Lev Yashin
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Family name hatnote Template:Infobox football biography
Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Template:Langx; 22 October 1929 – 20 March 1990) was a Soviet professional footballer considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport.<ref name="britannica">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> He was the first and only goalkeeper to win a Ballon D'or, a feat which no other goalkeeper has been able to accomplish to this day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was known for his athleticism, positioning, imposing presence in goal, and acrobatic reflex saves.<ref name="FIFA">Template:Cite web FIFA. Retrieved 23 November 2013</ref><ref name="Casillas names his top ten No1s">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Euro 1960"/><ref name="l'Equipe"/> He was also deputy chairman of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union.
Yashin earned status for revolutionising the goalkeeping position by imposing his authority on the entire defence.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="Casillas names his top ten No1s"/><ref name="ESPN"/> A vocal presence in goal, he shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses and also ran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="ESPN">Lomas, Mark (29 April 2010) Template:Cite web ESPN. Retrieved 21 May 2014</ref><ref name="Top World Cup goalkeepers">Template:Cite news</ref> His performances made an indelible impression on a global audience at the 1958 World Cup, the first to be broadcast internationally. He dressed head to toe in apparent black (in truth very dark blue),<ref name = "BBC"/> thus earning his nicknames "the Black Spider" or "the Black Panther",<ref name="Panther">Template:Cite news</ref> which enhanced his popularity.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="ESPN"/>
Yashin appeared in three World Cups from 1958 to 1966 and was an unused squad member in 1970. In 2002, he was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team. In 1994, he was chosen for the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and in 1998 was chosen as a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. According to FIFA, Yashin saved over 150 penalty kicks in professional football — more than any other goalkeeper.<ref name="panther">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="bbc"/> He also kept over 270 clean sheets in his career, winning a gold medal at the 1956 Olympic football tournament,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the 1960 European Championships.<ref name="bbc">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1963, Yashin received the Ballon d'Or, awarded to the European player of the year, the only goalkeeper ever to receive the award.<ref name="FIFA" /> He was additionally named posthumously to the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020, a greatest all-time XI, and was voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was also named to the IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team in 2021. He was named by France Football as the greatest goalkeeper of all time in 2020.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, IFFHS crowned him as the greatest goalkeeper in football history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Russia by the Russian Football Union as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, France Football established the Yashin Trophy for the best performing goalkeeper, and is awarded alongside the Ballon D'Or.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Early life
[edit]Yashin was born in Moscow, in a Russian family of industrial workers. When he was 12, World War II forced him to work in a factory to support the Soviet war effort. However his health at the age of 18 (after he suffered a nervous breakdown) meant he was unable to work.<ref name = "BBC">“Bullet maker to Ballon d'Or: The man who reinvented goalkeeping”. BBC. Retrieved 7 June 2018</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thus, he was sent to work in a military factory in Moscow. After being spotted playing for the factory team he was invited to join the Dynamo Moscow youth team.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Club career
[edit]
Yashin’s debut for Dynamo Moscow came in 1950 in a friendly match. It was not the debut he would have hoped for, as he conceded a soft goal scored straight from a clearance by the opposing keeper. That year he played in only two league games, and did not appear in a senior match again until 1953. But he remained determined, and stayed at Dynamo in the reserves waiting for another opportunity. Yashin also played goalie for the Dynamo ice hockey team during those early years of trying to break into the senior squad. He managed to win a USSR ice hockey cup in 1953 and was third in the USSR ice hockey championship as goalkeeper.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
He spent his entire professional football career with Dynamo Moscow, from 1950 to 1970, winning the USSR football championship five times and the Soviet Cup three times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Yashin's club teammate, rival and mentor was Alexei "Tiger" Khomich, the keeper of the Soviet national team, who had become famous for his role in Dynamo Moscow’s British tour. He also internally rivalled goalkeeper Valter Sanaya, who left the club in 1953.<ref>“Lev Yashin: The Black Panther Who Changed the Goalkeeper Position“ Template:Webarchive. Russian Football News. Retrieved 23 June 2018</ref>
International career
[edit]
In 1954, Yashin was called up to the Soviet national team, and would go on to gather 78 caps.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With the national team he won the 1956 Summer Olympics as well as the first European championship, the 1960 European Nations' Cup.<ref name = "BBC"/> He also played in three World Cups, in 1958, 1962 and 1966.<ref name=sr>Template:Cite Sports-Reference</ref> Yashin is credited with four clean sheets out of the 12 games he played in the World Cup finals.<ref name = "BBC"/>
The 1958 World Cup, played in Sweden, put Yashin on the map for his performances, with the Soviet Union advancing to the quarter-finals.<ref name = "BBC"/> In a group stage match against the eventual Cup winners Brazil, the Soviet team lost 2–0. Facing a Brazil team that featured Garrincha and a 17 year old Pelé in attack, Yashin's performance prevented the score from becoming a rout.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Yashin was nominated for Ballon d'Or in 1960 and 1961 and placed fifth and fourth, respectively.<ref>Reno, Bill (12 May 2015) Why a Goalkeeper Will Never Win Another Ballon d'Or. Paste Magazine.</ref> In 1962, despite suffering two concussions during the tournament, he once again led the team to a quarter-final finish, before losing to host country Chile.<ref name="concussion">Template:Cite web</ref> That tournament showed that Yashin was all too human, having made some uncharacteristic mistakes. In the game against Colombia, which the Soviet Union was leading 4–1, Yashin let in a few soft goals, including a goal scored by Marcos Coll directly from a corner kick. It was the first and the only goal scored directly from a corner in FIFA World Cup history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Soviet Union's game against Colombia finished in a 4–4 draw, which led the French newspaper L'Équipe to predict the end of Yashin's career.<ref name="l'Equipe">Template:Cite news</ref> He did, however, make an outstanding save against Chile in the quarter-final. Despite this, the Soviet Union suffered a 2–1 defeat and were eliminated from the World Cup.<ref name = "BBC"/>
Despite the disappointment of the 1962 World Cup, Yashin would bounce back to win the Ballon d'Or in December 1963. One of his best performances that year was the 1963 England v Rest of the World football match, where he made a number of spectacular saves. From that point onward he was known to the world as the "Black Spider" because he wore a distinctive all-black outfit and because it seemed as though he had eight arms to save almost everything.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="ESPN"/> But to his fans, he was always the fearless "Black Panther".<ref name="Panther"/> He often played wearing a cloth cap of burnt-brick colour. Yashin led the Soviet team to its best showing at the FIFA World Cup, a fourth-place finish in the 1966 World Cup held in England.<ref name = "BBC"/>
Always ready to give advice to his comrades, Yashin even made a fourth trip to the World Cup finals in 1970, held in Mexico, as the third-choice back-up and an assistant coach. The Soviet team again reached the quarter-finals. In 1971, in Moscow, he played his last match for Dynamo Moscow. Lev Yashin's FIFA testimonial match was held at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow with 100,000 fans attending and a host of football stars, including Pelé, Eusébio and Franz Beckenbauer.<ref name="FIFA"/>
Personal life and health
[edit]After retiring from playing, Yashin spent almost 20 years in various administrative positions at Dynamo Moscow. He also spent much of his retirement indulging in what his wife called his second passion: fishing. A bronze statue of Lev Yashin was erected at the Dynamo Stadium in Moscow.<ref name="Yashin"/>
In 1986, following a thrombophlebitis contracted while he was in Budapest, Yashin underwent the amputation of one of his legs.<ref name="Yashin"/> He died in 1990 of stomach cancer, despite a surgical intervention in an attempt to save his life. He was given a state funeral as a Soviet Honoured Master of Sport.<ref name="Yashin"/>
Yashin was survived by wife Valentina Timofeyevna and daughters Irina and Elena;<ref name="Лев Иванович Яшин" /> when Russia hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Valentina was still living in the Moscow apartment that the Soviet state had given her husband in 1964.<ref name=Jennings>Template:Cite web</ref> Yashin has a granddaughter and one surviving grandson; another grandson died in 2002 at age 14 from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident.<ref name=Jennings/> The surviving grandson, Vasili Frolov, played as a goalkeeper in Dynamo's youth section and was on the books of the senior side,<ref>Pryakhin, Valery (19 January 2007) Вратарь «Динамо» Василий Фролов, внук Льва Яшина: Бутсы деда мне великоваты Template:Webarchive. sovsport.ru</ref> but never played a game with the senior side, retiring from play at age 23. He now runs a goalkeeper training school in Moscow near Spartak Moscow's current stadium.<ref name=Jennings/>
Style of play and accolades
[edit]Template:Quote box Template:Quote box
Considered by many in the sport to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game,<ref name="britannica"/> Yashin was an imposing presence in goal due to his tall stature, and was highly regarded for his athleticism, agility, positional sense, bravery, and exceptional reflexes, which enabled him to produce acrobatic and spectacular saves.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="Casillas names his top ten No1s"/><ref name="Euro 1960"/><ref name="l'Equipe"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Yashin remains the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or, in 1963.<ref name="FIFA"/> He also stopped 151 penalty kicks during his career, more than any other goalkeeper in history, and kept over 270 clean sheets.<ref name="Yashin"/> For his outstanding service to the people and to his country, Yashin was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1967, the highest award of the USSR.<ref name="FIFA"/>
A vocal and authoritative figure between the posts, Yashin is known for revolutionising the goalkeeping position:<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="Casillas names his top ten No1s"/><ref name="ESPN"/> he shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses, and also ran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="ESPN"/><ref name="Top World Cup goalkeepers"/> Yashin would always organise the defensive game of his team, often so fiercely that even his wife accused him of yelling too much on the pitch. He rarely captained his teams, as the later accepted custom of appointing a goalkeeper captain was virtually unheard-of in that era, but his leadership on the field was always evident. Yashin was one of the goalkeepers who began the practice of punching balls out in difficult situations instead of trying to catch them. Other novel practices he developed were the quick throw of the ball to begin a counterattack, coming out of the penalty area to anticipate danger, and the command and organisation of the defenders – practices now quite common among goalkeepers.<ref name="FIFA"/> When asked what his secret was, he would reply that the trick was "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles."<ref name="panther"/><ref name="Yashin">Greaves, Jimmy (2008). Football's Great Heroes and Entertainers. Hachette UK. p. 1949. Template:ISBN</ref>
In 1994, FIFA established the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup finals. FIFA polls named Yashin as the sole goalkeeper in World Team of the 20th Century. World Soccer magazine named him in their 100 Greatest Players of the 20th century. Many commentators consider Yashin the best goalkeeper in the history of football, which has resulted in him being chosen to be the goalkeeper in most of the world-all-time teams (including the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team and the FIFA Dream Team).<ref>de Arruda, Marcelo Leme (15 May 2004) World All-Time Teams. Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.org</ref> In 2020 Yashin was named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI.<ref name="all time">Template:Cite web</ref>
Legacy
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The following works are devoted to Yashin:
- Song "Вратарь" ("Goalkeeper", 1971) by Vladimir Vysotsky.<ref>Roganov, Nikolai (25 January 2013) История песни «Вратарь». Владимиру Высоцкому сегодня исполнилось бы 75 Template:Webarchive. sovsport.ru</ref>
- Poem "Года летят" ("Years go by") by Robert Rozhdestvensky.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Poem "Вратарь выходит из ворот" ("Goalkeeper is coming out of the goal", 1974) by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.<ref>Shestak, Anna (2009) Евгений ЕВТУШЕНКО: «Поэзии я учился у советского футбола». Bulvar Gordona, Vol. 38 (230)</ref>
- A Russian-language biopic about his life, entitled Lev Yashin: Goalie of My Dreams, was released on 22 October 2017. Its director Oleg Kapanets previously produced Gagarin: First in Space.<ref name="panther"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Statues of Yashin were unveiled at both Luzhniki Stadium, in 1997, and Central Dynamo Stadium, in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- The new billion-dollar Dynamo Moscow stadium, VTB Arena, is officially called Lev Yashin Stadium.
- Several streets are named after Yashin in Russian cities, and there are multiple monuments of Yashin, both in Russia and abroad.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Yashin features in EA Sports' FIFA football video game series: he was added as an Ultimate Team Icon in FIFA 18, joined by many other legends of the sport.
- In 2018, Yashin appeared on a new 100-ruble commemorative banknote from the Central Bank of Russia celebrating the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the country; he also appeared on the official World Cup poster released in November 2017.<ref name="CoinWeek">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ice hockey career
[edit]Yashin also played ice hockey (also as a goalie) and he won the Soviet Cup in March 1953.<ref name = "BBC"/> He was even among the candidates for the country's ice hockey national team, but he stopped playing ice hockey in 1954 to concentrate on his football career.<ref name = "BBC"/>
Quotes
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Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]| Club | Season | League | Soviet Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Dynamo Moscow | 1950 | Top League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1951 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1952 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1953 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |||
| 1954 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |||
| 1955 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |||
| 1956 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |||
| 1957 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 1958 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 1959 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |||
| 1960 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| 1961 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | |||
| 1962 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |||
| 1963 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |||
| 1964 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |||
| 1965 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| 1966 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 1967 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |||
| 1968 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |||
| 1969 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |||
| 1970 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 326 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 358 | 0 | |||
International
[edit]| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | 1954 | 2 | 0 |
| 1955 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1956 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1957 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1958 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1959 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1960 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1961 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1962 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1963 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1964 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1965 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1966 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1967 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 74 | 0 | |
Other statistics
[edit]- 812 career games played<ref name="russiateam_ru">Template:Cite web</ref>
- estimated to have made over 150 penalty saves during his career<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="russiateam">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bbc"/>
- 326 games played for Dynamo Moscow main line-up (football team)<ref name="nft">Template:NFT player</ref>
- 74 caps for the USSR national team (70 goals conceded)<ref name="nft"/>
- 12 caps at the World Cup (4 clean sheets)
- 2 FIFA 'Best of the World XI' appearances (in 1963 vs England, in 1968 vs Brazil)
- 270 career clean sheets<ref name="russiateam"/>
Honours
[edit]Football
[edit]Dynamo Moscow
Soviet Union
- UEFA European Football Championship: 1960; runner-up: 1964
- Olympic Games Gold Medal: 1956
Individual
- UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1960,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 1964<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- USSR Goalkeeper of the year: 1960, 1963, 1966Template:Citation needed
- Ballon d'Or Winner: 1963,<ref name=sr/> nominated: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- World Soccer World XI: 1963,<ref name="WORLD XI">"ERIC BATTY’S WORLD XI – THE SIXTIES" Retrieved on 29 November 2015</ref> 1964,<ref name="WORLD XI"/> 1966,<ref name="WORLD XI"/> 1967<ref name="WORLD XI"/>
- FIFA XI: 1963,<ref name="FIFA XI">FIFA XI´s Matches – Full Info</ref> 1968<ref name="FIFA XI" />
- ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1963<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Europe XI: 1964,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1964,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1965<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- European football Oscars: 1963-64<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- World XI selected by italian press. 1960,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1961<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- FUWO European Team of the Year: 1965,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1966<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Order of Lenin
- Silver Olympic Order<ref name=sr/>
- FIFA Order of Merit
- Placar's All-Time Team<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Placar's 100 Stars of the Century: #11<ref name="rsssf.org">Template:Cite web</ref>
- FIFA World Cup All-Time Team
- Planète Foot's All-Time Team<ref name=":0" />
- France Football's Football Player of the Century: #10<ref name="rsssf.org"/>
- Planète Foot's 50 Best Players of all Time<ref name="rsssf.org"/>
- Venerdì's All-Time Team<ref name=":0" />
- Venerdì's 100 Magnificent<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- World Soccer's 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time: #11<ref name="rsssf.org"/>
- World Team of the 20th Century
- Voetbal International's Team of the Century<ref name="rsssf.org"/>
- Voetbal International's World Stars by Raf Willems<ref name="rsssf.org"/>
- Jornal A Tarde All-Time Team<ref name=":0" />
- Placar's 100 Stars of the World Cup: #23<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- O Estado de São Paulo All-Time Team<ref name=":0" />
- World Hall of Fame of Soccer<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- France Football Greatest Goalkeeper of All Time<ref name=":1" />
- FIFA Goalkeeper of the 20th Century<ref name=sr/>
- FIFA World Cup Dream Team
- Golden Player of Russia
- World Soccer Greatest XI of all time<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- World Sports dream team of the past 20 years: 1970<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS Legends<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS World Goalkeeper of the Century<ref name="IFFHS' Century Elections">Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS European Goalkeeper of the Century<ref name="IFFHS' Century Elections"/>
- Ballon d'Or Dream Team<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team<ref name="IFFHS Dream Team">Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS All-time Europe Men's Dream Team<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- IFFHS Men Team of the Century (1901-2000)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ice hockey
[edit]Dynamo Moscow
- Soviet Cup: 1953
See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:Commons category Template:Wikiquote
- Profile at the FC Dynamo Moscow website
- Template:FIFA player
- Template:UEFA player
- Template:NFT player
- Template:Olympedia
- Template:Cite web
- Pages with broken file links
- 1929 births
- 1990 deaths
- 1958 FIFA World Cup players
- 1960 European Nations' Cup players
- 1962 FIFA World Cup players
- 1964 European Nations' Cup players
- 1966 FIFA World Cup players
- 1970 FIFA World Cup players
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- Ballon d'Or winners
- Deaths from cancer in the Soviet Union
- Deaths from stomach cancer in Russia
- Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople
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- Heroes of Socialist Labour
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- Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics
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