Roman Shirokov

Roman Shirokov

With Zenit in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Roman Nikolaevich Shirokov
Date of birth	(1981-07-06) 6 July 1981
Place of birth	Dedovsk, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Zenit St. Petersburg
Number	15
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2000	CSKA-2 Moscow	54	(3)
2001	CSKA Moscow	0	(0)
2001	FC Torpedo-ZIL Moscow	1	(0)
2002–2003	Istra
2004	Vidnoye	17	(4)
2004	Istra
2005	Saturn Moscow Oblast	18	(3)
2006	Rubin Kazan	4	(0)
2007	Khimki	27	(7)
2008–	Zenit St. Petersburg	120	(24)
National team‡
2008–	Russia	32	(11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 May 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 March 2013

Roman Nikolayevich Shirokov (Russian: Роман Николаевич Широков; born 6 July 1981) is an association football defensive midfielder. He currently plays for Zenit in the Russian Premier League and for the Russia national football team. He is described as "a deep-lying midfielder with an aptitude for getting forward to score goals".

Club career

Early career

Before signing for Zenit of Saint Petersburg, Shirokov played for FC Khimki, Rubin Kazan, Saturn Moscow Oblast, FC Vidnoye, FC Istra, Torpedo-ZIL Moscow and CSKA Moscow's farm club.

Zenit

Shirokov started his first season for Zenit as central back, as then-head coach Dick Advocaat was forced to fill the gaps left in the centre of defence after the departure of Martin Škrtel to Liverpool and severe injury to Nicolas Lombaerts. He adapted to the new position fairly well and featured as a centre-back in the 2008 UEFA Cup Final victory over Rangers, pairing with Ivica Križanac. In 2009 he changed his position and started playing in midfield. He played much better than on position of defender.

International career

Shirokov preparing for a friendly against Bulgaria in August 2010

Shirokov made his debut in the Russia national football team on 28 March 2008 during a friendly match in Romania.

He was called up for the Euro 2008 and started in the opening group match against Spain, being deployed in the centre of defence as then-manager of Russia Guus Hiddink decided to follow the footsteps of his compatriot Advocaat, thus relegating experienced Sergey Ignashevich to the bench. This move proved unsuccessful as Russia were beaten 1–4 with Shirokov at fault on the number of occasions, including Spaniards' first and third goals. After the game Hiddink slammed his team's performance in defence and revamped the squad, leaving Shirokov out of the first team for the rest of the tournament.

After a string of assuring performances in the centre of Zenit's midfield, he was called back to the national team in 2010 for a friendly against Bulgaria. Shirokov celebrated his return by scoring his first international goal, the only one in the game that finished 1–0. He was confirmed for the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad on 25 May 2012. He scored the second goal of Russia's opening game of this tournament against the Czech Republic in a 4–1 win.

Controversy

Shirokov has been criticized in recent years for his language towards fans and opposition clubs. In 2011, before a match he said "Spartak is not an opponent for us." After the match he said "I congrats pigs with deserved loss."

After a match with Slovakia in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, he called the opponents a "kolhoz (collective farm)"

Career statistics

As of 21 July 2010

Club	Div	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
CSKA-2 Moscow	D3	1998	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
		1999	26	1	0	0	—		26	1
		2000	27	2	0	0	—		27	2
	Total		54	3	0	0	0	0	54	3
Torpedo-ZIL	D1	2001	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FC Istra	D4	2002	?	?	0	0	—		?	?
		2003	?	?	0	0	—		?	?
	Total		?	?	?	?	0	0	?	?
FC Vidnoye	D3	2004	17	4	3	1	—		20	5
	Total		17	4	3	1	0	0	20	5
FC Istra	D4	2004	?	?	0	0	—		?	?
	Total		?	?	?	?	0	0	?	?
Saturn	D1	2005	18	3	6	2	—		24	5
	Total		18	3	6	2	0	0	24	5
Rubin Kazan	D1	2006	4	0	1	0	—		5	0
	Total		4	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
FC Istra	D4	2006	?	?	0	0	—		?	?
	Total		?	?	?	?	0	0	?	?
FC Khimki	D1	2007	27	7	2	2	—		29	9
	Total		27	7	2	2	0	0	29	9
Zenit	D1	2008	27	3	1	0	10	0	38	3
		2009	21	1	2	0	2	0	25	1
		2010	21	6	4	1	0	0	25	7
	Total		69	10	7	1	12	0	87	11
Career total			182	24	19	6	12	0	213	30

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2010-08-11	Petrovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Bulgaria	1 – 0	1–0	Friendly
2	2010-10-08	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0 – 3	2–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
3	2011-11-11	Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece	Greece	0 – 1	1–1	Friendly
4	2012-02-29	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	0 – 1	0–2	Friendly
5	2012-06-01	Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland	Italy	0 – 2	0–3	Friendly
6	2012-06-01	Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland	Italy	0 – 3	0–3	Friendly
7	2012-06-08	Municipal Stadium, Wrocław, Poland	Czech Republic	0 – 2	1–4	UEFA Euro 2012
8	2012-09-07	Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Northern Ireland	2 – 0	2–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	2012-10-16	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Azerbaijan	1 – 0	1–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	2012-11-14	Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia	United States	2 – 1	2–2	Friendly
11	2013-02-06	Estadio Municipal de Marbella, Marbella, Spain	Iceland	1 – 0	2–0	Friendly

Career honours

Zenit

• Russian Premier League: 2010, 2011–12
• Russian Cup: 2010
• UEFA Cup: 2008

External links

• (Russian) Profile at the official FC Zenit St. Petersburg website
• (Russian) Profile at the official Russian Premier League website
• Profile at National Football Teams
• Guardian Profile
• Transfermarkt Profile