Andrei Arshavin
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 Arshavin playing for Arsenal | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin | ||
| Date of birth | 29 May 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 71⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger, Second Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2000 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2000 | Zenit-2 Saint Petersburg | 56 | (7) |
| 2000–2009 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 238 | (51) |
| 2009– | Arsenal | 36 | (13) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002– | Russia | 50 | (20) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:39, 10 February 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин; sometimes romanized as Andrei; born 29 May 1981) is a Russian football forward who plays for English Premier League team Arsenal and captains the Russian national team.
The 2006 Russian footballer of the year is a versatile attacking midfielder who can also play as a second striker or winger. Arshavin gained international attention during his breakthrough performance at the UEFA Euro 2008 championship in Austria-Switzerland which resulted in his inclusion in the Team of the Tournament.[1]
Arshavin enjoyed a successful start to his career at Arsenal, becoming Premier League Player of the Month in April 2009 and Arsenal's player of the month in March and April 2009. During the 2008–09 season, he scored six goals in 12 league appearances for Arsenal. In a match against Liverpool, Arshavin became the first player to score four league goals at Anfield since 1946.[2] Former Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp has speculated that Arshavin has "every chance of becoming a favourite of the London fans".[3]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Early years
Andrey Sergeyevich "Mr.Simples" Arshavin was born in St. Petersburg, then called Leningrad, on 29 May 1981 to a typical Russian working class family. His father Sergey was a gifted amateur footballer. Arshavin survived an accident that could have potentially killed him when he was hit by a car as a child. His upbringing was made a lot harder when his parents divorced when he was aged 12, with Andrei having to sleep on the floor of a cramped flat with his mother Tatiana. It was his father who persuaded him to pursue a career in football after his own failure to become a professional football player. Arshavin began playing football at an early age and at seven years of age he was enrolled in the Smena football academy of Zenit Saint Petersburg, his hometown club. As a schoolboy before football became his sole focus, he was also a promising draughts player. Arshavin's father died of heart failure at the age of 40.[4][5][6] Arshavin and his long-term partner, Yulia, have two children.[4]
[edit] Club career
[edit] Zenit Saint Petersburg
In 2000, Arshavin was included in the Zenit first-team squad, making his debut in a 3-0 away win over English side Bradford City in the Intertoto Cup.[7] 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 the 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, Shava (Шава in Russian), as he was nicknamed by Zenit fans,[8] guided his Zenit Saint Petersburg side to the title, starting all 30 matches, scoring 11 goals and providing 11 assists (the most in the Russian Premier League that year) along the way.[9] It was the club's first league title since winning the now defunct Soviet Top League in 1984. Arshavin was also a key player during Zenit's 2008 UEFA Cup triumph and was named Man of the Match in the final, again topping the list for assists in that season's UEFA competition.[10]
In October 2008, Arshavin was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, along with 29 others including compatriot Yuri Zhirkov.[11]
Arshavin's performances in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Euro 2008 brought him to the attention of several European clubs. However, interest had already been expressed in January 2008 by Newcastle United boss Sam Allardyce but he was sacked as manager as the transfer window opened.[12] In June 2008, FC Barcelona had their €15 million offer for the player turned down by Zenit[13]. Tottenham Hotspur's £16 million offer in August also fell short of Zenit's £22 million asking price.[14] Zenit's unwillingness to compromise on their asking price caused discontent from both Arshavin, who said the 2008 season was definitely going to be his last with Zenit,[15] and his agent Stephen Pridmore.[16]
[edit] Arsenal
During the January 2009 transfer window, Arshavin was persistently pursued by English Premier League club Arsenal. On the 2 February transfer deadline day, Arshavin was staying in a Hertfordshire hotel, just a few miles from the Arsenal training ground. At around 10am,[17] he left the hotel and was rumoured to be heading back to Russia but, with less than an hour of the transfer window left, a bid from Arsenal was finally accepted by Zenit. By this point, he had agreed personal terms and passed a medical but a compensation payment by Arshavin himself to Zenit was supposedly holding up the deal.[18] The deal was further complicated by poor weather in England which had delayed the Premier League's registration process, eventually forcing the league to extend the deadline beyond 5pm.[19] The deal was not confirmed until the following day (3 February) nearly 24 hours after the formal transfer deadline had passed, with Arsenal announcing "a long-term deal" for an undisclosed fee.[20] On the same day, Zenit's official web site claimed that Zenit received an official FA letter confirming Andrei Arshavin's registration as an English Premier League player. He wore the number 23 shirt, last worn by Sol Campbell. Because he played for Zenit in the 2008–09 Champions League, he was cup-tied and could not play for Arsenal in the knockout phase.
Arshavin made his debut for Arsenal against Sunderland on 21 February 2009 in the Premier League. The game ended 0–0, though Arshavin was unlucky not to score in the game, coming close twice. Arshavin was substituted in the 61st minute for Carlos Vela. On 3 March 2009, Arshavin made his first telling contribution to a Premier League game against West Bromwich Albion by setting up a goal for Kolo Touré in the 38th minute via a free-kick, the second goal in a 3–1 victory. On 14 March 2009, Arshavin scored his first Arsenal goal against Blackburn Rovers in the 65th minute of the game. He later provided an assist to Emmanuel Eboué for the third goal of the game, which ended 4–0 to Arsenal.[21] Arshavin took his goal tally in an Arsenal shirt to three during a 4-1 victory over Wigan Athletic on 11 April 2009.[22]
On 21 April 2009, Arshavin was named Man of the Match when he scored all four Arsenal goals in a tight match against Liverpool at Anfield, which ended 4–4. It was a thrilling encounter, and the first time Arshavin had scored four goals in a game in his career.[23] He is also the first player to score four goals in a single league match at Anfield since Dennis Westcott for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1946,[24] and is only the sixth player in Premier League history to score four goals in an away match.[25] Arshavin captained Arsenal for the first time on 2 May 2009 in an away match against Portsmouth where they won 3–0 with Arshavin gaining two assists and a contentious penalty.[26] On 8 May, he was named Premier League Player of the Month for April.[27] He was also voted as Arsenal's Player Of the Month for April[28] and came second in Arsenal's Player of the Season Poll despite only playing in the second half of the season and playing in fewer than a quarter of Arsenal's matches all season.[29]
The Russian came off the bench to score two goals in Arsenal's 2-1 pre-season victory on 1 August over Atletico Madrid in the Emirates Cup. Arsene Wenger commented afterwards that "[Arshavin] knows how English football works," adding "He knows as well that now he's part of the team from the start. I believe the team knows as well how important (he is) and how big an impact he can have on the results." Earlier in the pre-season schedule, Arshavin had scored in a 2-2 away draw with Barnet. "[30] On 26 August 2009, Arshavin scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Arsenal in the 74th minute in the 3–1 win over Celtic. He also scored a 30 yard shot in Arsenal's 2–1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 29 August 2009, his first goal of the 2009–10 Premier League.[31] Later the same month, he scored in Arsenal 6–2 win over Blackburn in the Premier League. In early December, Arshavin put in an excellent display against Stoke City, playing in an unfamiliar role as centre-forward left vacant after Robin Van Persie's injury. He won a penalty which Fabregas missed before scoring himself and later assisted the second goal. On 13 December 2009, Arshavin scored a spectacular winner as Arsenal came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. On 20 January 2010 he scored again in Arsenal's 4-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers, which helped Arsenal reach the top of the Premier League for the first time since August. [32]
[edit] International career
Arshavin debuted for the Russian national team on 17 May 2002. His first goal with the squad came in a friendly match versus Romania on 13 February 2003. Since then, 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. On the 11th June 2009 Arshavin was made first choice captain of Russia by manager Guus Hiddink.
[edit] 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.[33] 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. However, Arshavin could not repeat the heroics in the semi-final against eventual winners Spain, which Russia lost 3–0. Despite this, Arshavin was named in UEFA's squad for Euro 2008.[34]
[edit] 2010 World Cup qualifying
Arshavin captained the team to a second place finish in their group, scoring 3 goals in ten games. He provided the assist for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's second goal to seal a 2-1 win over Slovenia in the first leg of the qualification play-offs. Despite this, Russia lost the second leg 1-0, knocking them out off the World Cup finals on away goals.
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