Arshavin left disappointed

Former Arsenal winger Andrei Arshavin has suffered yet another disappointment in his professional career after being left out by Fabio Capello in the squad for the World Cup 2014. The Russian national team manager announced his preliminary squad for the World Cup. Arshavin, who moved away from Arsenal after a couple of years, has been playing with Zenit St Petersburg since 2013. Even though Zenit have been challenging for the Russian league title this season, Arshavin has not been in the best form of late. He has scored just four goals in 29 appearances this season.

At 32 years of age, he is also unlikely to contribute a lot to the team going forward. Hence, Capello has decided to do away with the Russian and choose other players instead. This is likely to mean that Arshavin has lost his final opportunity to appear in the World Cup. Russia did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Arshavin, however, came to prominence during the Euro 2008. The upcoming Euro 2016 may hold the final opportunity for him to appear in a major international tournament. After this snub, it remains to be seen if Arshavin will want to continue playing international football.

Since making his debut for the national team in 2002, he has made 75 appearances over the years. He continues to remain as one of the top players for the national team. He has scored 17 goals in these matches. More crucially, he has not featured for the national team since 2012. It is also looking highly unlikely that Capello will pick him for the Euro 2016. Such a chance become only the players in the current squad failed to perform at the World Cup where Russia will come up against the likes of Belgium and Algeria in the group stages.