When the Portuguese specialist Andre Vilash-Boash headed the St. Petersburg Zenit, he without regret removed the old guard from the main holder of the players, which brought so many titles to the club and the Russian team. Among others, the age-old but stable Konstantin Zyryanov was also removed from the main composition. Along with Andrei Arshavin, Konstantin can be safely ranked as one of the main creators of Zenit's victories in the 2007–2008 UEFA Cup, 2008 UEFA Super Cup , and they are also involved in receiving bronze medals of the Russian national team for Euro 2008. This generation of Russian football players is estimated by many experts as the best galaxy in the latest Russian football history.
Konstantin Zyryanov: the beginning of a career
The famous football player was born in 1977 in Perm, where he graduated from a children's sports school, played in the Zvezda youth team, and then in 1994 moved to Amkar, a club representing the country's top division. A promising footballer showed good results in the Perm team, and in 171 matches the midfielder managed to score 48 goals.
However, the vegetation of his native club at the bottom of the standings did not allow Zyryanov to reach his full potential, and he decided in 2000 to transfer to the Moscow Torpedo. In the new team, Konstantin Zyryanov no longer scored as many goals, playing more and more in the supporting zone. The club slipped further and further to the brink of bankruptcy, while the player himself felt that his strength could be useful to the venerable club.
Speech for Zenit and the Russian national team
In March 2007, it was announced that Zyryanov had moved to St. Petersburg Zenit. The footballer immediately joined the team and became one of the main players in midfield under the then-coach Dick Advocaat. And this despite the fact that he was already almost 30 years old. It was a time when the skill of good and thinking football players was reinforced by the tactical skills of Dutch specialists both in the club and in the national team.
It was under Advocaat in the “Zenith” Konstantin Zyryanov was able to fully reveal that could not hide from the eyes of the coach of the national team Guus Hiding. Since 2007, Zyryanov has been regularly attracted to the games of the main national team. A year later, both the club and the national team reached the greatest heights in recent football history. However, few people now remember that this might not have happened. Indeed, the qualifying tournament for Euro 2008, our team passed with a creak, content with "gifts" from rivals.
Despite the victory in Moscow over the British, the Russians lost to weaker rivals. Konstantin Zyryanov foresaw such a development of events and urged the partners in the team not to fall into euphoria after defeating the founders of football. But the team felt that the job was done, and lost important points in games with Israel. And only the victory of Croatia over the British allowed our team to creak into the last car of a train leaving for Euro.
Triumph at the European Championship
For the bronze medals of Euro 2008 the Russian team had three good games. After losing the starting game to the Spaniards, in the absence of the disqualified Arshavin, the role of leaders in the game with Greece was assumed by Sergey Semak and Konstantin Zyryanov. It was with the filing of the then captain that Zyryanov scored the only goal that brought the national team a victory and hope for leaving the group. In the next game, Andrei Arshavin already appeared on the field , who, with his partners, arranged enchanting victories over the national teams of Sweden and the Netherlands.
It is not surprising that after the European Championships many talented Russian football players decided to try their hand at the English Premier League. However, Konstantin Zyryanov did not plan to leave Zenit. He took root in the St. Petersburg club, became one of the key players and soberly assessed his own chances. In England, where the main requirement for players is speed skills and power struggle, 32-year-old Zyryanov has nothing to do.
Recent years at Zenith
When Luciano Spaletti, age-old Zyryanov regularly received game practice. But with the arrival of the young Portuguese Andre Andre Villas-Boas as the steering “Zenith”, the career of a venerable football player waned. In the press, Zyryanov expressed respect for a specialist who is younger than him in age. Most likely, he did not dissemble, because he perfectly understood that years take their toll. When age-old football players began to leave the St. Petersburg club one after another, the news flashed that Konstantin Zyryanov left Zenit. However, in reality, the footballer moved to the Zenit-2 youth team as a playing coach.
Personal life
At one time, a lot of noise was made by the tragedy that happened in the family of a football player. In 2002, the then wife of Konstantin Zyryanov, Olga, being intoxicated, jumped out of the window of the 8th floor with a 4-year-old daughter in her arms. The girl died on the spot, the woman herself died in the hospital a month after the tragedy.
In 2008, Zyryanov and his current wife, Natalia, had a son, Leo. Now the happy couple already has three children.