Chapter 1 Before the Match Against Genoa

Prior to the match against Genoa, Chen Hero followed the team on an expedition to Portugal and started in Napoli's third round, second leg, of the UEFA Cup qualifier against Benfica.

The two sides eventually drew 0:0, and the team eliminated Benfica with an aggregate score of 3:2, earning a place in the UEFA Cup proper. Chen Hero had finally not lost the opportunity to continue participating in European competitions, but he failed to score, leaving the team in a very passive and dangerous situation for a long time during the game—Benfica, with two away goals, only needed one more to eliminate Napoli, and they were naturally highly motivated.

Therefore, many Napoli fans believed that the team's final qualification for the UEFA Cup proper was due to the defense, and that Chen Hero had not contributed anything—they forgot that if it hadn't been for Chen Hero's goal in the home game that turned the score around, if the aggregate score had been 2:2, Napoli would have been eliminated by Benfica even with a 0:0 draw in this game.

Returning to Serie A from Portugal, he lost his starting position.

When asked about the decision to put him on the bench in the game against Genoa, Reja replied, "He just went to Portugal with the team, and I think he should rest. After all, we will be fighting on two fronts this season, and our lineup will be rotated appropriately."

This explanation was impeccable and flawless. There was no room for doubt.

The match against Benfica was on October 2nd, and the match against Genoa was on October 5th, with only two days in between, not to mention the time it took for Napoli to fly back from Portugal. The journey was exhausting, and it was inevitable that his physical strength and condition would be affected, so there was nothing to be surprised about Chen Hero starting on the bench.

Therefore, the media did not overhype the fact that Chen Hero had lost his starting position for the first time in an official match since joining Napoli.

But everything changed after that.

On October 18th, Napoli welcomed their strongest opponent so far this season to their home ground—the "Old Lady," Juventus.

If it was said that Chen Hero was put on the bench against Genoa for the sake of team rotation, then he should return to the starting lineup for the match against Juventus, right? After all, it was an international A-level match day, a day for many national team matches. Napoli also had several international players, and Lavezzi, who had performed well for Napoli in the past year, was called up, and Salayeta also returned to the Uruguayan national team thanks to his goal in the previous league round.

During this busy international match day, Chen Hero had nothing to do. Because he was not called up for the national team matches, he had been banned by the Chinese Football Association. Although the Olympic team's performance in the Beijing Olympic Games was embarrassing, and people missed Chen Hero, who had been kicked out of the team, the Football Association still had no intention of changing its decision. Perhaps Chen Hero's sluggish performance in Napoli gave them more confidence not to let Chen Hero enter the national team.

So, in addition to going to the Volturno training base to train with the reserve team, Chen Hero locked himself in his hotel room and frantically practiced in the dungeon, striving to refine his footwork as soon as possible.

Moreover, after careful study, his strategy for adding talent points in the technical awareness system was completely different from that in the strength system. In the strength system, his strategy was to focus on one talent for a period of time, upgrading it to the highest level before upgrading other talents. But now it was different. In order to improve his various foot skills faster, he would unlock a new talent point every time he leveled up. For example, when he leveled up to twenty-eighth, he unlocked "Bicycle Boy," which increased his training effect by 10% when practicing bicycle kicks. Now that he had leveled up to twenty-ninth, he did not continue to upgrade the "Bicycle Boy" talent, but directly opened a new talent—"Bengbu Swirl," the first level of which increased his Marseille turn and single-leg turn technique training effect by 5%. This way, he could practice two techniques at the same time, which would obviously greatly speed up his footwork practice.

Since Chen Hero did not participate in the national team match, but stayed in Naples honestly, and the gossip media did not find any signs of him entering nightclubs, bars, and other entertainment venues, then there was definitely no problem with his physical fitness.

In this case, he should be put in the starting lineup for the match against Juventus if rotation was a consideration.

But the fact was that the starting forward partnership was still Lavezzi and Salayeta!

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"I think after this game we can announce that Chen Hero has completely lost his place in Reja's mind. He is the biggest flop in the history of the Napoli club!"

A Napoli reporter said in the press box at the Stadio San Paolo.

Sitting on the bench for two consecutive games made even many Chinese reporters crestfallen. They also felt that Chen Hero's days in Napoli seemed to be coming to an end. After this season... no, during the winter break, perhaps Chen Hero should find another way out, even if it was just a loan, at least to a team that could use him as a tactical core and allow him to score goals.

At this moment, a sharp-eyed Chinese reporter suddenly noticed Chen Hero standing up from the bench—his height of 1.93 meters and weight of 98 kilograms made his figure very conspicuous and easy to recognize.

Immediately afterward, Chen Hero ran toward the warm-up area.

"It seems he's going to play!" The Chinese reporters were slightly relieved. At least he could still play. When he didn't even have the chance to come off the bench, that was really the end of the road...

The Napoli reporters were reminded by the sudden burst of boos, and they all turned their eyes to the warm-up area. Sure enough, Chen Hero was warming up there.

At this time, it was the sixty-fourth minute of the game. Just three minutes earlier, Juventus, playing away from home, took the lead at the Stadio San Paolo with a goal from center forward Amauri.

The Napoli reporters sneered, "What? Does Reja still plan to rely on this flop to help the team equalize and eventually reverse the score? Don't be ridiculous!"

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"That bastard is warming up! Everyone boo him!"

The Napoli fans in the stands dedicated their boos to Chen Hero. The giant banner in the stands also "fluttered" under the shaking of the fans.

Thus, under a barrage of boos and burdened with the media's disdain, Chen Hero did shuttle runs in the warm-up area.

"Chen Hero is warming up! Is he going to come on as a substitute?" The CCTV commentator Liu Jianhong's tone suddenly became excited.

Zhang Lu added from the side, "Juventus just scored, Reja will definitely make adjustments. Salayeta is not in good form in this game. Flying from Italy to South America and then from South America to Italy, such a back-and-forth trip has too much impact on his condition and physical strength. After all, he has just recovered from his injury and his physical fitness has not fully recovered to its normal state. In fact, he should not have started this game..."

As he was speaking, a huge cheer suddenly erupted at the Stadio San Paolo!

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"Lavezzi! Lavezzi! Lavezzi!" The Napoli fans in the stands kept chanting the name of the goalscorer.

In the sixty-fifth minute, Lavezzi used his dribbling to break into the penalty area, then cleverly shot and scored, helping the team equalize!

After cheering, the Napoli fans began to sing their recently composed song—this song would be sung after Lavezzi scored.

"We have Lavezzi! Alala! We have Lavezzi! We don't want that big stupid bear! We don't want that big stupid bear! Big! Stupid! Bear!"

After singing, everyone burst into laughter, mocking Chen Hero as a big, stupid bear who couldn't score goals.

The faces of the Chinese reporters in the press box who understood Italian were not very good. They had heard this song several times, and every time they heard it, they felt uncomfortable.

Chen Hero, who was once their pride in Russia, was now being ridiculed in Napoli, and they couldn't fight back...

"Damn it!" Someone finally couldn't help but curse. "This is too much bullying!"

"Sigh—" More people shook their heads and sighed, not knowing what to say.

※※※

"Lavezzi scored, which is... not a good thing for Chen Hero!" Liu Jianhong was worried for Chen Hero. On the one hand, Lavezzi continued to score, and his position as a main player in the team was further consolidated. On the other hand, Napoli had equalized, and Reja might change his mind and not let Chen Hero play!

But this worry did not come true, because Chen Hero came on in the seventieth minute.

He replaced Salayeta again—but judging from these two games, Chen Hero seemed to be Salayeta's substitute.

Wearing the Napoli No. 9 jersey, Chen Hero ran onto the field, and huge boos rang out again. This was the home fans' "welcome" to him.

Chen Hero raised his head and ran to his place—the front of the formation, the center forward position.

That was his territory, he was the hero in the penalty area, and no one could steal his spotlight in the penalty area.

Before he came on, Reja pulled him aside and rambled on to Chen Hero, gesticulating as he spoke. The main idea was still the same old thing, nothing more than letting him distract Juventus's defenders for Lavezzi, who was in good form, pulling Grýgera out and creating space for Lavezzi to break through.

Chen Hero nodded at the time, indicating that he understood, but now he sneered in his heart.

In the world of football, the winner is king. You, Lavezzi, are in good form? I can also score goals!

Maradona's successor?

I'm not even afraid of Maradona himself, let alone a smaller version of you!