Sixth In Ballon D’Or, But No Russian POY For Arshavin.

By: chris | December 17th, 2008

Big year for Andrei Arshavin. The I-may-look-twelve-but-I’m-almost-twenty-seven-I-swear Zenit attacker – whether he wants to be or not – has finally come big over in Western Europe with a wildly successful European Championships and a UEFA Cup title for his boyhood team. All of which went over well with the Ballon D’Or voters, who hold UEFA competitions as paramount. Not so much the case back home apparently, as Arshavin was overlooked for the Russian League Player of the Year, which he won in 2006, in favor of Yuri Zhirkov.

Perhaps a surprise, but no need to start storing cans in the basement just yet. Anyone who watched Russia in the Euros saw Zhirkov as an electric blur making bombing runs forward that would have Usain Bolt blushing. A winger back home, he was the quintessential attacking wingback on the continental scene. Not unthinkable he could’ve been just as good, if not better, back at home over the league season. And clearly he was at least reasonably good, because he made it into the Ballon D’Or “shortlist” of 30. (Finishing with exactly zero points, along with a few friends.)

This means it’s far short of a crime Arshavin didn’t win domestic POTY honors, especially considering Zenit finished a disappointing 6th while CSKA came in behind only champions Rubin Kazan. Better your team is, the better your chances of winning individual hardware.

What it does give further evidence to, however, is the obscene amount of weight Ballon D’Or voters give to UEFA competitions. As good as Andrei was in Swissaustria, he only played 3 games (due to an initial two game suspension) for Russia in their semi-final run. It could be argued Zhirkov was just as valuable, if not more so, than Arshavin having played and played incredibly well in all five games. UEFA Cup run helped too, but you’d have to think someone who could finish as high as 6th in the Ballon D’Or voting – with the second yielding nary a vote – could at least win an individual trophy for the mantle back home.

It’s never been a big secret, but now more than ever: if you want to win the Ballon D’Or, leave the good stuff for UEFA.

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