Andrey Arshavin was one of those players who amazed football fans with his incredible skills. He dribbled any defender with ease and could shoot the ball with astounding precision and power. Besides, he was incredibly smart and could understand the game at many different levels. He was a creative midfielder that scored more goals during his career than many forwards together. He scored a total of 141 goals on 623 appearances. If I could compare him to any active football “soccer” player it would be Messi.
After he started playing for FC Zenit back in 2000, many likened him to the greatest football stars ever such as Platini, Del Piero or Zico. Arshavin went on to score 71 goals during his stay at the club before being bought by Arsenal. He played for the ‘gunners’ between 2008 and 2012 scoring a total of 31 goals in 144 appearances. His best seasons were 2009-2010 with 12 goals and 2010-2011 with 10. After that he had uneven performances in the next seasons and was loaned back to Zenit in 2012 where he was welcomed with open arms.
Back at Zenit Arshavin recovered and offered great performances although he never seemed to be the same. He played smarter but being in his 30’s he had lost some speed and endurance. He only scored 9 goals in 66 appearances. He was then transferred and ended his career at Kazakhstan’s team Kairat in 2018.
With Russia’s national team he dazzled fans during all his career. He was one of the most talented football “soccer” players to have dressed the Russian kit. He scored 17 goals in 75 appearances. Many had high hopes that he would lead them to winning a World Cup or at least a Euro Cup, however, that never happened.
Throughout his career Arshavin was compared to Messi because of his build, talent, skills and goals. They were really similar in many aspects. However, by the end of his career Arshavin was yet again compared to Messi, but this time because neither won any official tournaments with their national teams in spite of being unbelievably talented.
Just like Messi, Arshavin was a genius sorrounded at best by normal players in the national football team. In football “soccer” as in any other team sport, if all the players aren’t good the chances of winning are low and the fact of having a superstar in the team doesn’t make much of a difference. If you aren’t convinced of what I am saying, you can check Messi’s Argentina many failures and dissappointments both in the World Cup and in the America Cup.
To conclude, I would say that Arshavin was a genius like Messi. Both were skillful short players who had a talent beyond limits but who ended up not winning anything due to their being sorrounded by teammates that never really understood them in the field. Despite failing to win a World Cup or Euro Cup with his national team, Arshavin will be remembered as the only Russian football “soccer” player in decades to receive well deserved praise from all corners of the world.
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