Roman Shirokov

Roman Nikolayevich Shirokov (Russian: Роман Николаевич Широ́ков [rɐˈman nʲɪkɐˈɫaɪvʲɪtɕ ʂɨˈrokəf]; born 6 July 1981) is an Russian international football official and a former player.

Roman Shirokov

Shirokov with FC Krasnodar in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Roman Nikolayevich Shirokov
Date of birth	6 July 1981
Place of birth	Dedovsk, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2000	CSKA-2 Moscow	54	(3)
2001	CSKA Moscow	0	(0)
2001	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)
2008–2014	Zenit Saint Petersburg	130	(29)
2014	→ Krasnodar (loan)	6	(3)
2014–2015	Spartak Moscow	19	(1)
2015	→ Krasnodar (loan)	13	(4)
2016	CSKA Moscow	8	(0)
Total		297	(54)
National team
2008–2016	Russia	57	(13)
Teams managed
2018–2019	FC Dynamo Moscow (VP of sports)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, he was described as "a deep-lying midfielder with an aptitude for getting forward to score goals".[1]

Club career

Early career

Before signing for Zenit, 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 was moved back to midfield.

On 30 June 2014, Shirokov announced that after almost 200 games in six-years for Zenit, that he wouldn't be signing a new contract and will continue his career at another club.

Spartak Moscow

On 18 July 2014 it was announced that Shirokov signed a contract with Spartak Moscow as a free agent.[2] After a long recovery from an injury he made his debut for Spartak on 26 October 2014 in a game against FC Lokomotiv Moscow, scoring a late equalizer in a 1-1 game. On 13 January 2015, he was loaned back to FC Krasnodar.[3]

Despite being one of the most important players of the team, Shirokov was benched during the 2015-16 season, in order to not pay him the amount due to him by contract if he plays a certain number of minutes.[4]

The President of the RFU, Vitaly Mutko, commented: "He's one of the best footballers in our country. I don't understand why he's not playing. If it's due to the contract clause that's just dishonest."[5] On 23 January 2016, his Spartak contract was dissolved by mutual consent.[6]

CSKA Moscow

On 9 February 2016, he returned to his first club, PFC CSKA Moscow, signing a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season with an extension option.[7] His contract was not extended at the end of the season.[8]

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[9] and third[10] goals. After the game Hiddink slammed his team's performance in defence[11] 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.[12] He scored the second goal of Russia's opening game of this tournament against the Czech Republic in a 4–1 win.[13]

On 2 June 2014, he was included in Russia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad.[14] He was excluded from the squad on 6 June due to injury.[15]

Shirokov was selected in Russia's squad for Euro 2016 in France, making three appearances as Russia were eliminated in the group stage.

Post-playing career

On 5 June 2018, he was appointed by FC Dynamo Moscow as the deputy general director in charge of sports.[16] He left Dynamo on 1 May 2019.[17]

During an amateur game in August 2020 he attacked the referee and was reported to the police for assault. [18]

Honors

Club

Zenit

• UEFA Cup (1): 2007–08
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2008
• Russian Premier League (2):2008, 2011–12
• Russian Cup (1): 2009-10
• Russian Super Cup (2): 2008, 2011

CSKA

• Russian Premier League (1): 2015-16

International

Russia

• UEFA European Football Championship: 2008 bronze medalist

Individual

• List of 33 top players of the Russian league: 2013/14 (best central midfielder).

Career statistics

Club

As of 9 April 2016

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other[19]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Istra	2003	29	29	0	0	-	-	-	-	29	29
	Total	29	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	29
Vidnoye	2004	17	14	3	1	-	-	-	-	20	15
	Total	17	14	3	1	0	0	0	0	20	15
Istra	2004	6	8	0	0	-	-	-	-	6	8
	Total	6	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	8
Saturn	2005	18	3	6	2	-	-	-	-	24	5
	Total	18	3	6	2	0	0	0	0	24	5
Rubin Kazan	2006	4	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	5	0
	Total	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
FC Khimki	2007	27	7	2	2	-	-	-	-	29	9
	Total	27	7	2	2	0	0	0	0	29	9
Zenit	2008	27	3	0	0	10	0	2[20]	0	39	3
	2009	21	1	2	0	5	0	0	0	28	1
	2010	21	6	4	1	12	2	-	-	37	9
	2011–12	26	9	4	0	8	5	1[21]	0	39	14
	2012–13	25	5	3	0	10	1	1[22]	0	39	6
	2013–14	10	5	1	0	8	5	-	-	19	10
	Total	130	29	14	1	53	13	4	0	201	43
Krasnodar	2013–14	6	3	2	0	0	0	-	-	8	3
	Total	6	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	3
Spartak M.	2014–15	5	1	1	0	-	-	-	-	6	1
	Total	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Krasnodar	2014–15	13	4	0	0	0	0	-	-	13	4
	Total	13	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	4
Spartak M.	2015–16	14	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	14	0
	Total	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
CSKA Moscow	2015–16	8	0	1	1	0	0	-	-	9	1
	Total	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	9	1
Career Total		222	47	27	6	53	13	4	0	306	66

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
12	2013-10-11	Bakcell Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	0 – 1	1–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	2015-11-14	Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia	Portugal	1 – 0	1–0	Friendly

References

1. Wilson, Jonathan (31 May 2012). "Euro 2012 Preview: Russia". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
2. ШИРОКОВ: «ОТЕЦ ВСЮ ЖИЗНЬ БОЛЕЛ ЗА "СПАРТАК"» (in Russian). Spartak.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
3. Роман Широков снова будет защищать цвета «Краснодара» (in Russian). FC Krasnodar. 13 January 2015.
4. http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/dud/866726.html
5. http://www.sports.ru/football/1035151089.html
6. «СПАРТАК» И ШИРОКОВ РАССТАЛИСЬ ПО ОБОЮДНОМУ СОГЛАСИЮ (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 23 January 2016.
7. Роман Широков — в ПФК ЦСКА (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 9 February 2016.
8. ПФК ЦСКА желает успехов Широкову и Оланаре (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 13 July 2016.
9. http://www.goal.com/en/news/476/euro-2008/2008/06/10/731076/player-ratings-spain-4-1-russia
10. "Villa vanquishes Russians". Sky Sports.
11. http://euro2008.football.co.uk/russia/hiddink_slams_naive_russia_266097.shtml
12. "Advocaat announced the finalized Euro Squad" (in Russian). 25 May 2012.
13. "Russia 4 Czech Republic 1". BBC Sport. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
14. Состав национальной сборной России на ЧМ-2014 (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 2 June 2014.
15. В Бразилию без Широкова (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 2 June 2014.
16. Роман Широков – замгендиректора по спортивным вопросам (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow. 5 June 2018.
17. Роман Широков покинул «Динамо» (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow. 1 May 2019.
18. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/roman-shirokov-referee-attack-russia-22501948
19. Includes other competitive competitions, including the Russian Super Cup and the UEFA Super Cup
20. One appearance in Russian Super Cup, one appearance in UEFA Super Cup
21. One appearance in Russian Super Cup
22. One appearance in Russian Super Cup

External links

• Profile at the official FC Zenit St. Petersburg website (in Russian)
• Roman Shirokov at Russian Premier League
• Roman Shirokov at National-Football-Teams.com
• Guardian Profile