Andrei Arshavin: December 2010

About Andrei Arshavin

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Sergeyеvich and thefamily name is Arshavin.

Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин; sometimesromanized as Andrey; born 29 May 1981) is a Russian footballer who plays for EnglishPremier League team Arsenal and captains the Russian national team. He has won both theUEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup with Zenit.

The 2006 Russian footballer of the year is a versatile attacking midfielder who can also play as a second striker. 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]

Signing for Arsenal in 2009, Arshavin enjoyed a successful start to his career with the Gunners, 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 Bergkamphas speculated that Arshavin has "every chance of becoming a favourite of the London fans".^[3]

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[edit]Early years

Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin was born in Leningrad, now called St. Petersburg, 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, 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 wife, Yulia, have two children.^[4] He has written three books including one called ‘555 Questions and Answers on Women, Money, Politics and Football’ ^[7]. Arshavin also has a degree in Fashion Design^[8]. He often misbehaved at school,"I behaved badly at school. When I was in the second form, I tore down the registering journal of the class", It was this incident described by Andrey that saw him expelled. ^[9]

[edit]Club career

[edit]Zenit Saint Petersburg

Arshavin playing for Zenit

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,^[10] coming on as a first half substitute for Andrey Kobelev.^[11] 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 Attacking Midfielder, playmaker and as a striker.

In the 2007 Russian Premier League season, Shava (Шава in Russian), as he was nicknamed by Zenit fans,^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

In October 2008, Arshavin was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, along with 29 others including compatriot Yuri Zhirkov.^[15]

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.^[16] In June 2008, FC Barcelona had their €15 million offer for the player turned down by Zenit.^[17] Tottenham Hotspur's £16m offer in August also fell short of Zenit's £22m asking price.^[18] 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,^[19] and his agent Denis Lachter.^[20]

[edit]Arsenal

Arshavin (left) in training withThomas Vermaelen

During the January 2009 transfer window, Arshavin was persistently pursued by English Premier Leagueclub 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,^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24] On the same day, Zenit's official web site claimed that Zenit received an official FA letter confirming Andrei Arshavin's registration as a Arsenal 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 in action for Arsenal

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.^[25] Arshavin took his goal tally in an Arsenal shirt to three during a 4–1 victory over Wigan Athletic on 11 April 2009.^[26]

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.^[27] 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,^[28] and is only the sixth player in Premier League history to score four goals in an away match.^[29] 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.^[30] On 8 May, he was named Premier League Player of the Month for April.^[31] He was also voted as Arsenal's Player Of the Month for April^[32] 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.^[33]

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."^[34] 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.^[35] 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.^[36]

Arshavin played all Arsenal's six games in March. He scored twice, striking against Burnley and Hull City to take his season's tally to 11. However, he suffered a calf strain against Barcelona, ruling him out for three weeks. Arshavin missed one of two games in May due to his calf strain injury, but scored for the last time of the 2009–10 season in Arsenal's last game of the 2009-10 season against Fulham, which Arsenal won 4–0. On 17 July 2010, he scored the opening goal against Barnet in Arsenal's first pre-season friendly match of the 2010-11 season, which Arsenal won 4-0. He then won the Man of the Match award on 18 July 2010 by Arsenal fans for best performance.

On 21 August 2010, Arshavin converted a penalty in a 6–0 win over Blackpool at home after Marouane Chamakh was fouled by Ian Evatt. He also scored the following week on 28 August 2010, against Blackburn Rovers away from home when Cesc Fabregas' shot was blocked and fell into the path of Arshavin, who secured a 2–1 victory for Arsenal. Arshavin scored and provided two assists against Braga in the Champions League on the way to a 6-0 victory; bringing his goal tally to 3 in five games. He then scored his fourth for the season only 2 games later, netting Arsenal's 4th during extra time to see of Tottenham Hotspur in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup. On 25 September 2010, Arshavin made an assist to provide Samir Nasri's second goal in the 90th minute in Arsenal's horror 3-2 home defeat by the hands of West Brom. He later then scored Arsenal's first goal in a 3-1 midweek Champions League away win against FK Partizan in the 15th minute after a nice backheel pass by Jack Wilshere. But Vladimir Stojković saved Arshavin's penalty in the second half after Marouane Chamakh was fouled in the penalty area. He set up Samir Nasri in a 3-0 victory over Manchester City F.C..

[edit]International career

Arshavin playing forRussia

Arshavin debuted for the Russian national team on 17 May 2002, but was overlooked for the Russia squads at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004.^[37] His first goal with the squad came in a friendly match versusRomania 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.^[38] 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, UEFAawarded 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.^[39]

[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 of the World Cup finals on away goals.

Arshavin contesting a header with Argentina'sJavier Mascherano

[edit]International goals

Scores and results list.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Result	Competition
1	2003-02-13	Tsirion Stadium, Limassol,Cyprus	Romania	3 – 1	4 – 2	Win	7th Cyprus Football Association Tournament
2	2004-10-09	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg,Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0 – 2	0 – 4	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	2004-10-13	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon,Portugal	Portugal	4 – 1	7 – 1	Loss	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	2005-03-30	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0 – 1	1 – 1	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	2005-06-04	Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Latvia	1 – 0	2 – 0	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	2005-06-08	Borussia Park,Mönchengladbach, Germany	Germany	2 – 2	2 – 2	Draw	Friendly match
7	2005-08-17	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	1 – 1	1 – 1	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	2006-10-07	Dynamo Stadium, Moscow,Russia	Israel	1 – 0	1 – 1	Draw	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
9	2006-11-15	Skopje City Stadium, Skopje,Republic of Macedonia	Macedonia	0 – 2	0 – 2	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
10	2007-09-08	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow,Russia	Macedonia	2 – 0	3 – 0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification
11	2008-06-04	Wacker Arena, Burghausen,Germany	Lithuania	2 – 1	4 – 1	Win	Friendly match
12	2008-06-18	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria	Sweden	2 – 0	2 – 0	Win	UEFA Euro 2008
13	2008-06-21	St. Jakob-Park, Basel,Switzerland	Netherlands	1 – 3	1 – 3	Win	UEFA Euro 2008
14	2008-10-11	Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund,Germany	Germany	2 – 1	2 – 1	Loss	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15	2008-10-15	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow,Russia	Finland	3 – 0	3 – 0	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
16	2009-10-14	Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku,Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	0 – 1	1 – 1	Draw	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit]Career statistics

(correct as of 30 October 2010)^[40]

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Other			Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Zenit St. Petersburg	2000	10	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	14	0	1
	2001	29	4	8	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	34	5	10
	2002	30	4	7	3	0	2	4	2	5	0	0	0	37	6	14
	2003	27	5	10	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	5	12
	2004	26	5	8	4	2	1	8	4	1	0	0	0	38	12	10
	2005	29	9	8	4	2	1	8	4	1	0	0	0	41	15	10
	2006	28	7	13	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	7	14
	2007	30	10	13	2	1	4	14	4	10	0	0	0	46	15	27
	2008	27	6	8	1	1	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	34	7	10
Total		236	52	77	27	7	13	43	14	18	0	0	0	306	72	108
Arsenal	2008–09	12	6	7	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	6	9
	2009–10	30	10	2	1	0	0	8	2	5	7	3	0	39	12	7
	2010–11	10	2	4	1	1	0	3	2	2	5	1	1	13	5	6
Total		52	18	13	5	1	2	10	4	7	12	4	1	80	27	20
Career Total		287	70	87	32	8	15	52	17	25	12	4	1	386	99	128

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