Chapter 72: Farewell to Kirov, Farewell

There were two rounds left in the 2006 Russian League, and the season was coming to an end.

Since Zenit St. Petersburg did not qualify for a European competition this season, they did not have to continue training after the end of the league.

As soon as the league ended, the team would go on vacation.

However, it was not the time to relax for Zenit. In the last two rounds, Zenit still needed to consolidate their fourth place in the league. The difference between fourth and ninth place were very close. Any of these teams had a chance to advance, but any of them might fail as well.

Despite going out to the nightclub, Chen Yingxiong's condition was not affected.

This was also what made Denisov and his group admire Chen Yingxiong the most - no matter how crazy the game was last night, it would not affect his performance today.

How could they know that even if Chen Yingxiong didn't go out to nightclubs, he would be drilled to death in the dungeon every night, so picking up girls had no effect on him at all; it was just a drizzle. The physical strength and energy consumed by him in the club were not as much as being trained in the dungeon for half an hour.

On November 24th, Zenit St. Petersburg challenged Shinnik Yaroslavl away. Shinnik Yaroslavl ranked 16th in the league and had been relegated long ago.

So there was no suspense for Zenit in this game.

However, Chen Yingxiong did not score a goal in this game.

This was not to say that he relaxed after signing the new contract. In fact, he was very motivated in today's game and especially wanted to score a goal in the game to prove to the club that their money was well spent.

Although he tried hard and got a few good chances, the goalkeeper of Yaroslavlshnik was jumping like chicken in today's game, making wonderful saves one after another. Chen Yingxiong just couldn't score!

The season was about to end, but Chen Yingxiong's goal tally for this season was still hovering around nine.

Chen Yingxiong hoped to reach a double-digit goal tally in his first season.

But now, he could only achieve this in the last round of the league.

Although there was no goal, this did not affect Chen Yingxiong's image in Advocaat's heart.

With Chen Yingxiong, even a fool could see what the team's offense was like.

In the match against Yaroslavlshnik, although Chen Yingxiong did not score, Zenit won 3.1. This was because the defenders of Yaroslavlshnik put all their energy into defending Chen Yingxiong. Even when Chen Yingxiong did not score, he created scoring opportunities for others.

Nowadays, the media no longer scolded Chen Yingxiong for not scoring, because they all knew that Chen Yingxiong's role was not just in scoring goals.

But Chen Yingxiong himself didn't think so. He still hoped to score a goal.

This wish finally came true in the last round of the league.

November 30th, the last game of the 2006 Russian Premier League season.

Zenit St. Petersburg would face Tomsk at home.

Being able to end the season at home was a good thing for the team and the fans.

Moreover, this match had a special significance. The Kirov Stadium, which had served the team for decades, would be retired from the historical stage. The club had announced the plan for a new stadium, which would be built on the original site of the Kirov Stadium - the Gazprom Arena.

Today, the fans of Zenit St. Petersburg came to see off the old stadium.

Many people were holding flowers when they entered the venue.

Not only the fans, but many players of Zenit St. Petersburg were also reluctant to leave.

After all, they had been fighting here for several decades now.

For example, Arshavin was brought by his father to the stands of this stadium to watch Zenit's games when he was a child. As a result, he became a fan of Zenit and eventually became a Zenit player.

He had a lot of affection for this stadium.

Sure enough, in today's game, Arshavin was particularly excited, as if he wanted to say goodbye to the Kirov Stadium with his excellent performance.

Chen Yingxiong knew what Arshavin wanted, so at the most critical moment he did not choose to shoot himself, but… pass the ball!

Since Chen Yingxiong attracted the attention of almost all Tomsk defenders, when he passed the ball to Arshavin, there was not a single defensive player around the Zenit core player!

Arshavin had no reason to refuse such a great gift. He kicked the ball directly into the goal!

Arshavin was very excited after scoring the goal. He lifted up his jersey, revealing the T-shirt he had prepared long ago.

There was an earth-shaking cheer from the stands.

It said, Goodbye, Kirov! We love you forever!

After bidding farewell to the Kirov Stadium with a goal, Arshavin ran back and hugged Chen Yingxiong again. "Don't you want to score a goal too?"

The entire team knew that Chen Yingxiong wanted to score his first tenth goal in his career.

Chen Yingxiong smiled at Arshavin. "It's not like we only scored one goal in a game, right?"

Arshavin reacted and laughed. "Haha! You're right! It's not like we only score one goal in a game! Come on, catch my pass later, hero!" He happily patted Chen Yingxiong on the back.

If someone gives you a peach, you should give him a plum in return.

Chen Yingxiong used an assist to gain others' gratitude and rewards.

So it was no surprise that his tenth goal came.

At the end of the first half, Arshavin broke through the wing and made a cross, and Chen Yingxiong used his signature header to smash the ball into the goal!

The scene was filled with thunderous cheers - Zenit was going to bid farewell to the Kirov Stadium with a victory!

"The tenth goal! This is the hero's tenth goal this season! Do you know when he started playing for Zenit's first team? September 17, the nineteenth round of the league! So far he has played in eleven games and scored ten goals! Such a scoring rate is really terrifying!"

Sergeyevsky, the commentator of the local St. Petersburg TV station, shouted excitedly.

For him, Zenit's biggest achievement this season was not regaining the qualification to participate in the European competition, but discovering such an aerial overlord who suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

The club said two weeks ago that they had successfully renewed the contract with Chen Yingxiong, which meant that Chen Yingxiong would continue to stay in the team next season. In this way, Zenit St. Petersburg next season was already worth looking forward to.

Chen Yingxiong, who finally scored his tenth goal of the season, seemed extremely excited. He even took off his shirt, and rushed to the camera with his upper body naked in the snow and ice to show off his powerful and explosive muscles. Then he roared at the camera, turned around and hugged his teammates.

For Chen Yingxiong, there was no single better way to end the first season of his professional career.

For Advocaat, it would be great to qualify for the UEFA Cup next season with a win. Because the schedules of the Russian League and the European League were different, St. Petersburg would have to wait until August next year to participate in the UEFA Cup, which was actually the UEFA Cup in the 2007-08 season.

For Advocaat, it was meaningless to lead Zenit to dominate the domestic arena. With such a powerful investor, the team wanted to have a good time in the European arena. It would be even better if they could win the UEFA Cup like CSKA Moscow!

Advocaat came here for the purpose of fighting in Europe.

For Zenit fans, there was nothing better than bidding farewell to the Kirov Stadium with a victory.

After Chen Yingxiong and Arshavin scored goals, Kerzakov also scored a goal in the second half.

In the end, Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Tomsk 3-0 at their home ground, finished fourth in the league and qualified for next season's UEFA Cup.

After the game, the entire Zenit team thanked the fans and bid farewell to the Kirov Stadium.

The fans threw the flowers in their hands into the stands, bidding farewell to the Kirov Stadium that had accompanied them for decades.

Chen Yingxiong meanwhile had no particular feelings for this stadium. After all, he only stayed here for less than half a season.

For him, being able to qualify for the UEFA Cup made him very happy. This meant that next season he would have the opportunity to go to Europe and play against stronger opponents. If he could score goals in games like that...

When he first joined Zenit, he was still thinking about how to become famous as soon as possible. Now it seemed that everything was going smoothly. After going to the European arena, Chen Yingxiong believed that he would be known by more people.

When the last light went out, the Kirov Stadium fell into silence.

The wind whistled, just like the noise that once sounded above it, and there was faintly the shouts of "Blue, White and Blue" from the fans. But when the wind died down, the noise disappeared without a trace.

This stadium, which had experienced decades of wind, frost, rain, and snow, closed its doors and came to the end of its life.

The 2006 season of the Russian Super League came to an end, with CSKA Moscow finally defending the league title and Zenit St. Petersburg regaining qualification for the UEFA Cup after one season.

However, many years later, when people talked about Russian football in 2006, perhaps they would all think of the big Chinese guy who suddenly emerged?

This was Chen Yingxiong's first season in professional football. Although there were only eleven games, everyone who had seen his performance was full of expectations for his future.

What kind of surprises would he bring to everyone next year?