Chapter 1 He Was Thinking it Was Strange

Chen Yingxiong felt it was quite strange. Why was it that not long after the start of the second half, when he tried to penetrate toward the goal, he encountered almost no resistance and entered so easily? Lorik Cana, who had been strictly guarding him before, wasn't acting like Marseille's center-back, but more like Chen Yingxiong's personal bodyguard, only jumping up to interfere when his teammates passed him aerial balls, and just watching from the sidelines most of the time. During this period, Chen Yingxiong had two chances to shoot with his feet in the penalty area, and unsurprisingly, his shots both went wide of the goal.

When did the opponent's defense become so lax?

Chen Yingxiong was overjoyed and raised his hand for the ball. The ball was passed into the air, but the quality of the crosses was uneven—not that there wasn't a single decent cross. But it was clear that Marseille had put a lot of effort into aerial defense.

Chen Yingxiong couldn't easily score with a header.

After failing several times with headed attempts, Chen Yingxiong realized where the problem lay—he had cut off his connection with his teammates. Even if he stood in front of the goal, staring at the goalkeeper, it wouldn't help.

Marseille simply didn't care whether he entered the penalty area or not!

Chen Yingxiong wasn't stupid. He knew that Marseille wasn't being lax in their defense, but that their defense was even tighter, only they had changed their method of defending him…

What should he do? He didn't frown and ponder like Advocaat on the sidelines; his thinking was very simple—since in the first half, he had been physically battling Cana outside, and it had worked well, and he had even scored a goal, that meant his threat outside the penalty area was greater than inside. Why else would Marseille have been so determined to defend the penalty area in the first half, not letting him in, only to suddenly change their attitude in the second half?

I'll do what the enemy fears most…

So he returned to outside the penalty area, stood in front of Lorik Cana again, raised his hand, and asked his teammates for the ball.

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Cana had wanted to let Chen Yingxiong into the penalty area, but it wasn't his decision to make. Since Chen Yingxiong himself didn't want to go in, there was nothing he could do.

So he had to grit his teeth and continue the physical confrontation with Chen Yingxiong.

Collision, collision, and more collision.

Physically, Chen Yingxiong clearly had the advantage, and Cana could only rely on his willpower to fight him.

Of course, the referee could occasionally help him.

Chen Yingxiong had already been called for fouls three times for bumping into people like this.

But he wasn't afraid. Such fouls rarely resulted in a yellow card, so he was simply unrestrained—as long as you don't call it once, and I get in, then it's my world!

Not to mention Lorik Cana, even Marseille's coach, Éric Gerets, who had fought countless battles as a player, had rarely seen such a center forward playing with his back to the goal…

Purely relying on physical strength, with almost no skill—if you had to say there was any skill, it was the skill of using his back and butt to push people…

But even with this seemingly crude and unskilled approach, Marseille's defenders were at a loss.

Cana's center-back partner, Gael Givet, came to help, and Chen Yingxiong immediately passed the ball to Kerzhakov, who was temporarily unmarked. Kerzhakov's shot forced goalkeeper Mandanda to make a brilliant save.

Givet immediately became honest.

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As the game progressed, everyone was surprised to realize that it had reached the seventy-fifth minute in the intense back-and-forth.

So far, neither side had scored again. The score was still 1:0, with Zenit Saint Petersburg leading at home. Marseille led 3:2 on aggregate.

This score meant that Marseille would eliminate Zenit and advance to the quarterfinals.

Gerets stood nervously on the sidelines. Ever since Chen Yingxiong had run back out of the penalty area and started dueling Cana, he had been like this, not returning to the coaching bench.

He was nervous!

The team's attack was currently weak, and they could only wait for Zenit to panic and make mistakes, then seize the opportunity to counterattack. Even if they couldn't score, it didn't matter, as long as Zenit became anxious themselves, their attacking power would naturally be greatly reduced.

As long as this score was maintained until the end of the game, Marseille would win!

Gerets mostly kept his eyes fixed on Chen Yingxiong and Cana.

Every time Chen Yingxiong stuck out his butt to challenge Cana, he couldn't help but feel a tightening in his lower abdomen.

He knew that Cana was under tremendous pressure. He was using his body as Marseille's wall, and this wall had stubbornly blocked Chen Yingxiong for seventy-five minutes, only giving the opponent one chance!

Such a player, as Marseille's captain, was truly the most suitable!

A team always needed someone who could step forward at a critical moment, sacrificing himself to save the team's fate.

Lorik Cana had done it.

Gerets sighed inwardly.

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Not only Gerets was paying attention to the time of the game, but also Zenit Saint Petersburg's coach, Advocaat, who was standing on the sidelines.

He was equally anxious, but his expression remained as calm as an ancient well.

If he were to become anxious, the players on the field who were desperately searching for a goal would probably panic…

He could still control his facial expressions, but the Zenit fans in the stands had long lost control.

There were fifteen minutes left in the game, and they had to score a goal within these fifteen minutes. But looking at the team's current situation, they were still unable to break the deadlock.

"Attack! Attack!"

"We need a goal!"

Some anxious Zenit fans began to boo Marseille's players because Marseille had started to waste time…

Arshavin tried a long shot, but it flew directly out of bounds. It was Marseille's goal kick, but goalkeeper Mandanda repeatedly placed the ball on the ground three times before pushing it away to prepare to kick.

Watching him carefully place the ball, as if he were arranging a ceramic work of art, deafening boos echoed over Petrovsky Stadium.

Even a fool would know that the opponent was wasting time with such loud boos.

The referee decisively blew his whistle and gave Mandanda a yellow card. Mandanda shrugged and spread his hands, looking innocent.

As a result, this earned him even more boos.

The jeers showed how anxious Zenit's fans were. Marseille's fans were happy, and the few Marseille fans cheered in the corner of the stands. They sang the "Marseillaise" to cheer for their team.

Helsky was also anxious: "Arshavin shouldn't blindly shoot from long range! He should pass the ball to Dominguez and reorganize the attack! We have many attacking opportunities, but if we waste them like this, it won't help!"

The reporters in the press box were also worried about the team's prospects.

"If this continues, the team's chances of scoring will only become slimmer!"

"Do we really have to rely on a miracle?"

"Did Hero's goal use up Zenit's last bit of luck?"

"God! Whoever it is, score a goal!"

The French reporters happily restarted the topic of predicting the next round's opponents.

Two more minutes passed amidst everyone's worries.

In the seventy-seventh minute of the game, the score was still 1:0, with the home team Zenit Saint Petersburg leading.

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Marseille had a double defensive midfielder lineup in this game, one attacking midfielder, Benoit Cheyrou, and the other a defensive midfielder, Modeste M'Bami.

Cheyrou needed to orchestrate the attack, and the key to switching from defense to offense was him, so he couldn't go and get entangled with Chen Yingxiong. But if he wanted to attack, he still had to start with Chen Yingxiong.

During a break in play, he called his partner in the midfield, M'Bami, over and asked him to join Cana in surrounding Chen Yingxiong. With two people, one in front and one behind, they would definitely be able to intercept the ball. As long as they could steal the ball, he would be able to launch a successful counterattack—he wasn't as confident and optimistic as the French fans and reporters in the stands. He felt that the current situation was very dangerous, and only a goal could dispel the strong sense of crisis in his heart.

M'Bami nodded and agreed to Cheyrou's arrangement.

Although Nasri was more famous, Marseille's midfield core was not the French "Four Little Tigers of '87" who were as famous as Benzema, Ben Arfa, and Menez, but the unassuming Benoit Cheyrou.

When Chen Yingxiong took the ball again with his back to the goal, preparing to challenge Cana, the Cameroonian rushed up to help captain Cana fight Chen Yingxiong.

He took advantage of Chen Yingxiong's full attention on Cana to sweep his foot at the ball!

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When they saw M'Bami and Cana double-teaming Chen Yingxiong, the people in the stands were startled. Many fans couldn't help but cry out.

The reporters in the press box were better, after all, they didn't shout and scream. But they also felt that Chen Yingxiong was going to lose the ball this time.

Everyone knew what Chen Yingxiong's footwork was like. He rarely kept the ball at his feet for too long. In the game, he always tried to pass the ball as much as possible. When his teammates passed him the ball, he would never dribble the ball into the opponent's penalty area, but quickly transfer the ball out. His performance was really like a transfer station. Only in front of the goal would he jump high and deliver the fatal blow!

He was a smart player, knowing how to hide his weaknesses and give full play to his strengths. But now, in everyone's opinion, he wasn't smart at all—before, when facing one Cana, he could use his body to bully people. Now, facing a double attack from the front and back, it was really unwise to control the ball like this!

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Chen Yingxiong caught a glimpse of the ill-intentioned black man out of the corner of his eye, and he knew what he was going to do without even thinking. So when M'Bami swept his foot over, Chen Yingxiong quickly bumped backward, while pulling the ball in front of him!

In the copy world, he faced environments ten times worse than this. There were dense defensive players all around, and none of his teammates. In that copy world, he was trained very hard, but he also slowly honed what he should do in this situation.

So M'Bami's move couldn't steal his ball at all!

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"M'Bami!" The French commentator shouted excitedly, as if the Cameroonian international had already intercepted the ball.

But then they saw Chen Yingxiong quickly pull the ball in front of him, and M'Bami's foot swept empty!

M'Bami, who had used too much force, even lost his balance and staggered, almost falling to the ground!

But the test Chen Yingxiong faced wasn't over yet, because behind him was Lorik Cana, who was still fighting hard, staring at Chen Yingxiong's ball with great ambition.

Cana, who had been patiently waiting for an opportunity, finally waited for the moment he wanted. Chen Yingxiong pulled the ball back, and now the ball was closer to him. He could reach the ball by extending his leg from behind. And Chen Yingxiong must have put all his attention on M'Bami at this time, and would definitely not think that he would take advantage of this time… Even if he knew, so what? Could he still react in time?

Tall people aren't very agile.

Lorik Cana slid his body down, grabbed Chen Yingxiong's arm with one hand, grabbed his jersey with the other, and stabbed the ball from behind!

Outsiders watched carefully, thinking that this ball would definitely be intercepted.

Marseille's core, Cheyrou, had even prepared to receive the ball and launch a counterattack. Everyone knew that if Chen Yingxiong was intercepted, it would be quite dangerous. Out of trust in Chen Yingxiong, Zenit's defense pushed up in large numbers, leaving large swathes of space behind them.

As Cana extended his foot to stab the ball, his eyes were always on the ball. Just as he thought he was about to successfully intercept the ball, the ball disappeared from his sight!

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Chen Yingxiong had just pulled the ball back when he immediately pushed it to the left side of his body. This action was completely done in one go, very smoothly, without the slightest pause, as if he had known what Cana was going to do.

In fact, this was entirely a conditioned reflex trained in the copy world. Chen Yingxiong's body firmly remembered this series of actions.

Pushing the ball to the left side of his body, Chen Yingxiong braced himself against Cana with one hand and quickly turned in the direction of the ball!

Lorik Cana was forced to open the hand that was grabbing his arm to maintain his balance, while the other hand still firmly grabbed his clothes, not letting go. Cana knew very well what this kid was going to do. At this time, he couldn't let go, absolutely couldn't let go, he would rather drag him down with him! He didn't believe that Chen Yingxiong could complete the turning shot while carrying his whole body…

But whether he believed it or not, Chen Yingxiong was indeed turning!

Chen Yingxiong could feel the pressure on his body. He didn't know what the other party had done to him, and he didn't have time to care about it. At this time, it was like an arrow on a bowstring, he had to fire it. He had already pushed the ball over, and if he didn't turn with it, this attack would be over! How many more such failed attacks could they afford? With only a dozen minutes left in the game, every failure was a heavy blow to morale!

So he used all his strength, gritted his teeth, veins popping, his face red and his neck thick… and turned!

It was like a rusty turret was stubbornly turning its muzzle, aiming at the target! Amidst the ear-piercing creaking sounds, rust was constantly peeling off the turret, and debris was splashing everywhere…

Cana found that the scene in front of him was turning—he was turning with Chen Yingxiong! This kid was turning with him!

The French commentator was stunned by the scene in front of him. He let out a fearful cry but then said nothing more. "Oh my god, what am I seeing…"

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At the same time as Chen Yingxiong turned, his right foot had already swung up, taking advantage of the force of his turning to whip at the ball.

In front of him stood Marseille's towering and thick walls, and the tightly closed city gate.

But now, this copper wall and iron wall had collapsed under his continuous attacks. The collapse initially started from one corner, and now it had spread to the entire city wall. Large chunks of boulders fell from the air in front of him, and amidst the smoke and dust, the goal was revealed!

Lorik Cana hung behind Chen Yingxiong, like a piece of tattered cloth fluttering in the wind. He finally couldn't hold on to Chen Yingxiong's clothes anymore, slipped down, and fell to the ground…

At the same time, Chen Yingxiong, this siege weapon, had adjusted his muzzle and roared at Marseille's walls, turrets, and city gates.

Bang!

Amidst the fire and smoke, the football flew out like a cannonball.

The straight-line distance from the edge of the penalty box to the goal was sixteen and a half meters. Chen Yingxiong used all his strength and the force of his turn to unleash a heavy shot that flew to the goal line in less than half a second!

Mandanda didn't have time to make any effective save, but the ball still hit the tip of his finger, which he raised subconsciously—Chen Yingxiong's long shot had plenty of power, but the angle was a bit too straight.

But this couldn't stop the ball from flying into the goal. The ball bounced once, flew upwards, and crashed into the net above the goal!

When the football lost all its momentum under the restraint of the net and fell weakly behind Mandanda, the passionate "Marseillaise" was completely drowned out by the desperate and frenzied roars of the Saint Petersburg fans!

Not singing, nor specific meaning, just wild and powerful roars and shouts, sweeping the entire stadium and soaring into the sky!

This sound was telling the Marseille people who had been cheering earlier—you're doomed!!

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ps, This is Chen Yingxiong's violent aesthetic!

Screaming and shouting for monthly tickets!!