Arsenal playmaker Andrey Arshavin has been voted the best player in Russia and CIS countries in 2009 to grab a third consecutive “Zvezda Award” from Sport-Express newspaper.

The 28-year-old had the backing of 204 journalists to take first place in the standings, overtaking goalkeepers Igor Akinfeev from CSKA Moscow (138 votes) and Andrey Pyatov from Shakhtar Donetsk (56 points).

After arriving at the Emirates stadium from Zenit Saint Petersburg at the beginning of 2009, Arshavin scored 12 goals in 29 matches for Arsenal, including four memorable strikes in an away clash with Liverpool.

“This year my victory in the Zvezda Awards has a bitter taste and everyone knows the reasons. The first victory was memorable because it was the first one, the second was against the background of an excellent performance at Euro 2008. Unfortunately, this time it was darkened by Russia’s failure against Slovenia,” Andrey Arshavin said in an interview with the newspaper.

The Russian captain’s plans for 2010 are “winning a title with Arsenal”, (preferably English Premier League championship or UEFA Champions League) and “taking a good start in Euro 2012 qualifiers”.

The Zvezda (which means “star” in Russian) Award was established back in 2004. Since then only two players except Arshavin have put their hands on it. Andrey Shevchenko won it twice in 2004 and 2005, and Igor Akinfeev was chosen in 2006.

News source: RT.com
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