Football System: Penalty Zone Hero

Kirov Stadium was the third largest stadium in Russia, with a capacity of 80,000 people. It was second only to the Luzhniki Lenin Stadium in Moscow and the Republic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, which could accommodate 100,000 people. It once hosted the football matches of the 22nd Olympic Games in 1980.

But it was clear that this historic stadium no longer met the requirements of Zenit today.

Since Gazprom took over Zenit St. Petersburg at the end of last year, the issue of building a new stadium worthy of Zenit had been put on the agenda.

It was finally decided to demolish the Kirov Stadium after this season and build a new stadium, the Gazprom Arena, on its site.

So for the fans of Zenit St. Petersburg, the 2006 season would be the last season that Kirov Stadium would serve Zenit. After a few seasons, it would be reborn, appear before the world with a brand new attitude, a more beautiful image, and once again become the home of Zenit.

Chen Yingxiong stood in the passage from the locker room to the pitch, with his teammates who were about to play. Next to them were their opponents, the players of Spartak Nalchik, who were wearing red away jerseys.

Zenit, playing at home, wore their white home jersey.

This was Chen Yingxiong's first official professional league game in his life. He felt his heart beating faster, but it was not because of nervousness, but excitement... He was unable to stand still, listening to the various songs and noises made by the Russian fans outside. He kept shaking his body, sometimes jumping up, sometimes taking a few steps.

"Don't be nervous, Yingxiong. It's no big deal. It's just an ordinary league game." Eric Hagen comforted Chen Yingxiong in English.

"Thank you, Eric." Chen Yingxiong thanked him, "But I'm not nervous, I'm excited!"

When the stadium broadcast sounded. "Let's welcome the Zenit boys!"

"Blue, white and blue! Blue, white and blue!!"

A huge cheer broke out from the stands. Blue, White and Blue was one of Zenit's nicknames.

At this time, the team captain Radimov shouted to his teammates. "It's time to play!"

Chen Yingxiong's body, which had been moving constantly, stopped and he suddenly became quiet.

When Alexander Kerzakov in front of him started walking, Chen Yingxiong followed closely and set out on the road to the court.

This was not only the road to the Kirov Stadium, but also the road to professional football, and the road to becoming a football hero! It was a glorious road!

Dad, just wait and see. Your son will never embarrass you!

…

When Chen Yingxiong walked out of the passage, the TV broadcast gave him a close-up shot.

The commentator was stunned when he saw Chen Yingxiong's face.

Although he had received the starting lineup an hour before the game started, he did not notice that there was an Oriental player on the list besides those Koreans!

Because the name written on Chen Yingxiong's registration list was: "Hero Chen" instead of "Yingxiong Chen".

"This is a..." The commentator hurriedly searched for information about this person in the messy commentary booth, but he found nothing! His colleague who was responsible for data collection at the TV station did not prepare any information about this player! He cursed his colleague a hundred times in his heart, but now he had to think of a way to save the situation. "...An Asian! What a surprise! When did Zenit have another Oriental player? We know that Advocaat seems to have a special preference for Korean players. After he coached Zenit, he brought three Korean players to the team in one go... Could this be the fourth one?"

If Chen Yingxiong could hear the commentator's question, he would definitely point at him and yell, "You are Korean! Your whole family is Korean!"

But at this time he was only busy looking up and around the stadium - a stadium that could accommodate 80,000 people was indeed spectacular!

In fact, there were many such large stadiums in China, but Chen Yingxiong had no chance to play in them. Youth team matches were usually held in some district-level stadiums, which could accommodate at most 30,000 to 40,000 people. Sometimes they have to go to the university football field to play.

The live broadcast called out the names of Zenit's players one by one.

You could clearly tell who was the most popular here.

"Andre——" the live broadcast announcer shouted.

"——Arshavin!!!" the fans at the scene shouted. After that, they began to chant Arshavin's nickname: "Shava! Shava! Shava!!"

When Chen Yingxiong heard Arshavin's name, he counted and found that Arshavin was the third one in front of him, which meant that it would be his turn in two more people. He began to shift his attention from the stands and pricked up his ears to listen for his own name.

"Li Hao!" Following behind Arshavin was Li Hao.

"Oh!" The fans' cheers were not loud.

"Alexander Kerzakov!!"

"Hurra!!" The cheers were obviously louder than those for Li Hao, which also showed the status of a player in the hearts of the fans.

It's coming, it's coming, it's coming… Chen Yingxiong was looking forward to it in his heart, waiting for this historic moment here! Everyone cheers——

"Hero Chen!" Even the voice of the radio was noticeably quieter.

"…"

Silence...

No, it is not fair to say this to Chen Yingxiong. When the name was just half called out, a small cheer was heard in the stands, but it quickly disappeared - the cheer was actually inertia. When the fans soon realized that the name was very unfamiliar, they were all stunned.

Who was this "Hero Chen"?

Everyone looked at each other.

Before they could react, the live broadcast announced the next person's name: "Eric Hagen!!"

"Oh oh oh!!" This time, the cheers returned. 

Chen Yingxiong stood in the team with a depressed look on his face. He hadn't expected that his historic first appearance would have such a result - there were tens of thousands of people in the stands, but not a single one recognized him!

…

Yesenin, who was sitting in the audience behind the Zenit coaching bench, laughed. He had guessed what would happen a long time ago, but he had never told Chen Yingxiong.

How could a nobody who was just promoted from the youth team and didn't stay in the youth team for long leave a deep impression on people? Isn't it normal that no one knows your name, Hero?

Although Chen Yingxiong had two outstanding performances in the youth team, for most fans, he was still a newcomer, a real nobody. Because Popovich protected him very well, no one even knew his name. Even if he scored a few goals in the youth team, so what?

To the real professional football world, you are a complete rookie, Hero.

…

Chen Yingxiong clenched his fists - he would do this whenever he was unwilling to give in. He would not show any other expression but just clench his fists tightly. 

Oh shit!

Chen Yingxiong realized that his previous fantasies were meaningless. He was a real nobody! Not only in Zenit St. Petersburg but also in the entire Russian Premier League and the entire world of professional football, he was an insignificant nobody!

What about the cheers of the crowds? What about the welcoming party? What about the passionate introduction by the commentator? What about the beautiful women throwing themselves into his arms... Was it all fantasy?

But wait... wait for me, world, I will let all of you know my name! I will let the whole world know my name! Even if you get tired of it, you will still hear and see my name!

 I am Chen Yingxiong!

…

Vasily Shilgayevsky, the commentator who was broadcasting the game to the TV screen in the TV studio, turned off the microphone and shouted to his colleagues outside the studio through the headset. "Give me the information of that Hero! I don't even know who he is!"

"Vasily, there is no more information. Our information is all provided by the Zenit Club. We only know his name, height and weight, birthday, position, and number... We couldn't get more information about this person even from other channels!" The director explained to Shilgeyevsky through the headset.

"Then you should at least tell me where he is from? Is he Korean?"

"Hey, didn't I give it to you?"

"I swear I didn't!"

"Uh, let me look for it... I got it! He is... uh, Chinese?!" The director was very surprised.

Shilgeyevsky was also stunned for a moment. "Chinese players? When did Zenit introduce a Chinese player?"

The director standing outside the soundproof window didn't care about much. He made a gesture to Sergeyevsky to use the microphone.

"Work, work, Vasily! The game is about to start."

Even if Vasily Shilgeevsky had many doubts at this time, he could only suppress them and continue his commentary work.

"We have seen that the captains of both teams shook hands and chosen sides... Zenit St. Petersburg kicked off and the game is about to begin. We also noticed that... Advocaat used a very unfamiliar young player in this game. After Tekke was injured, this young man, who was born on May 25, 1988, took to the field in this game as the starting striker... His height... uh, 1.92 meters! From the information we have before the game, he is 1.92 meters tall and weighs 93 kilograms. He is a behemoth... More importantly, audience friends, when you see his oriental features, you must think that this must be the fourth Korean player brought by the Dutchman, right? Wrong! You are all wrong! He is Chinese!"

Shilgeyevsky didn't even know what he was saying. Anyway, he introduced a bit of about this kid. He planned to just call this player "Hero" in the next game without introducing any other information about him.

"Okay, the referee blew the whistle, and the game begins!"

…

In the centre of the field, Chen Yingxiong stepped on the football. He heard the whistle and knew the game had begun.

So he gently touched the ball and passed it to his forward partner Kerzakov. Kerzakov turned around and passed the ball back, then ran forward himself.

The game begins!