Yuri Zhirkov

Yuri Zhirkov

Zhirkov with Zenit in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Yuri Valentinovich Zhirkov
Date of birth	(1983-08-20) 20 August 1983 (age 33)
Place of birth	Tambov, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Left Winger / Left Back
Club information
Current team	Zenit St. Petersburg
Number	81
Youth career
1997–2001	Spartak Tambov
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Spartak Tambov	74	(26)
2004–2009	CSKA Moscow	139	(15)
2009–2011	Chelsea	29	(0)
2011–2013	Anzhi Makhachkala	46	(3)
2013–2016	Dynamo Moscow	54	(4)
2016–	Zenit Saint Petersburg	21	(1)
National team‡
2005–	Russia	72	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 December 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2016

Yuri Valentinovich Zhirkov (Russian: Ю́рий Валенти́нович Жирко́в; born 20 August 1983) is a Russian footballer who plays for Zenit St. Petersburg and the Russian national team.

A left-sided player who can play full-back or winger, he began his career at local Spartak Tambov before joining top-flight CSKA Moscow in 2004. Domestic and European success followed, and in 2009 he moved to English Premier League club Chelsea for £18 million. After two seasons there he returned to Russia with Anzhi Makhachkala, who sold him to Dynamo Moscow in 2013. He then signed for Zenit in January 2016.

Zhirkov has earned over 65 international caps since 2005. His performance at Euro 2008, in which Russia reached the semi-finals, was recognised with his inclusion in the Team of the Tournament and award as well as Futbol's Russian Footballer of the Year. He was also selected for Euro 2012 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Zhirkov was born in Tambov, on 20 August 1983. His father, Valentin Ivanovich Zhirkov, worked at the "Revtrud" factory and his mother was a postwoman. Yuri was the second child in the family. The family lived in poverty, struggling to buy basic goods such as food and clothes. He skipped training to help his family grow vegetables during the summer so that they could have adequate food during the winter. His first coach was Valery Sharapov who signed him for the Tambov Regional Children and Youth Sports School.