Arsenal’s Russian International Andrei Arshavin (pictured) will probably be the focus of the attention of local fans when the Russians take on Slovenia Saturday in the first of two games for a berth to the next World Cup in South Africa. Arshavin, who is among the top forwards in the English Premier League in the FTBL ranking with a score of 150.06 points at the moment, is known to have the skills to decide a game on his own.

Going in, the Russian international will face a plank of just 8 rating points to beat in the FTBL system, and a solid performance will certainly consolidate his position in the Top 23 of the Premier League, our list of the 23 top players in England’s top league.

But does Arshavin have a change of capturing a spot in the World Top 23 as well? Yes, and quite a good one.

In fact, Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov, who are at the bottom of the top 6 in the world ranking of forwards with 178.57 and 178.36 points, respectively, will not play games indexed in the FTBL system in the next few days. Arshavin needs 28 points to get into the elite list, and he is certainly able to earn those points against the Slovenes: in the return leg, he will face a plank of just 10 rating points to beat. If the Russians come out on top in the 2 games and Arshavin scores at least in one, he will join our list of the world’s 23 top players for the first time in his career.