The 2008 European Championship did not start in the best way for andrey arshavin. During the qualifiers, in the last match against Andorra, he elbowed an opponent. Red card, 2 match suspension, which made him miss the first matches in Group D.
Then he returns to the field. First he scores against Sweden, qualifying for the quarter-finals, then he beats Marco Van Basten’s Netherlands, with a 3-1 that he knows is history. Arshavin scores the team’s third goal Russia, Beautiful. To celebrate he decides to remove some pebbles from his shoes: he runs and in the meantime puts his finger to his mouth. “Shut up,” he seems to say. “I can do anything”. And, in fact, Arshavin was capable of everything.
Arshavin. Photo: Evening Standard
Victories with Zenit and Arsenal
The first 15 years of Arshavin’s career are all between Russia and the UK, between St. Petersburg and London. 2008 was his year of grace: the European Championships as a revelation with the national team, the UEFA Cup and European Super Cupthe first against the Rangersthe second against Manchester Unitedthe Manchester of Ferguson, of Rooney, of Tevez, of Ferdinand, of Scholes. A year that ends with sixth place in the Ballon d’Or ranking.
The following year he is in London, shore Arsenal, who just paid 20 million to win it. Complicated first season, then the spark goes off: in the second season there are 39 games and 12 goals, in the third season 10 hits in 52 games. Then the star begins to go out, returns home to regain brightness, first at Zenitthen to Krasnodar. But now the magic is over. The last shirt is that of Kairat, in Kazakhstan.
Arshavin. Photo Source: UEFA.com
Excesses off the pitch
Meanwhile, problems begin off the pitch. First the controversy for some sexist comments (“I would never give driving lessons to women. We should build new roads just for them. Why? You never know what to expect from a woman behind the wheel. If you see a car that swerves for no reason or does strange things, you can be sure that a woman is driving it. If I had the power, I would ban women from driving and invalidate all their licenses”). Then the problems with alcohol, like that night when dawn broke Maximus, night club in St. Petersburg. Arshavin is drunk, at dawn he calls a riding school and rents a cavallo. Others say he even stole it.
So Arshavin returns home, riding a horse. The right end to the parable of a princely player. However, it lasted until midnight.
2024-06-25 10:00:18
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