Football System: Penalty Zone Hero

Of course, the head coach of Spartak Nalchik felt wronged - he didn't even know there was such a character in Zenit before the game...

Did he jump out from between the rocks?

Originally, Spartak Narchik's tactics were to defend and counterattack, shrink the defence, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack. But now that Chen Yingxiong was at the forefront and constantly used his air advantage to bombard Spartak Narchik's goal, their shrinking defence turned into full-scale defence, and as for waiting for an opportunity to counterattack... it was basically completely gone. 

It was a blessing not to lose the goal again, so how could they think about attacking?

During the half-time break, Chen Yingxiong became the focus of the locker room. Everyone congratulated him on his first goal, and Advocaat also praised his performance.

However, Advocaat did not intend to let Chen Yingxiong play the entire game.

This was in order to protect the novice, after all, this was only Chen Yingxiong's first game. Advocaat replaced him in the 63rd minute of the game. Panov finally got a chance to play.

Although Chen Yingxiong was unwilling to be replaced so early, he still accepted the coach's decision - he actually wanted to stay on the field because he felt that there was still a chance to score. Scoring a goal in the first game was good, but wouldn't it be better if he scored twice in the first game? A hat trick was simply amazing. A big four? 

When Chen Yingxiong walked off the field, the Kirov Stadium was filled with cheers and applause. Zenit fans were quite satisfied with Chen Yingxiong's performance, and this was an applause to express their gratitude.

Although they didn't know who this person was before, they would all remember the name "Hero" after this game.

"You did a good job, Hero. But now you need to rest and not use up all your energy in one game." Advocaat met Chen Yingxiong who was walking down, hugged him, and explained in his ear the reason for replacing him early.

"Thank you, Mr. Coach. Actually, I am a perpetual motion machine!"

"Haha!" Advocaat was amused by Chen Yingxiong. "Go and high-five your teammates to celebrate."

Chen Yingxiong walked to the bench.

Denisov jumped up from his seat impatiently, holding out his hand. "Come on, Hero! Let's cheer for that damn goal of yours! Yeah!"

Chen Yingxiong walked over, reached out his hand, high-fived all his teammates to celebrate, and finally sat down next to Denisov.

"Hey, kid, how does it feel to score a goal in the League?" Denisov poked him.

"So cool!" Chen Yingxiong gave a thumbs up.

"Yes, that's how it feels, haha!" Denisov lowered his voice again, leaned over to Chen Yingxiong's ear and said to him, "I say... to celebrate your first goal in the first team, which is also your first goal in Zenit, let's have a celebration in this eating, drinking and having fun group. We were originally planning to have the first event, so why not just combine them? How about it? Tonight!"

"Tonight? Is that okay?"

"Yes! After the home games, the Dutch coach will go on vacation directly. I tell you, when we walk out of Kirov's locker room, we are free! We can do whatever we want, and no one will care!"

"Oh! Not bad!" Chen Yingxiong whistled.

"When the time comes... fine wine, beautiful women, delicious food, whatever you want to do, damn, it's so cool!" Denisov said excitedly, and Chen Yingxiong was also fascinated by it - since he joined Zenit, he has been an ascetic for almost two months, and every day he did hard practice. 

In the training base of Yudeni Park, he faced Yesenin every day. There were no beautiful women. He hadn't even seen anyone with long hair during that time. This life was really dull.

I finally have this opportunity today, and I must see the exciting world of Russia's northern capital no matter what!

"It's a deal!" Chen Yingxiong stretched out his fist.

"If I lied about how awesome this will be, you may strike me down!" Denisov stretched out his fist and bumped it with Chen Yingxiong.

…

The two of them kept their heads down and discussed where to go out for fun in the evening, and seemed to be completely unconcerned about the game on the field.

However, the Zenit players on the field did not behave as leisurely as the two players on the bench. After Chen Yingxiong left the field, the pressure on Spartak Narchik's defence suddenly eased. After Panov came on, he was just like Chen Yingxiong at the beginning, and he could not cooperate with the team. But Chen Yingxiong still had the obvious advantage of headers. What did Panov have? Kerzakov had everything he had, and Kerzakov was younger than him and also more familiar with the team.

The offence was a bit chaotic and they were unable to put continuous pressure on Spartak Nalchik, so Spartak Nalchik's ambitions began to stir again. 

Now they were only one goal behind Zenit, which was a score that could be equalized with just a bit of effort and luck. This was the score that would most easily give the trailing side confidence and lull them to sleep.

On the contrary, Zenit, who were leading, looked nervous.

They were afraid that the leading advantage they had worked so hard to gain would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Advocaat was forced to make substitutions and adjustments repeatedly.

The 36-year-old Ukrainian midfielder Gorshkov replaced the winger Spivak, and the team changed its formation to three central midfielders and a free man Arshavin in the frontcourt.

This increased the interception power of the midfield.

Then Krizanac replaced Yongmin to strengthen the defence at the back line.

After all this trouble, Zenit, who were playing at home, finally stabilized their position and, relying on their home advantage, they finally maintained the score.

Thanks to Chen Yingxiong's goal in the 29th minute of the first half, Zenit St. Petersburg narrowly defeated Spartak Nalchik 1-0 at home.

…

When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, Chen Yingxiong and Denisov ended their enthusiastic discussion, stood up from the bench and prepared to return to the locker room.

The TV camera gave Chen Yingxiong a close-up, and Chen Yingxiong also noticed that there was a cameraman carrying a camera next to him.

He pointed at his back towards the camera lens, indicating that the camera should take a picture there.

So the cameraman turned around, and the capital letters "HERO" appeared on the screen.

After giving Chen Yingxiong a close-up, the cameraman went around to continue filming. In the shot, he and his teammates who were walking off the field high-fived to celebrate their victory. But more often, his teammates came up to him to ruffle his hair and congratulate him on his goal.

You had to know that this goal was not the kind of icing on the cake that was meaningless except for brushing up on the statistics. Instead, it was a valuable goal that directly determined the outcome of the game and brought the team three points. Its value was very high.

Professional players all knew what such a goal meant to the player. Chen Yingxiong's position in the head coach's mind had become more solid...

As long as his performance doesn't fluctuate too much, the road ahead would be much easier from now on.

"Well done, Hero!" Eric Hagen walked up and just raised his hand, he saw Chen Yingxiong hugging his head protectively.

"What is this for?"

"You want to grab my hair too?" Chen Yingxiong looked at him warily. He was already scared by these enthusiastic teammates who rushed over. Why did foreigners always like to pull and rub hair to show intimacy and enthusiasm? The camera was still next to me. If they take a picture of me with messy hair, wouldn't it ruin my image?

The captain of the Norwegian national team laughed loudly, and then patted Chen Yingxiong twice on the shoulder, making Chen Yingxiong grin.

Captain Radimov also came up to congratulate Chen Yingxiong on his debut. "A very successful debut, Hero. I hope you won't be too proud and keep it up!"

"Thank you, Captain!"

Arshavin also came over. Although Radimov was the captain, Arshavin had a higher prestige in the team. He smiled at Chen Yingxiong and said, "What a remarkable transformation!" He still remembered that when Chen Yingxiong first came to the first team, he performed poorly in training and looked like a lost dog.

Who would have thought that he would become a "hero" who scored a goal in his debut and helped the team win the game?

Chen Yingxiong also gave him a thumbs up. "I was so excited when I scored the goal that I forgot to thank you. Your pass was great! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to score, haha!"

After seeing Arshavin off, Chen Yingxiong turned around and saw his translator and Russian teacher Yesenin.

Yesenin was standing at the exit of the distant stands.

Chen Yingxiong gave him a thumbs up, and Yesenin gave him a thumbs up in return.

A man suddenly hugged Chen Yingxiong's shoulders. It was Anyukov. "I say, don't let the reporters wait anxiously, our great hero! Ha! They're waiting to interview you!" He shouted in Chen Yingxiong's ear.

Chen Yingxiong then remembered that he was going to be interviewed by reporters.

He would become famous only after being widely reported on by the media. That was a quasi-definition of the term, actually.

It was a pity that there were only Russian reporters here, but no Chinese reporters... Otherwise, his parents in China would also find out about his victory through the media.

But... let's do it step by step. Be famous in Russia first, then the world!

…

The reporters huddled together in the mixed zone.

When most of the players from either team came over, they only asked one or two questions and let them pass. When Arshavin showed up, the reporters got a little excited. But they didn't ask more than five questions.

Everyone was waiting for one person, they craned their necks to look at the entrance of the passage like ducks looking for bread.

Finally, the person they were waiting for arrived. The entrance suddenly darkened and a tall and burly figure walked in.

"Number 99!"

"Hey! Big guy!"

"Hero!"

"Hero! Hero!"

Reporters called out one after another, hoping to attract Chen Yingxiong's attention.

Several Korean reporters also shouted in Korean. If this person was really a fellow Korean, he would definitely stop in front of them.

But Chen Yingxiong only heard a burst of "Aniyonghaseyo" in his ears, and he had no idea what it meant. The only thing he could understand was "Smida". This made him know the identity of this group of people - Koreans!

He turned and smiled at the Korean reporters.

The Korean reporters thought Chen Yingxiong was going to stop for an interview, and they were overjoyed. They were the first among the crowd of reporters to grab the opportunity to ask questions.

Unexpectedly, Chen Yingxiong just smiled at them, but did not stop, and walked straight past the Korean reporters.

"How rude!"

"Did he not understand?"

"It seems that he is not Korean!"

The Korean reporters were shocked and gathered together to discuss the matter.

When Chen Yingxiong walked to the core of the mixed zone, he was stopped by more reporters.

"Hero! Hero, can I ask you a question?"

"No problem, just ask!" Chen Yingxiong stopped and smiled at the reporter. But he obviously underestimated the enthusiasm of the reporters...

The reporters who had obtained Chen Yingxiong's permission were like a reservoir that had opened its gates to release floodwaters. All the questions were swept away by the torrent of water, rushing out and rushing towards the unprepared Chen Yingxiong.

"Is this your first official professional match?"

"The information shows that you were born in 1988, you are only 18 years old this year, and your nationality is Chinese... We are really surprised... When did you join Zenit St. Petersburg?"

"Excuse me, are you really Chinese?"

"How does it feel to help the team score a goal in your first appearance?"

"I noticed that you were very good at heading in the game, but you were average in other aspects. What's the reason?"

"May I ask how you came to join Zenit?"

"Is 'Hero' your real name? As far as I know, Chinese people... no, in the East, people rarely have such names..."

All kinds of questions were thrown to Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong was overwhelmed by the sound of Russian and English with various accents ringing in his ears.

He raised his hand.

The reporters didn't understand what he meant. They all fell silent and looked at him strangely.

"I'm sorry, my Russian isn't very good, so...speak slower!"

This was the first appearance of Chen Yingxiong, a figure that would later be chased by the media like a woman in a french fry costume being chased by seagulls.