Roman Shirokov is a famous Russian footballer who became known for his successful performance as part of the St. Petersburg “Zenith”. What is interesting about his biography and personal life of the athlete?
Biography of Shirokov
The future footballer was born in the city of Dedovsk, Moscow Region on July 6, 1981. From birth, the boy’s father decided to make him a football player. Roman's dad worked at the factory as an ordinary worker, but devoted all his free time to his son and played football with him.
After reaching a certain age, Shirokova was sent to the football school of the Moscow “Torpedo”. But the injury prevented classes, and Roman was forced to suspend training. So he ended up in another football school "CSKA-2".
After graduation, Roman became a player in the Torpedo Zil football club. As part of the team, Shirokov played only one match against Moscow Lokomotiv. Roman always had problems with discipline, and therefore, he related to his physical form through the sleeves. For this reason, Shirokov mainly played for the teams of the country's lower divisions: FC Vidnoe, Saturn, Istra.
In 2007, Roman signed a contract with the Khimki football team, which became participants in the Russian Premier League. From the first games he began to stand out on the field and won an invitation to the Russian team. At this time, the footballer played as a midfielder.
After a successful performance for “Khimki” Shirokova bought St. Petersburg “Zenith”. These were the most successful years in Roman's career. He first played as a central defender, and then became an attacking midfielder. It was in the composition of Zenith that Roman began to regularly be called up to the Russian team, and his game earned respect from fans and specialists.
In total, Zenit Shirokov played six years and during this time he spent more than 130 matches. He twice became the champion of Russia and once won the UEFA Cup. As part of the Russian national team, he won the 2008 European Championship bronze medals. In 2012, he was recognized as the country's best footballer.
After leaving Zenith in 2014, Roman's career began to decline. For three years he managed to play in Krasnodar, Spartak and CSKA. But nowhere did he become a true team leader. After this, Shirokov decided to end his football career.
But Shirokov did not go far from football. At first, he simply participated in various sports events, as a guest. And then he got a job as a sports director in Dynamo Moscow. In addition, Roman appeared on television many times as an expert.
