Konstantin Zyrianov (born 5 October 1977, Perm, Russia) is a Russian footballer who currently plays for Zenit St. Petersburg. He has also appeared for the Russia national football team.

Football Career

Zenit St. Petersburg's late-developing holding midfielder was Russian Footballer of the Year in 2007 probably most notably for his scoring ability shown in August 2007 alone when he scored 6 league goals for Zenit St. Petersburg.

Zyrianov can also play at the back and, in addition, has been used as a creative/goalscoring role by Zenit St. Petersburg coach Dick Advocaat.

In 2008 he scored against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup to help earn his side a place in the final against Scottish club Rangers. He followed that up with the second goal in the final against Rangers to give Zenit a 2-0 victory and lift the title.^[1]

Personal Life

He was struck by tragedy in October 2002 when his wife jumped from their eighth floor apartment holding the hand of his four-year-old daughter. His daughter died that evening and his wife died a month later.

References