Andrei Arshavin

Andrei Arshavin
A-Arshavin.jpg
Personal information
Full name Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin
Date of birth May 29, 1981 (1981-05-29) (age 28)
Place of birth    Leningrad, USSR
(now Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder, second striker
Club information
Current club Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number 10
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2000– Zenit Saint Petersburg 232 (51)   
National team2
2002– Russia 041 (15)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of June 18, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of October 15, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин) (born May 29, 1981 in Leningrad) is a Russian international football forward who currently plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg. He is a versatile second striker who can also play as an attacking midfielder and winger. He is best known for his close control, vision, playmaking ability and speed.

Contents

Club career

Arshavin graduated from Smena football school. In 1999 and early 2000 he played for Zenit's farm club, Zenit-2, in the Second Division.

In 2000, he was included in the Zenit squad, making his debut in a 3–0 away win over English side Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup.[1] He played in various positions on the field, starting as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder and finally adopted the second striker's role playing on a flank or behind a target man. He won the Russian Premier League Award for the player of the season largely because of his ability to play well as a winger, playmaker and as a striker.

In the 2007 Russian Premier League season Arshavin guided his Zenit St Petersburg side to the title, starting all 30 matches - scoring 10 goals and providing 11 assists along the way. It was the club's first league title since claiming the now defunct Soviet Top League in 1984. He also was a key player during Zenit's 2008 UEFA Cup triumph.

Andrey Arshavin

International career

Arshavin debuted for the Russian national team on May 17, 2002 in a match against Belarus. His first goal with the squad came in a friendly match versus Romania on February 13, 2003 and since, he has managed to score in every competition which Russia has participated in. He was Russia's captain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.

UEFA Euro 2008

Arshavin was included in Russia's Euro 2008 squad by manager Guus Hiddink, despite being unable to play in the first two group matches due to suspension.[2] He announced his return by setting up the first goal and scoring the second in Russia's final group game against Sweden at Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, which helped his team qualify for the next round.

In the next match, the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Arshavin repeated the feat with his part in Russia's two goals in the second half of extra time, providing the cross for Dmitri Torbinski's goal and scoring his own four minutes later. Russia consequently reached the semi-finals with a 3–1 victory. For both of these games, UEFA awarded him Man of the Match. Arshavin could not repeat the heroics in the semi-final against eventual winners Spain, which Russia lost 3–0; this led Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, to question whether Arshavin had the physical attributes to play regularly in the Premier League.[3] Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho reacted to the game by ruling out a bid for Arshavin and then question whether he had the maturity to play in a top league. [4] Despite this, Arshavin was named in UEFA's squad for Euro 2008.[5]

Trivia

Statistics

The following table is up to date as of November 2, 2008.
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 2000 10 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 14 0 1
2001 29 4 8 5 1 2 0 0 0 34 5 10
2002 30 4 7 3 0 2 4 2 5 37 6 16
2003 27 5 10 3 0 2 0 0 0 30 5 10
2004 28 6 8 4 2 1 8 4 1 40 12 10
2005 29 9 9 3 0 0 13 5 3 45 14 12
2006 28 7 13 4 0 1 0 0 0 32 7 14
2007 30 10 11 2 1 4 14 4 10 46 15 25
2008 24 6 7 1 1 0 2 0 1 27 7 8
Total 235 51 74 26 5 13 44 15 20 305 71 106
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists

International goals

Scores and results list. Russia's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. February 13, 2003 Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Flag of Romania.svg Romania 3–1 4–2 Friendly
2. October 9, 2004 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg 2–0 4–0 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
3. October 13, 2004 Lisbon, Portugal Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 1–4 1–7 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
4. March 30, 2005 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia 1–0 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
5. June 4, 2005 Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 1–0 2–0 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
6. June 8, 2005 Borussia Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany Flag of Germany.svg Germany 2–2 2–2 Friendly
7. August 17, 2005 Skonto Stadions, Riga, Latvia Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 1–0 1–1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
8. October 7, 2006 Dynamo Stadium, Moscow, Russia Flag of Israel.svg Israel 1–0 1–1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
9. November 15, 2006 Skopje City Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Flag of Macedonia.svg FYR Macedonia 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
10. August 9, 2007 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia Flag of Macedonia.svg FYR Macedonia 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying
11. June 4, 2008 Wacker Arena, Burghausen, Germany Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania 2–1 4–1 Friendly
12. June 18, 2008 Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008
13. June 21, 2008 St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 3–1 3–1 UEFA Euro 2008
14. October 11, 2008 Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1–2 1–2 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
15. October 15, 2008 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia Flag of Finland.svg Finland 3–0 3–0 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying

Honours

Club

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, Jonathan (2007-10-16). "Andrei Arshavin is Russia's artful dodger", The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-06-22. 
  2. ↑ "Arshavin banned for two Russia games", euro2008.uefa.com (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2008-06-25. 
  3. ↑ "Wenger reveals Arshavin doubts". Setanta Sports (2008-06-30). Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
  4. ↑ "Jose has Arshavin doubts". Sky Sports (2008-07-04). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  5. ↑ "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament", euro200.uefa.com (2008-06-30). Retrieved on 2008-07-01. 
  6. ↑ "England trio on Euro award list", BBC (2008-10-19). Retrieved on 2008-10-19. 

External links

Preceded by
Daniel Carvalho		 Russian Footballer of the Year
2006		 Succeeded by
Konstantin Zyryanov
Preceded by
Evgeni Aldonin		 Russia national football team captain
2007-2008		 Succeeded by
Alexei Berezutski
Russia squad – UEFA Euro 2008 semi-finalists
1 Akinfeev • 2 V. Berezutski • 3 Yanbayev • 4 Ignashevich • 5 A. Berezutski • 6 Adamov • 7 Torbinski • 8 Kolodin • 9 Saenko • 10 Arshavin • 11 Semak • 12 Gabulov • 13 Ivanov • 14 Shirokov • 15 Bilyaletdinov • 16 Malafeev • 17 Zyryanov • 18 Zhirkov • 19 Pavlyuchenko • 20 Semshov • 21 Sychev • 22 Anyukov • 23 Bystrov • Coach: Hiddink
 Flag of Russia
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg – current squad

1 Čontofalský • 2 Radimov • 4 Križanac • 5 Kim • 6 Lombaerts • 7 Domínguez • 8 Pogrebnyak • 9 Tekke • 10 Arshavin • 11 Šírl • 14 Hubočan • 15 Shirokov • 16 Malafeev • 17 Lee • 18 Zyryanov • 19 Danny • 20 Fayzulin • 22 Anyukov • 25 Ricksen • 27 Denisov • 28 Puygrenier • 40 Lapin • 44 Tymoschuk • 57 Ionov • 88 Gorshkov • Manager: Advocaat