Zenit St. Petersburg’s Igor Denisov, Hulk, Terek Grozny’s Jonathan Legear and Spartak Moscow’s
Artyom Dzyuba harmed the image of Russian football in recent years
The Russian fans have witnessed or sometimes conducted some racist events since the inception of the Russian top division. But here at Bettor.com we will tell you about the players, who made life difficult after indulging themselves
in inappropriate doings.
Igor Denisov
Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder, Igor Denisov, has had a fight with team coach, Luciano Spalletti, this fall after the Italian tactician refused to pay the 28-year-old as much salary as the club’s management pay to summer acquisition,
Hulk.
Denisov, who is arguably the highest paid Russian International in the league, threatened the manager not to enter the field unless they increase his salary to match the Brazilian striker’s salary.
Consequently, Denisov trained with the youth team for more than a month after being penalized by the manager who consulted the St. Petersburg club’s management over the length of the proposed punishment.
However, the controversy did not affect the player on a large scale as Fabio Capello included him in the squad for the World Cup qualifiers. Denisov returned to Petrovsky stadium after apologizing for his rude behaviour.
Aleksandr Kerzhakov proved him way too smart after getting himself out of the mess despite backing Denisov initially.
Hulk
History witnessed Zenit’s record 60 million Euros signing come to the Russia top division this summer. The Brazilian striker signed a five-year contract with reportedly much higher salary as compared to the rest of the team after
leaving FC Porto this summer.
The former Tokyo Verdy player found life difficult at Petrovsky stadium after a riot started within the team against him. However, the 26-year-old stood to his ground despite facing a lot of criticism including life-threatening
calls.
However, Hulk went emotional after Spalletti replaced him during Zenit’s 1-0 win in the UEFA Champions League against AC Milan at San Siro. And there is little arguing to the statement that it looked like the mercurial forward
will leave the hostile Russian weather.
Later, the Brazilian International publically apologized to the manager, saying that he is not used to with the substitution role during his playing career.
Artyom Dzyuba
The Russian striker found himself in the middle of a controversy after publically making negative comments about Spartak Moscow’s former manager, Unai Emery.
The 24-year-old said that he is pleased to see the Spanish tactician going back home after being sacked by the Moscow-based club’s management following the team’s disappointing league run.
Actually, Dzyuba was furious at the manager because he did not give him enough playing time courtesy to the player’s unconvincing, lethargic performances both in domestic and European campaign.
Dzyuba is arguably one of the most talented Russian players but he needs to be more disciplined and think twice before making harsh statement or disrespecting any club or an individual.
Jonathan Legear
The Belgian midfielder let the image of the Russian football down after driving his sports car into a gas station. The 25-year-old midfielder paid compensation to the customer whom he injured while hitting the car.
Legear reportedly paid damages of 250-300 Euros as he pushed the gas pedal too hard and crashed the car in state of intoxication. Later the court banned the former RSC Anderlecht player to drive for more than two weeks.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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