Zenit put faith in Pogrebnyak

Pavel Pogrebnyak may have fallen out of favour with Russia coach Guus Hiddink but he is very much en vogue with club side FC Zenit St. Petersburg after his strike earned a narrow lead to take into the second leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie against Villarreal CF.

Third choice
Pogrebnyak is largely considered third-choice striker at the Petrovsky Stadium, but with Alejandro Dominguez and Fatih Tekke both prone to injury, the 24-year-old has had plenty of opportunity to impress over the past six months – and how he has taken it. In 36 outings since moving to St Petersburg a year ago, Pogrebnyak has scored at an average of a goal a game, including eight in his last ten outings.

EURO doubt
"It was a successful year for me," said the former FC Tom Tomsk starlet. "It was an obvious step forward from last year: I became a Russian champion and I topped Zenit's scoring charts. Winning the league title can only be compared to the day my son was born. And on top of all that, Russia made it to the European Championship." Pogrebnyak's own participation in UEFA EURO 2008™ is in doubt, however, after he was omitted from Hiddink's training squad in early February.

Milestone strike
He bounced back with a goal against Villarreal last week, Zenit's 100th in UEFA club competition and his fifth since their UEFA cup campaign began in the second qualifying round in August. "To be honest it was a bit unclear what happened. The ball went one way, the keeper went the other, so there was a bit of luck about it," he said, qualifying it by adding that "it's only the strongest who get lucky".

Spartak youth
Pogrebnyak has certainly needed strength of character since emerging from the FC Spartak Moskva academy in 2002. Oleg Romantsev was then at the helm but it was a turbulent time at the club, with coaches coming and going and Pogrebnyak was unable to establish himself there. He was shipped out on loan three times before joining FC Tom Tomsk in 2006, and after making his international debut in August that year, he moved to Zenit where his career has taken off.

Focus
A championship winners' medal in his debut campaign and a UEFA Cup triumph could yet follow, though Pogrebnyak is not looking any further than the meeting with Villarreal in Spain. "Had Nihat [Kahveci] scored early on it could all have been very different. It's good that we won, but we cannot look beyond the second leg."