Football

“We thought that Zenit would calmly come out of second place in the playoffs of the Cup of Russia” – Arshavin

Published

3 years ago

December 4, 2022

Thomas

“We thought that Zenit would calmly come out of second place in the playoffs of the Cup of Russia” – Arshavin

Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV

Former Zenit football player Andrey Arshavin appreciated the performance of the St. Petersburg team at the group stage of the FONBET Cup of Russia.

Zenit finished third in their group and entered the lower bracket of the playoffs. On February 26, the team will play with Ulyanovsk “Volga”, it became known after the draw, which took place on Saturday.

– Is the new format of the Cup a plus or a minus? Still, more games means more risk of injury.

– I spoke for the group stage – in the situation in which our country is, this was done correctly. But I would not separate the First League from the RPL – on the contrary, in the group I would make two teams from the WORLD RPL and MELBET-First League.

– How would you rate the third place “Zenith”? Probably not what the fans hoped for.

– Of course, we thought that we would calmly leave the first or second place. So let’s find out what the Way of Regions is.

– But now there will be no room for error – and Zenit will no longer relax?

– I don’t understand the formula. I did not know that if you lose in the upper bracket, you can stay. I think Zenit didn’t think about all this. The task of winning the Cup has not been canceled, so Zenit will want to win, but there is no room for error, – Metaratings.ru quotes Arshavin.

Source: Sportbox

Thomas

Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.

World Cup

All players of the Ukrainian national team. Szabo chose Ukraine’s best football players

Published

16 minutes ago

January 16, 2026

Kyle

All players of the Ukrainian national team. Szabo chose Ukraine’s best football players

Former coach of the Ukrainian national team Jozsef Szabo Meta.ua has exclusively chosen the version of the three best Ukrainian football players of this season for its website.

“In the first row, Ilya Zabarny is almost out of the competition,” Sabo said. – As far as I remember, there has been no regression in the game yet. Yes, the defender had unimpressive tackles, but these were isolated cases. But he’s only 23 years old. The contract with Paris Saint-Germain shows that this football player is currently one of the best in Europe. And do not forget that at that age he played 55 matches for the Ukrainian national team.

I will give second place to Ruslan Malinovsky, who seems to have found a second youth after being injured. This guy’s head is clear, making great passes is not difficult for a midfielder. Largely thanks to Malinovsky’s effective play, the Ukrainian national team managed to qualify for the play-offs in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament.

The third will be Everton’s left back Vitaly Mikolenko. He is a consistent starter for his team. And no matter what position the team is in, the English league is still the strongest league in Europe. He is an irreplaceable football player in the national team.

Source: Sport UA

Kyle

I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.

Football

Dzyuba appreciated coach Slutsky’s work at Shanghai Shenhua in 2025

Published

2 hours ago

January 16, 2026

Jon

Dzyuba appreciated coach Slutsky’s work at Shanghai Shenhua in 2025

Leonid Slutsky last year he performed well as coach of the Shanghai Shenhua football team. This opinion was expressed by the striker of Togliatti “Akron” Artem Dzyuba.

Last season, Slutsky took second place in the Chinese league with Shanghai Shenhua and led the club to the Asian Champions League playoffs for the first time. The team also won the Chinese Super Cup.

“He’s doing well in China, the only thing he was missing was a championship, everything was leading to that,” Dziuba said. “But it’s tough for a team that’s been in fifth place all their life, they don’t have that winning mentality.”

Slutsky is 54 years old and has been at the helm of the Chinese club since December 2023. In his career he has coached Rubin Kazan, Uralan Elista, Mosca, Krylya Sovetov Samara, CSKAEnglish “Hull” and Dutch “Vitesse”. Together with CSKA the specialist became champion of Russia three times, won the Russian Cup and the Super Cup twice.

Source: Soccer Ru

Jon

I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.