Andrey Arshavin (Template:Lang-ru, first name also transliterated as Andrei) (born May 29, 1981 in Saint Petersburg, then Leningrad) is a Russian international footballer. He is the top player of the Russian Premier League team Zenit St. Petersburg. He can play both as a midfielder and as a striker.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Deep Lying Forward, winger, attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Zenit Saint Petersburg | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 6, 2007 | |||
Andrey 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 Zenit squad. He played in various positions on the field, starting as a right midfielder, then as an attacking midfielder and finally as a striker. He won the Russian Premier League Award for the player of the season largely because of his ability play well as a winger, playmaker and as a striker. He is known for superb pace, dribbling qualities, vision, technique and passing. These attributes and his hard working nature have turned him into one of the most important players for club and country.
Arshavin scored 11 goals in his 25 matches for Zenit in the UEFA Cup. He 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.
At the end of the 2007 Russian Football Season, Arshavin looks set to leave St. Petersburg for the Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspurs, in the January transfer window.
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 - named best player by Russian Football Union, Sport-Express, Soviet Sport, named Russian Footballer of the Year