For almost 30 years now, there has been no country called the Soviet Union on the world map, but you can still see fans in the stands in the T-shirt of the national team of a non-existent country. Why? I think I know the answer to this question.
History of the USSR national football team
- Participation in the final stage of the world championships: 7 times.
- Participation in the final stage of the European Championships: 5 times.
Achievements of the USSR national team
- European Champion 1960.
- Silver medalist of the European Championship in 1964, 1972 and 1988.
- Fourth place at the 1966 World Championships.
The USSR national team played the first match on November 16, 1924, i.e. two years after the formation of the Soviet state. The rival was the Turkish national team, which our team defeated in Moscow with a score of 3:0.
USSR national team at the world championships
The reasons for the absence of the USSR national team at the pre-war world championships lie on the surface - the USSR Football Federation was not a member of FIFA. But even after joining this organization in 1947, applications for participation in the 1950 and 1954 world championships were not submitted - the country's leadership was afraid of losing to the "bourgeois".
Only the gold medals of the 1956 Olympics and success in a number of friendly matches, including the victory over the current world champion of the German national team in 1955, opened the way for our team to the world championships.
Already in the first qualifying round, there was almost an embarrassment - having won both matches against the Finns, the USSR national team exchanged home victories with the Poles (3:0 and 1:2), and since no additional indicators were taken into account then, a third match was scheduled, which took place on neutral field in German Leipzig. If his team lost, it is not known how the fate of the USSR national team would have developed, and after how many years she would still be allowed to play in a major tournament.
Fortunately, the team of Gavriil Dmitrievich Kachalin managed to win with a score of 2: 0, and the hero of the match was the one who scored a goal and gave an assist. However, Streltsov, as well as Mikhail Ogonkov and Boris Tatushin, did not go to the championship for reasons far from sports, which was a loss for the team.
The first match our team played in a draw with the British 2:2, and during the match it led 2:0, and the England team equalized the score of an erroneously awarded penalty kick (the violation was outside the penalty area).
Then the USSR national team defeated the Austrians 2:0 and lost to the Brazilian team with the same score. As a result, the national teams of the USSR and England scored three points each and had to play an additional match, in which our team turned out to be stronger - 1:0.
In the quarterfinals, the Soviet players lost to the hosts of the Swedish national team. The official assessment of the performance of the national team was unsatisfactory, which in our time seems simply wild. But these are still flowers, below I will tell you what they did with the coach who won the “silver” of the European Championship.
But for now, back to the world championships. The team qualified for the next championship without any problems, and in the final part took first place in the group, ahead of the teams of Yugoslavia, Uruguay and Colombia. True, in the match with the latter there was an embarrassment: leading 3:0 and 4:1, the USSR team managed to draw 4:4.
In the quarterfinals, we again had to meet with the hosts - the Chile national team, and the USSR national team lost again, this time with a score of 1:2. They blamed the defeat, at the same time remembering him four goals conceded from the Colombians.
At the 1966 World Cup, the USSR national team was able to overcome the quarterfinal barrier and achieved the highest achievement in the world championships. This time our team showed a 100% result in the group stage, simultaneously taking revenge on the Chileans for the defeat four years ago.
Then there was a victory in the quarterfinals over a strong Hungarian national team (the Hungarians managed to defeat the Brazilians, the reigning world champions, in the group stage), a 1:2 defeat in the semifinals from the German national team and in the match for 3rd place from the Portuguese, led by the magnificent.
In 1970, the USSR national team was the strongest in the quartet with Mexico, Belgium and El Salvador (two wins and a draw), and in the ¼ finals in Extra time lost to the Uruguayans 0:1.
Thus, in four consecutive world championships, the Soviet team consistently got into the top eight of the strongest teams in the world, making it to the semi-finals once. The result is more than decent, especially against the background of our current "masters".
After that, the USSR national team missed two world championships in a row without qualifying. Moreover, in 1973, our team took first place in its qualifying group, and in the play-offs it had to play with the Chilean national team. The first meeting in Moscow ended in a goalless draw, and the USSR national team did not go to the return match because of the military coup that had taken place in Chile, and a forfeit defeat was credited to it. So football again intervened in politics.
Only in 1982, the Soviet team was again at the World Cup. Having taken second place in the group after Brazil, the USSR national team reached the second group stage, where she beat the Belgian team 1:0. To reach the semi-finals, ours needed a victory over the Polish team, but that match ended in a goalless draw.
The Soviet team began the final part of the 1986 World Cup with a 6-0 defeat of the Hungarian national team, after which many wrote it down as a championship favorite. Then there was a victory over the Canadian team and a draw with the French, and in the 1/8 finals the USSR team fell on the Belgians.
Twice our team led the score, but the Belgians bounced back, and in extra time they managed to snatch a victory 4:3 (he scored a hat-trick for the USSR national team). The Belgians scored two goals from an offside position, which remained unnoticed by the referee team led by Swede Eric Fredrikson. But this was not the main reason - the Soviet team reached the peak of form too early, demonstrating their best in the first matches
She went to the USSR national team as one of the favorites of the world championship in the rank of vice-champion of Europe. However, an unexpected defeat in starting match against Romania (0:2) put the team in front of the need to play for victory in a match with world champion Argentina, who also lost in the first match.
This meeting was lost to the USSR national team 0:2, and with the score 0:0, the same referee Fredrikson did not put a penalty in a situation when he knocked the ball out of an empty goal with his hand. So one person turned out to be an evil genius for our team at two world championships at once. The defeat of Cameroon 4:0 did not change anything in the tournament plan - the USSR national team remained in last place in the group.
USSR national team at the European Championships
The first European Championships were, in fact, a cup tournament - the teams played according to the Olympic system, playing one match at home and away, after which four teams revealed the strongest in the final tournament, which was also held according to the Olympic system.
The USSR national team became the first European champion. Having passed the Hungarian national team in the first round, ours fell on the Spaniards, but at the behest of the dictator Franco, the Spanish national team turned out to be out of games with the Soviet team. So politics played the only time on the side of the Soviet team.
In the semi-final, the USSR national team defeated the Czechoslovak team 3:0, and in the final in extra time they snatched a victory from the Yugoslav team 2:1, the “golden” goal was on the account of Viktor Monday.
Four years later, the USSR national team again reached the final, which was held in Madrid, and the host team became the opponent. Then ours lost to the Spaniards 1:2, and Main coach The national team was fired for this result. That is, the coach was fired for second place at the European Championships!
True, in fairness, I note that here it was not without politics - the aforementioned Franco was present at the stadium, and the leaders of the Soviet state did not forgive the coach for the defeat in front of the ideological enemy.
Once in the final part of the 1968 European Championship, the USSR national team again met with the hosts, this time with the Italian team. The match in Naples ended in a goalless draw. In this match, a unique event occurred for such a level of the tournament - after a goalless draw, the winner was determined by tossing an ordinary coin.
In 1972, the Soviet team again reached the final, but lost there to the German national team 0:3.
Since 1976, the format of the qualifying tournament has changed - now the teams played a group stage, and then the top 8 teams in the relegation matches determined the four finalists. Having won their group, the USSR national team in the quarterfinals lost on aggregate to the team of Czechoslovakia, the future European champion.
However, then the USSR national team failed twice to pass the qualifying tournament, and if in the selection for Euro 1984 we lost to the Portuguese, losing the decisive match due to a controversial penalty, then the previous qualifying round was clearly a failure - the USSR national team took last place in the group with Hungary, Greece and Finland.
And in 1988, the Soviet players reached the final again, defeating the British in the group stage (3:1) and the Italians in the semi-final (2:0) in brilliant style. Valery Lobanovsky's team demonstrated fast power football, and many called this game "football of the 21st century." But in the final, she was defeated by an equally magnificent squad, where Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten were the soloists.
In the qualifying tournament for the 1992 European Championship, the USSR team took first place, ahead of the Italian team, but due to the collapse of the country, the CIS team went to the tournament.
USSR national team at the Olympic Games
Football at the Olympics is special, for a long time in the Olympic football tournaments the participation of professionals was forbidden, and later the restriction of football players by age was introduced.
But in the Soviet Union, as well as in other countries, the sport was nominally amateur, so the ban was easily circumvented. For the first time, the USSR national team became the Olympic champion in 1956, beating the same “amateurs” from Bulgaria in the semifinals, and from Yugoslavia in the final.
The "gold" of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, in my opinion, was more significant - in the semifinals, the Soviet team beat the Italians. And in the final - the Brazilian national team with, Bebeto and Romario in the composition.
Except two Olympic victories I will mention the confrontation with the Yugoslav national team at the 1952 Olympic Games. Losing 1:5, the Soviet players managed to level the score, but lost 1:3 in the replay. Since Yugoslavia as a whole and its leader Josip Broz Tito were political opponents of the USSR and Comrade Stalin personally, the matter was not without execution.
The head coach of the team, Boris Andreevich Arkadiev, and 5 CDKA players were stripped of the title of master of sports, and the CDKA team was disbanded. Why army men? Apparently because there were the most of them in the team - the same 5 people (Dynamo Moscow and Tbilisi had 4 representatives each), plus the team's mentor Arkadiev, who also coached the CDKA.
USSR national football team players
There were always enough outstanding players in the USSR national team. It is not possible to list them within the framework of one article, I will only go through the record holders.
Record holders for the number of matches played
- Oleg Blokhin - 112 matches.
- – 91.
- Albert Shesternev - 90.
- Anatoly Demyanenko - 80.
- Vladimir Bessonov - 79.
The best scorers of the USSR national team
- - 42 goals.
- Oleg Protasov - 29.
- Valentin Ivanov - 26.
- Eduard Streltsov - 25.
- Viktor Kolotov - 22.
Coaches of the USSR national football team
During the entire existence of the USSR national team, 17 specialists worked with it, of course, there were no foreigners among them. Some have worked with the team several times.
I will list the names of the most prominent mentors: Boris Andreevich Arkadiev, Konstantin Ivanovich Beskov, Gavriil Dmitrievich Kachalin, Eduard Vasilievich Malafeev, Nikolai Petrovich Morozov, Mikhail Iosifovich Yakushin.
- The USSR team won the biggest victories with a difference of 10 goals - on September 16, 1955, the Indian team was defeated in a friendly match with a score of 11: 1, and on August 15, 1957, in the qualifying match of the World Cup, the Finnish team with a score of 10: 0.
- The USSR national team suffered the biggest defeat on October 22, 1958 in London in a friendly match against England 0:5.
- The USSR national team five times participated in the final stage of the European Championships, and only once failed to reach the final.
- The first and last matches of the USSR national team ended in the same victory - 3:0.
In conclusion, I would like to talk about the reasons for the success of the Soviet team. Undoubtedly, it was one of the most strong teams of the world, showing consistently high results over a long period of time.
Now it is fashionable to almost idealize everything connected with the Soviet Union. I am far from it, simply because I lived at that time, so I hope that I will be objective.
- First. The USSR simply had more human resources, the country consisted of 15 republics, each of which is now an independent country. Imagine that Andrey Yarmolenko, Yevgeny Konoplyanka and Henrikh Mkhitaryan could play for the Russian national team now.
- Second. Outstanding coaching school. Take another look at the list of head coaches for the team. These are not just outstanding masters of their craft - almost every one of them was the creator and conductor of his own style of play.
- Third. The USSR national team has always been very good physically. In the memoirs of Soviet football players, the thought constantly flashes: "they were afraid to play with us." It’s just that Soviet coaches understood that in technical terms, many teams are not inferior, or even superior to Soviet football players, and therefore acted according to the principle: “If we cannot outplay an opponent, then we must run over him.” It happened so often.
- Fourth. Patriotism. Now it sounds somewhat naive, but the players of the USSR national team fought on the field for their country, with something, and there was always complete order with ideologies in the Soviet Union. By the way, an interesting detail - among the Soviet football players there was not a single "defector" (as the USSR called people who refused to return to their homeland from a trip abroad, or who left the country fraudulently or illegally).
Like it or not, many experienced fans are nostalgic for the USSR national team. It is no coincidence that even the form of the Russian national team at the home world championship is strikingly reminiscent of the Soviet one.
I don’t know if it’s good to live with an eye to the past, but it turns out that we live.
On December 1, the sports genius Vsevolod Bobrov, a phenomenon worthy of the Guinness Book of Records, would have turned 92 years old. It is difficult to remember another athlete who would sparkle with a star of the first magnitude as in football fields as well as on hockey rinks. I use the term "field" and not the well-known "box", because Bobrov showed himself brilliantly not only in ice hockey, but also with the ball.
Bobrov possessed all the conceivable and inconceivable virtues of a forward - original technique, high speed, incredible scoring instinct, power and cannon strike. No wonder the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko in a poem dedicated to the footballer called him "the genius of a breakthrough."
And in general, no matter what he undertook, everywhere he was guaranteed success. For the first time taking in hand tennis racket, he waved it so confidently that the most popular TV commentator, the USSR tennis champion himself, Nikolai Ozerov, recognized a great future for him, if he stayed on the court. But even without tennis and bandy (in which, by the way, he is a two-time winner of the USSR Cup) sports achivments Bobrov cannot but arouse admiration. Vsevolod Mikhailovich - 3-time champion and 2-time winner of the USSR Football Cup as part of the CDKA, one of the main characters of the triumphant tour of Great Britain in 1945 as part of Dynamo, twice the top scorer of the USSR championships, captain of the USSR national team at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. In hockey, he is a 6-time champion and 3-time winner of the National Cup in the composition of the Central House of Culture and the Air Force, 2-time world champion and champion of the 1956 Olympic Games in the USSR national team. Under the guidance of head coach Bobrov, the Spartak hockey team became the champion of the USSR, the USSR national team was twice world champion, he led our team in the famous series of meetings with the NHL team in 1972, which dispelled the myth of the invincibility of Canadian professionals.
Taking this opportunity, we decided to present other outstanding sports uniques who shared football with other sports in their careers. There were especially many of them in the pre-war and early post-war years, when at the end of the football season, the players, sometimes without a break, got on skates and drove a wicker ball in those days on ice arenas. For example, the Starostin brothers, Artemyevs, Dynamo players Lev Korchebokov, Alexei Lapshin sinned with such a “weakness”, and another Dynamo player Alexei Ponomarev (father of the now well-known bronze medalist of the 1966 World Cup Vladimir Ponomarev) showed himself with no less success in ... volleyball. But it was rather an exception to the rule, according to which football players picked up sticks in winter, not thinking of themselves without hockey. It’s hard to believe now, but even the greatest football player Lev Yashin was the owner of the USSR Cup in 1953 in ice hockey.
Of the pre-war generation, the Dynamo forward was the best part-time Sergey Ilyin. This small (height 163 cm) phenomenon in his youth won competitions in gymnastics, acrobatics, athletics, and becoming a player in the team of masters, he won three titles of the champion of the USSR as part of the football Dynamo and four in the ranks of hockey. And he became the owner of the USSR Cup in Russian hockey as many as 11 times. Sergey Sergeevich is one of the best wingers in the history of Soviet football, in 1967 he was included in the symbolic team of the 50th anniversary. Surprisingly mobile, agile, he also had Mercedes brakes - on great speed he knew how to change the direction of movement, his tricks were admired in Turkey and France, despite the paucity of our then international calendar.
So it turns out that among the best part-time sports workers in the country there are almost all Dynamo players. One of those wedged into their ranks Valentin Granatkin, better known to the last generations of football fans as the long-term chairman of the USSR Football Federation, the 1st vice-president of FIFA. And in his youth, the goalkeeper of the first in the history of the Lokomotiv football team in the winter also "dabbled" in bandy, and in 1946, when Canadian hockey had just been brought to us, he successfully tried himself at the gates of Spartak. Granatkin remained in history the only goalkeeper who played for the USSR national football and bandy teams.
Photo from the archive of the Volkov family
Name Arkady Chernyshev is now closely associated with hockey, primarily as the head coach of the USSR national team - 11-time world champion and 3-time Olympic champion. Hockey player Chernyshev owned the USSR Cup five times as part of the Moscow Dynamo, and in 1947 he managed to become the first national champion in the ranks of the same blue and white. But in 1948 he received the title of Honored Master of Sports mainly for football merits, as a 3-time champion of the USSR as part of Dynamo and the owner of the 1937 Cup. Before the war, Arkady Ivanovich played for the Moscow football and Russian hockey teams for several years, began his coaching career in the Dynamo football club teams, but then completely switched to hockey with great benefit for his good.
Photo by Viktor Budan (TASS photo chronicle)
Football fans were constantly wondering where the best right winger in Soviet football of the 40s, Vasily Trofimov, got the nickname "Chepets". But according to one version, once a woolen cap appeared on the head of a welterweight forward of the Dynamo hockey team (there was no question of helmets in those days), like this homemade women's headdress, after that it went ... Vasily Dmitrievich - 2-time champion The USSR national football team, a participant in the 1952 Olympic Games, also entered the symbolic team of the Soviet Union for half a century. He was reputed to be a master of high-speed strokes, distinguished by original solutions on the field, and owned a strong blow from both legs. But, having completed football career at the age of 34, on ice fields, he shone up to 41 (!), won the championship twice and 7 times - the USSR Cup. He played for the very first squad of the national team and eventually devoted himself entirely to coaching in bandy, having won 14 USSR champion titles with Dynamo, three European Champions Cups, and with the national team - 8 world championships. In the first post-war years, Trofimov could not decide for a long time which of the hockey players to devote himself to in the winter, he also played ice hockey for six years, becoming the national champion in 1947 and the owner of the 1953 Cup. But the vastness of the ice field eventually prevailed over the hockey box, and Trofimov is still revered as one of the geniuses of Russian hockey.
The workload in football grew over the years, and the galaxy of part-time workers gradually began to thin out. In the 60s, one of the last two-handed masters was another Dynamo player Igor Chislenko. Brilliant striker, included in the top ten players in Europe according to the traditional classification of the weekly France Football, who scored the then record number of goals in the season among all European teams - 10, the right winger Dynamo received great recognition. Four times he appeared in the list of 33 best football players of the USSR under the first number, the same number - under the second. With the same success he played on any flank and in the position of a welterweight striker. And one of his disadvantages, according to the coaches of the Dynamo football team, was his passion for bandy.
But Igor could not imagine himself without ice and sticks. Once football "Dynamo" returned from a tour of South America, and Chislenko's friends set a table in his apartment on this occasion. But Igor, having stepped over the threshold, threw his things, grabbed a bag with hockey uniform and spent an hour and a half chasing the ball on the ice at the neighboring site, although a warm company was waiting for him at the table. Accepted football team in 1962, Alexander Ponomarev persuaded his hockey colleague Vasily Trofimov to influence Chislenko, to force him to go to the training camp with his squad, leaving hockey. In football, the "hockey fan" Chislenko became a 2-time champion of the USSR, the owner of the 1967 Cup. He has one hockey gold - 1961.
The last of the famous part-timers was Valery Maslov, an internationally recognized virtuoso of the braided ball and the rounded stick. Since childhood, hockey has been Valery Pavlovich's main hobby, and football is like a hobby. Moreover, his first hockey team masters - Kaliningrad "Vympel" - performed in major league, and football - in class "B". But after the transition of hockey player Maslov to Dynamo, football coaches noticed his true talent plus incredible performance. And, like Chislenko, they began to excommunicate from hockey. But here I found a scythe on a stone. One of the best football midfielders of the 60s considered himself, and not without reason, primarily a hockey player. And even when the head coach of the national team Nikolai Morozov in 1966 set him a condition: hockey or the football team, Maslov chose the first option, not going to the World Cup in England, where our team won bronze. But in bandy he became the world champion 8 times, won the European Champions Cup three times, and collected as many as 11 titles of the national champion.
Football legends are passed down from generation to generation. Without these gossip, football would have lost half of its charm. There are epic heroes in our football.
VASILY BUTUSOV (1892-1971)
The star of Petrograd football, he was the best forward of the last decade of the Russian Empire and one of the pioneers of Soviet football, he played in the famous St. Petersburg "Unitas", and in the 1920s - in "Spartak" of the Vyborgsky district. A thunderstorm of goalkeepers, he knew how, having quickly processed the ball, unexpectedly and powerfully punched on goal. The first representative international tournament in which the Russian football team took part was the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.
Vasily Butusov was the captain and leader. It was he who scored the first goal of the Russian team in official tournaments there, in Sweden. True, Russia lost that match 1:2. Moreover, she lost to the Finnish team, which was part of the Russian Empire, but performed separately at the games. He was twice in German captivity - during the First World War and the Great Patriotic War. In the 1930s, he was held "on the case of the Industrial Party", was imprisoned, but was acquitted. The Butusov dynasty thundered in the 1910s–1920s: six brothers - six football players. Vasily Pavlovich was respected as the first captain.
NIKOLAY STAROSTIN (1902-1996)
The patriarch of Spartak football, football sage - this is how he remained in the memory of the fans. The eldest of the four football brothers, he was born on Presnya and from the age of fifteen he could not imagine himself outside of football. In the early 1930s, Nikolai Starostin, a high-profile striker, was the captain of the Soviet Union's national team. On April 19, 1935, the All-Union Sports Society "Spartak" was born, of which the football team became a part.
The name was proposed by Nikolai Starostin. He also sketched the logo himself - a red and white rhombus with a crossed out letter "C". Starostin became a coach and a brilliant organizer of football. From 1942 he spent several years in prison. After the removal of the criminal record, he returned to football and for decades managed the affairs of the football Spartak.
MIKHAIL YAKUSHIN (1910-1997)
They called him Sly Micah. The organizer of the Dynamo game, he led opponents by the nose in every game. “Mikhail Yakushin's passes were distinguished by great ingenuity. His famous heel kicks were unexpected, witty and useful during the game, ”recalled the coach Boris Arkadiev. Yakushin is a unique athlete. He happened to be the champion of the USSR in football, and in bandy, and in ice hockey. Still, he preferred summer game. Already in the 1940s, Yakushin became one of the best coaches Soviet football. It was he who coached Dynamo Moscow during a tour of Great Britain in 1945.
GRIGORY FEDOTOV (1916–1957)
A worker from Glukhov near Moscow (now a district of the city of Noginsk) became best football player of his time. He was the first Soviet forward to score 100 goals in official matches. But statistics are not the point. According to contemporaries, Fedotov was a football miracle. Flexible, flexible, instantly recognizable on the field in any weather.
“This Fedotov is a really great player, he is now a sensational figure in Moscow. Even those who don’t go to football are aware and talking about him, ”the writer admired Yuri Olesha. “The blow is the same from both legs, especially from the fly. The technology was great. His favorite shot - from a half-flight, when the body was "laying" parallel to the ground, and, taking the ball on a leg lift, hit the goal hard - worked out specially, ”the football player recalled Valentin Nikolaev. During the time of Fedotov, our team did not take part in the main international tournaments. Otherwise, his name would still be remembered by millions of fans not only in Russia.
KONSTANTIN BESKOV (1920–2006)
Muscovite Konstantin Beskov was famous for his shot and was one of the leaders of the Moscow Dynamo in the 1940s. became national champion and top scorer. He took the game seriously: the fans recognized him by his carefully ironed uniform and polished boots. In those days, the players themselves washed and cleaned precious ammunition, and Beskov's character was fully manifested in this matter. And then Beskov became an outstanding coach.
He led the USSR national team to the silver medals of the 1964 European Championship. Then in the final match our team lost in an equal fight in Madrid to the hosts, the team of Spain - 1:2. This defeat was perceived as an insulting failure. Later, coach Beskov created several bright teams, the most memorable of which was Spartak Moscow in the 1980s.
VSEVOLOD BOBROV (1922–1979)
Fedotov's brother in the famous post-war "team of lieutenants" of the CDKA, he was considered the genius of a football breakthrough. How can you not remember the poetic praise Evgenia Evtushenko:
In his strikes on the move, from the fly
there was something from the Russian song.
Protection wet with sweat
clung to a T-shirt and shorts,
but he left anyone
Chaliapin of Russian football,
Gagarin pucks in Rus'.
He led the USSR hockey team to victories at Olympic Games, at the World and European Championships. A football attempt at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics ended in a tragic defeat from the Yugoslav national team. It was a defeat "with political overtones": Soviet officers had no right to lose to the envoys of Marshal Josip Tito.
Bobrov left. big football, switched to "puck". According to many, he could become a world-class star in football, a star for all time. The British remembered him from several matches in 1945: Bobrov remained unstoppable.
LEV YASHIN (1929–1990)
Best football goalkeeper Of the twentieth century, the only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball, Dynamo Moscow Lev Yashin became a symbol of national football. Almost all the high-profile achievements of our team are associated with it: victory at the 1956 Olympic Games, the 1960 European Cup, silver medals at the 1964 European Championship, fourth place at the 1966 World Cup. Yashin was the first in the history of the Soviet championships to play "to zero" 100 matches. He was the innovator of football.
Yashin was the first to go far out of the goal, put the ball into play with his hand, and lead the team's defense. He quickly "read the game", foresaw the actions of opponents. It was impressive. In Europe, he was respectfully called the Black Panther. friendly, strong man, a recognized master, he is the decoration of world football in the 1960s.
EDUARD STRELTSOV (1937–1990)
At the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, young Streltsov was the leader of the attacks of the Soviet team. As you know, the case ended with Olympic gold. At the age of 16, Streltsov became a player in the Moscow Torpedo. There he played his entire career as a striker - with a forced six-year break for a prison term. He was imprisoned on the eve of the World Cup in Sweden. It is possible that there he could shine no less brightly than the young Pele. The fans who caught Streltsov still remember the variety of his techniques, his ramming power, the stroke technique, the dandy heel pass ...
Streltsov himself used to say this: “We are eleven people. We speak the Pas language. Pass connects us. You can circle around beautifully, hit effectively, jump picturesquely. You can even run beautifully. It is possible and necessary. But the most important thing is the pass. And it should be soft, precise, timely. It must be smart, that is, unexpected, catching by surprise.
VICTOR MONDELNIK (born 1937)
Forward Viktor Ponedelnik was born in Rostov-on-Don and has sports life was loyal to his hometown. The history of the European Football Championships began in 1960. The then tournament was called the European Cup. The USSR national team victoriously reached the final. And for the gold of Europe had to fight with Yugoslavia. By that time, relations between the Kremlin and Tito warmer, the envoys of Belgrade were no longer considered enemies and politics were not mixed with sports.
The Yugoslavs scored first. The main time of the match ended in a draw - 1:1. And in the 113th minute, British-style Monday completed the attack with a header. Victory - and the European Cup went to Moscow. “It was the highlight of my entire life. For the goal I can't help but thank my partner Mikhail Meskhi, our left winger from Georgia, who made a brilliant cross,” recalls Viktor Ponedelnik, an athlete and journalist.
RINAT DASAEV (born 1957)
The born goalkeeper was born in Astrakhan, and spent his best football years in Spartak Moscow. In the 1980s, he was the backbone of the USSR national team. Our team shone at the 1988 European Championship. Then in Germany, Soviet football players won silver medals. In a bright semi-final, we managed to beat the strong Italians - 2:0. And, although in the final it was not possible to defeat the Dutch, and Dasaev did not save, the authority of our goalkeeper did not suffer. He entered the symbolic team of the championship. And at the end of the season, Dasaev was rightfully recognized the best goalkeeper peace.
FYODOR CHERENKOV (1959–2014)
Light, technical Cherenkov was the soul of Spartak in the 1980s and a real favorite of the fans. “Such players do not fit into any specific coaching schemes. They go out on the field to create, always bring their understanding of the game to football, color it with the unique colors of their palette. Cherenkov is the player for whom it is worth going to the stadium, ”said Konstantin Beskov, head coach in Cherenkov's fate. Every move he made on the field was extraordinary. He played beautifully and effectively.
In November 1983, Cherenkov almost single-handedly defeated Aston Villa in Birmingham, one of the strongest teams in Europe. Shy and good-natured Cherenkov was not distinguished by good health and played in the national team for a relatively short time. But at the Moscow Olympics and in qualifying matches By the 1984 European Championship, he remained the leader of the Soviet team.
Arseny ZAMOSTYANOV
In addition to the official name and surname, most famous football players have a nickname, some even have it written on a T-shirt. It is about the so-called pseudonyms of players that this post will tell.
The best nicknames of star players from around the world
1. Ricardo Quaresma: (Harry Potter, Q7, Mustang, RQ7). Quaresma was named after the famous character from the film because he worked miracles with the ball at a young age.
2. Vincenzo Montella: (Airplane). In Italy, Montella was called "L'Aeroplanino", which means a small plane. The striker received such a nickname from the fans for the special celebration of goals scored.
3. Javier Hernandez: (Chicarito). Chicharito is translated as small peas.
4. Javier Zanetti: (Tractor). The Argentine defender has always shown his best qualities on the field: stamina, strength and endurance. His work is like races associated with the tractor.
5. Carles Puyol: (Lionheart, Tarzan). Appearance Spaniard, especially the hairstyle, speaks for itself about his pseudonyms.
6. Andrea Pirlo: (Maestro, professor, architect). Pirlo is considered one of the best midfielders in the history of football. He would be very smart, and carefully calculated each of his actions on the football field. Pirlo is also considered a master of filigree passes and accurate strikes.
7. Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento): The king of football. No explanation is required here. Pele got the coolest nickname among footballers.
8. Cristiano Ronaldo: (CR7, Ronnie, Krish, Machine). There are many nicknames for one of the best players of our time, and the most famous is CR7 - this is the own brand of the Portuguese striker.
9. Diego Armando Maradona: (Hand of God, Ten, Golden Boy). "Hand of God" Maradona became known after goal scored hand in the gates of the English team at the 1986 World Cup victorious for Argentina.
10. Paul Scholes: (Red Prince, Scholes). The Englishman had red hair and his own style of play, for which he received the nickname - "Red Prince".
11. Gennaro Gattuso: (Braveheart, Rhinoceros, Pit Bull). The Italian midfielder has never been afraid to go into tough collisions. He was tenacious and fought for the ball to the last.
12. Eric Cantona: (King). Manchester United fans called Cantona the king, because on the football field he was just that. The Frenchman did not spend much time at Old Trafford, but managed to become a real symbol for the team.
13. Hernan Crespo: (Pole, Valdanito). Pole because his grandmother was Polish.
14. Pavel Nedved: (Czech rocket, Czech cannon). Nedved's blow was of such force that it can rightfully be compared with a cannon shot.
15. Philip Lam: (Little giant, mighty ant, wall). Lam played right back and worked like an ant in every game. He rushed forward, then back, was tenacious and uncompromising.
16. Zico: (White Pele). Zico is one of the greatest soccer players of all time. He was a real genius, like his compatriot Pele.
17. Syed Kolasinac: (Tank). The Bosnian defender of the London "Arsenal" has a perfectly inflated body. This athlete is hard to stop when he rushes at all times. Real tank.
18. Roberto Baggio: (Divine ponytail). The ex-striker of Juventus and Milan had a graceful haircut with a thin long ponytail.
19. Arturo Vidal: (Warrior). Courage and intransigence are the main trump cards of the excellent game of the Chilean midfielder. In every single combat, he manifests himself as a real fighter.
20. Mesut Ozil: (Nemo). The face of the German midfielder is very reminiscent of a fish from a famous cartoon.
21. Ronaldo: (Critter). The legendary striker of the Brazilian national team had large front teeth. When he smiled, they were visible, even to the spectators sitting on the very top rows of the stadium.
A few more famous football players with cool nicknames:
| Iker Casillas | Ikerman |
| Ronaldinho | Roni the wizard |
| Kaka | Golden Boy |
| Andrey Shevchenko | Sheva |
| Robert Lewandowski | Polish machine gun |
| Paulo Dybala | New Aguero |
| Edinson Cavani | Matador |
| Luis Suarez | shooter |
| Luka Modric | Croatian Cruyff |
| Lionel Messi | Flea |
| Antoine Griezmann | A little prince |
| Junior Neymar | Neymaradona, the new Robinho |
| Toni Kroos | Professor |
| Tailcoat Ribery | Face with a scar |
| Thierry Henry | Elk |
| Gianluigi Buffon | Batman |
| David Louis | Palm |
| Wayne Rooney | shrek |
The best nicknames of Russian football players
Football players from Russia and the former USSR also have cool nicknames:
- Yuri Zhirkov: (Nikulin). Not only was the football player the name of the famous actor, but he also looked like him in the face.
- Alexander Kokorin: (Justin Bieber). So the forward was nicknamed for his resemblance to the Canadian star.
- Roman Pavlyuchenko: (Sleeping giant). Guus Hiddink, who coached the Russian national team from 2006 to 2010, called Pavlyuchenko a "sleeping giant" for his high growth and the habit of not working too hard on the football field. Roman himself was very unhappy when he was called that.
- Lev Yashin: (Black Panther). The excellent cat jumps of the famous goalkeeper of the USSR national team are known to the whole world. Yashin is also the only goalkeeper in the history of football who managed to win the Golden Ball.
In the spring of 1949, at a training camp in Gagra, 19-year-old Yashin played one of the first matches for Dynamo - against the Stalingrad Tractor. Their goalkeeper knocked the ball far, and Yashin collided with his defender Averyanov and missed. A year and a half later, Yashin made a mistake in the first official game for Dynamo, colliding with Vsevolod Blinkov, and Parshin from Spartak equalized the score. And yet, by the mid-fifties, Yashin became the main goalkeeper of Dynamo, and then the national team, with which he successfully went to the Olympics in Melbourne. “After winning the Olympics, they returned home, first on the ship Georgia, and then by train from Vladivostok to Moscow,” Oleg Belakovsky, the doctor of the Olympic gold team, told me. “At every station we were greeted with demonstrations. Just on the eve of the New Year, a bearded man with a bag on his shoulder burst into the car: “Sons, where is Yashin?” Leva went up to the old man, and he took out moonshine, a bag of seeds and fell to his knees: “That's all there is. Thank you from all the Russian people." After two goals from Chile in the 1/4 finals of the 1962 World Cup, Yashin was ardently scolded by journalists and he retired from football. He fished, picked mushrooms in Novogorsk, and then returned and, having conceded only six goals in the championship, made Dynamo the champion and became the best player in the world. Yashin is the only goalkeeper in the history of football who received the Golden Ball, he won the gold of the 1956 Olympics and the 1960 European Cup, reached the semi-finals of the 1966 World Cup and became the national champion with Dynamo five times.
Alternative: Rinat Dasaev.
Protection
In his youth, Shesternev was the champion of Moscow in the 100 meters, but he chose football, becoming a goalkeeper in the railway team. By the age of twenty, he changed his role and ended up in CSKA, where he revealed himself in 1961 with Konstantin Beskov. At twenty-one, Shesternev became the captain of CSKA, and at twenty-five he went with the national team, which was coached by torpedo player Nikolai Morozov, to the World Cup in England, where he was also captain and finished the semi-final against West Germany with a dislocated shoulder. In 1968, Shesternev got out with the national team to the semifinals of the European Championship. “0-0 with Italy after two overtimes,” recalled the goalkeeper of that team, Yuri Pshenichnikov. - There was no penalty, they threw a coin. Shesternev was asked: “A coat of arms or a crown?” Yakushin, experienced in tossing, shouted: “Coat of arms! Coat of arms! ”, And Shesternev was confused and fell into a stupor. Yakushin to him: “The coat of arms, your mother!”, But Shesternev was silent. Then the referee Istvan Zsolt turned to the captain of the Italians Facchetti, he said: “Coat of arms” and Italy reached the final, where they beat Yugoslavia. Years later, Facchetti admitted in an interview: “I didn’t even guess. The Russian coach said, and I repeated. Two years later, Shesternev won the national championship with CSKA, surpassing Dynamo in the replay of the golden match, and then tied up with a player's career, passing the captain's armband in the national team to Murtaz Khurtsilava.
Alternative: Anatoly Maslenkin
“I saw that the newcomer, having got into the society of the country's champions, behaved confidently and calmly,” Boris Arkadiev, the coach of the CDKA, described his first impressions of Bobrov. - It was a real talent, by the will of God, and a master of individual play. His speed tracing was amazing.” Bobrov scored 80 goals in 79 matches for CDKA and five goals in three matches for the national team. In 1945, Bobrov joined Dynamo Moscow on a tour of Great Britain and became the top scorer there with six goals in four games. “It’s not like playing with such legs - you can’t walk,” said the surgeon Landa, who repaired Bobrov after fractures or dislocations. Bobrov led the CDKA to five championship titles - three football and two hockey, and then defected to the Vasily Stalin Air Force team, and overslept its flight to Sverdlovsk, where 11 hockey players and two employees of the air force team died. “Stalin loved Seva and forgave him everything,” said sports doctor Oleg Belakovsky. - When I first arrived in Moscow, Bobrov had a fight with the Air Force coach Dzhedzhelava and watched the next match with me on the podium. After the game we celebrate my arrival in Astoria. Seva liked two girls. He tells me: "Invite any of them to dance and say that Bobrov invites them to visit." The ladies ended up with young people, but we agreed that they would say goodbye to them and join us. In the night we arrived at Seva, but after us General Vasilkevich came there with two assistants: "Vasily Stalin demands you to him." Bobrov sent a general, then Seva was seized and taken away. He returned in the morning: “Everything is fine. Stalin punched me in the face, I apologized for missing the match. That's all".
Alternative: Victor Monday
Trainer
The author of historical achievements - victories at the 1956 Olympics and Euro 1960. “In 1956, it was he who discovered such an outstanding full-back as Mikhail Ogonkov,” Nikolai Starostin wrote about Kachalin in his book. - From the double of the Moscow Spartak - straight to the first team! I admit that Kachalin is less original than B.A. Arkadiev is not as temperamental as K.I. Beskov, less cunning than M.I. Yakushin, or not as mysterious as V.A. Maslov. But on the other hand, he is more stable and far-sighted than any of them.” Kachalin, according to his players, was a modest and sincere person, wrote poetry, was fond of oriental poetry, played the mandolin and piano, performed romances beautifully. Alexey Paramonov recalled that during a tour of South America, Kachalin saw a mariachi ensemble on the street, asked one of them for a guitar and began to play.
Since the time of Kachalin, our team has already won the football tournament of the Olympics, but it seems that his achievement at the Euro will remain unique.
Alternative: Valery Lobanovsky
