"Zenit St. Petersburg's player No. 99, Hero, is obviously in trouble!" The commentator of the local St. Petersburg TV station was explaining in the live broadcast room.
He was absolutely right, Chen Yingxiong was indeed in trouble.
The trouble was that he was pinned down by two tall central defenders.
Since his debut, Chen Yingxiong had been accustomed to facing central defenders who were shorter than him. He would use his advantage to suppress them.
But in this game, he found that things were not that simple. The physical strength he had always relied on was not effective because Booth was stronger than him, and Hussin, while not as big, was more experienced.
The two of them were making his life very difficult.
"Arshavin! Nice breakthrough!" the commentator exclaimed. The fans in the stands also cheered, but Arshavin did not continue to break through after passing his opponent, but crossed the ball directly!
Chen Yingxiong judged the landing point, jumped high, and prepared to head the ball.
At this moment, he was hit from the side. He didn't need to look back to know that it was Hussin who did it.
This collision made him lose the best opportunity to compete for the header - if it was the defenders he encountered before, such a collision would not have shaken him at all. But this time, his opponent was not a lightweight.
Chen Yingxiong, who had lost the best opportunity to head the ball, did not give up. He still tried his best to head the ball.
The result was of course predictable, the ball passed over the crossbar without any suspense...
"Oh - this is the Hero's fourth header of the game, but just like the previous three! It failed!"
"I believe that in the past two games, Hero's headers have left a very deep impression on us football fans. His headers are astounding, but now he meets defender Booth who is also good at headers. Hero, who is inferior to the opponent in height and strength for the first time, is in big trouble!"
…
"Damn...that bald guy!" Denisov clenched his fists on the bench. He worried about Chen Yingxiong.
I originally thought that Soviet Wings was a relegation team and should be easy to deal with. With the help of the whole team, it would not be too difficult for Chen Yingxiong to perform a hat trick.
Unexpectedly, they met Hero's nemesis - the central defender of Soviet Wings who was very good at heading.
In fact, the two central defenders of Soviet Wings were not that strong, but they just happened to be strong in heading. They were tall but slow and slow to turn. It should have been the time for Kerzakov to fully utilize his speed advantage. But the team was now creating opportunities for Chen Yingxiong and providing him with opportunities to score goals, so it seemed that the defence of the Soviet Wings was unbreakable.
Even the commentator was a little confused. "Knowing that the two central defenders of the Soviet Wings have outstanding air defence capabilities, why does Zenit insist on playing high balls? I know that Hero scored two goals in the last two games, and both were headers, which shows that Hero has a strong heading ability, but it is obvious that this game is not suitable for him... Besides, everyone knows that a few days before the game, Hero and Denisov, Anyukov, and Kerzakov were reported to have been hanging out in nightclubs, so his condition must have been affected..."
The reporters in the media seats also watched with a gloating attitude as Chen Yingxiong was defeated by Booth again and again.
"I told you that the boy's condition must be bad. Just think about it, he's partying every night, his legs must be weak, how can he possibly compete with Booth who's 1.99 meters tall?"
"If I were Advocaat, I would replace him right now! Even if the game has only started for 15 minutes!"
…
But unfortunately, they were not Advocaat. The Dutch coach sat in the coaching booth, crossed his legs, and watched the game. Porter next to him was a little anxious. The team was slow to break the deadlock, and now everyone was passing the ball to Chen Yingxiong, clearly wanting to help him complete the hat trick.
This is what Porter was worried about - was the hat trick more important than the team's victory?
He felt that the team had ways to score a goal, but everyone was obsessed with the hat trick and just kept hitting the ball into the air.
Wasn't this playing right into the opponent's hands?
"Dick, isn't it time for you to go out and shout a few times?" he said to Advocaat. "Change the main attack point to Kerzakov, and let the team adopt the ground-coordination tactics..."
"No." Advocaat shook his head firmly. "If I do this, Yingxiong will have an excuse for failure. Since he has left me speechless, I will also leave him speechless." Advocaat thought of his reaction in the office when he heard Chen Yingxiong say he was going to perform a hat trick. This kid was really bold... He must not have known what kind of defence line the Soviet Wings had, right? Advocaat had been very clear on this issue already days before. The Soviet defence line was simply the natural nemesis of Chen Yingxiong. He actually wanted to score three goals in a game against such an opponent. He was really ignorant and fearless...
"But don't you consider the team's performance, Dick? If we let them continue to act like this, we will most likely lose this game at home!"
Advocaat shrugged, looking nonchalant. "Then let's use a home defeat to tell the whole team that discipline is more important than anything else."
Porter cried in his heart. 'Don't you think this price is a bit high? Isn't it enough to send those four bastards to the reserve team to warn the whole team?'
However, he did not say this out loud. He knew that it would be difficult for Advocaat to be persuaded by others since he had his own plans. Just like when he insisted on transferring Chen Yingxiong to the first team, it would be useless no matter how much he objected.
But okay, after this game, this kid would definitely be sent to the reserve team!
…
Matthew Booth looked at the big guy in front of him strangely.
Before the game, head coach Gadzhiev showed him the game video of this man, from which he learned that he had strong heading ability.
During the game, he realized how strong this guy's heading skills were... But what puzzled him was not this guy's heading skills, but... why was he trying so hard to compete with him in the air?
As an experienced central defender, Booth had a very clear understanding of his strengths and weaknesses. He knew that his strengths were excellent headers and good physical fitness, while his weaknesses were slow speed and slow reaction time.
If the other party used Kerzakov to attack me, I might be in a very awkward situation now...
He couldn't understand why Hero wanted to go against him. Was he stupid?
On the football field, one must always find ways to hide one's weaknesses and use one's advantages to deal with the enemy's weaknesses. Booth was well aware of this.
But what he didn't know was... for Chen Yingxiong, his only advantage was his header! Apart from using his head to fight in the air, he had no other choice!
...
Chen Yingxiong clenched his fists again.
How could I be so unlucky? I actually encountered such an opponent in a game where I had to score three goals!
The aireal defence was excellent and they cooperated well with each other. No matter how hard he rushed, he couldn't find a way out.
Is this the end? Do I give up the hat trick?
No!
Chen Yingxiong absolutely would not accept this result.
I am a hero, and a hero must do things that ordinary people cannot do!
He now understood what Yesenin had said that evening.
That's all the talent can give me - a superb header ability. The rest depends on me. This hat trick is definitely not something that can be accomplished by talent alone...
Damn it, but I really have to complete this hat trick today!!
If I can't do it, I'm going to the reserve team! The reserve team! I worked so hard to get to the first team and just got a chance to play as a starter. Before I even get comfortable in the team, I'm going to the reserve team. I reject this reality!
Chen Yingxiong didn't care about anything else. His teammates all supported him and passed the ball to him. All he had to do was fight hard with Booth and Hussin.
Fight hard?
An idea suddenly came to Chen Yingxiong's mind.
Oh, how could I forget?
Just fight hard!
No matter how good the opponent is, he looks quite old. Isn't there a saying that a young man is better than a strong man? I am younger than them, so I must have an advantage in physical fitness. Don't believe I can't drag you to death!
I'm really going to fight you this time!
…
Chen Yingxiong's strategy was actually very simple. It was to continuously attack the defence lines of Booth and Hussin, using physical contact mercilessly, even if it meant committing a foul. He didn't believe that he couldn't break through the closed door with force!
When his teammate passed the ball to him again, he jumped high and rushed towards Booth. This time he didn't even go for the ball, but for the man... Of course, if he could hit both the man and the ball, it would be good to kill two birds with one stone.
This bald guy always bumped into me before, this time I'll bump into you!
Although Booth had hit Chen Yingxiong before, he definitely didn't do it on purpose, it was just a normal action during the header. Unlike Chen Yingxiong now, who hit him intentionally...
They collided in mid-air!
No one was able to head the ball, and both men lost all balance and fell to the ground.
There was a cry of surprise from the stands.
However, the referee did not blow the whistle to indicate that Chen Yingxiong had committed a foul, as he felt that such physical contact did not meet the criteria for a foul.
After hitting someone, Chen Yingxiong got up and ran back, while Booth got up with a grimace ...
This guy... hit... really... hard!
…
Of course, Chen Yingxiong would not just hit someone once and call it a day. When Zenit St. Petersburg attacked again, he repeated the action.
Anyway, in terms of overall strength, Zenit St. Petersburg was stronger than Soviet Wings, so Zenit always had more offensive opportunities.
Booth also discovered that Chen Yingxiong seemed to be possessed by a demon and kept challenging him to physical duels.
He performed violent collisions in the air again and again. He seemed to be completely unafraid of injuries...
This life-threatening style made Booth feel afraid.
This was just an ordinary league game, was it worth it to risk your life here? Soviet Wings did need to fight to avoid relegation, but that didn't mean they were willing to get injured...
In his eyes, the Asian in front of him seemed to have suddenly transformed into a ferocious brown bear pouncing towards him.
When an ordinary person faces an angry bear, he or she will instinctively feel fear, right?
When Chen Yingxiong jumped up again to compete for the header, he suddenly found that Booth had given way a little...
Even Chen Yingxiong was stunned for a moment, so the flying football was not headed well and flew directly over the crossbar.
There were exclamations and sighs of regret in the stands again, but after Chen Yingxiong came down, he did not hold his head in his hands with regret as he had done before. Instead, he was... surprised!
This way...it really works!