Chapter 8: The So-called Hero...
Popovich stood in front of his players with a livid face. This team was the main force of the Zenit Youth Team. But it made him feel ashamed!
He felt that the suggestion from assistant coach Borovikia was a complete insult. A main player of the youth team had to go all out and even resort to any means to defend one person...
Looking at the coach with a bad face, the players of the youth team also knew that the coach was very dissatisfied with their performance. They lowered their heads and dared not say a word, for fear of angering the the man further. "Your performance just now is simply humiliating to me!" Popovich taught these young men a lesson without any politeness. It could be heard from his voice that he is in a bad mood.
"Don't lower your head!" he shouted. "Lift your heads up!"
"How do you feel? A stranger scored a goal over your heads! Another time it almost went in, if it wasn't for the crossbar helping you..." Popovich shouted. "You know, he's someone that CSKA Moscow despises! A loser! He can actually bully you! Do you think you're much worse than CSKA?!"
Zenit's biggest enemy in the Russian Premier League is not a certain team, but all the super teams from the capital Moscow, which form a huge group. For a long time, the championship of the Russian Premier League has been won by teams from Moscow. If Zenit wants to win the championship, it must defeat the teams in Moscow. So the players of the Zenit Youth Team know very well who their enemies are - all the teams in Moscow!
Popovich belittled them as being worse than the Moscow team, which deeply stimulated the players who had previously underestimated their opponents.
They raised their heads again one by one and clenched their fists. Their eyes were fierce.
"I'm going to teach that rude boy a lesson!" Krotkov, the central defender who was supressed by Chen Yingxiong, clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. As the person defending Chen Yingxiong, it was a shame to let the opponent score so easily. Although the head coach scolded everyone, he felt that he was the first to bear the brunt, and every scolding was directed at him. At this time, he had long forgotten to explain to the coach why he was so easily defeated by the opponent. He just wanted to use his actual actions to avenge the previous shame! Let the coach look at him differently.
"Very good, Alexander, I'm very pleased that you have this idea." Popovich nodded, expressing his appreciation and encouragement for Krotkov's attitude, and also inspired others to think so - I will show that oriental boy a good lesson in the game later!
"You must stop him at all costs. He is good at heading the ball. Fight him to the death in the air!" Popovich pounded his fist on his palm to inspire the morale of the whole team. He was like an agitator, making everyone follow his high morale.
"You can foul! Don't have any scruples, as long as you can defeat him, you can even pull him down with your hands! Use your strong body to hit him! Don't be scared by his height and weight, he is just an empty shell, all show and no substance! You are the warriors of Zenit who have undergone rigorous training! There is no reason for you to lose to an unknown person!" Popovich didn't care if it was too shameless to stop someone with a foul... Right now he just wanted to get back the face of his team - he now felt that the man introduced by Panchenko did not want to get a chance to become a professional player in Zenit, but came to destroy the confidence of its youth...
"Roar!!!"
The main players of the Zenit Youth Team gave a deafening roar.
…
Virobchov spread his hands. "Here we go again..." Popovich is very good at motivating his players. Under his encouragement, the players of the youth team would definitely burst out with huge energy, and their performance in a while may be far better than usual...
Larionov asked Borovikia with some concern. "Is this maybe too much, Vladimir?"
He saw that Popovich was serious and he wanted to use his team to completely kill Chen Yingxiong. Now he successfully stirred up the fighting spirit and anger of these young people. He succeeded. Young people are the easiest to incite. They can do jaw-dropping things with just their passion.
Borovikia waved his hands. "If he can't even handle this level of defence, he has no right to be signed by Zenit."
…
Chen Yingxiong didn't know what the opposing coach said to the players. He didn't understand Russian. He could only stand on the court bored and looked left and right at his temporary teammates. Especially at the wingers who passed the ball to him during the game, trying to remember their faces so that he could pass the ball to them and seek cooperation in the game.
In a situation where everyone is unfamiliar with each other, this is the only way.
He also knew that his cooperation with these people was not good. But there was no time for him to slowly get familiar with the running-in, he had to bring out what he was best at to impress the coaches standing on the sidelines.
Suddenly there was a burst of roars from the circle where the main players gathered, and Chen Yingxiong couldn't understand what was going on.
But his temporary teammates all changed their expressions after hearing the roar... They began to worry about the ignorant big guy in front of them.
They knew that the main players were serious and the next games would only be more difficult.
In their eyes, Chen Yingxiong, who could not understand Russian, was just an ignorant and fearless fool...
…
When the game resumed, Chen Yingxiong soon found that he was facing greater defensive pressure, and... once when he tried to break into the penalty area to grab a point, he was hugged by the opponent and fell to the ground. The two of them rolled on the ground. He thought he would hear the referee's whistle, but Larionov, who was acting as a temporary referee, said nothing and just signalled that the game should continue.
When this situation happened more than once, he began to understand what the group of people had just said when they gathered together.
This is Zenit's new tactic, they will stop at nothing to stop him.
Dangerous fouls, merciless collisions, outnumbering him, and defensive moves like wrestling and judo...
There is only one purpose - to prevent him from having the opportunity to use his most powerful weapon.
…
Chen Tao watched from the sidelines as his son was knocked to the ground time and again by the opponent's fouls or rough defensive moves.
Chen Yingxiong wanted to jump but was held tightly by his clothes... After several rounds of attacks, he did not show any performance at all. He had no chance to display his heading skills at all.
He started to worry again.
f the other party is serious, can his son still deal with it?
He can, he definitely can!
Because he was his son. Because his name is Chen Yingxiong!
Chen Tao didn't know where his confidence came from, but at this time, he had to stand firmly by his son's side and cheer him on.
"Come on! Hero!!" he shouted.
…
"This is so unfair... I don't think anyone can score against such a defence..." After testing Chen Yingxiong's body, physical trainer Kerzakov had nothing else to do. Since Chen Yingxiong was in very good physical condition, Kerzakov had a good impression of him. He felt that Popovich had gone too far.
But no one paid attention to his complaints. Everyone was staring at the court intently, carefully observing this completely unequal special confrontation.
…
For Chen Yingxiong, this was a game that gambled his future. Although it was an increasingly abnormal game - the opponent's fouls were condoned... if he could not give everyone a convincing answer in this game, then the outcome was predictable. All his efforts would be in vain. He could only return to China helplessly, give up his dream of becoming a professional footballer, go to college, and find a job four years later, becoming one of the more than one billion ordinary Chinese.
That should be him in another parallel world, and definitely not Chen Yingxiong in this world!
My father gave me this name because he wanted me to be a hero!
The temporary teammates were very diligent in passing the ball from the sidelines. They were like robots with set programs. No matter whether Chen Yingxiong could get the ball or not, they would pass the ball to him. If Chen Yingxiong could not get the ball to the goal, the ball would either pass through the penalty area, be cleared by the opponent, or give his temporary teammates a chance to shoot.
But it was obvious that they were not the protagonists. Whether they scored or not, they would not attract the attention of the coaches on the sidelines. The protagonist of this game was only one - Chen Yingxiong. The main event was only one - the contest between Chen Yingxiong and the main defence of the Saint Petersburg Zenit Youth Team.
Chen Yingxiong looked up at the football flying in the air, and once again reflected on what he should. But his body did not move at all, and he could not take another step forward - he was firmly held by the clothes of two youth team players.
As the football was about to come, he seemed to have roots under his feet and was fixed in place.
I want to be a hero... How could I be trapped by such a defence?
What is a hero?
A hero is someone who can do things that ordinary people cannot do. What ordinary people cannot do, he can do, and... must do!
Chen Yingxiong gritted his teeth, his neck turned red, veins popped out on his forehead, and he tried hard to break free from his opponent's pull and interference.
The midfielder Sergey Mironov, who was pulling his shirt, was also gritting his teeth. His entire face and neck were red, his knuckles were clenched white - he was pulling the shirt so hard. This was the first time he had encountered such an experience in all his many years of football career!
The pressure from one hand was too much, so he used both hands...
He thought that maybe he could finally stop this huge beast that was as big as a brown bear this time.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of cloth being torn...
He watched in horror as the jersey he was holding tightly was gradually tearing apart before his eyes, and then the crack became bigger and bigger due to the interaction between the two sides...
Chen Yingxiong rushed forward desperately, dragging two people behind him, and the resistance was very great. At this moment, he suddenly felt a lightness behind him!
He was overjoyed and rushed forward suddenly, like a wild horse running free from its reins or a tiger out of its cage.
With a "swish" sound, Chen Yingxiong was already flying in the air!
The opponent's central defender Krotkov and his central defender partner Yury Lebedev jumped up and stood right in front of Chen Yingxiong. At the same time, there was a Zenit player Victor Stroev on his side.
Three people jumped up at the same time and attacked Chen Yingxiong from both sides.
…
Borovikia, who was off the field, couldn't help but lean forward. This was the "test question" he hoped to see.
What kind of response will you give when facing such a defence, Chinese big guy?
Chen Yingxiong's answer was to directly knock away Krotkov and Lebedev who were trying to intercept him head-on, and then completely ignore Stov who was interfering around him.
The torn jersey was spread out in the air like a flag, fluttering in the wind, blocking Stov's view.
When he saw Chen Yingxiong again, he only saw Yingxiong in the air twisting his waist to accumulate strength, like a towel that was twisted tightly and then thrown out suddenly!
Headshot!
The football went straight to the back point!
Goalkeeper Korzakov made an excellent save this time, but he was just a foil to this wonderful goal.
The football went into the goal long before he could reach it!
The whole stadium was silent, with only the rustling sound of the football spinning against the net.