At the beginning of the evening, a birthday message was read out to Dmitry Besov on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and from the President of the Russian Football Union Alexander Dyukov. 

Mr Besov was then congratulated by the Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zenit, Elena Ilyukhina, and the President-General Director of the club, Alexander Medvedev and received a number of messages from his former pupils and legends of Russian football including Anatoly Zinchenko and Vladislav Radimov. 

Mr Besov told us: “I am shocked to receive such attention and I am always very pleased to return to the academy and to meet my friends here. For me, this has been a great pleasure and a wonderful celebration. I sincerely thank everyone who has come to congratulate me. Thank you very much!"

To round off the event, a friendly match took place between the coaches of the Gazprom Academy and legendary Zenit players who graduated from the academy. The graduates won 4-3 thanks to braces from Andrei Arshavin and Vladimir Bystrov.