Andrey Arshavin: biography
Andrey Arshavin is a Russian football player who plays for the Kazakhstan club “Kairat”, the former captain of the Russian team, Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Plays on the positions of attacking midfielder, second striker, and playmaker. When Guus Hiddink became the coach of the Russian team, Arshavin joined the cohort of the main players of the national team.
Andrey Arshavin was born on May 29, 1981 in Leningrad. Shava (the nickname of Andrey Arshavin) showed interest in football since early childhood. The first coach of the future celebrity was his father – a football fan and a good player. Already at the age of 7, parents, appreciating his son's enthusiasm for football, sent the boy to the "Smena" football academy.
In addition to football Arshavin was fond of playing draughts. The coach of the section predicted the boy a great future, but the guy chose football. Andrey's favorite team was the Spanish "Barcelona".
Club career
The football career of Andrei Arshavin began with the team "Smena". From 16 years the guy started playing for the adult team. Already at the age of 18, the player was enrolled in “Zenit”, and a year later the young man made his debut in the main team. The career of Arshavin is full of ups and downs.
Rapid development began in the 2001-2002 season under the leadership of the coach Yuri Morozov. The team became the bronze medalist of the Russian championship, and Arshavin was the best right midfielder of the season. All in all, the forward scored 71 goals for this team. He made his debut in the national team on May 17, 2002, and already in 2005 the player played in the main team.
In 2007 fast and physically strong (the growth of Andrew - 172 cm, weight - 69 kg), the football player became the captain of "Zenit", soon he received a captain's armband and in the Russian team. In 2008 "blue-white-blue" (the nickname of the football club "Zenit") won the UEFA Cup. Moreover Arshavin made his way to the European Championships in the national team of Russia, where the team took the bronze medal of the continental tournament.
After the championship, the leading European clubs were interested in the attacking midfielder. But, despite the rumors about the upcoming transfers, Arshavin played for "Zenit". And only in February, 2009 the forward was registered by the English football association as a player of "Arsenal", where he played under number 23. According to the newspaper "Sport-Express", the Russian contract cost £ 16.5 million. The English media announced the salary of £ 70 thousand a week.
In the beginning Andrei Arshavin played for "Arsenal" successfully. The forward made fast decisions and became a real star of the football world. The most spectacular was the match with Liverpool in April, 2009. In this meeting, Andrey scored four goals at once, which did not bring victory to the London team, as the opponent settled the score in the last minutes of the match.
But soon the fortune turned away from the striker. The Russian striker appeared in "Gunners" not often (nickname of the London "Arsenal"). In the second team Arshavin also wasn’t useful on the field. As a result, the striker became the worst player of the team. Then football fans talked that the forward didn’t show interest in playing. People connected the situation with the desire of the football player to return back to Russia.
On June 27, 2013 the football player returned to "Zenit". In 2 years the contract with the Russian club was over, and the management decided not to renew the agreement. On July 13, 2015, the athlete officially became a player of the "Kuban". On July, 20 of the same year the forward played in the first meeting for the Krasnodar team against the "Urals". But in February, 2016 the player terminated the contract with the club.
The footballer has his own distinctive gesture in the game. After a scored goal, the forward, as if calling for silence, puts his index finger to his lips.
It is known that the athlete tried to start a political career in the "United Russia" party in 2007, but soon refused to be a deputy. The Russian footballer is also a co-owner of Avtodor Express CJSC. Arshavin's share in the company is 49%.
The Russian national team
Arshavin began to play for the youth team in 2002. The forward made his debut in the national team in May 2002 in the match against the Belarusian team. Arshavin scored 9 goals for the Russian team.
Andrey Arshavin was playing for the Russian national team from 2002 to 2012. During this time, the national team reached the final of the World Championship in 2002. Despite the successful performances of the player, Oleg Romantsev, the head of the Russian coaching staff, did not include the forward to the application. At the Mundial, which was held in South Korea and Japan, the striker has never played.
From 2002 to 2012, the forward played in 75 matches and scored 17 goals for the Russian national team, became the captain of the team, and in 2008, won the bronze of the European Championship with the Russian team.
Personal life
Many people are interested in personal life of Andrey Arshavin. In 2003, the footballer met Yulia Baranovskaya. At that time the girl was a student. The couple's relationship developed so rapidly that in a month the lovers began to live together. In 2005 Baranovskaya gave birth to their son Artyom, and in 2008 - the daughter Yana.
Andrew and Yulia moved with their children to England, because of the transfer of the player to the London Arsenal. In 2012 the third child of Andrei Arshavin Arseny was born. All this time the couple wasn’t married. They broke up in 2013. According to Yulia Baranovskaya, it was Andrew who initiated the breakup. According to their friends, they parted because the footballer has never been faithful.
These events caused a stir in the Russian press. And Baranovskaya said that it was painful for her. After the “divorce” Arshavin had to pay 50% of his income to his ex-family.
After the official announcement of the termination of their relations, a lot of rumors arose around Andrey Arshavin. There were rumors that he has relations with the model Leilani Dowding. Before meeting the Russian athlete, the girl had relations with former defender of “West Ham” Anvar Uddin, was betrothed to the former striker of “Middlesbrough” Jeremy Aljadjer, and also to the defender Mark Williams, who played for the Northern Ireland team.
Then the Russian striker was noticed with ex-model Alisa Kazmina, who was previously married to a businessman and lived in England. Andrey's new girlfriend has a son and a daughter.
They were dating for several years, and their relationship could not be called ideal. And on September 1, 2016 the wedding of Andrei Arshavin and Alisa Kazmina took place. It was a sensation, because the couple did not inform anyone about the upcoming ceremony. According to some media, there were few guests at the wedding. In February, 2017 their daughter Yesenya was born.
The wife of Andrey Arshavin has good relations with the footballer’s children from previous relationship. The Russian striker also get along with Alisa children.
Andrey Arshavin now
In 2016, there was information that Andrey Arshavin was going to leave the football club "Kuban". In early 2016, the football player said that he would leave the club even if his agent did not find a new team.
As a result, the Russian forward left the team. To this decision, Arshavin and the leadership of the Russian club came by mutual consent. The management thanked Arshavin for the games, wishing him new sports achievements.
Football analysts, as well as Instagram users, who follow the career of their idol, suggested that he left the Krasnodar team because of low budget. The club has changed the leadership several times. As a result, there was a funding cut, and the player went to Kazakhstan. Sports career of Andrei Arshavin since March 18, 2016 is connected with the Kazakhstan "Kairat". It is interesting that Arshavin became the highest paid player of the team.
Playing for "Kairat", Andrei Arshavin has already become a silver medalist of the Kazakhstan championship, and also won the country's Super Cup. In June, 2017 Andrey Arshavin scored the ball in the semifinal match of the Cup of Kazakhstan against “Ordabas”. In addition, in the game of the first qualifying round of the Europa League, "Kairat" was defeated by the Lithuanian "Atlantas" 6: 0. Arshavin scored 2 goals in this meeting.
In January, 2017 the ex-captain of the Russian team took 8th place in the list of the best players who never participated in the World Cups. Such a rating was made by the analysts of the Spanish edition of Marca.
In October, 2017 Alisa Kazmina told about the upcoming divorce. According to the girl, the footballer was not faithful, and it was the reason for the divorce.
Honours of Andrey Arshavin
In "Zenit":
• Champion of Russia 2007, 2012, 2015
• the Premier League Cup 2003
• the Russian Super Cup 2008
• UEFA Cup 2008
• the UEFA Super Cup 2008
As part of "Kairat":
• Supercup of Kazakhstan 2017
As part of the Russian team:
• Bronze medalist of the European Championship 2008
