That said, the doctors had a lot less work to do on Thursday than they did the day before, since there were fewer Zenit players in the hallways of the medical center on the second day of medical exams. This can be explained relatively easily though. On the first day of testing there were not only the players themselves, the first of whom to be tested was Zenit`s captain, Alexander Anyukov, but also two members of the coaching staff: Igor Simutenkov and Vladislav Radimov.
– We just want to check ourselves, see how our health is doing, and nothing more, said Simutenkov.
After all, Luciano Spalletti`s coaching staff will have a lot of hard work to do for the team in Dubai: the training and match schedule in the United Arab Emirates will be very intense. This is also the reason for the extremely in depth medical exams being done by Zenit`s doctors. The team`s doctors must be sure that the footballers are ready for such heavy physical labor. The second group of Zenit players went through these medical tests on Thursday. If you believe the statistical charts that the players carry with them, then Zenit veteran Sergey Semak got a pre-season physical for the 24th time in his life! The least experienced as far as getting pre-season physical examinations was Tomas Hubocan. The Slovak had to do the 40-minute run on the treadmill just four times before in his life.
– This is the hardest room to get through, – the defender smiled after the test. – But as soon as you leave the room you understand, "Ya, I did it! So I can do even more, and that`s what I need to do.”
The treadmill is just one of the levels that each player has to go through. Cardiologists, dentists, physical therapists, eye doctors, surgeons – altogether the players must go through almost 20 rooms. In order to get through all the offices in the scheduled time the players must rush through the building from one room to another.
– No experience can help here, says Sergey Semak. – For example, I had to finish earlier, and I just came before the official start of the day, which allowed me to get done a little bit faster than the other guys.
Zenit will finish the medical examination procedure on Friday: the final day will have mostly defenders, with goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev at the head of the group. That said, there will be two more players on Friday who Luciano Spalletti considers to be “attacante”: Alessandro Rosina and Miguel Danny.
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