Lev Ivanovich Yashin

 

Lev Ivanovich Yashin (October 22, 1929 - March 20, 1990) was a Soviet football (soccer) goalkeeper, arguably the best ever goalie in the sport.

He was born in Moscow in a family of industrial workers. Still twelve years old in summer of 1942, during the World War II, he started to work as the helper at metal workshops .

Yashin played his entire career for Dinamo Moscow sports club, from 1949 to 1971, winning the football (soccer) championship of the USSR five times and the Soviet Cup three times. He also won a USSR ice-hockey championship (1953) as a goalkeeper for his club after three disastrous trial-up attempts to get his place in the starting line-up of the main soccer team. Yashin's club team-mate, rival and mentor was 'Tiger' Khomich, the keeper of the Soviet national team, who had become famous for his role in Dinamo Moscow's British tour.

In 1954, Yashin debuted for the national team (78 caps for his country), with which he would win the titles at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 European Championships. As a member of the USSR team he played in three World Cup finals (1958, 1962 and 1966). Always ready to give a piece of advice to his comrades, he even made his fourth trip to the World Cup finals in 1970 as the third-choice back-up and an aide. Yashin is credited for four clean sheets out of 13 games played in WC finals. In 1971 in Moscow he played his last match for Dinamo Moscow against European stars.

One of his best performances was 1963 FA Centenary match when he appeared in the 'Rest of the World XI' against England at Wembley Stadium and made a number of the breathtaking and almost unbelievable saves. Known all over the world as the 'Black Panther' for his distinctive all-black outfit, acrobatic saves and agility, he was feared by his opponents who also called him "Black Spider" and "Black Octopus" because of his very long hands. Sometimes Yashin was wearing a big flat-top-over-the-visor cloth cap of overburnt-red-brick color.

Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper ever to win the European Footballer of the Year Award (1963).

For his outstanding service to the people and for his country he was awarded Order of Lenin (1967), the highest award of the USSR. Lev Yashin's FIFA testimonial match was held at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow with 100,000 fans attending, and a host galaxy of stars and superstars, including Pelé, Eusebio and Franz Beckenbauer. For some time he coached minor league and youth soccer teams in Finland. Bronze statue of Lev Yashin was erected at Dinamo Central Stadium in Moscow. 2000 FIFA polls placed Yashin in the "Century XI" team, and also named him 'World - Keeper of the Century' ahead of Gordon Banks.

Lev Yashin died in 1990 of complications caused by an earlier amputation of one of his legs following a knee surgery.

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Lev Yashin (also spelled "Yachine") is the most famous goalkeeper of all times all around the world, the true legend of football. He made an unprecedented contribution to the game, setting the modern standards and still being unreachable in his unique talent. He was among the first goalkeepers to play outside the goalkeeper's and even the penalty area, doing it with unmatched confidence and reliability. Playing inside the goal, he was perfectly capable of covering every corner of it, having a stunning reaction and plasticity. And most notably, he confronted the then common attitude of catching the ball, inventing various ways of simply kicking it away of the penalty area.

 Lev Ivanovich Yashin played for the Moscow Dinamo (1948 - 1970) and USSR National teams (1954 - 1967). He was born on October 22, 1929, in Moscow, in the family of industry workers. In 1942 he started to work himself as a turner at the "Krasnyi bogatyr"  tools factory in Moscow. His first coach was I.Shubin from the factory's children football team, where he started playing in 1944. In 1949 a football and ice-hockey coach A.I.Chernyshov invited him to the Moscow Dinamo club, where Yashin played 22 seasons.

 Yashin holds Dinamo's record of the games played in USSR championships - 326. Together with the team, he won the champions title in 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959 and 1963, silver medals in 1956, 1958, 1962, 1967 and 1970, bronze - in 1960. He was the USSR Cup winner in 1953, 1967 and 1970. In 1960, 1963 and 1966 he was awarded the prestigious "Ogonyok" magazine prize for the best goalkeeper of the USSR. Yashin was listed among 33 best players of the season 17 times, of which 14 times he was the Number One choice.

 With the USSR National team Yashin played 78 games (70 goals conceded). He was the champion of Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1958, European Cup winner in 1960 and runner-up in 1964, participated three World Championships - 1958 in Sweden, 1962 in Chile and 1966 in England, where USSR took 4th place.

 In 1963 Lev Yashin was named the best European player by the "France Football" weekly. He is the only goalkeeper awarded with this "Golden Ball" award. In total, he kept his goal untouched in 270 games. In 1988, he was awarded the gold medal of the Olympic Order.

 In 1971 in Moscow the last game of Lev Yashin took place: Moscow Dinamo played against European stars team. In 1986 the knee injury led to the amputation of the leg. Lev Yashin died on March 20, 1990 after the surgery complications.