During the warm-up from the speakers of "Petrovsky" sounds "Leningrad". Having caught the rhythm, Matthew Booth alternately makes swings with his legs bent at the knees. Makarov, as an obsessed, hits Lobos - both with his hands and balls lying on the grass. The goalkeeper's focus is so great that even after the departure of his Chilean partner, for fidelity, he hits the empty net three times. Near the central circle, Lonevka, having put the case, but not investing in a blow, punches Butu in the shoulder, and he, clutching at the beaten place with his hand, depicts a scene of a severe wound. Laughing, the Wings players roll the ball over to each other again.
“Zenith” warms up without a twinkle. Calmly, clearly breaking into columns, the players follow the coaching instructions.
At the end of the warm-up, the anthem “Zenith” sounds, striking the listeners for the first time with the following prophecy:
- “Hamburg” and “Rapid” - he will defeat all, our native Leningrad “Zenith”.
In order to consolidate the reasonableness and power of ambition, they announce the start from the stadium of the bike ride St. Petersburg - Gelsenkirchen. To the applause of the stands, two cyclists circle a treadmill. The head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, and his German guest, Gerhard Schroeder, come up to the microphone, pushed between the benches.
“I came to see the big Russian football,” the thin voice of the translator conveys the meaning of the words of the former Bundescan.
Around the field are kids dressed up in Zenith uniforms. In outstretched arms they hold huge, in their height, inflatable balloons. Cyclists who have died under the words of distinguished guests are repeatedly sent to the circle of honor, during which the balls fly up into the sky. The cycling group has an honorable goal: to arrive at the final destination of the route to the match of the last round of the German championship Schalke - Arminia.
With the beginning of the meeting, the stand stands out beyond the gates of Malafeev, which is colored throughout the entire length with three club colors. The inscription: “Hero City of Leningrad” stands out on top of huge St. George ribbons stretched closer to the central sectors.
- Go ahead, for Peter! - Not very clearly, but loudly begin the roll call of the stands. Having finished in five minutes and amusing each other, St. Petersburg fans tighten the motive of the soundtrack from "Jumble".
Not letting the audience get bored of the slurred game, the referee Igor Zakharov appoints a penalty at the Zenit goal (not scored by Mujiri), removes Malafeev, warns Hagen, removes Trifonov, and does not count the goal.
In the break on the huge scoreboards "Petrovsky" show cyclists braked in the Moscow station area. Consolidating forces, they are trying to figure out the intricacies of the chain of one of their vehicles.
The second half, already at the very beginning, by Serge Branko's goal, forces Zenit fans up to the return goal of the penalty kicker Pogrebnyak to hide the most arrogant banners.
After leveling the count, it begins to rain. Some spectators, demonstrating their preparedness, pull on cellophane raincoats and open umbrellas. Others dutifully get wet. Without stopping, the stands are waiting, driving, scolding. But they get positive emotions only at the end and in a small dose: the “Wings” who were long huddling at their gates took the ball away and, using the forces of Kovba and Shvetsov, started a pair juggling the ball in the center of the field, amusing the audience.
After the match, Sergey Oborin, as usual, stood up and praises the field without offending the referees:
- Refereeing was consistent with the rules of the game of football - the coach responds to a request to assess the arbitration, and at the same time expresses his attitude to the result. “It's hard for me to be objective, but it seems the bill is unfair.”
Dick Advocaat, who came to the press conference, looks visibly depressed. He sits a little hunched over and lowers his eyes to his crossed arms:
- I'm so sad. The game "Zenith" was the worst of those that I saw. And we are lucky that we tied.
Evgeny LAVANOV, St. Petersburg