Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 285 Aerial Blitzkrieg! (Guaranteed Second Update)
His words startled Arshavin: “Are you kidding me? Shoot from here? The chances of it going in are extremely low!”
Chen Hero nodded: “I know. But might as well give it a try.”
“That would mean we’d lose an attacking opportunity…” Arshavin disagreed.
Chen Hero turned his head to look around, then said to Arshavin, “Look, Shava.” He pointed to his teammates.
They were all standing obediently on the field like himself and Arshavin, waiting for the second half to begin.
Their opponents, the Palermo players, had not yet come out.
“It’s a bit cold on a February night, and I feel like the enthusiasm I built up in the locker room is cooling down. I think everyone else feels the same way, right? If I were the Palermo coach, knowing that the opponents have come out early, I would definitely let my players stay in the warm locker room for a little longer… that way, when they come out again, we’ll already be half-frozen. So I want to give Palermo a welcome gift at the start of the game, whether it goes in or not, just to scare them.”
Arshavin doubted Chen Hero’s accuracy in shooting from so far away, but he knew that if Chen Hero decided to do something, not even the end of the world could stop him. He had experienced this firsthand at Zenit. When he decided to leave Zenit before last summer, he really did it, unlike himself, who had wanted to leave Zenit for a long time but didn’t manage to do so until he was twenty-seven.
So he stopped talking.
However, a new idea sprouted in his mind.
Chen Hero might not be able to score this way, but he might be able to create some trouble for Palermo’s goal. Although the chances weren’t high, if the opportunity arose, he would seize it!
Even if he failed, it would just be a wasted sprint; his stamina was not a problem.
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The Napoli players were blown by the cold night wind for about four minutes before the Palermo players emerged from the tunnel. When they saw some of the Napoli players shivering with cold, a "plot succeeded" smile appeared on their faces.
Chen Hero was also shivering, and shivering badly.
Arshavin next to him found it strange. He was cold too, but not to this extent—shivering like this wasn’t just cold, it was spasms…
“Are you very cold, Hero?” he asked.
Chen Hero shook his head: “Not cold.”
“Then what is this…?” Arshavin pointed at Chen Hero’s appearance.
Chen Hero continued to shiver as he said, “I’m messing with them! Didn’t you see how happy they were to see me like this?”
“…” Arshavin was speechless. Why does this guy have so many weird hobbies…
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The Palermo players were indeed very happy to see the Napoli players shivering. When Napoli first came out, they had also planned to follow, but their coach Davide Ballardini stopped them, telling them to wait patiently in the locker room for a few minutes before going out.
Sure enough, when they went out, they saw the Napoli players with impatient expressions and shivering bodies. Especially that big guy, he was shaking so much he was about to fall apart, so funny! Hahahaha!
Just then, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the second half.
Arshavin lightly flicked the football forward, then charged straight towards the opponent’s penalty area.
He increased his speed to the maximum, heading straight for Palermo’s goal in a straight line.
Just as the Palermo players were mocking the Napoli players in their hearts, Chen Hero rushed up, swung his right leg, and powerfully shot at the football!
The football whizzed over the heads of the Palermo players who had rushed up first.
He was startled and reflexively twisted his body, almost tripping and falling to the ground…
In fact, it wasn’t just him who was startled, everyone else was the same…
“Okay, with the referee’s whistle, the second half of the match begins… Wait! What is Hero doing? He directly kicked the football towards… the opponent’s goal?!”
“He must be crazy! He just wasted an attacking opportunity like that!”
Initially, the Palermo players’ attention was all drawn to Arshavin. Everyone didn’t understand why he was suddenly running forward without any direction. Many people even thought it was a new tactic from Napoli… so the defenders were all wary of Arshavin.
But now they realized—the threat was coming from the air!
Chen Hero kicked the football towards Palermo’s goal!
And judging by the looks on their faces… everyone looked up at the football. Many people initially thought the football would fly directly out of the baseline or miss the target.
But the more they looked, the more they felt something was wrong…
Because the ball was falling straight towards the goal!
The goalkeeper Marco Amelia, who was standing quite far forward, quickly retreated when he saw the football flying over, but the speed of the football’s flight still greatly exceeded his expectations, and so did its accuracy…
“The football… bounced off the ground, and then… flew towards the goal!” the commentator exclaimed in a broken voice.
The Palermo players on the stands were also startled by this scene, completely unable to imagine that the goal would face such a serious crisis at the very beginning of the second half!
Amelia retreated all the way, and just as he was about to reach the goal line, he leaned back and jumped up, reaching out to block this… shocking lob.
He wanted to push the football directly over the crossbar, but in the process of retreating, the height of his jump was not enough. If he pushed his hand backward, he was afraid that he would directly push the football into the goal… so he could only stretch out his hand and try his best to hit it forward, hoping that there would be his own people at the football’s landing point—this shouldn’t be a concern, because it was just the beginning of the kickoff, and there must be his teammates near the penalty area.
The football was hit back by him.
And he himself fell heavily to the ground.
A sigh of relief sounded from the stands—many Palermo fans finally felt relieved.
This corner kick only caused trouble for their goalkeeper, but it still didn’t go in.
Palermo defender Simon Kjaer was preparing to clear the football when he heard a burst of exclamation!
The Napoli fans in the stands let out a huge cheer, and along with them, the Palermo players also jumped up from their seats. It was their exclamations that Kjaer heard!
When Kjaer didn’t understand what had happened, a figure flashed past, overtook him from behind, and appeared in front of him. Only then did he see clearly that the other person was wearing a Napoli blue jersey, not Palermo’s pink home jersey!
The number on the person’s back was very clear—23.
Number 23, Arshavin!
Arshavin grabbed the landing point of the football before Kjaer, and then, without making any adjustments, he raised his foot and shot directly!
The football flew into the empty goal without any suspense!
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After Chen Hero kicked the football, he stood in the center circle and didn’t go out. When a huge cheer and exclamation sounded in the stadium, he raised his arms high and celebrated the goal in advance.
He didn’t expect Arshavin to be able to catch up with the football, but it was a good thing after all. They had tied the score!
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“Goal… goal!!” The Italian commentator lengthened his voice and roared. “Only… a few seconds into the second half, and Napoli has tied the score! 2:2!”
“Arshavin’s lightning-fast insertion is amazing! But even more amazing is Chen Hero’s direct lob from the center circle—he really dares to think!”
“Although this goal may have an element of luck, I still have to say that this is a very creative way to score!”
“Napoli relied on a lightning-fast aerial raid to tie the score away from home! This makes the second half much easier for them!”
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The Napoli fans were celebrating the goal with abandon. They didn’t have to struggle, because the goal was scored by Arshavin. Although this goal was an empty-goal opportunity created by Chen Hero, they could automatically block it out…
The Palermo fans were dumbfounded, somewhat unable to believe what they were seeing.
When Chen Hero kicked the football towards the goal, everyone thought it was just a waste of an opportunity to vent his frustration. Even the reporters in the stands were thinking—Chen Hero is being stupid again!
What happened?
This lob, which looked particularly stupid, forced goalkeeper Amelia to lose his balance, creating an empty goal. Arshavin picked up a bargain.
The reporters in the media box were shaking their heads. Chen Hero this person… can’t understand, really can’t understand!
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The people who were surprised were not only the Palermo fans and those reporters, but even the Napoli coaching staff…
Coach Mazzarri himself didn’t expect it at all. He held his head in his hands, turned around and asked assistant coach Viviani: “Is this real, Fabio? Is this real?”
“It’s real! It’s real!” Viviani shouted excitedly. “We’re tied! The second half just started, and we’ve already tied!”
The people around them had already cheered and hugged each other.
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“It’s unbelievable! The second half has just started, and Napoli’s first attack, they directly lobbed the goal with the kickoff, and it actually resulted in a goal! Palermo’s first goal in the first half was also launched with the kickoff. But Napoli is obviously better, because they scored with the second shot after the kickoff! The whole process took… four point six eight seconds!” The specific goal time finally came out, and the commentator was shocked again.
After scoring the goal, Arshavin turned around and ran back, then gave Chen Hero, who was standing in the center circle and not moving, a warm hug.
And more teammates rushed up and surrounded them both.
They patted Chen Hero and Arshavin hard.
“This is unbelievable! You must have discussed it beforehand, right?”
“Haha! Great!”
Watching his teammates celebrate the goal for Chen Hero and Arshavin, Lavezzi on the bench felt very uncomfortable.
He felt that since those transfer rumors came out, not only had his position with the coach plummeted, but in the locker room, he seemed to be gradually marginalized… What is it about this Chen Hero, what kind of charm does he have, that he can get along with the people around him so quickly?
Lavezzi couldn’t figure it out.