When Chen Yingxiong used a diving header to head the ball into the goal, Shilgeyevsky shouted in a drawn-out voice."The ball—goes—in! Hat-trick! Hat-trick! Hat-trick!!"
The stands of the Kirov Stadium erupted with volcanic force in the final moments of the game, and the cheers were deafening.
Chen Yingxiong climbed up from the ground and pushed away Andre Hussin who was blocking his side. Hussin was like a puppet, allowing himself to be knocked aside by Chen Yingxiong, stunned.
After scoring the goal, Chen Yingxiong was filled with a huge sense of happiness. He could not think about anything else at this time. His mind was full of, 'I scored a goal! I scored a goal! Goal, goal, goal! Hat trick!!'
This time he did not celebrate with his teammates. Instead, he rushed directly to the bottom of the stands where the media seats were located and raised three fingers upwards.
After raising three fingers, he raised his arm again, as if gathering strength, and then pulled it down suddenly! He slapped himself in the face!
Bang!
Didn't you say I was in bad shape? Didn't you say that going to nightclubs affected my shape? Was the hat trick good? Was scoring three goals in a row good? Did you feel good when I slapped you in the face?!
Chen Yingxiong, who vented his inner emotions, was soon overwhelmed by the teammates who swarmed towards him.
They patted Chen Yingxiong hard. "Good! Well done!"
"You really did it!! Hero!"
"Hat trick! Hahaha!"
Everyone was cheering and celebrating Chen Yingxiong's three goals.
…
The reporters in the media seats fell into an awkward silence.
Even a fool knows what Chen Yingxiong's celebration meant...
This was a slap in their face!
All the reporters who criticized Chen Yingxiong's condition before the game felt some pain in their cheeks.
The group of people looked at each other in bewilderment. Criticizing the players was their normal state. They could criticize whoever they wanted to, with or without reason. But none of the players they criticized dared to say anything. Who would have thought that today, Chen Yingxiong would respond so fiercely as if they'd lit his butt on fire.
Celebrating a goal by slapping the reporters? They had never seen such a person before!
"This... arrogant kid..." a famous reporter muttered through gritted teeth.
…
"Great! Hero! You did it! You really did it!" Denisov was holding Chen Yingxiong's head, forehead against forehead, and yelling at him.
"Hat trick! Now the coach has nothing to say!"
"We don't have to go to the reserves anymore, haha! Thank you, hero!"
"This is a victory for our group! Hurrah!"
The four members of the eating, drinking and having fun group got together and were very excited.
Chen Yingxiong's three goals saved all of them. Of course, we have to thank Chen Yingxiong.
Chen Yingxiong laughed uncontrollably.
It feels so good to complete a hat trick! It feels so good to beat up those blind reporters! It feels so good not to have to go to the reserve team... Ahahahaha!
As he ran back to his half with his teammates, he did not forget to look at the coaching bench. After seeing Advocaat, he grinned at the head coach.
When Chen Yingxiong smiled at him, Advocaat's face was expressionless. When Chen Yingxiong turned and ran away, he started laughing.
Advocaat originally thought that it would be a very difficult thing to do, but he had never expected that Hero would actually hand him a perfect answer sheet.
What an amazing kid.
Porter next to him was a little disappointed - there was no way to let Chen Yingxiong go to the reserve team to calm down. How would the team's discipline work be carried out in the future?
…
"Hat trick! Chen Yingxiong completed a hat trick! This is simply a miracle! A player who has only played three official professional league games made three appearances, and scored in every game! And... he also completed the first hat trick of his career in the third game! Five goals in three games! An unparalleled achievement! Dear audience, although I have said it once, I still want to say it again - please remember this name from today on! His name is Chen Yingxiong! He is the centre forward of Zenit!"
Sergeyevsky's voice came from the TV and Yesenin laughed.
He thought of all the qualities the child had displayed since he came into contact with Chen Yingxiong.
After knowing that his sudden amazing header was due to his supernatural power, he did not become depressed or enter self-denial, but accepted the result very naturally. This incident left a deep impression on him - from this incident, he felt that Chen Yingxiong was not an ordinary 18-year-old boy.
A hat trick tested more than just footwork or technique.
Faced with such a test, Chen Yingxiong's original qualities shone brightly.
When the two of them met for the first time, Chen Yingxiong pointed at himself with his thumb and said to Yesenin. "Who do you think I am? I am a hero!"
This sentence fully demonstrates all of Chen Yingxiong's qualities.
People with this kind of personality...maybe they could really succeed? After all, to be the best you had to believe it, but that belief in itself was a bit delusional.
Yesenin was amused by the person on the TV screen who was swinging his arms and running around.
…
Chen Yingxiong's hat trick ended the game early. The referee didn't even add four minutes before blowing the final whistle.
When the game was over, the TV camera was focused on Chen Yingxiong.
Instead of celebrating the goal with his teammates, he ran to the Soviet Wings bench.
There, Matthew Booth, who had been substituted, was standing up and preparing to leave.
Chen Yingxiong called him.
"Hey, number twenty-two."
Booth turned and looked at him.
Chen Yingxiong took off his clothes and handed them to him. "How about exchanging jerseys?"
Booth noticed that Chen Yingxiong's body was also covered with marks from the collision, and there was a red mark on his right shoulder, which should have been caused by his teammate Hussin. He, who was originally frowning, took off his jersey and handed it to Chen Yingxiong.
His chest had been bandaged, but the impact marks on other parts of his body were still clear.
The two players, who were equally injured, completed the jersey exchange ceremony and did not continue to communicate with each other. Chen Yingxiong put the other's jersey on his shoulders, turned around and ran back to celebrate the victory of the game.
Booth looked down at Chen Yingxiong's jersey. The number 99 and "HERO" were very eye-catching.
South African player Matthew Booth certainly understood English, so he knew what the word meant.
Hero?
The kid was really a hero who liked to do things the hard way...
Hussin came over and saw him staring at his jersey without saying anything, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
"Good opponent!" Booth raised his hand and threw his jersey over his shoulder, "Let's go."
…
When Chen Yingxiong and his teammates returned to the locker room, they had to pass through the mixed zone, where reporters were free to interview players. Players usually stopped here to accept reporters' interviews. Of course, if the players didn't have this idea and walked away without stopping, reporters would have no choice. At most, they would mention that the player was acting like a big shot in the subsequent reports.
When Chen Yingxiong passed through the mixed zone, the reporters were particularly conflicted. They wanted to stay but also didn't want to. They wanted to stay so that they could interview him. That was because Chen Yingxiong was the best player of the game. He scored a hat trick in the game and helped Zenit St. Petersburg beat Wings of the Soviets 3-0 at home. Such a player definitely merited becoming the centre of attention.
They didn't want to stay because they had criticized him for his poor form before. Now that he scored a hat trick, how could they face him? Moreover, he celebrated by slapping them in the face after scoring a goal... Such naked provocation was really not something that ordinary reporters could swallow.
Just when they were hesitating, Chen Yingxiong solved the problem for them.
He took the initiative to walk in front of the reporters and stopped.
It seems that he was planning to be interviewed.
But before the reporters could pass the microphone to him and ask questions, Chen Yingxiong had already spoken.
"How are you guys? How do you feel now?" he said with a smile.
He raised his right hand as if taking an oath, but only extended three fingers.
After saying this, without waiting for the reporters to react, he turned around and followed his teammates out of the mixed zone.
Captain Radimov, who was being interviewed by reporters at the side, saw Chen Yingxiong's look and smiled helplessly.
This guy is not interested in my advice... Was I also this crazy when I was young?
"What do you think of Hero's hat trick?" The reporter interviewing him seemed to have noticed what was happening over there, and he asked the question on everyone's minds.
Radimov looked away, looked at the reporter and said. "It was very exciting. The result of his hard work. I am happy for his hat trick. He is a very nice guy and we all like him very much."
The evaluation was quite high.
…
The bruises on Chen Yingxiong's body were discovered by his teammates who had finally calmed down in the locker room.
The first person to discover them was Martin Skrtel, who exclaimed, attracting the attention of others.
Everyone came over to look at the scars on Chen Yingxiong's body.
"What's going on, Hero?" Denisov asked him.
"It was caused by the collisions with the two central defenders." Chen Yingxiong answered nonchalantly.
"No way? Is it that intense?"
"I thought about it, the only way to have a chance is to fight them head-on. And it turned out to be true." Chen Yingxiong smiled, "Look, three goals!" He raised three fingers, very proud.
The teammates looked at this 18-year-old with admiration. They knew what a hat trick was. But to pay so much. They thought they might not be able to accomplish this. If such a thing happened to them, they might not be able to do it after scoring two goals. As for going to the reserve team, just go.
But Chen Yingxiong gritted his teeth and performed a hat trick!
This hat trick was completely different from the usual hat trick. Some people would choose to bypass difficulties, but Russians would choose to use their fists and strength to solve them. In this aspect, Chen Yingxiong's temperament was very similar to theirs.
Therefore, Chen Yingxiong's final choice to start his professional football career in Russia was both luck and destiny - perhaps only in Russia would his career be so smooth, and only Russia could accept his temper.
Russians admired strength and bravery because they themselves were brave, and maybe a tad stupid. This character permeated into their bones and blood.
So they admired and liked tough men like Chen Yingxiong.
Speaking of the character and temper of the Russians, they were very straightforward and liked to go to extremes, so Chen Yingxiong, who was also straightforward and expressed his feelings carelessly, was very popular with them. This kind of welcome was a welcome from the heart, which was completely different from just politeness.
In comparison, the personalities of the three Koreans were a bit dark - most of the time, they acted as three Koreans together and rarely came into contact with other teammates. It had been two months and they still couldn't speak a word of Russian.
Without the language, they couldn't integrate into the team. If they couldn't integrate into the team, they naturally couldn't guarantee their position.
Xuan Yongmin became the first Korean player to be marginalized. He couldn't play as a starter anymore. His main position was firmly occupied by Anyukov. In addition, Fernando Ricksen, who transferred here, also posed a threat to him. It was estimated that it wouldn't be long before he couldn't even be a substitute, and he could only go to the reserve team...
"Anyway, Igor Denisov thanks you, Hero!" Denisov took the lead and came forward to give Chen Yingxiong a hug.
Then, Anyukov and Kerzakov also came forward to hug Chen Yingxiong amid the cheers of other teammates.
Advocaat pushed the door open and saw everyone congratulating Chen Yingxiong.
The appearance of the head coach slightly changed the lively atmosphere in the locker room, and everyone turned to look at him.
Advocaat spread his hands. "Why are you looking at me?" Then he said to Chen Yingxiong. "Congratulations, Yingxiong. All three goals were brilliant. Don't worry, I will keep my promise."
Then he pointed at the others and said, "I'm going to attend the press conference now. Don't spend too much time in the locker room. I hope we can go home quickly!"
After saying that, he turned around and walked out and closed the door. The moment he closed the door, he could hear a huge muted cheer from his players.
Standing at the door, Advocaat shrugged and smiled, then said to Porter, "We'll get them next time, let them make a fuss for a while."
"I know..." Porter pouted.
Advocaat waved and left, and Porter stood in the doorway, listening to the whistles, screams, and cheers coming from the locker room.