Chapter 19 A Bear from the North

Arshavin's goal startled Moyes from his seat, and he waved his fist angrily, not very satisfied with the performance of the team's defense.

But who could he blame?

He never expected that the number 99 player would be so fierce. The future backbone of the England defense, Lescott, who had already been selected for the England national team, was suppressed by him and couldn't turn over, full of fear. The goal just now was because Lescott cared too much about Chen Hero, so he retreated with Chen Hero, and this retreat happened to pull the space out for Arshavin.

Letting him score.

So in the final analysis, Chen Hero was the key to this goal!

Moyes sat back in his chair, and suddenly he wasn't angry anymore.

He looked at Chen Hero, who was hugging and celebrating with his teammates on the field, and admitted the mistake he had made.

He had always been very accurate in his vision for young players, but he never expected to misjudge this person...

What else could he say?

He accepted his fate.

There were still more than ten minutes left in the game, but the situation in front of Moyes made him feel helpless—he lacked understanding of that big guy, and he didn't know what else he was good at. Without understanding, there was naturally no targeted strategy, and he could only rely on the players on the field to deal with Chen Hero. But Lescott had already proved with practical actions that he couldn't stop Chen Hero...

Now that the opponent was leading, they had more reason to shrink back and play defensive counterattacks. Leaving only Chen Hero in front, he didn't need to shoot, as long as he could protect the ball for thirty seconds, he could consume half a minute of game time. As this accumulated, time would become less and less, which would only be more beneficial for Zenit.

And there was also a bit... Moyes thought of the dense Christmas schedule, and he had to consider this. There was no problem with qualifying for the UEFA Cup group stage, it was just a matter of qualifying as the top or second in the group. The domestic league was obviously more important than qualifying for the group stage.

So if they tried their best for the victory of a UEFA Cup group match, but fell behind in the dense league schedule, it wouldn't be worth it...

Thinking of this, Moyes made his first substitution of the game.

He replaced Andy Johnson with Thomas Gravesen.

Reducing a striker and adding a defensive midfielder, the intention was obvious...

Everton was going to defend!

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After Advocaat saw Moyes' substitution, a smile flashed across his face. He knew he had bet right. After dragging the game to this point, Everton had to consider the domestic league. Zenit had already finished the domestic league, and they didn't need to think about anything but the UEFA Cup!

Moyes' substitution also basically declared that the suspense of this game was gradually lost.

Although Everton was still attacking, wanting to score, as more players returned to defense, Zenit's iron bucket formation had been formed. In the end, only Chen Hero was left outside, and all the others returned to defend, surrounding Malafeev's goal so tightly that not even a sparrow could fly in.

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, Zenit's substitutes rushed onto the field, they threw away everything they could throw in their hands, and spread their arms to pounce on their teammates.

They qualified!

With eight points, they were already four points ahead of Alkmaar and Nuremberg. No matter what the result of the last round, it had nothing to do with them! And if they were lucky, they might even be able to get the first place in the group, thus avoiding those strong teams that were eliminated from the Champions League group stage.

Advocaat did not go to celebrate with the substitutes, but walked towards Moyes and shook hands with him.

Moyes seemed a little helpless in the face of this result.

However, the fate of the last round was still in their own hands. As long as they beat Alkmaar away in the last round, they would return to the top of the group with nine points. Qualifying? They also qualified in advance.

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Chen Hero raised his arms and cheered after the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

The group stage was over, and they had qualified. He had been looking forward to the knockout stage for a long time!

The TV broadcast lens always followed him. Obviously, he was the best player in this game, and this was also the first time he won the best of the match in the UEFA Cup.

"The game is over! Everton lost to Zenit St. Petersburg at their home in a somewhat unbelievable way... And the hero of Zenit St. Petersburg's victory in this game is the one in front of us—Chen Hero! He completed a goal and an assist in this game, and his performance was quite active. Now, thinking about Moyes' attitude towards him before the game, we can know that Moyes did not lose to Zenit in this game, but to Chen Hero!"

"I believe that after this game, more people in Europe will know that Zenit St. Petersburg has such a player, he wears the number 99 jersey, he is one meter ninety-two tall and weighs ninety-eight kilograms..." Still, the information from Russian National Television is accurate and updated in a timely manner. They know Chen Hero's new weight, but UEFA doesn't know yet. "He is the top scorer in the Russian Super League this season, scoring twenty-seven goals in one season! What's even more terrifying is... he is only... nineteen years old! Yes! Only nineteen years old! He became the league's top scorer at the age of nineteen and broke the record. How many people can do this at this age?"

Yuri Petrov gave all his compliments to this young center forward.

Although he has only scored two goals in the UEFA Cup so far, no one can deny that he will have a very wonderful future.

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After the game, in the simple away team's locker room at Goodison Park, Chen Hero and his teammates celebrated this hard-won victory together. Lombaerts, who was sent off with a red card in the first thirty minutes of the first half, was in tears again. But this time they were not tears of sadness, but tears of joy.

His red card did not lead to the team's failure, he was redeemed by Chen Hero.

This time they could celebrate to their heart's content, because their 2007 was over. Flying back to St. Petersburg from here, the team would be disbanded and given a holiday.

The reunion would be in January next year.

"Next year! Let us go further in the UEFA Cup!" Chen Hero was naked from the waist up, not feeling cold at all, jumping around in the crowd and shouting loudly.

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The players were wantonly celebrating in the locker room.

The head coach had to accept the bombardment of reporters at the press conference, especially Moyes...

Losing to Zenit at home was not a good result. Chen Hero, who he didn't pay attention to before the game, became the biggest highlight of this game. After the game, the reporters must have a lot to say to him, especially those reporters from China...

In fact, they were already eager to start the press conference as soon as possible.

When Moyes appeared at the press conference, the noise disappeared, and everyone turned their attention to this famous young coach in England.

"We lost, there's nothing to say. The responsibility for losing this game lies with me..." As soon as he sat down, Moyes took the initiative to admit it. "I obviously don't know enough about our opponents..."

As soon as the free question time began, a group of Chinese reporters raised their arms high and stretched them straight.

Seeing this situation, there was a burst of laughter at the press conference.

Moyes' confrontation with the Chinese reporters at the pre-match press conference was still fresh in the memory of these veteran reporters who had been following this game. At that time, when Moyes faced the questions from the Chinese reporters, he was basically just short of saying "Your Chen Hero is good at domestic wars, but not at foreign wars."

Now seeing these Chinese reporters raising their hands so enthusiastically, it was obvious that they wanted to retaliate.

The press officer also smiled, and then he lived up to expectations and called on a Chinese reporter.

"Hello, Mr. Moyes. Can I ask you to evaluate the top scorer in the Russian league this season again?"

This was a blatant slap in the face!

This group of reporters had been following Chen Hero for a long time, and they had also learned badly... Or rather, these people were full of bad ideas in the first place, but Chen Hero's success had stimulated their potential.

Moyes did not look embarrassed when he heard this question, but laughed: "He played very well in today's game, and the best of the match is the best proof. I know he is only nineteen years old, and he is a player with a bright future. Of course... he has to maintain this state all the time..."

Obviously, Moyes was convinced by Chen Hero's performance.

This time, the Chinese media was satisfied.

However, Moyes still had to face questions about Chen Hero, because the Russian media and the English media were very concerned about this best of the match...

When Advocaat appeared at the press conference, the questions he had to face were almost the same as Moyes'.

Everyone wanted to hear how Chen Hero's coach evaluated his disciple.

"It's very simple, everyone just needs to know that he scored twenty-seven goals in the Russian Super League this season, and these twenty-seven goals were scored in twenty-eight league games."

Advocaat used data to illustrate the problem, which seemed very convincing.

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When Chen Hero and his teammates left this famous British city together, the English media who knew very little about him before were spreading his name, accompanied by the photo of him showing his tattoo in front of Moyes, which seemed very arrogant.

It was also very visually impactful and attractive.

The title of the local Liverpool media "Echo" was——

《This is a Bear from the North!》

Chen Hero was officially introduced to the country of origin of modern football.

Although it was just a back view.

But his arrogance, his unruliness, and the giant bear behind him had been understood by everyone.

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ps, this is an extra update, it has nothing to do with monthly tickets. It's just because I think I should update more, so I updated more.

Because I'm so considerate, how about... casting some monthly tickets? For those of you who don't have monthly tickets, just vote for recommendation tickets!!