Volume 1: Males Come and Go, People Pay Attention Chapter 74: Kick the Ball to My Head (First Update Guaranteed)

Chapter 74: Kick the ball to my head (first update guaranteed)

On match day, the first thing Mazzarri did when he got out of bed was to rush to the window, open the curtains, and see what the weather was like outside.

It was very cloudy, but there was no snow, only whether there was wind... He didn't see it because of the lack of reference. There was snow on the ground and on the roofs of buildings, but there were no flying flakes in the sky like the previous two days.

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little relieved.

If this weather continues, the game will still be played.

As long as the snow stops, everything will be fine.

But God seemed to be joking with Mazzarri. In the afternoon, snowflakes suddenly started falling again in the sky!

Mazari looked up at the sky and couldn't help but curse.

As frustrated as he was by the weather were the Napoli players.

When the Naples players saw the shirtless Zenit St. Petersburg fans on the roadside on the bus, their bodies couldn't help but tremble, and some of them sneezed in sympathy...

The radio station in the bus was playing a local program in St. Petersburg. The host said very excitedly: "God has favored us! Snow is falling in the sky again!"

Obviously the driver of the bus is also a Zenit St. Petersburg fan. He listened to the radio station cheering Zenit so indifferently, obviously because there are not many people in the Naples team who can understand Russian.

After Chen Yingxiong understood what the voice on the radio was about, he rolled his eyes.

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There were Zenit St. Petersburg fans in the Petrovsky Stadium stands holding up Chen Yingxiong’s name and portrait. These people still support Chen Yingxiong, even though he is no longer a member of Zenit St. Petersburg. But the glory and joy he once brought to Zenit St. Petersburg fans is eternal.

When Chen Yingxiong takes the ball, there will be no boos in the stands, and there will even be some cheers.

For Chen Yingxiong, who had been booed by the home team fans in Naples for a whole year, it is rare to be cheered by Zenit fans.

But now he has no intention of feeling such an honor and is complacent about it.

His team is in trouble.

Twenty-five minutes into the game, Naples, playing away from home, fell behind 0:1.

The man who scored for the home team was...Danny.

Portuguese Danny was introduced to the team by Zenit after Arshavin left and just joined the team this summer. He is here to fill the vacancy left by the team's lack of core after Arshavin left.

Now he has gradually entered the state and has received the support and love of Zenit St. Petersburg fans.

Danny brought goals to the team. This scene was somewhat ironic for Arshavin - his teammates performed well in the game and scored goals, while his Naples team performed poorly. Currently in a backward position.

This game was really not going well for Naples from the beginning, so I won’t tell you the story before the game, lest everyone just fill it up to fill up the word count. Just talking about the game itself - before the game, the coaching staff finally determined that Hamsik would not be able to play in this game. The reason was that Hamsik caught a cold on the first day he came to St. Petersburg, and then the cold became worse and worse. It got heavier and heavier, and finally developed into a high fever that wouldn't go away... He could even walk with difficulty now, so he didn't even expect to be able to participate in the competition.

So Hamsik was removed from the starting lineup at the last minute.

As for Christian Maggio, he was obviously frightened by the snow and wind in St. Petersburg. His performance in the past few days was abnormal, and during the game, he performed abnormally.

As for the lost ball...according to Chen Yingxiong's understanding, it was just an idea. Captain Paul Cannavaro had already blocked Pogrebnyak's ball, but just when he was about to make a clearance, his foot slipped and instead of kicking the football out, it was passed to the other side. Zenit number ten Dani.

How can the Portuguese refuse to accept the great gift that comes to their doorstep?

He raised his foot and shot, and the football flew past the Naples goalkeeper who was caught off guard...

Just like that the team fell behind.

After losing the ball, Paul Cannavaro was very depressed and patted the place where his foot slipped - the front edge of the penalty area, which had almost become a muddy pond due to the fierce competition between the two sides.

Petrovsky Stadium is not an artificial turf stadium. They use natural turf. It snowed heavily for three consecutive days, causing the turf of the stadium to become very soft. It feels like skating when you step on it, and it is easy to slip and fall.

Usually those Western European teams that go to Moscow to play against CSKA or Spartak Moscow always complain about the artificial turf at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which makes them very uncomfortable. They lose all because they play on artificial turf that they are not used to. kick the ball.

But now, Mazari wishes he had artificial turf under his feet!

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"Naples seemed very unsuited to playing in such a heavy snowstorm... They couldn't even control the ball. Only two people in their formation performed normally, one was Arshavin and the other was a hero. Both of them had been Playing for Zenit St. Petersburg, I am more accustomed to the weather in St. Petersburg at this time..."

Arshavin broke through from the wing, looking for opportunities to pass the ball, but it was a pity that he was the only one who performed well to no avail. He lacked the support of his teammates, so he had no choice but to work alone.

This way, it becomes easier to defend.

Therefore, Arshavin has not created any threatening shooting opportunities so far. His own shots are often under the tight defense and interference of Zenit St. Petersburg players and cannot threaten Zenit St. Petersburg's goal.

Not to mention Chen Yingxiong... He is the kind of center who needs the support of the whole team. Without the support of the team, he is nothing, so the team's performance is poor, and his appearance rate is not much higher. .

Until the first half, Napoli failed to score a goal. They should even be happy with this result, because Zenit St. Petersburg at home also did not score a goal. Therefore, the point difference between the two sides is still one goal, and it is possible to get it back in the second half - although judging from this first half, this is difficult.

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In the Naples locker room, the atmosphere seemed very dull, with many people lowering their heads and saying nothing.

It stands to reason that even if they lose this game, it should not affect their qualifying situation in the group. Currently, they have two wins and one draw, with seven points, ranking first in the group. Second place is Lyon with two wins and one loss, with six points. point. Ranked third is Liverpool, with two draws and one loss, with two points. Fourth place is Zenit St. Petersburg, with one draw, two losses and one point.

In other words, even if Naples loses this game, they will lose the first place in the group at most, and their right to qualify in the group is still unshakable. Even if Zenit beat Naples, they would still not be among the top two. And if Liverpool wins Lyon, Liverpool's points will not be enough to rise to the top two, and if they can really defeat Lyon, then it doesn't matter even if Naples loses this game, because they are not even first in the group. Will not lose...

So it stands to reason that they shouldn't be so frustrated. But perhaps the performance in the group stage was too smooth. Naples has developed the idea that "we deserve to win", as if not winning is abnormal...

But in reality? They have all forgotten that they have not participated in the Champions League for eighteen years. They are absolutely rookies in today's Champions League.

It was Chen Yingxiong who broke the embarrassing silence first.

"In the second half, we have to make changes, brothers! In the second half, you all kick the football on my head!" He patted his head.

Then when Mazzarri walked in and started to lay out the tactics for the second half, his ideas coincided with Chen Yingxiong's.

"The poor field conditions made it impossible to organize our ground attack, so in the second half we had to switch to the air. Everyone kicked the football into the sky and kicked it where the heroes are..."

He doesn't know if this can really help the team turn defeat into a victory, but this is the only possible way he can think of so far.

Always have to try it…

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"... After the start of the second half, Naples adjusted their strategy. They frequently played high balls. Obviously they wanted to make full use of the hero's height and header advantage..." St. Petersburg's local commentator Shirgaevsky said in front of The microphone said.

"Be careful with his header!" Goalkeeper Malafeev pointed at Chen Yingxiong and shouted more than once.

In fact, there is no need for him to do this at all. All Zenit players know to defend Chen Yingxiong's header. During his two years at Zenit St. Petersburg, apart from his lust, the thing that left the deepest impression on people was probably his headers...

De Jong chose to pass a long pass directly from the backcourt, and the target was Chen Yingxiong.

Although Chen Yingxiong has his back to the goal, he cannot directly attack the goal. He has to ferry the football to his teammates, who then transfer the football to the wing and pass the ball.

But this is better than attacking from the ground like in the first half...

Zenit's defenders were all Chen Yingxiong's teammates when he was there and knew him very well. Despite this, they still lost in the battle for the header...

Krizanaki originally planned to go around the defense to head the ball, but Chen Yingxiong was firmly behind him. Then he suddenly took off and jumped in front of Krizanaki to top the ball to his teammate Cassano who was following him. .

After completing the header transfer, Chen Yingxiong turned around and walked inside again, and Krizanaki followed quickly, not daring to show any signs of neglect.

When other teams defend Chen Yingxiong, they may occasionally get distracted. I think it doesn't matter if he loses focus during one or two defenses. He can't just seize such an opportunity to score, right?

The players of Zenit St. Petersburg didn't dare to think so - why do they say they know Chen Yingxiong very well? This understanding is not limited to a superficial understanding of how awesome his header is and how strong his body is. This kind of thing can be understood by myself after watching several games of Chen Yingxiong.

What they call a good understanding is their understanding of Chen Yingxiong's style of looking for scoring opportunities every second of the ninety minutes.

He has excellent physical fitness that can support him to do this. At the last moment of the game, no one else could run anymore, and he was still as if he had just played.

Therefore, those who really know him know that they must not be distracted at all and cannot give him any chance. Even if... the ball does not seem to be a chance, he must fight for it.

Therefore, defending Chen Yingxiong is very tiring.