Football System: Penalty Zone Hero

Chen Yingxiong's goal also interested Advocaat off the court. It had to be said that Chen Yingxiong's performance in the game was very outstanding in general, but it was this goal that completely moved Advocaat and made him change his mind about something.

When the game was over, Panov looked dejected. He had tried very hard in the game, but he and his teammates could not cooperate well enough. 

Most of the time, his teammates had passed the ball to Kerzakov instead of him, so naturally he hadn't had many opportunities to perform.

So Panov already knew that he might not be able to start. Chen Yingxiong meanwhile stood with the team that supported him and couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

He was very satisfied with his performance in this match. He suppressed Li Hao with his headers and body and also scored a goal through Hagen's defence.

Although Advocaat would not announce the roster today, Chen Yingxiong was very confident that he could make it into the list.

Sure enough, after the game, Advocaat praised Chen Yingxiong's performance. Although he did not criticize Panov or announce the roster, everyone knew that in the competition for the forward position, Chen Yingxiong, who was transferred from the youth team, had already gained an advantage.

…

Chen Yingxiong had developed a habit now. Once he returned to the dormitory, he couldn't wait to use Yesenin's laptop to check his upgrade status. Surprisingly, his experience points had increased by another 4,000.

"Was it because I completed the task?" Chen Yingxiong asked Yesenin.

Yesenin nodded. "Yes."

"It seemed that completing the task had many benefits. Ha!" Chen Yingxiong laughed.

It felt great to see the experience points increase after training every day.

He had decided that he would buy a laptop the next time he got his salary. It was not convenient to always use Yesenin's laptop. For example, he couldn't do certain things...

…

The training intensity on the last day before the game was much lower and was mainly about set-piece tactics. This was what Chen Yingxiong was looking forward to the most. Although he had been used as a feint before, a team couldn't have only one set-piece tactic that never changed.

After everyone had mastered this set-piece tactic, Advocaat designed a new set-piece one.

This time Chen Yingxiong was no longer the one who performed the feint attack. He became the main attacker. His running route was the same as before, cutting diagonally from the middle to the front point, but this time it was not a feint attack, but a direct one.

After observing for a period of time, Advocaat was very sure that Chen Yingxiong's heading technique was good enough, so the technical difficulty of heading the ball from the front to the back should not be a problem for him.

In the first practice, Chen Yingxiong used a "looking back at the moon" move at the front point and flicked the ball to the front post. Although there was no goal, it was just a matter of luck.

When Advocaat pushed Chen Yingxiong to the main attacking position, many people knew that Chen Yingxiong was favoured by the head coach and that he would most likely be the starting striker, unless Advocaat suddenly decided to change to a single-striker tactic.

After the training, it was time to announce the roster for tomorrow's game. For Panov and Chen Yingxiong, it was the moment that would determine their respective destinies.

For Chen Yingxiong, there was another meaning. This would be the starting point of his journey to becoming a football hero.

Advocaat stood in front of everyone, holding a piece of paper with the names of eighteen people written on it. These eighteen people were the players on the roster for tomorrow's game, but who would start?

Advocaat glanced at the players and noticed that Chen Yingxiong's eyes were full of wanting. The boy did not hide his inner desire for this list at all. 

He lowered his head and began to read the names on the list. "Kamil Kontfalski, Vyacheslav Malafeev, Eric Hagen, Martin Skrtel, Ivica Krizanach, Pavel Maresh, Kim Dongjin, Hyun Yongmin, Alexander Anyukov, Li Hao, Andrei Arshavin, Igor Denisov, Oleksandr Spivak, Oleksandr Gorshkov, Vladislav Radimov, Alexander Kerzakov, Alexander Panov, and..." He raised his head and looked at Chen Yingxiong again, and found that the boy's eager eyes were brighter.

"Chen Yingxiong."

Chen Yingxiong did not make any big movements, but he clenched and unclenched his fists, then clenched and unclenched them again, repeating this several times.

He had finally made it into the roster and was one step closer to the mission goal of being able to play for the first team.

When Advocaat finished reading the list, he announced the disbandment. At this time, Eric Hagen came up and patted Chen Yingxiong on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Yingxiong. This is what you deserve, but don't be too happy. The professional league is much more intense than our team competition."

Chen Yingxiong had a good impression of this Norwegian central defender and he thanked Hagen for the reminder.

Skrtel also came up and patted Chen Yingxiong on the shoulder. "I believe your header will be very useful, ha!"

…

Being selected for the squad was something to be happy about. If he were to follow his previous temper, Chen Yingxiong would definitely call his parents immediately to tell them the good news. But then he changed his mind and realized that even though he was selected for the squad, he might not get a chance to play. Besides, if he then performed poorly in training like he did when he first joined the first team, wouldn't that make his parents happy for nothing?

Wait until you play a game, maybe even score a goal, and then call back to announce the good news...

Chen Yingxiong, who was included in the roster, did not return to the dormitory to spend the night. He and 17 other teammates took a bus to a hotel in the city to prepare for tomorrow's game.

Yesenin did not go with him. First, the team would not provide a room for a player's translator. Second, Yesenin did not think it was necessary to come. He thought Chen Yingxiong's current Russian level was enough for some daily conversations, and it would be the same with or without him.

But before tomorrow's game, he would meet up with the team and serve as an interpreter for Chen Yingxiong. The club provided a special seat for the interpreter. Before the game, he would go interpret for Chen Yingxiong, and after the game started, he would go to the stands and watch the game from the stands.

…

The hotel where St. Petersburg stayed during the home game was called Pribaltijskaya, which was located on the western part of Vasilyevsky Island, close to the Baltic Sea and only a ten-minute walk from the coastline. It was a 15-story four-star hotel.

When the bus from Zenit St. Petersburg arrived at the hotel entrance, the hotel was ready to receive them.

All the players got off the bus and then dragged their suitcases to wait in the lobby to check-in.

Chen Yingxiong looked around curiously.

Judging from the decoration style of the hotel, it was quite old.

The hotel's architecture and decoration style were full of the flavour of the former Soviet Union.

The waitresses especially were really pleasing to the eye.

Not only the waitresses but also the beauties coming out of the elevators could be seen here. They were tall, fair-skinned, blonde and blue-eyed, and most importantly... they were dressed very revealingly.

Chen Yingxiong had nothing to do, so he simply stood to the side and looked at the beauties. These days, in order to level up, he worked very hard to gain experience and had no chance to come to the city of St. Petersburg, so he really hadn't seen a woman in a while...

When a beautiful woman wearing a belly-baring top and tiny hot pants that couldn't even cover her buttocks walked past him with her ass swaying from side to side, he couldn't help but whistle.

The beauty did not seem angry but turned around and smiled at Chen Yingxiong.

Holy shit! It's open! I like it!

Chen Yingxiong praised her in his heart. He had whistled at those scantily clad beauties on the streets of Chengdu before, but he was usually met with rolls of eyes and glares in response, with some even cursing in Chengdu dialect. "You idiot, have you never seen a woman?"

Chen Yingxiong was in a good mood because he whistled at the beautiful woman but did not get scolded. He was very clearly still a teenager...

I still have to be selected into the first-team roster, so that I can play and meet more beauties... When I score a goal and become a star, I don't need to whistle at the beauties when I go out, they will automatically come to me... How wonderful it would be to live like that!

Chen Yingxiong was determined to make a name for himself as soon as possible.

Even if it's just for these Russian girls, I have to stand out!

"Russia is a great place, a great place! It's a great place with great scenery, it's a great place with great scenery, there are beauties everywhere, there are big breasts everywhere..." Chen Yingxiong, who was in a good mood, hummed the tune he had improvised and continued to look at the beauties.

But he could only watch because he was now a player in Zenit's first team and needed to act in a group. If he was alone, he would definitely try to strike up a conversation.

It was actually very simple to chat up a beautiful girl. You just needed to be bold and pretend you didn't understand social conventions.

…

While Chen Yingxiong was looking around for beauties, the team's registration procedures had been completed, and Chen Yingxiong and Igor Denisov were assigned to the same room.

Denisov whistled at Chen Yingxiong who was looking at the beauty. "Hey, Hero!"

Chen Yingxiong then retracted his lustful gaze and turned to look at Denisov who was calling him. During this process, his eyes had completely returned to normal, and it was impossible to tell what he was looking at just now...

"If you want to see a beauty, I'll take you there someday, as long as you have time! Now, we had to go back to the room!" He waved the room card in his hand.

Denisov was a relatively active person in the team. Although he was young, he was very lively and popular. Moreover, he and Arshavin were good friends. Arshavin's position in the team was unshakable, and his friend's position was thus naturally not low either.

Chen Yingxiong picked up his suitcase and followed Denisov into the elevator.

"There are indeed many beautiful women in Russia!" After entering the elevator, Chen Yingxiong took the initiative to chat with Denisov.

Apart from football, the common topic between the two young people was, of course, beautiful women.

Denisov curled his lips. "There are more beautiful women in Belarus! And...most importantly, there are fewer men there! How about it? Do you want me to take you to a bar later?"

Chen Yingxiong was obviously very interested. He had been in St. Petersburg for more than a month, and except for the time he treated his youth team members to a meal, he had never left the Yudeni Park training base. As for what Russian bars looked like, he had no idea. But he did know what Chengdu bars looked like...

But before Chen Yingxiong could reply, the captain Radimov beside him glared at Denisov and said, "Igor, if you want to be sent to the reserve team, don't involve Yingxiong. At least until Tekke returns from injury."

Denisov made a face at the old captain behind his back, then winked at Chen Yingxiong, meaning... you know!

Chen Yingxiong smiled at him: I understand!