Chapter 7: Header!

Gennady Popovich, director of youth development at Zenit St Petersburg, shook his head.

"I don't see what's so good about him... His level is quite mediocre. Did that Ruslan guy make a mistake?" he commented.

Just like he had done countless times before, Chen Yingxiong's performance on the court was mediocre. He didn't have good coordination with his new teammates, and his own abilities were unremarkable.

"He has a great physique, but his footwork is too rough. He can't even stop the ball when he's pressed..." Another coach, Nikolay Vorobjov, also shook his head. "His shooting skills aren't that great either... I think it's a waste of time..."

…

Chen Tao was observing the coaches' expressions from a distance. When he saw several coaches shaking their heads one after another, his heart tightened...

After coming to Europe, I realized the true level of my son, who had always been my pride. Just because he can play in China doesn't mean he can play in Europe. You have to know that the level of European football is countless times higher than that of China, and my son is still a nobody in China...

Although I know that my son's level may not meet the requirements of Europeans, what else can he do besides playing football?

Because of this, he gritted his teeth and insisted on letting his son travel around Europe - maybe a club would take a fancy to his son? He felt that the reason for his son's poor performance was definitely not that his son had no talent, but that the level of training his son received in China when he was young was too low. As long as he could stay in Europe and receive high-level training, his son's level would improve by leaps and bounds.

This father who didn't know much about football didn't know that the 18-year-old Chen Yingxiong had already missed the best period of shaping. Many of his technical moves were fixed. The bad habits he developed while playing football in China were too strong and too difficult to change. In the eyes of those professional coaches, Chen Yingxiong grew so big in vain. It was a pity.

…

Ruslan Panchenko, the scout who brought Chen Yingxiong and his father to St. Petersburg, was also watching. So far, Chen Yingxiong's performance has not been very good. If it is just these performances, it is impossible to impress Panchenko, the team's chief scout.

He even doubted whether he had made a mistake. Could it be that the kid's header yesterday was just luck... Wait! Header?

That's right, it's a header!

He walked towards the coaches.

"Ah, you came at the right time, Ruslan. Look at the people you brought..." Popovich said mercilessly, pointing at Chen Yingxiong and saying to Panchenko, "I'm not surprised that the CSKA group looks down on him!"

"I don't like his current performance either." Panchenko's words surprised the people around him - is he also planning to give up on this person and admit that he had misjudged him?

But he went on to say. "So I have a suggestion for you - have the team's wide players start the ball from the wing and feed him the aerial ball."

"Is he a good header?" Popovich asked. "You know, not all big guys use their heads well." He pointed to his forehead.

"From what I saw yesterday... he does have some ability in heading the ball. I thought why not give it a try?"

After saying that, he turned his gaze to assistant coach Vladimir Borovikia, who had been silent the whole time.

Borovikia is the assistant coach of the team and also the head coach of the reserve team. The real head coach Vlastimil Petrzela is only responsible for the affairs of the first team. In many cases, the entire Zenit team is in the hands of this assistant coach. Moreover, Petrzela is now being targeted by the media, who are making a big fuss about the conflict between him and the club's top management. His criticism of the club chairman a few days ago was infinitely magnified by them. Petrzela's mind is not on the team at all.

There are rumours that the club has already found a successor for the Czech coach, the famous Dutch coach Dick Advocaat.

Borovikia was brought from the Czech Republic when Petzera took office. If Petzera was dismissed, his fate would probably be similar. However, as a qualified and professional assistant coach, as long as he was in this position, he had to consider his work. Therefore, he was still concerned about the team's recruitment and management.

Borovickia said to Popovich, who is in charge of youth training and first-team training, "Let them change their tactics, focus on the wing, use crosses from the wing as the main tactic, and use more high balls."

Obviously, he was willing to listen.

Popovich walked to the sidelines and signalled the referee Nikolay Larionov to suspend the game so that he could rearrange the tactics.

…

When Chen Tao saw the game was suspended, he thought that this trial would end in failure again. He was a little depressed, and the last ray of hope was shaky and could be extinguished at any time.

Chen Yingxiong saw the referee blow the whistle to stop the game, and then another coach walked onto the court... He thought that the opposing coach must have been fed up with his performance, so he terminated the test early.

Chen Yingxiong was overwhelmed by disappointment, but he was not defeated. He was just unwilling to give up - the game had only started for more than ten minutes, at least let me finish the game, right? After this game, you can come back to see my performance in fifty minutes. I am completely unfamiliar with my teammates, and you want me to produce results in just ten minutes... If I really had this ability, I would not be here. I would have stayed in Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, Udinese, etc...

I have tried very hard, give me a little more time, give me a little more time. I will definitely... not let you down! I believe I can score a goal, I have a body, a header, pass the ball to me from the air! He really wanted to shout to his temporary teammates like this, but unfortunately, he couldn't speak Russian and couldn't understand what his teammates said.

It was helpless, Zenit obviously didn't intend to give him such time.

He turned around and walked off the court. He didn't want to be chased off the court, so he had to leave on his own so that he could leave with dignity.

When Chen Tao saw his son walking towards him, he knew that this time it was all over.

He put on his large travel bag and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Larionov, who was acting as the referee temporarily, called him. "Chinese!"

Chen Yingxiong turned around and looked at him.

"Where are you going?"

"Isn't the game over?" Chen Yingxiong asked, spreading his hands.

Larionov smiled. "It's just a pause. The game is about to start again, go back to your position!"

Chen Yingxiong thought he had misheard, but looking at Larionov's gesture, he really was asking him to go back. He didn't know what kind of expression should appear on his stunned face.

At this time, his father's voice rang out from the audience. "What are you still standing there for? Go back quickly!"

Chen Yingxiong turned around and saw his father waving at him, motioning him to return to the court.

Only then did he turn around and run back to the front.

…

When the game resumed, Chen Yingxiong soon discovered that it had changed. Before, everyone was looking for ground cooperation with him, wanting to see how his footwork was.

But now, the football was quickly distributed to the wing, and then two wing players took turns to kick the ball.

When the football flew from the sideline to the centre of the penalty area, some things suddenly emerged clearly in Chen Yingxiong's mind - such as the flight trajectory of the ball, its landing point, when is the best time to grab the ball... and so on.

Although he used to be the best scorer in the domestic club, he never had such a clear concept of "heading" - before, he just relied on a very vague concept and then jumped up intuitively. If he could head the ball, he would head it, and if he couldn't head it, he didn't head it. Why could he head it? Why didn't he head it? He didn't know.

But now, he knew that if he did this, he could hit the football...

He was frightened by this sudden feeling and didn't know what was going on. He had played football for twelve years, but this was the first time he had experienced such a situation...

Although he knew clearly in his mind how to head the ball, Chen Yingxiong's body did not move. He was completely stunned by the situation just now, and he forgot what he should do.

The football was headed out by the opponent's central defender who jumped up. Chen Yingxiong stood below, looking up, without any reaction.

…

"Hey, Ruslan..." Popovich pointed to the court.

Panchenko remained expressionless and said nothing.

The other coaches did not say anything. This was just one opportunity, and it did not prove anything. They needed to see more examples before they could draw conclusions.

Popovich, who was bored, murmured. "Okay, okay, let's continue to enjoy the show..."

…

Chen Tao was also confused when he saw that his son did not go for the header but was just staring blankly below.

What happened to my son today?

Now is not the time to be distracted on the court! This is truly the last chance. If we don't grab it, we will have no money left and can only buy two tickets and fly back to China overnight…

Chen Yingxiong came back to his senses. He patted his forehead and felt annoyed. He didn't have time to dwell on why and how this feeling manifested. He just had to try his best to get the ball into the goal. He had to prove his ability to the coaches on the sidelines.

Next time, next time the opportunity will not be missed!

So pass the ball to me, guys!

When the football came to the sideline again, Chen Yingxiong raised his arms high.

His temporary teammate faithfully followed Popovich's instructions, created an angle and directly passed the ball!

That feeling comes to my mind again!

Chen Yingxiong was sure that this was not a coincidence. He did not bother to figure out why this happened. He just followed his instincts and rushed to the best point.

This time, when Zenit youth team's central defender Alexandr Korotkov was about to jump up and head the ball away, he found that a huge monster suddenly appeared beside him!

Chen Yingxiong was high above!

He almost flew!

"Wow——" One of the coaches on the sidelines couldn't help but exclaim.

Panchenko, who had been expressionless until then, smiled.

Chen Yingxiong thought he would encounter obstacles. When he jumped up, he was already prepared to knock away all the obstacles in front of him. He didn't care whether it was a foul or not. Anyone who dared to block his way would die!

But there was nothing but the ball in front of him. The opponent's central defender had just started to jump and was far from threatening him.

He shook his head almost instinctively...

He felt the shock of his head hitting the football, but the feeling disappeared in an instant.

The next second, he saw from the corner of his eye that the football was already in the goal...

Zenit Youth Team goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov made a save - he waved his arms as if to greet the football flying into his goal. "Hi, hello, little ball!"

…

Popovich was not intimidated by Chen Yingxiong's header. He was dissatisfied with the performance of his players. He roared at the court: 

"Alexander! What are you doing? Defend! Defend him!"

Alexander Krotkov wanted to defend of course. It wasn't that he didn't defend, but that he didn't have time to defend. When he was still looking for the landing point of the ball, the opponent had already jumped up, as if he had already determined the landing point, and went straight to the ball...

He was too late!

But Popovich obviously didn't want to hear his explanation. He waved his hands and shouted, "Don't let him jump so easily next time!"

But the situation did not improve as Popovich hoped.

When the football was passed high in front of the goal again, although Krotkov jumped up this time, he was blocked by Chen Yingxiong behind him - it was obvious that Chen Yingxiong was better than him in judging the landing point.

Being blocked behind by a giant who was 1.92 meters tall and weighed 93 kilograms, it was obviously impossible for him to head the ball, unless... he fouled.

But before he could commit a foul, Chen Yingxiong had already shaken his head and directed the ball to the back post!

This time the football did not fly into the goal, but hit the crossbar directly!

A crisp "bang" sound struck the hearts of everyone present.

Some people even shook slightly involuntarily when the football hit the crossbar...

"Damn it..." Popovich was a little annoyed when he saw that the players he trained were so incompetent. He was embarrassed in front of the assistant coach...

As if he was really dissatisfied with Krotkov's performance, Borovikia turned to Popovich and said, "Tell the players to strengthen the defence in the middle of the penalty area and do everything they can to make trouble for him. In addition..." He thought about it and added, "Allow and encourage the defence to stop him with fouls."

After hearing this, the other coaches were stunned for a moment - they agreed to strengthen the defence. The youth team's defence just now was really bad, perhaps because they underestimated the opponent. But no matter what, they shouldn't make such a mistake under the nose of the assistant coach. But allowing and encouraging defence to foul...isn't it too much?

Popovich didn't have any doubts about the decision. He strode onto the court with a gloomy face.

"Timeout! The game is paused!" He shouted at Larionov in a bad mood.

…

Seeing Chen Yingxiong score a beautiful header and another header hitting the crossbar, just a hair's breadth away from scoring a goal, Chen Tao clenched his fists with joy off the court.

Good job, son!

The game was suspended again, but he was no longer worried that this was going to end the test early and drive the father and son away.