Zenit returned from vacation later than all the other RPL teams. The team’s first training session took place only on June 26. This is because the defending champions finished their season earlier this month when they lifted the last of the three trophies of the season. Not all players have joined the team; some will arrive only in the near future. We are talking about those who play in national teams. But the newcomers are already working. At the end of last season, Sergei Semak hinted that he would like to see reinforcements at the start of the training camp. And so it happened: Evgeniy Latyshonok, Sergei Volkov, Yuri Gorshkov, Maxim Glushenkov are training hard. As well as Dmitry Chistyakov, Alexey Sutormin and Zelimkhan Bakaev, who returned from their loan, the decision on their future will be made later.
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The main part of Zenit’s preparation for the resumption is the international tournament “Winline Summer Cup”, which will be held in St. Petersburg. This is the second consecutive year that a contest of this type has been held. Last summer we played with Neftchi, Red Star and Fenerbahçe; The blue and white signed an association agreement with all these clubs. This time the geography has changed slightly. The club has been negotiating with a wide variety of opponents, but in the end Red Star Zvezda, Argentine Talleres and Sochi will arrive.
Of course, the most interesting is the team from South America. Talleres took second place in the 2023 Argentine championship. Although in terms of budget the team is far behind the top teams – River Plate and Boca Juniors. The total cost of the squad is 51 million euros and the main star is winger Ramon Sosa. He will not play in St. Petersburg due to a call-up from the Paraguay national team for the Copa America. It is interesting that this season the team is generally leading the Argentine championship. Even if this is a temporary situation, it is still interesting. The team is led by 49-year-old Walter Ribonetto – by the way, he will celebrate his 50th birthday in St. Petersburg.
Workshop Players in the Argentine Championship
Photo: Hernan Cortez/Getty Images
Many people already know Red Star well, but last season the Serbs were very similar to Zenit. For most of the season we unexpectedly finished second, but five rounds before the end they recovered and flew forward. The result is not only a victory in the championship, but also in the Cup. For the fourth season in a row. Yes, many stars will not come to St. Petersburg either. Some are resting after the Euro, others for other reasons. But there will be someone to watch: last season’s top scorer Sherif Ndiaye, former Rostov player Gelor Kanga and Osman Bukari from the Ghana national team. The team is led by local legend Vladan Milojevic, who returned to the club last season.
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But Zenit will play the first match of the tournament against Sochi. Many fell in love with Robert Moreno’s team during the spring portion of the season. Yes, the Black Sea team was eliminated, but the coach stayed. The goal is to return to the elite next summer. The club is carefully separating itself from foreign players and hopes to retain its core. The first match will take place on July 2 at the Gazprom Arena. Tickets are free.
In general, five of the six matches of the tournament will be played at the Zenit stadium. True, with the public there are only meetings between residents of St. Petersburg. A match between Estrella Roja and Talleres will be played on July 12 in Petrovsky. But also without the presence of fans.
Here is the full match schedule:
July 216: Zenit – Sochi
July 5 13:00 “Crvena Zvezda” – “Sochi” 19:30 “Zenith” – “Talliéres”
July 8 13:00 Sochi – Talleres 19:30 Zenit – Red Star
July 12: 18:00 Red Star – Workshops
This was stated by Zenit coach Sergei Semak on the eve of the tournament.
Sergey Semak
Zenit coach
“The teams have the same objectives: to prepare for the season. Let’s see which mode we will play in, since the preparation is quite short. Let’s take a look at the guys who returned from their loan, our newcomers, to decide who will be best prepared for the start of the championship. I think it’s great for a team preparing for the championship to play games in the stadium in the presence of fans. We are very happy with this. And the rivals we have to play with are very interesting: both the Argentinians and the Serbians. The teams we will play are of very high quality and play intensely.”
Interestingly, Zenit did not win last year’s tournament, losing first place to Red Star. Will they be able to get revenge this time?
