Andrei Arshavin
Personal information
Full name	Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin
Date of birth	May 29, 1981 (1981-05-29) (age 27)
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 St. Petersburg
Number	10
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–present	Zenit St. Petersburg	211 (44)
National team2
2002–present	Russia	034 (11)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 January 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Andrei Arshavin (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин) (born May 30, 1981 in Leningrad) is a Russian international football forward who currently plays for Zenit St. Petersburg. He is a versatile Second Striker who can also play as Attacking midfielder and Side midfielder. He is best known for his close control, vision and pace. ^[1]

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. 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.

Control, vision and strong running are viewed among the abilities which characterise his style of play.^[1]

Arshavin scored 11 goals in his 25 matches for Zenit in the UEFA Cup. On 14th May 2008, Arshavin drove his team with a man-of-the-match performance and set up his side's two goals to win the 2008 UEFA Cup for Zenit St. Petersburg.

International career

Arshavin debuted for the national team on May 17, 2002 in a match against Belarus. On March 24, 2007 he was the Russia captain in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia.

He was included in the Russia Euro 2008 squad by manager Guus Hiddink, despite being unable to play in the first two group matches due to suspension.

International goals

Scores and results list. Russia's goal tally first.^[2]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2003-02-13	Limassol, Cyprus	Romania	3-1	4-2	Friendly
2	2004-10-09	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2-0	4-0	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
3	2004-10-13	Lisbon, Portugal	Portugal	1-4	1-7	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
4	2005-03-30	Tallin, Estonia	Estonia	1-0	1-1	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
5	2005-06-04	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Latvia	1-0	2-0	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
6	2005-06-08	Mönchengladbach, Germany	Germany	2-2	2-2	Friendly
7	2005-08-17	Riga, Latvia	Latvia	1-0	1-1	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
8	2006-10-07	Moscow, Russia	Israel	1-0	1-1	Euro 2008 qualification
9	2006-11-15	Skopje, Macedonia	FYR Macedonia	2-0	2-0	Euro 2008 qualification
10	2007-08-09	Moscow, Russia	FYR Macedonia	2-0	3-0	Euro 2008 qualification
11	2008-04-06	Burghausen, Germany	Lithuania	2-1	4-1	Friendly match

Honours

• 2001 - Russian Premier League, 3rd position
• 2003 - Russian Premier League, runner-up
• 2003 - Russian Premier League Cup, winner
• 2001 - best right midfielder according to Sport-Express
• 2004 and 2005 - best second striker according to Sport-Express
• 2004 - voted Player of the Year by the readers of Soviet Sport
• 2006 -Russian Footballer of the Year
• 2007- Russian Premier League, winner
• 2008 - UEFA Cup, winner

References