Chapter 530 "God Seems to be Blessing Us!"

"...God seems to be blessing us! Because the snow hasn't stopped falling since Napoli arrived in St. Petersburg! Before that, St. Petersburg had clear blue skies and sunny weather. But on the very day Napoli set off for St. Petersburg, the weather suddenly changed... It's all so strange, so I believe God is helping our Zenit St. Petersburg!"

The sports program playing on the television in the hotel room featured a St. Petersburg host thanking God in Russian. Most of the Napoli players couldn't understand a word of it, but Arshavin, standing by the window, forced a wry smile, because he did.

The television was behind him, and the host's words made the studio audience laugh. The sound of their laughter came from the TV. In front of Arshavin, the glass window reflected his frowning face.

Outside the window was a gloomy sky and endless wind and snow… Goose feather-sized snowflakes were falling at an angle, clearly indicating a strong wind.

Such weather… If he were still a member of Zenit St. Petersburg, he would be ecstatic. But he wasn't. He was a Napoli player now. Everything had to be considered from Napoli's perspective. This game was really… too difficult for Napoli!

In another room, Chen Hero's phone rang and rang, one text message after another.

Chen Hero was using his phone to bicker with his former teammates.

Tuanzhang: "Hahahaha!"

Chen Hero: "Don't laugh, Tuanzhang! This kind of weather is nothing to us!"

Tuanzhang: "'Us' meaning you and Shava?"

Anyukov: "Welcome to St. Petersburg! Look, even God is welcoming you, Hero. Thanks for bringing us good luck, ha!"

Tuanzhang: "You Italians boast that Napoli's home stadium is a hellish ground. Now let us show you what a real hellish ground is like! Ahahaha!"

Anyukov: "Nice weather today, isn't it, Hero? I hope it's this good on match day!"

……

At first, Chen Hero replied, but later he fell silent because he really didn't know how to retort.

There was a knock at the door: "Lads, we should get going!"

Sanccroce, who shared a room with Chen Hero, groaned: "God, save me!"

He was frightened by the apocalyptic scene outside...

※※※

For the Napoli players, the sky was dim and almost black, it was only two in the afternoon, yet all the streetlights were on, and the buildings on both sides of the road were illuminated. Low dark clouds pressed down on everyone, making it difficult to breathe, and the howling wind came and went, and the snowflakes hitting their faces felt like knives, unlike the gentle snowflakes described in literary works...

They thought the end of the world couldn't be much worse than this.

Of course, how could they forget the average temperature of minus five degrees Celsius in St. Petersburg?

And this wasn't even the coldest time, as it could barely be considered "daytime"... To accommodate the television broadcast schedule, tomorrow's Champions League match would kick off in the evening. By then, the sun would have completely sunk below the horizon, and the temperature would be even lower.

On the bus, Mazzarri was trying to comfort his players: "I asked the locals, and the average temperature in St. Petersburg in November isn't usually this low. It's mainly due to the continuous strong winds and cooling in the past few days, the weather is bad, and the temperature has plummeted... So, uh, if the weather improves tomorrow, it won't be as cold as you think..."

In the end, even he himself found it unconvincing, so he simply cut it short.

It had been snowing for two consecutive days, and the weather forecast said it would continue tomorrow. He now hoped it would snow even harder, perhaps a meter deep overnight, so that UEFA would cancel the game, and then everyone could go to a neutral country for a rematch... But Mazzarri himself knew that this was completely impossible.

Almost every Napoli player ran from the bus straight into the locker room, and then lingered in the air-conditioned locker room for a long time before changing clothes, only to be chased back to the field by assistant coach Viviani.

Only Chen Hero and Arshavin acted normally.

In order to convey confidence and optimism to his teammates, Chen Hero even took a deep breath of the cold air and said with a look of enjoyment: "Ah—St. Petersburg! Such a pleasant chill!"

As a result, this did not boost the confidence of his teammates, but instead made them want to beat up this show-off...

At the Petrovsky Stadium, the assistant coach shouted: "Adapt to this weather, adapt to this wind and snow! You must adapt to it! Because this is your match environment tomorrow! If you can't adapt now, you'll be in big trouble tomorrow! Remember, we are Napoli! We are not cowards—"

The last sentence was drawn out, and what should have been a morale-boosting statement ended with a trembling sound, immediately deflating the momentum—the assistant coach also shivered from the cold.

Chen Hero and Arshavin seemed more relaxed. The feeling of returning to the Petrovsky Stadium made him very excited. He ran on the snowy field, feeling the force feedback from the grass under his feet.

Yes, that was the feeling. He remembered when he was playing for Zenit St. Petersburg, the first time he played in the snow, he was ridiculously awkward.

Arshavin also seemed to be deeply moved. He had only come to Napoli at the beginning of this year, and hadn't been away from Zenit for long, but for some reason, he felt like he had been gone for years.

What kind of treatment would he receive in this stadium tomorrow? Welcome? Or boos?

How would the fans treat him, the guy whom St. Petersburg had cultivated and who had ultimately fled St. Petersburg?

His body trembled slightly, unsure whether it was from anxiety or cold...

※※※

While the team was training to adapt to the field, Napoli's coach Mazzarri, wrapped in a thick sports cotton coat, was accepting interviews from reporters in the press conference hall.

"...The weather is certainly not good. But we are a professional team, and being a professional team means you have to be prepared for any situation, you have to be able to cope. Snow football? That's nothing, it snows in Italy every winter..."

"It is said that Hamsik caught a cold after arriving in St. Petersburg. Will this affect his appearance in the game?" a reporter asked, raising his hand.

"He did catch a cold, but it's just a small cold. He's just sneezing a few times. I think he will play in tomorrow's game..." Mazzarri thought to himself that this reporter's information was quite accurate, but he wouldn't tell him the truth!

"Is the team's goal in this game still to pursue victory?"

Mazzarri nodded: "Yes, Napoli fights for victory in every game!" He said this shamelessly, but it was also a way to boost morale. The objective conditions were bad enough, and if the coach said something discouraging, the game would be over before it even started...

"Hero and Arshavin will return to their old stomping grounds. Do you think this will stimulate their performance?"

"They are both very outstanding professional players. I don't think this question is meaningful... And I believe that the Zenit St. Petersburg fans will be very happy to see these two players return... After all, they are legends in Zenit's history..."

"One last question, Mr. Mazzarri. Does the bad weather really have no impact on the team's performance?"

"Yes, none!" Mazzarri said decisively, looking at the reporter who asked the question, with a firm expression that seemed to inspire invincible courage...

※※※

Due to the weather, almost all of Napoli's players were unable to train normally to adapt to the field. Many people slipped and fell frequently. These funny falls would normally only elicit jeering laughter. But now, they made the coaching staff's hearts rise to their throats.

Because in such cold weather, if the warm-up is not sufficient, players could be injured in such falls. At this crucial juncture, if an important player were to be injured, it would be adding insult to injury... Would they be allowed to live?

So, after almost everyone had fallen and used their butts to adapt to the softness and hardness of the Petrovsky Stadium's grass, the field adaptation training ended hastily.

The poor quality of the field adaptation training left assistant coach Viviani worried as he left the stadium.

Head coach Mazzarri, sitting next to him, tilted his head and whispered in his ear: "Don't look so gloomy, Fabio. The situation is bad enough as it is... You have to let the players see courage and confidence in you, in your every move!"

"Okay, Walter, I'll try..." Viviani replied reluctantly.

Mazzarri sighed softly.

He felt that his team's luck was extremely bad on this trip to St. Petersburg. The mid-air scare had exhausted many players, and the continuous wind and snow upon arriving in St. Petersburg had further dampened the team's morale.

How could they face the rested home team if things continued like this?

Mazzarri was extremely worried.

※※※

While the visiting team Napoli was suffering from the weather, at Zenit St. Petersburg's training base, Yudeni Park, the Zenit players were laughing easily and happily.

"I bet Hero and Shava are tearing their hair out over their delicate teammates! Hahaha!" Denisov said to his teammates.

"I feel sorry for Hero and Shava. I sympathize with them very much!" Anyukov also made a devout prayer with a sincere expression. "May God bless them!"

"Me too, may God bless them to lose by fewer goals!"

"Amen..."

※※※

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