On August 22, the forward of Zenit and the Russian national football team Artyom Dziuba celebrates his birthday. The popular Russian footballer, captain of the national team and one of the most productive players in the Russian Premier League of the starting season turned 31 years old.
In the world of football, it is not customary to focus on the birthdays of existing players, but Dziuba is a special case. In particular, due to its huge popularity after the home world.
One of the first Russian striker congratulated the International Football Federation (FIFA). The organization called him “the real hero of the Russian national team” at last year’s World Cup, where the hosts reached the quarterfinals and lost to Croatia only in the penalty shoot-out.
Dziuba at that tournament was marked by three goals scored, upsetting the teams of Saudi Arabia and Egypt once in the group stage, as well as realizing a penalty for a hand game in his own penalty Gerard Pique in the 1/8 final match with the Spanish team.
#HBD to a real hero of @ TeamRussia's 2018 #WorldCup campaign 🇷🇺🏆
Celebrate Artem Dzyuba turning 3⃣1⃣ by reliving his three goals in the hosts' run to the last eight ⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/hHuo3cpLXa
The forward was also congratulated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). In honor of his birthday, on the official Twitter page, UEFA remembered the goals of the Russian striker Lyon and poker against the Liechtenstein national team in the selection for Euro 2020.
🎂 Forward @zenit_spb and @TeamRussia Artem Dzube celebrates his 31st birthday today! Congratulations! 👏👏👏
⚽️⚽️ And watch the double in the match with Lyon 💪 #Champions Leaguepic.twitter.com / KhOzBnKLWW
At the same time, UEFA was offered to predict how many goals Dziuba will score in the group stage of the Champions League, which starts on September 17. Zenit rivals at this stage have not yet been determined, but the club from St. Petersburg will be in the first basket during the draw for the most prestigious club tournament.
Heads from Dziuba will also be awaited by his partners, with whom on Thursday he held a training session at the Zenith base. Usually, on the occasion of their birthday, teams arrange a so-called “tunnel” through which the birthday party must go through, receiving cuffs from teammates. Dziuba prepared for this “painful” procedure and put on a hockey helmet and protection on his shoulders. However, the celebration was peaceful - the attacker was simply applauded loudly.
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Publication by zenit_spb (@zenit_spb) Aug 22, 2019 at 4:36 pm PDT
Despite the fact that Dzube was given a warm reception on the occasion of the memorial day, the head coach of the team Sergey Semak warned in advance that the birthday boy would not receive indulgence in training. However, Semak also joined in the congratulations.
“Everything will be as usual. We have the same attitude towards all players - regardless of whether they are leaders or not. We try to create a level playing field for everyone. I haven’t seen Artyom yet. Usually he comes one of the last. I’ll see and congratulate you soon, ”Semak admitted during a press conference preceding the next round of the national championship.
In the youth national team of Russia on football Artyom Dzube also made a kind of “gift”. The head coach of the team Mikhail Galaktionov announced the squad for the September matches with Serbia and Bulgaria, and Fedor Chalov turned out to be in it - a competitor of the Zenit striker for a place in the starting lineup of the adult team. While the CSKA striker will participate in the qualifying matches for the European Championship among players under the age of 21, Dziuba should help the country's first team in meetings with Scotland and Kazakhstan.
Congratulations to Dziube were also conveyed by Leonid Slutsky, with whom the striker crossed only in the Russian national football team. After the recent registration of an Instagram account, the specialist does not pass by the most important events in football, and the birthday of the former ward was no exception. Slutsky, along with the Berezutsky brothers, who are part of the Vitessa coaching staff, produced a video of congratulation in which he called Dziuba “the king of the north”.
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Posted by Leonid Slutsky 🇷🇺 (@ leonid.slutsky) Aug 22, 2019 at 3:57 PDT
Joined the congratulation forward and the general producer of “Match TV” Tina Kandelaki.
“Happy birthday to you, dear. The most important warrior of the football field. What can I tell you? Your strength, your energy, your courage and your will to win cause exceptional respect. You can be loved, you can be respected, you can probably even be hated, but it is impossible to be indifferent to you. I love you very much, always count on me. Your Tinochka, ”Kandelaki said in the video she recorded.