Rubin extends contract with Sharonov

Moscow: Russian football club Rubin Kazan have extended veteran defender Roman Sharonov`s contract until the end of the next season, the club said Sunday.

If the 35-year-old team captain stays until the end of the new deal, he will have spent 11 seasons at Rubin, including the club`s two title-winning seasons in 2008 and 2009. Sharonov has played 265 games for Rubin, scoring nine goals and winning the Russian Cup last season. He started his career at Lokomotiv Moscow but failed to break into the first team and spent spells in the Chinese league and with lowly Metallurg Krasnoyarsk before joining Rubin in 1997. He left the Kazan side in 2004, only to return in 2008 after playing for Terek Grozny and Shinnik Yaroslavl. Sharonov has eight caps for Russia and was included in Dick Advocaat`s squad for Euro 2012, but did not play. IANS