Roman Nikolayevich Shirokov (russian: Роман Николаевич Широ́ков ; born 6 July 1981) is a Russian international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

official and a former player. As a player, he was described as "a deep-lying midfielder with an aptitude for getting forward to score goals".

Club career

Early career

Before signing for Zenit, Shirokov played for

FC Khimki FC Khimki (russian: ФК Химки) is a Russian professional football club based in Khimki. The club returned to the Russian Premier League in the 2020–21 season. History The team was formed in 1996 by merging two amateur clubs from Khimki, ...

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier ...

, Saturn Moscow Oblast, FC Vidnoye,

FC Istra FC Istra (russian: ФК "Истра") is an association football club from Istra, Russia, founded in 1997. It played in the Russian Second Division from 2008 to 2012, at which point it lost the financing and dropped back to the amateur levels. Th ...

Torpedo-ZIL Moscow FC Torpedo-ZIL (Russian: Футбольный клуб Торпедо-ЗИЛ) was a Russian football club from Moscow. History The team was founded in 1997 after Torpedo Moscow, which played in the Russian Top Division, became a property of SC ...

and

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

's farm club.

Zenit

Shirokov started his first season for Zenit as central back, as then-head coach

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...

was forced to fill the gaps left in the centre of defence after the departure of

Martin Škrtel Martin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a Slovak former professional footballer, a former player and captain of the Slovakia national team and Liverpool Football Club. Škrtel previously played for FK AS Trenčín and Zenit Saint Petersburg, ...

to Liverpool and severe injury to

Nicolas Lombaerts Nicolas Robert Christian Lombaerts (born 20 March 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back and current assistant manager of K.A.A. Gent. Career Club Brugge Lombaerts joined Club Brugge at young age where h ...

Spartak Moscow

On 18 July 2014 it was announced that Shirokov signed a contract with Spartak Moscow as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. After a long recovery from an injury he made his debut for Spartak on 26 October 2014 in a game against

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

, scoring a late equalizer in a 1–1 game. On 13 January 2015, he was loaned back to

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the Ru ...

. Shirokov was benched during the 2015–16 season, in order to not pay him the amount due to him by contract if he plays a certain number of minutes. The President of the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

Vitaly Mutko Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko (russian: Виталий Леонтьевич Мутко; born Viktor Leontiyevich Mutko; 8 December 1958) is a Russian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 2016–2020. From 2008 to 2016, ...

, commented: "He's one of the best footballers in our country. I don't understand why he's not playing. If it's due to the contract clause that's just dishonest." On 23 January 2016, his Spartak contract was dissolved by mutual consent.

CSKA Moscow

On 9 February 2016, he returned to his first club,

PFC CSKA Moscow Professional Football Club CSKA (russian: link=yes, Профессиональный футбольный клуб – ЦСКА, derived from the historical name 'Центральный спортивный клуб армии', English l ...

, signing a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season with an extension option. His contract was not extended at the end of the season.

International career

He was called up for the

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

and started in the opening group match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, being deployed in the centre of defence as then-manager of Russia

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

decided to follow the footsteps of his compatriot

Advocaat Advocaat or advocatenborrel is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar, and brandy. The rich and creamy drink has a smooth, custard-like consistency. The typical alcohol content is generally between 14% and 20% ABV. Its co ...

, thus relegating experienced Sergey Ignashevich to the bench. This move proved unsuccessful as Russia were beaten 1–4 with Shirokov at fault on the number of occasions, including Spaniards' first and third goals. After the game Hiddink slammed his team's performance in defence and revamped the squad, leaving Shirokov out of the first team for the rest of the tournament. After a string of assuring performances in the centre of Zenit's midfield, he was called back to the national team in 2010 for a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. He was confirmed for the finalized

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

squad on 25 May 2012. He scored the second goal of Russia's opening game of this tournament against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in a 4–1 win. On 2 June 2014, he was included in Russia's

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

squad. He was excluded from the squad on 6 June due to injury.

Post-playing

On 5 June 2018, he was appointed by

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footb ...

as the deputy general director in charge of sports. He left Dynamo on 1 May 2019. During an amateur game in August 2020 he attacked a referee with punches to his face and kicks once he had knocked the referee to the ground, causing the referee to be hospitalized for three weeks. He was reported to the police for assault. He was tried and found guilty by a Moscow court. He was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. He was also suspended by his employer, Match TV. On 2 March 2022, Shirokov supported the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, adding that Russians who do not support it are welcome to leave the country.

Honors

Club

;Zenit *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

(1): 2007–08 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

(2):

, 2011–12 * Russian Cup (1): 2009-10 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

(2):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

;CSKA *

(1): 2015-16

International

;Russia *

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

bronze medalist

Individual

* List of 33 top players of the Russian league: 2013/14 (best central midfielder).

Career statistics

Club

International goals

References

External links

Profile at the official FC Zenit St. Petersburg website
* *
Guardian Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirokov, Roman 1981 births Living people People from Dedovsk Association football midfielders Russian footballers Russia international footballers FC Moscow players FC Rubin Kazan players FC Saturn Ramenskoye players FC Krasnodar players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players UEFA Euro 2016 players Russian Premier League players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players UEFA Cup winning players FC Khimki players FC Spartak Moscow players PFC CSKA Moscow players Sportspeople from Moscow Oblast