For many years, Andrei Arshavin was the brightest player in modern Russian football. He was loved and even adored by millions of Zenit fans, he was recognized as the best player of the Russian national team in 2008, received a huge number of domestic and international awards. The bubble burst when it became clear that fans, coaches and sponsors overestimated the athlete's professional and personal qualities.
Best Footballer of the Decade
The promising young athlete made his debut as a reserve "anti-aircraft" player in 1999, very quickly he was transferred to the main team, where his talent was fully revealed. Already 2 years later, Arshavin was included in the lists of the best players in Russia, in nine years he brought Zenit 71 goals, gold, silver and bronze medals in the Russian championships. Journalists excitedly talked about his outstanding abilities, praised and praised the Zenit player to the skies.
The result of the super-PR was not long in coming, in 2009 Arshavin turned stern to the team that raised him and set sail in full sail for the London Arsenal. At first, the owners of the club found Arshavin a "successful acquisition", his requests grew, and a year later the Russian footballer demanded an increase in his salary. However, he received the supplement, albeit in a smaller amount than he expected. However, after a couple of years, the best ex-Zenit player firmly stuck to the bench at Arsenal.
Eminent players of London clubs contemptuously treated the "Russian upstart", many team members were dissatisfied with his game, in interviews some spoke disparagingly about Arshavin and offered to "pack his bags" if something did not suit him. The same opinion was shared by the Russian colleagues of the football player.
In fact, before Euro 2012, Arshavin only occasionally showed signs of life, spending most of his time in the storerooms. However, this did not stop him from scoring some brilliant goals.
Euro 2012
In February 2012, Arsenal leased Andrey to Zenit for the duration of the championship for 1 million euros. This time, Arshavin rode as the captain of the Russian national team, which played only three games: with the Czech national team - 4: 1, Poland - 1: 1 and lost to Greece with a score of 0: 1. Arshavin did not show any brilliant, outstanding, or even mediocre result. He distinguished himself immediately after the game, when, in an interview with reporters, he said that the team's loss is just a fait accompli, and he does not make a tragedy out of it. In the same interview, the player stated that he was not obliged to report to anyone, that the hopes of the fans were not his problem.
"Distinguished in advertising of chips - a shame to the jungle!", "They called him a little king, and the king was naked!" - such statements, along with cartoons, have increasingly become associated with the once beloved footballer by millions.
It was a real explosion, because instead of apologizing for the disgusting game and complete failure, Arshavin actually spat in the face of his native club and his fans. Journalists and bloggers discussed this story for many months, and in popular social media groups, a real persecution of the former Zenit began. The "legionnaires" in Russia are already treated with distrust, suspecting the players of corruption in the West, and Arshavin's outright rudeness added color to his already dubious image.
Andreyka-Zhopobreyka
After the enchanting fall of Arshavin in the eyes of the public, many popular nicknames have stuck to him: "the main head-waster", "football impotent", but the most caustic and apt nickname Andrei received from the fans as a gift thanks to his surname. The point is that if you enter Arshavin's surname written using transliteration into any online translator, then translated from German it will literally mean “shave your ass”. A free interpretation of this translation gave rise to another snide nickname of the Zenit - "zhopbreyka" or "Andreyka-Zhopobreyka". Fans do not want to forgive Andrey for his loss and statements. In addition, after the failure at Euro 2012, Arsenal firmly decided to get rid of the hopeless player, while Zenit hesitated for a long time before buying him out in 2013. And now Arshavin will have to try to restore his name in the eyes of football fans.
