Russia icon Arshavin admits he ‘doesn’t even remember’ anniversary of iconic four-goal haul for Arsenal at Anfield (VIDEO)
Ex-Arsenal and Russia star Andrey Arshavin has revealed he would have forgotten about the date of his career-high club football achievement were it not for social media.
Football fans checking their Twitter timelines on Wednesday may have been treated to a reminder that it was 12 years to the day since Arshavin smashed four goals for Arsene Wenger's men at Anfield.
The man himself, however, was none the wiser.
Russian wing wizard Arshavin struck an incredible four times as the Gunners played out a pulsating 4-4 draw with Liverpool in their Premier League meeting on April 21, 2009.
As the Reds finished four points behind bitter rivals and champions Manchester United in that season's title race, the loss of the points proved costly for a strong outfit then led by the likes of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.
#OnThisDay in 2009, Andrey Arshavin went turbo against Liverpool at Anfield. Also, look how fast he's running on that counter attack to score his fourth in the NINETIETH minute. Bloody hell.pic.twitter.com/y1j8Kf1mZQ
— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) April 21, 2021
You're welcome https://t.co/9hjsxipj8g
— FC Zenit in English✨ (@fczenit_en) April 21, 2021
It is a clash which was instantly etched into English footballing folklore and has been heralded as among the greatest ever played in the Premiership, with Arshavin's rout likewise regarded one of the finest individual displays the world's most-watched top flight has ever produced.
Despite numerous fan accounts picking up on the anniversary of the remarkable feat, Arshavin himself modestly admitted that it’s not a date he has marked down in his calendar.
“To be honest, if it wasn’t for social media I wouldn’t have remembered that it was 12 years ago,” Arshavin told RT Sport at Zenit St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena on Thursday, at an event to mark 50 days to go until Euro 2020 kicks off.
He added: “If I don’t think about it, it doesn’t really bring back any emotions.
"Maybe if I go back to Anfield and stand on the pitch sometime, then I could say something.
“But yesterday I was calm. As I said, I wouldn’t even have known about it if it wasn’t for social media."
Those heroics were in the past for Arshavin, bit one event rapidly approaching is this summer's European Championships – a tournament he also knows well, having starred in Russia's remarkable run to the semi-finals in 2008.
That spectacular form helped catch Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's eye and cement a move to North London around six months later.
This time around, the 39-year-old is banging the drum for home city St. Petersburg, which will host at least four matches at Euro 2020 and possibly even more with the news that UEFA is set to reallocate games from Dublin.
“As I see it and understand, our city has been ready for the Euros for a long time. It was ready a year ago, and even more so is ready now," Arshavin told RT Sport.
“I don’t think extra matches will bring any extra difficulties to organize.
“Plus one of our advantages is that there’s almost a 100% guarantee that we can have 50% capacity. That can change in 50 days, but only for the better.
“I think matches with fans in a beautiful city like this means St. Petersburg can use this advantage to host more matches.”
As for Russia's chances, Arshavin said he was hopeful they would at least get out of a tricky group containing Denmark, Finland and world number one-ranked team Belgium.