person behind him...

"Zauri slides in!"

Napoli had created such a killing opportunity just after kickoff, which surprised everyone watching the game. At this moment, they all held their breath, their eyes wide, staring intently at the scene in front of Fiorentina's penalty area.

Can Zauri resolve this crisis?

The answer would be revealed in one second.

The ball slipped past his foot!

When this scene happened right in front of Zauri's eyes, his heart tightened.

At this moment, he could only pray that Chen Hero would be interfered with by his tackle... He turned his head to look at the guy next to him.

He saw Chen Hero taking a big step, adjusting his pace, and then swinging his arm and raising his right leg. He was as if he had known that the ball would be missed by Zauri, and he was prepared and ready.

A direct shot without stopping the ball—!!

Take this, Fiorentina! This is my greeting gift—!

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The ball flew straight towards the goal, drawing a bright straight line in the afternoon sun, like a meteor streaking across the sky.

Fiorentina goalkeeper Frey jumped to the side, stretching his body as much as possible in the air, his arms stretched longer and longer, he did everything he could, but he could not stop this lightning-fast shot!

Chen Hero had been gathering strength in advance, pouring all his power into the ball. If this shot didn't hit within the frame of the goal, it would fly directly into the stands.

If it hit within the frame of the goal... then basically no one could block it from such a close distance!

When the ball and the net made a crisp sound, it could be heard clearly even in the noisy Stadio Artemio Franchi!

This ball was powerful and fierce!

"..." The commentator was stunned for a moment before shouting, "Goal! Goal! Goal!! Napoli equalizes the score just thirteen seconds after the game restarts!! This... is incredible!"

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ps, I'm so sorry, I was too absorbed in discussing the plot with a certain cat and forgot the time...

I'm making up for this guaranteed update now, I'm sorry!

In addition, starting tomorrow, I will return to the normal state of two guaranteed updates per day, and bursts will be irregular depending on the situation of the manuscripts~

Thank you for your support!