Although Chen Yingxiong was very cowardly in front of Yesenin, he was still very tough in front of his teammates.
Before the last day of training, Chen Yingxiong came to the locker room. It suddenly became quiet when he entered.
Everyone looked at him.
"Uh, hi, good morning everyone..." Although Chen Yingxiong didn't understand what was going on, he still greeted everyone as usual.
Martin Skrtel walked up and stood in front of Chen Yingxiong. The two men were of similar height, so they didn't have to look up or down to see each other.
"Is it true, hero?" Skrtel asked.
Chen Yingxiong was confused. "What's true?"
"Hat trick, hat trick." Eric Hagen said excitedly.
"Huh?" Chen Yingxiong looked directly at Denisov and the others.
Anyukov made a face. "We've already told everyone about this, Hero! We're mobilizing the entire team to help you accomplish this goal!"
Chen Yingxiong was helpless at first, but then he laughed. "Thank you!"
Skrtel was still worried. "I say hero, do you really want to do this?"
Since everyone knew about this, there was nothing to hide. Chen Yingxiong nodded. "I don't want to go to the reserve team, so I had to do this."
"There's no need for a hat trick, right? To prove that your form hasn't been affected, scoring a goal will be enough..."
Chen Yingxiong shook his head. "I think the head coach is deliberately making things difficult for me, so I decided to just leave him speechless!"
He really had left Advocaat speechless. When he heard Chen Yingxiong's decision yesterday, he was stunned. It took him a long time to say, "You said it yourself, so I agree to it. If you can complete the hat trick, I will not pursue the matter this time!"
Chen Yingxiong never thought that he would push himself into a dead end like this.
Captain Radimov came up and said to Chen Yingxiong, "Although I don't agree with going to nightclubs... I admire your courage, Yingxiong. Don't worry, I will do my best to help you achieve this goal during the game."
"Thank you, thank you!" Chen Yingxiong said to the teammates who were willing to help him.
He felt that this matter was perhaps not entirely a bad thing. At least... through this incident, he discovered that he actually had a good reputation in the team.
His depressed mood disappeared, and he raised his fist. "I will definitely complete a hat trick to repay you!"
"Oh oh oh oh oh! That's it! Fighting spirit! Fighting spirit!" Denisov jumped to the centre of the locker room, whistling and shouting.
"Come on! Hero!" Skrtel also gave a thumbs-up to Chen Yingxiong.
"That's right, that's it! Haha!" Hagen also laughed.
"There's nothing to worry about with Samara Soviet Wings, they're just a relegation team! Let's win big!" Anyukov also shouted.
Everyone admired Chen Yingxiong's attitude when facing difficulties. A professional player should not be intimidated by difficulties, otherwise he would be looked down upon.
Seeing the state of the locker room, only Li Hao rolled his eyes.
He didn't believe that a hat trick could be completed by shouting a few slogans in the locker room. If that were the case, scoring a goal would be too easy. Although Chen Yingxiong had scored in two consecutive games, a hat trick was a completely different beast. The difficulty increased exponentially. If the difficulty of scoring a goal was 100, then scoring twice was 100 squared, and a hat trick was 100 squared squared.
…
After the training session, Advocaat announced the 18-man squad for the next day's home game against Samara Soviet Wings.
Chen Yingxiong, Anyukov, Denisov and Kerzakov were among them.
Porter was very puzzled by Advocat's arrangement.
He found Advocaat after the team bus arrived at the Baltic Pearl Hotel.
"What are you thinking, Dick? Why are you giving those four guys a chance?"
So Advocaat repeated to Porter what Chen Yingxiong had said yesterday.
After hearing this, Porter was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed. "This is impossible! Hat trick? Samara Soviet Wings is a relegation team right now. Those are the most difficult to deal with!"
Advocaat tapped the tabletop and smiled at Porter. "If he can really do it, it's no big deal if he goes to a nightclub once in a while. If he can't do it, let him go to the reserve team to calm down for a while. I think that's not bad either."
Porter thought about it and he didn't believe that Chen Yingxiong could complete a hat trick. It was not easy for any well-known forward to do one at will, let alone for a young man who had just made his debut.
So, there was only one outcome for Chen Yingxiong, and that was to go to the reserve team.
…
When Porter was feeling happy that Chen Yingxiong was really screwed this time, the 18-year-old in question was meeting a new friend in his and Denisov's room.
Arshavin was led inside by Anyukov and Kerzakov.
"Hi, Igor." After entering the room, Arshavin was the first to greet Denisov.
Although they were in the same team, Chen Yingxiong rarely had contact with Arshavin. At first, he thought they were all the same age, but when he chatted with Denisov and others, he found out that Arshavin was 25 years old...
There was a generation gap between them, almost seven years...
So apart from the communication on the court, there was not much contact in private.
Who would have thought that Arshavin would come to visit him today on his own initiative?
"Hi, Shava!" Denisov was very happy that Arshavin came to visit.
"Igor, I came here to ask you, are we still friends?"
Denisov was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Arshavin would ask this after entering the room. He cast a questioning look at Anyukov and Kerzakov behind Arshavin, and the two of them smiled bitterly.
"Uh... Of course, Shava! Of course, we are friends!" Denisov opened his arms and wanted to hug Arshavin. However he still didn't understand what happened.
"Very good, then why did I hear you organized a St. Petersburg Zenit party club, but I was not included?"
Only then did Denisov realize what was going on!
"Well, Shava... it's like this, You are a father... I didn't think you would like to go to nightclubs or something like that, right?"
"Aren't you guys called the Eat, Drink and Play Group? Do you only go to nightclubs?"
Denisov guessed what Arshavin meant. He didn't want to go to the nightclub, but he wanted to join this organization because his three good friends had all joined, and he didn't want to be abandoned by left out.
So he quickly went forward and hugged Arshavin. "Okay, Shava. I apologize for my previous negligence. Now you are a member of the Zenit St. Petersburg eating, drinking and partying group! If you are willing..."
"Of course, I am willing, Igor. Thank you for not forgetting me. Ha!" Arshavin slapped Denisov on the back.
"Look at what you said..."
Chen Yingxiong felt a little uncomfortable when he saw Arshavin speaking of these things with a childish face.
But he also went up to hug Arshavin, just kidding…of course, he had to hug the thickest thigh in the team!
"Okay!" Anyukov raised his hand. "To celebrate Shava joining us, should we find some time to get together?"
He had completely forgotten that the Drink, Drink and Fun Band was facing the most serious crisis since its formation.
"Of course! But... uh, I think we shouldn't go to any nightclubs right now."
Chen Yingxiong looked at the four people and suddenly thought of Ruilongju. He had promised the boss that he would visit it often in the future, but he never went there again after that one time. So he suggested. "Why not go there for Chinese food next time? I know a Chinese restaurant that tastes pretty good."
Arshavin turned his gaze over when he heard Chen Yingxiong talking.
"Are you really going to score a hat trick tomorrow, Hero?" he asked.
As soon as this sentence came out, the people who were still discussing Chen Yingxiong's proposal fell silent, and everyone looked at Chen Yingxiong. Although this was the most serious crisis since the formation of the Eat, Drink and Play Group, all the pressure was on Chen Yingxiong's shoulders. It could be said that the future and survival of the Eat, Drink and Play Group all depended on him. Everyone knew what kind of pressure he was under...
Chen Yingxiong nodded. "Of course. What else can we do?"
"A hat trick is not something that can be accomplished easily," Arshavin reminded.
"I know, but... I like this kind of challenge!" Chen Yingxiong said it bravely, but his heart was bleeding - fuck you! Impulse is the devil!
Arshavin patted Chen Yingxiong's arm - he was short and it wasn't that easy to do so. That made the gesture more meaningful though.
"Wait for me to pass the ball to you then!"
Chen Yingxiong was overjoyed! He had already experienced Arshavin's level firsthand. He was indeed worthy of being the top star of Zenit St. Petersburg and the new core of the Russian national team. He had outstanding skills, excellent dribbling, fast speed, and... he liked to cooperate! His passing was very easy to adjust to.
Now that he had received the promise of help from the team's most powerful star, Chen Yingxiong felt that the hat trick may not be such an unattainable peak...