Chapter 1 The Humiliation

Popovich stood before his players, his face ashen. This team was the mainstay of Zenit's youth squad, yet they had made him feel utterly disgraced!

He considered assistant coach Borovikia's suggestion an insult. A youth team's main force needing to go all out, even resorting to unscrupulous methods, just to defend against one person...

Seeing the coach's unpleasant expression, the youth team players knew he was very dissatisfied with their performance. They all lowered their heads, not daring to utter a word, afraid of angering the coach.

"Your performance just now was utterly shameful!" Popovich rebuked these young men without reservation. His bad mood was evident in his voice.

"Don't lower your heads!" he shouted. "Raise your heads for me!"

"What's your mood? Letting a stranger, a single person, score a goal over your heads! And there was another time he almost did, if it weren't for the crossbar helping you..." Popovich scolded loudly. "You need to know that he is someone even CSKA Moscow looks down upon! A failure! Yet he can lord it over you! Do you think you are much worse than CSKA?!"

Zenit's biggest enemy in the Russian Premier League wasn't one particular team, but all the super teams from Moscow, which formed a massive group. For a long time, the Russian Premier League championship had been monopolized by teams from Moscow. If Zenit wanted to win the championship, they had to defeat the Moscow teams. Therefore, the Zenit youth team players knew very well who their enemy was – all the teams in Moscow!

Popovich degraded them to the point of being inferior to the Moscow teams, which deeply stimulated the players who had been somewhat contemptuous of their opponent.

One by one, they raised their heads again, clenching their fists, their eyes gleaming fiercely.

"I will teach that rude kid a lesson!" Krotkov, the center-back who had been scored on with a header by Chen Hero right under his nose, clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth. As the one responsible for defending Chen Hero, it was a disgrace that he had allowed the opponent to score so easily. Although the head coach had scolded everyone, he felt that he was the one being targeted, every reprimand aimed at him. At this moment, he had long forgotten about explaining to the coach why the opponent had been able to get the ball so easily. He just wanted to redeem himself with his actions! To make the coach look at him in a new light.

"Very good, Aleksandr, I'm very pleased that you have this idea." Popovich nodded, expressing his appreciation and encouragement for Krotkov's attitude, and also inspiring others to think this way – I'll make that Eastern kid pay in the game later!

"You must stop him at all costs. He's good at headers, fight him to the death in the air!" Popovich pounded his fist into his palm, boosting the team's morale. He was like a demagogue, making everyone follow him with high spirits.

"You can foul! Don't have any scruples, as long as you can defeat him, even if you have to pull him down with your hands! Use your strong bodies to bump into him! Don't be intimidated by his height and weight, he's just an empty shell, all appearance! You are Zenit warriors who have undergone rigorous training! There's no reason for you to lose to an unknown nobody!" Popovich didn't care if using fouls to stop someone was too shameless... but now he just wanted to regain face for his team – he now felt that this person introduced by Panchenko wasn't trying to get a chance to become a professional player at Zenit, but to ruin his reputation...

"Roar!!!"

The main players of the Zenit youth team let out a deafening roar.

Verubov shrugged his shoulders: "Here it comes again..." Popovich was very good at inspiring players. Under his current encouragement and agitation, the youth team players would definitely unleash tremendous energy, and their performance later might far exceed their usual level...

Larionov asked Borovikia with some concern: "Isn't this going too far, Vladimir?"

He could see that Popovich was serious, he really wanted to use his team to completely stifle Chen Hero. Now he had successfully aroused the fighting spirit and anger of these young people, he had succeeded. Young people are most easily incited, and they can do astonishing things with just a surge of passion.

Borovikia waved his hand: "If he can't even handle this level of defense, he's not qualified for Zenit to sign him."

Chen Hero didn't know what the opposing coach was saying to those players. He didn't understand Russian. He could only stand on the field, bored, and look left and right, looking at his temporary teammates. Especially the winger who had crossed the ball to him in the game, trying to remember their appearance so that he could pass the ball to them later in the game and seek cooperation.

In a situation where everyone was unfamiliar, this was the only way.

He also knew that his cooperation with these people wasn't very good. But there was no time for him to slowly get acquainted and run-in, he had to show his best skills to impress the coaches standing on the sidelines.

Suddenly, bursts of roars erupted from the circle where the main players were gathered, but Chen Hero didn't understand.

However, after hearing the roars, his temporary teammates' expressions changed... They began to worry about this ignorant giant in front of them.

They knew that the main players had become serious, and the next game would only be more difficult.

In their opinion, Chen Hero, who didn't understand Russian, was simply like an ignorant and fearless fool...

When the game restarted, Chen Hero quickly realized that the defensive pressure he was facing was even greater, and... once when he tried to break into the penalty area to grab a point, he was hugged around the waist and thrown to the ground by an opposing player, the two of them entangled and rolling on the ground. He thought he would hear the referee's whistle, but Larionov, who was acting as the temporary referee, didn't say anything, just signaling for the game to continue.

When this happened more than once, he began to understand what those people had said while gathered together.

This was Zenit's new trick, they were stopping him by any means necessary.

Dangerous fouls, merciless tackles, surrounding him with numerical superiority, wrestling and judo-like defensive moves...

The only goal was to prevent him from having the opportunity to use his most powerful weapon right now.

Chen Tao saw his son being brought down time and time again by the opponent's fouls or rough defensive moves from the sidelines, wanting to jump up but being firmly pulled back by his clothes... Several rounds of attacks had passed, and Chen Hero hadn't shown any performance at all, he simply had no chance to use his heading skills.

He became worried again.

The opponent was playing for real, could his son... still handle it?

No!

He could, he definitely could!

Because he was his son, because his name was Chen Hero!

Chen Tao didn't know where his confidence came from, but at this moment, he had to stand firmly on his son's side and cheer him on.

"Go! Hero!!" he shouted.

"This is too unfair... I don't think even Tekke could score from such a defense..." Physical coach Kerzhakov had nothing to do after testing Chen Hero's body. Since Chen Hero's physical condition was very good, Kerzhakov had a bit of a liking for him. He felt that Popovich was going too far.

The Tekke he was talking about was Zenit's first-team main center forward - Fatih Tekke. This Turkish guy wasn't tall, only one meter seventy-eight, but his header was not bad. Wearing the number 9 jersey, he had already played in fourteen league games this season, scoring ten goals, four of which were headers.

But no one paid attention to his complaints, everyone was focusing on the field, carefully observing this completely unequal special contest.

For Chen Hero, this was a battle that gambled on his future, although it was an increasingly abnormal game – the opponent's fouls could actually be tolerated... But if he couldn't deliver a convincing answer in this game, then the consequences would be obvious. All his efforts would be in vain, he would have to return to China helplessly, give up his dream of becoming a professional football player, go to university, and find a job four years later, thus becoming one of the billions of ordinary Chinese people.

That should be him in another parallel world, definitely not Chen Hero in this world!

My father gave me such a name, hoping that I would become a hero!

The temporary teammates were very dutiful in passing the ball up from the wing, they were like robots with pre-set programs, regardless of whether Chen Hero could grab a point or not, they would pass the ball over. If Chen Hero couldn't grab the landing point for a header, the ball would either cross the penalty area, or be cleared by the opponent, or give his temporary teammates a chance to shoot.

But obviously they were not the main characters, whether they scored or not, it wouldn't attract the attention of the coaches on the sidelines. The main character of this game was only one – Chen Hero. And the theme event was also only one – the contest between Chen Hero and the main defensive line of St. Petersburg Zenit youth team.

Chen Hero looked up at the football flying in the air, and the things he should have were clearly emerging in his mind again. But his body was motionless, unable to take another step forward – he was being firmly pulled by the clothes by two youth team players.

Seeing the football coming, he seemed to have taken root under his feet, fixed in place.

I'm someone who is going to be a hero... How could I be trapped by such a defense!

What is a hero?

A hero is someone who can do things that ordinary people cannot, things that ordinary people cannot do, he can do, and... must do!

Chen Hero gritted his teeth, his neck was flushed, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing, he was trying to break free from the opponent's pulling and interference.

Sergey Mironov, the defensive midfielder pulling his clothes, was also gritting his teeth, his entire face and neck were flushed, and his knuckles were white – he was pulling the jersey so hard. Such an experience was actually the first time he had encountered in his many years of football career!

One hand's pressure was a bit too much, he used two hands...

Thinking that this time he could finally stop this behemoth like a brown bear, right?

Who would have thought that at this moment, he suddenly heard a tearing sound of cloth...

He saw in horror that the jersey he was holding tightly was gradually tearing in front of his eyes, and then the seam was getting bigger and bigger under the mutual effect of the two sides...

Chen Hero desperately rushed forward, dragging two people behind him, the resistance was very large. At this time, he suddenly felt a lightness behind him!

He was overjoyed and suddenly darted forward. Like a wild horse breaking free, or a fierce tiger escaping from its cage.

With a "tearing" sound, Chen Hero had already flown into the air!

Facing him, the opponent's center-back Krotkov jumped up, as well as his center-back partner Yury Lebedev, they were across Chen Hero's front, and on his side was also Zenit player Victor Stroev.

Three people jumped up at the same time, ganging up on Chen Hero.

Borovikia on the sidelines couldn't help but lean forward, this was the "test question" he wanted to see.

What kind of answer will you give in the face of such a defense, Chinese big guy!

The answer that Chen Hero gave was to directly knock open Krotkov and Lebedev who were intercepting him head-on, and then completely ignore the interference of Stroev beside him.

The torn jersey fluttered in the air like a flag, blocking Stroev's line of sight.

When he saw Chen Hero again, he only saw the hero in the air twisting his waist and accumulating strength, like a tightly twisted towel, and then suddenly甩shuaì out!

Heading the goal!

The football went straight to the far post!

Goalkeeper Kerzhakov made a very good save this time, but he was only a foil for this wonderful goal.

The football plunged into the goal before his hand could reach it!

The audience was silent, only the rustling sound of the football rubbing against the net.