CAPELLO KEEPS ARSHAVIN

The Russian national team manager Fabio Capello has decided to retain the Arsenal winger Andrei Arshavin as the captain of the national team, despite the controversy surrounding the former Zenit St Petersburg winger. Andrei Arshavin made some ill-advised comments after the Euro 2012 exit for Russia.

Despite being expected to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament, Russia were eliminated at the group stages itself. It was made even more worse by the fact that Russia were in the group that was considered relatively easy to qualify by many. Arshavin’s future in the national team was thrown into doubt after the bad comments about the Russian national football team, saying that he wouldn’t wear the shirt again – in the same way as he won’t be wearing the arsenal t-shirt again.

However, the former England manager Fabio Capello has decided to give the winger a second chance to prove himself as the captain of the national team. Fabio Capello already has a history of getting the best out of the captains of National and club teams. He famously reinstated the Chelsea defender John Terry, despite many claiming that he was not the ideal captain due to his off the field fiasco. However, John Terry proved to be an inspirational leader under Fabio Capello for the England national team.

“Everyone deserves a second chance. This is his chance to prove to everyone that he still plays an important role in this team. I want to see Arshavin showing his best quality on the pitch and again becoming the player everyone loved to watch,” said Fabio Capello after announcing his decision to retain Andrei Arshavin is the captain of the Russian national football team. His decision has been criticised by many. They have reasoned that Arshavin has lost the qualities to remain as captain of the national team, and it is a decision that will backfire ahead of the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.