As the name suggests, the reserve team is where players who aren't currently needed by the first team, and those recovering from injuries who need to slowly regain their form, are placed.

Although they are in the reserve team, they still train with the first team. However, they don't get to play in matches and have no status to speak of.

Most players who go to the reserve team are basically being discarded by the club. To prevent such players from not being able to play for a long time, which would lead to a decline in their form and competitive level, they are thrown into the reserve team to maintain their condition with reserve team matches.

You could say that the reserve team is the first team's trash can—players the first team doesn't want, but who are too old to go to the youth team, are all sent to the reserve team.

In the reserve team, Chen Hero saw some old teammates from the first team, such as Zalayeta. Because of his strength in the penalty area and his constitution, which meant he rarely got injured, the poor Uruguayan striker was always hard-pressed to get any playing time.

In addition, he saw the substitute goalkeeper Navarro.

This Argentinian goalkeeper, who had ganged up with Lavezzi and Gargano to oppose and exclude him, was now the only remaining member of the Argentinian faction in Napoli. His two teammates, Lavezzi and Gargano, had left the team, leaving him alone and isolated.

When he first joined Napoli, he didn't have a single friend in the team. Lavezzi was the closest to him and often invited him to his house for meals and entertainment.

He also had the best relationship with Lavezzi.

But now that his best friend was gone, his status in the locker room naturally declined. Moreover, as a substitute goalkeeper, he basically had no chance to play, so it was only natural that he was assigned to the reserve team.

He was already considering following the example of his two friends and seeking a transfer away from Napoli.

Seeing Chen Hero also in the reserve team at this time, he was a little happy—let you be arrogant! You're out of luck too!

But then he discovered a depressing fact.

That was, although everyone was in the reserve team, there were differences. He was clearly not in the same league as Chen Hero. Reserve team coach Potracci's attitude towards Chen Hero was obviously better, and the other teammates welcomed them as well. Because everyone knew that Chen Hero and the others would definitely return to the first team, and this was only a temporary punishment. How could they compare to these underdogs who couldn't even get a game?

A dragon stuck in shallow water is still a dragon, and a chicken, even if it can fly up a tree, can't become a phoenix.

※※※

On July 17th, after Napoli finished their physical adjustment training period, they played a warm-up match against a team from the Italian Serie C league. As expected, Chen Hero, Arshavin, Hamsik, Sanchez, Maggio, Cassano, and Santacroce were not on the first team's roster for the game.

They weren't even on the bench.

In this match, Mazzarri used some young players from the youth team to assess the level of Napoli's youth training.

So, where did these players go?

They were at the Napoli reserve team's warm-up match…

Thus, a very rare situation occurred—the Napoli first team's warm-up match attracted far fewer media than the Napoli reserve team's warm-up match…

The two matches were not held on the same day at the same time, so the reporters didn't have to make a difficult choice. Even so, about twenty reporters came to the first team's warm-up match, while more than fifty reporters came to the reserve team's match a day later—even excluding the dozen or so Chinese reporters who were only focused on Chen Hero, this number was still very considerable.

Why was this happening?

Because almost all of Napoli's most popular stars were in the reserve team…

As a result, Napoli reserve team's warm-up opponent was completely screwed.

Sangiovannese's goal was breached by the Napoli reserve team in the fifth minute.

The scorer was… Arshavin!

He received a pass from Chen Hero, dribbled into the penalty area, and then scored with a low shot.

A huge cheer erupted from the stands.

Not only were there more reporters, but even more fans came to watch the game than the first team's match… The fans voted with their feet, showing which Napoli players they preferred.

Although the clash with the football hooligans had happened, the popularity of these Napoli players had not been affected. This was because they had beaten up the football hooligans that everyone hated, and besides, they were acting in self-defense…

Three minutes later, the Napoli reserve team came back with a vengeance.

Cassano dribbled in the middle, showing off his exquisite footwork and technique, attracting a swarm of Sangiovannese players who wanted to use their numbers to dispossess Cassano of the ball. But at that moment, no one expected Cassano to pass the ball!

He passed the ball directly to Chen Hero!

Chen Hero received the ball, turned around, and shot!

The ball flew into the goal from the right side…

The goal itself was not surprising, but all the reporters in the stands stared wide-eyed.

What did they see?

They saw Cassano actually pass the ball to Chen Hero!!

In the match, Chen Hero and Cassano formed a partnership!

It seemed that the news about them being friends was indeed true…

After scoring, Chen Hero turned and pointed to Cassano, who had passed him the ball. Cassano ran over, jumped high, and Chen Hero turned around, allowing him to jump onto his back.

Cassano rode on Chen Hero's back and celebrated the goal with him.

From this point of view, the relationship between the two of them was definitely closer than that of ordinary teammates…

"This is unbelievable!"

The reporters in the stands discussed excitedly after their shock.

"Chen Hero and Cassano actually became friends?"

"Is the end of the world coming?"

"There's nothing strange about it, is there? Given their personalities… it seems they really get along… Both of them are psychopaths, lunatics, morons!"

"As expected, geniuses are different from ordinary people like us, with eccentric personalities that are difficult to fathom…"

※※※

Because it was the reserve team, the number of players was less than that of the first team, so Potracci couldn't do what Mazzarri did, using one set of players in the first half and another in the second half. Therefore, the seven players who had been demoted from the first team played almost the entire game.

They were not gradually substituted until the seventy-eighth minute.

This was a rare scene in a warm-up match.

In the first team's warm-up match, even captain Paolo Cannavaro only played for fifty minutes before being substituted, giving the opportunity to the young teammates temporarily drawn from the youth team.

But in the reserve team, the seven members of Napoli's "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" group could hone and cultivate their chemistry in the match.

This was actually Mazzarri's arrangement.

When he decided to throw these seven people into the reserve team to reflect, he was considering how not to affect the team's preparations for the new season.

His instructions to Potracci were to try to arrange for the seven of them to play together in the warm-up matches as much as possible, and for as long as possible, so that they would have enough time to maintain their condition and find chemistry.

Especially the cooperation between Cassano and Chen Hero, which he was focusing on.

Therefore, coach Mazzarri sat in the stands and watched the entire reserve team's warm-up match. He was very satisfied with the performance of the seven players. Cassano was like a free man in the frontcourt, he could play in the middle or on the wing. Most importantly, his footwork was quite delicate, he could dribble himself, create opportunities, and also had the ability to make a deadly pass in front of the penalty area, which was very important.

And Sanchez's breakthrough on the wing was indeed very sharp. In terms of breakthrough ability, he was no less than Lavezzi, who had already left the team. Although his crossing ability was still lacking, he was obedient and willing to practice! Unlike Lavezzi, who would rather die than be an assist man for Chen Hero.

It didn't matter that his crossing technique was poor now, as long as he was willing to practice. Sanchez was only twenty years old and far from being technically fixed.

※※※

In the end, thanks to the outstanding performance of these seven players who were demoted from the first team to the reserve team, the Napoli reserve team defeated the Sangiovanni team by a huge score of 15:1.

Chen Hero scored five goals in the match, showing his excellent form in front of goal. It seemed that whether he was fighting with his teammates or fighting with football hooligans, it had not affected his form. On the battlefield, he was fierce, and on the football field, he was just as fierce.

Cassano also had two goals and three assists. The three assists were distributed very evenly, one to Chen Hero, one to Arshavin, and the other to Sanchez.

Sanchez also had an outstanding performance in the match, scoring one goal and two assists. His breakthrough on the wing was fully demonstrated. Now it seemed that the twenty million was not a loss, considering Sanchez's age and potential.

As for the performance of the other players, they were also remarkable. Hamsik was the team's commander in midfield. Arshavin's breakthrough on the wing was sharp, and he could also cut inside and shoot, which was quite threatening. Santacroce, as the team's center-back, was also very solid in defense, and the goal conceded had nothing to do with him. As for Maggio, his performance at full-back was actually better than at winger…

Being exiled to the reserve team did not make them sink, on the contrary, this group of people seemed to have extra motivation when they got together and performed very hard.

In fact, their motivation was very simple… to return to the first team!

No one wanted to stay in the reserve team forever. As the main players of the first team, they were naturally unwilling to hang out with those losers here.

This season, they were going to participate in the Champions League. If they couldn't return to the first team, everything would be in vain.

※※※

ps, Well, overall, *Hero of the Penalty Area* is a novel that leans towards joy, comedy, and excitement. You should be able to see it from these recent chapters, right?

So… please vote for monthly tickets! How can such a happy book not have monthly tickets to add to the fun?!