Chapter 1 Zenith's Confidence

Zenit St. Petersburg could field their strongest lineup for the UEFA Cup final, which greatly increased their chances of winning. Moreover, the whole team's morale was high, their fighting spirit was strong, and there were no injury problems.

The Russian media were full of confidence in their victory.

In Scotland, the media focused on Chen Hero.

He was in scorching hot form.

Could this form continue into the final? And how would Glasgow Rangers of Scotland contain him?

To this end, the Scottish media offered advice to Glasgow Rangers' coach, Walter Smith.

Such as using destructive tactics, containing the opponent's crosses, restricting Dominguez and Arshavin, sending tall center backs to engage in a physical battle with Chen Hero…

And so on.

But no one knew what tactics Smith would actually adopt. He never revealed any relevant information in public, appearing very cautious.

Advocaat, on the other hand, had already announced his starting lineup. He knew that with Zenit's rising fame, his starting lineup was predictable, so there was no need to hide it. It was better to present it generously, giving the outside world a confident image and giving the players more confidence.

His starting lineup was almost the same as in the semi-finals. Although Kerzhakov had returned, he had not trained with the team for a month, so no one knew what his condition was. Advocaat did not dare to take risks at this time.

Zenit's starting goalkeeper was Malafeev, the center backs were Krizanac and Shirokov, the right back was Anyukov, and the left back was the Korean Kim Dong-jin.

Kim Dong-jin's participation in the UEFA Cup final made the Korean media very happy, as it showed that within the Zenit team, they had not allowed the Chinese player Chen Hero to monopolize the limelight. After the "grand occasion" of three Korean players joining the team at the beginning, only one Kim Dong-jin could remain in the team, such a strong contrast was unacceptable to many Koreans. Although they still had "Asia's number one star" Park Ji-sung at Manchester United, who had comprehensively suppressed China on the football level, the Koreans hoped to surpass China even in a small team like Zenit. Unfortunately, they had lost this position on Zenit's field. The Chinese Chen Hero was very popular, while Kim Dong-jin was just an ordinary member of the team, their status and reputation were completely incomparable. Especially Chen Hero's crazy scoring form this season, made them feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because they had been China's "son" for too long, this nation was somewhat extremely inferior. After developing economically better than China after World War II, they wanted to turn over and be the "father." So this nation always likes to go to extremes, from extreme inferiority to extreme inflation.

As long as it was related to China, they would compete for superiority.

But Chen Hero didn't have this idea at all. What the Koreans thought had nothing to do with him. He had a good relationship with everyone on the team, but his relationship with Kim Dong-jin was more general. Apart from the football field, there was no contact.

Continuing back to Zenit's starting lineup…

In midfield, Advocaat still lined up five people. The two defensive midfielders were captain Tymoshchuk and Denisov. Denisov had secured a place in the starting lineup with his excellent performances in recent games, especially against Bayern Munich. The days when everyone else in the drinking and partying group was the team's main core, and he was the only one who was dispensable, were gone forever.

The attacking midfielder was Dominguez, the left winger was Radko Širl, and the right winger was Arshavin.

The arrowhead figure was undoubtedly Hero, number 99!

Even Bayern Munich couldn't do anything to us with this lineup, so what ability do you Glasgow Rangers have to stop us?

Although the formation was 451, the tactics were not conservative. Advocaat required the whole team to persist in attacking from the first minute of the game, putting pressure on the opponent. Now the whole team had the advantage in morale. How to guide this morale to play its due role? Of course, it couldn't be by letting everyone shrink back in their own half, probing each other, and acting cautiously. This would only wear down the high morale.

Therefore, they had to attack. Only by attacking could the players' fighting spirit burn stronger and stronger.

As long as they maintained this momentum, it would not be difficult to defeat Glasgow Rangers.

Chen Hero liked this tactical arrangement very much. Attacking meant that he would get more support from the midfield and defense, and he would have more opportunities to score.

Helping the team win the championship with goals in the final, as a striker, this was the best final!

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As the second largest cup competition in Europe, the UEFA Cup final also attracted a lot of attention. It goes without saying that the media paid attention. Chen Hero's appearance made the Chinese media in the Far East send people to report on the game, and even CCTV (China Central Television) did not miss out, although they were not qualified to broadcast the UEFA Cup, they could still come to interview the cup.

In fact, after Chen Hero landed in the UEFA Cup, CCTV keenly realized that this was an excellent opportunity, but the broadcasting rights for the UEFA Cup had already been sold. If they wanted to get the broadcasting rights for the UEFA Cup, they would have to wait until the next round.

There were rumors that CCTV was already in contact with UEFA, and they planned to buy the broadcasting rights for the Champions League and UEFA Cup for the next three years, starting from the 2009-2010 season. Although CCTV had intended to broadcast the Champions League before, after all, as the world's top football event, it was a great regret that China's number one television station could not broadcast it. But it must be said that Chen Hero's appearance may be the main reason for CCTV's decision – everyone had seen Chen Hero's crazy performance in European competitions this season. He could even score three goals against a team like Bayern Munich, which showed his potential. If he continued to develop at this rate, it would be just around the corner for him to land in the Champions League… So, it was better to buy the broadcasting rights for the Champions League in advance, so that people could see Chen Hero's performance in the Champions League on China's largest national television station in the future.

In addition, Napoli had now risen to eighth in Serie A, and had a good chance of qualifying for the Intertoto Cup. With Chen Hero, they might be able to enter the UEFA Cup main competition. In this way, everyone could finally see him play in the UEFA Cup on Chinese national television next season, without having to wait until the next day to watch video highlights online, or only be able to read written reports.

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On May 13, the whole Zenit team left the Manchester City Carrington training base where they had been training, and went to the City of Manchester Stadium for a field adaptation training session. They would be playing here tomorrow.

Advocaat would also appear at the pre-match press conference to answer questions of interest to reporters.

The name he was asked the most at the press conference was "Hero." Everyone was concerned about whether Chen Hero could break Alan Shearer's record in this game.

"I don't know, of course I hope he can create a new record. But the game hasn't started, I don't know anything." He had answered enough questions about Chen Hero these days, and he was a little impatient.

Finally, someone came out to relieve him.

"Let's talk about Arshavin? Is his return from suspension good news for the team?"

"Of course, his role is very important!"

But when he thought that he would be transferred to Napoli after the end of this season, Advocaat felt it was a pity.

"Are you confident of winning the championship?"

"Glasgow Rangers is a very strong team, we respect our opponents…" Advocaat was very cunning and did not express his true thoughts. The real thought was – yes, we are confident of winning!

"But earlier, Rangers coach Smith said they were confident of winning the championship…"

"I said, they are a very strong team, it's not surprising that they have the confidence to win." What he wanted to say in his heart was: this is obviously cheering himself up, only those who lack confidence would say that… He knew what state Glasgow Rangers were in.

"Everyone is optimistic about you before the game…"

"Thank you, but none of this counts, we will have to wait until the end of the game to know if it is really worth being optimistic about."

Advocaat was not happy for long, because the topic soon turned to Chen Hero again.

"Chen Hero will be transferred away on July 1st. Will his departure have a big impact on the team's strength?"

"Zenit is a mature team, it's a whole. It's not like it can't function without someone. I wish him all the best in Napoli, but Zenit will continue to move forward."

"Let's talk about his 'grand' plan in the league…"

"Isn't this a pre-match press conference for the UEFA Cup?" Advocaat turned his head and asked the press officer.

The press officer also heard the impatience in Advocaat's tone, and he quickly ended the press conference.

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Maria Sharapova, who was preparing for the French Open, also flew to Europe in advance, first quietly came to Manchester to cheer for Chen Hero, and then went to France to prepare for the French Open.

She was also very happy that Chen Hero had reached the UEFA Cup final. She was already thinking about introducing her boyfriend to the outside world after the final.

Chen Hero was now promising, and she felt that her father should not object so strongly, right?

Of course, the main group of people paying attention to this game were the fans.

It was very convenient for Glasgow Rangers fans to come to Manchester to watch the game. Although Scotland and England are like two completely different countries on the football map, they are actually in the same country, so strictly speaking, Manchester can be regarded as half of the home of the Scottish team.

Zenit St. Petersburg fans had to fly all the way from St. Petersburg. Some people arrived in Manchester with the team and went to Manchester City's training base every day to watch the team's training and cheer them on.

Zenit fans who didn't have money could only arrive in Manchester on the day of the game, watch a game, and then go back early the next morning.

There were also some fans who didn't have money but wanted to support the team as much as possible, so they simply brought tents and came in advance. They went to watch the team training during the day, and set up tents in the park at night, which could save on accommodation expenses and was considered a way to save money.

For a time, with Carrington and the City of Manchester Stadium as two centers, various tents appeared scattered around. Colorful, it was as if these grasslands were covered with flowers overnight.

The arrival of these Russians made the Manchester police very nervous. Everyone knew that Russians were good at drinking, and Englishmen also liked to drink. What if there was a conflict between the two sides after drinking too much?

The largest slum in Europe was in the eastern suburbs of Manchester, where various people of color, stowaways and undocumented immigrants gathered, and the治安 (zhì ān, public order) was already very chaotic. And the City of Manchester Stadium happened to be located in the east of Manchester. What if the hot-tempered Russian fans clashed with those guys in the slums?

So, a large number of police officers were arranged to be on duty in the tent area where Russian fans gathered. The police directly drove to their periphery to isolate them from the English to avoid conflicts.

This made it seem that the Russians in the tent area were living in Russia. Fortunately, they were just here to watch a football game. After the football game was over, they would evacuate. Otherwise, it was really worrying whether they would settle down here… and make this place a "飞地" (fēi dì, exclave) of Russia in the UK.

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When everyone's attention was becoming more and more concentrated, and finally focused on one point – the City of Manchester Stadium – it meant that this highly anticipated UEFA Cup final was about to begin!

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ps, a bonus chapter is here!

Also, a survey – do you want Chen Hero to join the national team?

I have created a poll in the author's survey area, you can go there to vote and express your wishes.