Because Chen Hero wasn't on the team bus, it meant there was a high chance he wouldn't make the game. But the reporters had counted, and only seventeen Liverpool players got off the bus. The missing one was obviously Chen Hero.
In the press box, everyone was discussing this topic.
"Looks like Hero won't make this game..."
"Liverpool is a completely different team with and without Hero!"
"The Newcastle people must be happy, right?"
"I think you're exaggerating. Is Liverpool not Liverpool without Hero? Liverpool has performed remarkably this season, and it's not all thanks to Chen Hero!"
"I agree. Hero went too far this time. He thinks he's the team's number one star and can enjoy special privileges! When the schedule is so tight, all the other players didn't ask for leave, but he did. Now look, he's stuck on the road. If I were Martin O'Neill, I wouldn't even put him on the roster, as a lesson to let him know not to get too cocky!"
……
It seems there are quite a few people who both like and dislike Chen Hero.
※※※
In the visiting team's locker room, Newcastle's coach Patton was secretly pleased that Chen Hero hadn't shown up even at the last minute, but he didn't show it. On the contrary, he had to emphasize that Liverpool without Chen Hero was still Liverpool, the traditional English powerhouse Liverpool.
"Don't worry about Hero, guys. He's just an ordinary player for Liverpool. Our opponent in this game is Liverpool, not some Chen Hero. So don't think you can be careless just because Chen Hero isn't here! Remember, Liverpool is a powerhouse!"
At the same time, in Liverpool's locker room, Martin O'Neill was fretting about how to write the starting lineup.
Should he really remove Chen Hero from the starting lineup?
※※※
"Ah!! Damn it!" Before Chen Hero could curse, the three Liverpool fans sitting behind him couldn't help themselves.
Because their car was stuck in traffic, and they were about to reach Anfield Stadium. They could even see the roof of Anfield Stadium.
But at this moment, they were stuck in traffic.
And it was a major traffic jam.
The cars in front, behind, left, and right were honking their horns anxiously, but the cars wouldn't move forward an inch.
Now the three Liverpool fans in the car were even more anxious than Chen Hero. They shouted at the traffic outside, "Move forward! There's space ahead! Squeeze in! Squeeze in! What are you waiting for? Did you buy your driver's license?"
Chen Hero looked at his watch. It was 4:13.
There were still seventeen minutes before the start of the game. But he was stuck more than two kilometers away from the stadium.
"Looks like this traffic jam will last a long time..." Cabrera was also quite helpless.
Chen Hero had already started to unbuckle his seatbelt.
"Hey, Hero..."
Before the three people behind him could finish speaking, Chen Hero had already unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. Before getting out of the car, he turned his head and said to the three people behind him, "Thank you, but the autograph will have to wait until next time."
He thought the fans were calling him to ask for autographs and photos, but he didn't have time to satisfy them now. If it were normal times, he wouldn't mind using autographs and photos to thank these three fans who had helped him a lot.
"That's not urgent, Hero," Phil Gibbs said. "We have a wish—this season... this season, can you win a championship back for Liverpool?"
Chen Hero, who was about to push the door open, stopped. He turned his head and looked at Phil Gibbs.
Tom Jackson, who was next to him, slapped Phil Gibbs on the back of the head. "Is a championship so easy to get, you idiot! Don't add a lot of unnecessary pressure to Hero..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Chen Hero's firm voice.
"No problem!"
He gave the three people a confident smile and raised his thumb at the same time.
After speaking, he pushed the door open, weaved through the slowly moving traffic, and sprinted towards Anfield Stadium in the distance.
Cabrera also unbuckled her seatbelt and thanked the three people behind her, "Thank you for your help, goodbye!"
She followed Chen Hero and ran towards the stadium...
The three young men stared blankly at the backs of the two.
"Did he just say no problem?"
"It seems so..."
"He promised?"
※※※
Chen Hero, like a hurdler, jumped directly over the green belt and ran towards the stadium in the distance. He could already see the roof of Anfield Stadium.
But as the saying goes, "looking at the mountain makes the horse die," it looks very close, but there is still a distance, such as they are at least two kilometers away from Anfield Stadium.
Of course, for professional athletes like Chen Hero, two kilometers is nothing. The problem is that these two kilometers are in a straight line. In fact, you can't run in a straight line, because there are many obstacles along the way, and Hero can't knock down the houses in front of him.
He has to run around.
Cabrera quickly caught up with him.
Chen Hero turned his head and glanced at his girlfriend, who was still with him, and smiled.
At this time, he suddenly felt like joking: "This is an ordinary league game, but it will definitely be memorable for me!"
Cabrera smiled: "It's indeed worth commemorating to cross half of Europe to participate in this game."
※※※
Martin O'Neill finally sighed and crossed Chen Hero's name off the starting lineup.
Logically speaking, the starting lineup should be submitted to the organizers and the media in advance.
So the Liverpool starting lineup that the media got now is still the one submitted earlier, which has Chen Hero on it.
The starting lineup shown by the pre-match TV broadcast also has Chen Hero.
But everyone knows that Chen Hero will not be in the starting lineup.
So the real starting lineup will not be exactly the same as the starting lineup list.
Similar situations have also occurred in other games. The actual starting lineup is different from the starting lineup that actually plays. Generally, it is also because of some unexpected situation, such as a player in the starting lineup suddenly getting injured during the pre-match warm-up, so they have to replace him.
The warming-up players have all returned, and Chen Hero hasn't arrived yet. He probably won't make it to this game... almost everyone thinks so.
Martin O'Neill looked at the players who had arrived.
The miracle finally didn't happen.
But then again, if he always created miracles... wouldn't that be normal?
He planned to say something, let's put Chen Hero's matter aside for now...
At this moment, the locker room door behind him was pushed open with a bang, scaring everyone present.
Martin O'Neill was already in a bad mood, and he was a little annoyed by the fright. He turned his head and was about to scold the impolite person, but he was stunned...
Who did he see?
It was Chen Hero who pushed the door in!
"Oh my God! Am I seeing things?"
"This must be an illusion!"
"Hero?!"
The players in the locker room shouted one after another.
Martin O'Neill was also very surprised.
Because it was indeed Chen Hero! He was panting heavily, then raised his hand to greet everyone: "Hi, guys, am I late?"
※※※
Chen Hero was already sitting in front of his locker in the locker room, changing clothes. The other teammates surrounded him, wanting to hear how he had spent the past two days.
Chen Hero shook his head: "Hey, it's a long story!"
Martin O'Neill stood directly in front of him. Unlike the players who were more gossipy, he was also very curious about how Chen Hero had gotten here, but he knew that now was not the time to say this. There were only a few minutes left before the game started, and he didn't have time to explore the gossip.
"Need to warm up, Hero?" he asked.
Chen Hero shook his head: "I ran here, a few kilometers!"
"Very good, everything is as usual, you are very familiar with it."
Chen Hero nodded: "Yes, I understand."
It could have ended here, but Martin O'Neill was still a little worried, he asked: "...Is your stamina okay?"
"No problem, boss."
"But you must not have rested well in the past two days, did you eat lunch?"
"Ate!" If a cold sandwich counts... "Boss, don't worry, my stamina is not a problem at all."
"Okay... I hope what happened in the past few days won't affect your condition..."
Chen Hero raised his thumb: "Not at all!"
"Um... shouldn't you have arrived long ago?" In the end, Martin O'Neill couldn't help but gossip.
Speaking of this, Chen Hero looked bitter: "Hey, don't mention it... I had already passed London, but the car broke down! We waited for a long time before catching a ride, coincidentally, the other party turned out to be three Liverpool fans! Isn't that a coincidence..."
As soon as Chen Hero started talking about gossip, everyone pricked up their ears.
Suarez smiled: "It's good that you didn't meet Everton or Manchester City, Newcastle fans, Hero, otherwise we still wouldn't know where you are now..."
"It's okay, I brought a bodyguard with me, haha!" Chen Hero laughed loudly. "No one dares to be against me!"
A group of people laughed along.
Martin O'Neill realized that something was wrong, so he coughed and interrupted Chen Hero from continuing.
"Okay, okay, go out! The game is about to start!" He waved his hand to disperse the crowd.
Skrtel reached out to Chen Hero and pulled him up.
"Your experience in the past two days is enough to make a movie, right?"
Chen Hero smiled: "It's really like a movie."
"Get up, go out and surprise those who thought you couldn't come!"
Chen Hero winked: "Score another goal against them?"