Football System: Penalty Zone Hero

Chen Yingxiong's plan to sneak out of the hotel with Denisov completely failed.

As soon as dinner was over, they were called to the hotel's conference room for a tactical meeting.

At this meeting, Advocaat would announce the starting lineup.

As soon as Chen Yingxiong heard this, all thoughts of looking for beautiful women disappeared from his mind.

Denisov didn't care about the starting lineup because he knew he would not be in it. The competition in the midfield was too fierce. Arshavin and Captain Radimov were definitely the main players. This had not changed when Petzela was the coach of the team. and it wouldn't change now. For the remaining two positions, Li Hao was like Advocaat's brother-in-law. He had started three games in a row. Look at him and then look at Panov. They were all new. Why didn't Li Hao worry about the problem of cooperating with his teammates? To put it bluntly, Advocaat just liked him more...

There were so many people left competing for one position, isn't the competition fierce enough?

Moreover, Denisov had only played twice in the league this season, both as a substitute, with one assist. Looking at this data, it could be seen that he had not been given much trust by Petzera and lacked the capital to prove himself in front of the new coach Advocaat.

As for the forwards, the competition was much smaller. After Tekke was injured, the only available forwards were Kerzakov, Panov and Chen Yingxiong, two starters and one substitute, which were just enough to solve whatever problems came up.

Denisov had no hope of playing in this match. The tactical meeting made him yawn continuously and he had little interest.

In contrast, Chen Yingxiong participated enthusiastically, and he could understand most of what Advocaat said. This was because Yesenin gave priority to teaching him the words and sentences widely used in football. For example, he quickly mastered the basic terms such as "attack", "defence", "shoot", and "pass".

After discussing the team's tactical arrangements, it was finally time to announce the starting lineup for tomorrow's game.

For Chen Yingxiong, this was the moment that determined whether he could complete the mission.

The time had come to complete the task of "playing for the first team"!

"...goalkeeper Kamil Kontfalski."

There was no change in Kontfalski's expression. As the main goalkeeper of Slovakia, it was natural for him to be the main goalkeeper of Zenit.

"Central defenders Eric Hagen and Martin Skrtel. Left-back Kim Dong-jin, right-back Alexander Anyukov. Central midfielders Vladislav Radimov and Li Hao, right midfielder Andrei Arshavin, and left midfielder Oleksandr Spivak. Forwards Alexander Kerzhakov and..."

So far, this starting lineup was exactly the same as the one that beat Rostov 3-1 away in the last game.

Therefore, the only suspense lied in who would replace Tekke.

After a moment of suspense, Advocaat turned his eyes away from the list and read out the last name, "Hero."

"Yeah!" Chen Yingxiong, who couldn't suppress his inner excitement, even stood up from his seat after the head coach finished speaking.

When he noticed that everyone was looking back at him, he realized that he had lost his composure. He quickly apologized to everyone in Russian, then sat down again. However, he could not hide the excitement on his face.

"Be careful of the chandelier on the ceiling..." Advocaat said to the excited Chen Yingxiong.

The teammates all laughed.

Chen Yingxiong was excited that he could be selected into the starting lineup, while Panov was disappointed and had to continue waiting for his chance.

If he had analyzed his situation calmly, he would have known that he was doomed to fail this time... His style was almost identical to Kerzakov's, and both were fast shooters. The result of playing at the same time would be the same as in the team training match, where everyone would only choose to pass the ball to Kerzakov, who they were more familiar with. Because whatever he could do, what he was good at, Kerzakov could do as well, just that he'd been there longer.

Chen Yingxiong was different. He was not very fast, his footwork was not outstanding, he was not good at dribbling, and his shooting was also average. In these aspects, Chen Yingxiong was completely unable to compete with Panov. But he had a body and header, which was exactly what Zenit lacked at present. With him the team's offensive means and tactics could be more diversified.

From a tactical perspective, Chen Yingxiong had an advantage over Panov.

After announcing the starting lineup, Advocaat began assigning tasks to each person individually.

When it was Chen Yingxiong's turn, Advocaat's request was very simple. "Build a wall for Kerzakov, form an offensive fulcrum in the front court, and play the role of a bridgehead."

When Chen Yingxiong heard that he was being asked to help others, he asked with some disappointment. "Don't I have to score goals, coach?"

"Oh, and your job in set pieces is to score goals, just like you did in training, using your headers to your advantage."

Chen Yingxiong smiled when he heard that he still had a chance to score a goal.

Seeing him like this, Advocaat wondered if he insisted on not giving him a chance to score, would he take away his teammates' chances and shoot and score himself during the game, just like he did in training?

…

The tactical meeting lasted an hour and a half, and by the time it was over, it was time for bed.

Denisov's plan failed and additionally, he would not start in tomorrow's game, so he seems very depressed.

Chen Yingxiong's mind was no longer on going out to see beautiful women. He would play in tomorrow's game! This was the only thought in his mind.

Although the Russian Premier League was not one of the top five European leagues and lacked popularity in China, the level of this league was not low and was currently ranked sixth in Europe. Besides, no matter what, it was also the top league of a very large country.

It didn't matter whether you trained with the first team before. Only when you participated in the official league could you see another world.

This world was completely different from the world on the training ground.

More cruel, more realistic, but also more exciting and more worthy of lifelong struggle!

The most important thing was...

Damn it, if I don't take this path, how can I succeed and become a big star?!

Become a great hero, score lots of goals, make lots of money, free my parents, and let them travel around the world. Change girlfriends every week, European, American, Asian...

Become the focus of the media, live under the spotlight, and be chased by paparazzi wherever I go. Buy branded luxury goods at will, buy whatever I want, and never ask for the price before swiping the card... In short, it's awesome!

"Ah - how boring!" Denisov threw himself on the bed with his head facing down.

Chen Yingxiong came back to his senses and saw Denisov. Then he remembered what Denisov had said to him before.

"Hey, Igor, do you still mean what you said before?"

"What?" Denisov turned over and looked at Chen Yingxiong.

"Hehe, do you understand?" Chen Yingxiong laughed lasciviously.

"Oh oh oh! It counts! Of course, it counts! Where do you like to go for fun? I'll take you there! Let me tell you, as a St. Petersburg native, I'm familiar with every inch of this place!" When it comes to fun, Denisov became excited. He jumped up from the bed, dancing with his hands and spitting saliva at Chen Yingxiong.

"Really? You must keep your word!"

"Who do you think I am? Ask Anyukov, ask Kerzakov... My credibility! It's very high!"

Chen Yingxiong stood up, pointed at Denisov and announced. "Okay! From today on, you are the head of the regiment!"

"The head of what?"

"Head of the Zenit Saint Petersburg eating, drinking and partying group!"

"Oh - cool!" Denisov liked the nickname very much.

Afterwards, the two had a friendly and in-depth discussion about delicious food, fun things to do and places to visit in St. Petersburg. The two sides exchanged opinions and temporarily put aside many disputes such as; "Was appearance or body shape more important?", "Mature women or young women?", "Was Chinese food or Russian food better", etc. After a series of friendly consultations, the two sides reached a consensus on most things.

At the meeting, it was decided to formally establish the "Saint Petersburg Zenit Eating, Drinking and Fun Group" with the local boss Denisov as the group leader, and the members were tentatively named Denisov and Chen Yingxiong. At the meeting, Comrade Denisov also proposed to recruit the long-tested loyal guards and outstanding members Alexander Anyukov and Alexander Kerzakov into the "Saint Petersburg Zenit Eating, Drinking and Fun Group". This resolution was voted on and passed unanimously.

At the same time, after discussion, it was decided that the first St. Petersburg Zenit Food, Drink and Fun Group event would be held after the match with Spartak Nalchik, with the venue and time to be determined.

After the meeting, Chen Yingxiong and Denisov shook hands together. Thus, the small group within the Zenit St. Petersburg team that would later give head coach Advocaat a headache was established!

"This is a historic moment, and future generations will remember it forever!" Chen Yingxiong said seriously.

"We will always have a place in Zenit's glorious history!" Denisov declared passionately. "I declare that the St. Petersburg Zenit Eat, Drink and Fun Club is officially established!"

 "Hurra!!"

"Hurra!!"

Both of them raised their hands and shouted at the same time.

They were both men of culture who had many things in common, namely, that they were simple-minded.

...

AN: In this novel I particularly like that there is an actual set of circumstances that leads to our MC getting selected for the starting position. Not just his overflowing talent defeating everyone in his way.