Biography of Lev Yashin
The name of Lev Ivanovich Yashin is inscribed in golden letters in the history of not only Soviet but world sports. The legendary football player, unsurpassed goalkeeper of Dynamo and the USSR national team, who received the Golden Ball award, rightfully became one of the best athletes of the 20th century and the best goalkeeper according to FIFA and the IFFIS. Throughout his career, he played 540 matches and conceded 432 goals.
The best goalkeeper of the 20th century Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin: biography
Lev Yashin is a legendary Soviet football goalkeeper who played for Dynamo Moscow and the USSR national team and won a huge number of team and individual trophies. Yashin was the first Soviet player to receive the most prestigious award, the Golden Ball, and remains the only goalkeeper to receive this honorary sports award. He became a legend not only of domestic but also of world sports, primarily because he was the pioneer of such a style of goalkeeping as playing on exits and hitting the ball over the crossbar.
Childhood and youth
The future legend of Russian football was born on October 22, 1929 in one of the then outlying districts of Moscow. Most of his childhood was spent at house number 15 on Millionnaya Street.
The house where Lev Yashin spent his childhood
Lev's parents, Ivan Petrovich and Anna Mitrofanovna Yashin, were simple artisans. She worked at, he worked at an aircraft factory in Tushino.
Childhood photo of Lev Yashin
Their son grew up a big fan of street sports games. Lev’s first football academy was his home yard, and the team was the neighborhood boys. They played on a bald patch of uneven ground in front of the entrance. In winter, the children themselves turned the area into a skating rink and raced pucks around. Already at that time, his “role of a goalkeeper” had developed, however, he had to defend not a goal with a net, but the space between two cobblestones.
Leo's mother died early. The father grieved for a long time, but wisely decided that the boy needed a mother. This is how Alexandra Petrovna appeared in their family, becoming Lev’s second mother. In 1939, his younger brother Borya was born.
Young Lev Yashin (above) with his father, stepmother and brother
In the summer of 1941, 11-year-old Lev, as usual, was sent to relatives near Podolsk. He was already looking forward to fishing, kicking a ball with the village children and going mushroom hunting, but the holidays were interrupted by the war. The boy and his stepmother returned to Moscow, from where they were evacuated to the region, near Voskresensk, and then his father’s plant and the families of the workers were sent to the rear - to Ulyanovsk.
Lev called the day of evacuation the last day of his childhood. I had to endure a lot: hunger, cold, long hours of hard work. And in the spring of 1943, the boy who had recently played Cossack robbers became a full-fledged worker at the plant, where he worked his way up from an ordinary loader to a qualified mechanic. It was here that he acquired an addiction to tobacco. His father put cigarettes in his mouth so that the exhausted Lev would not fall exhausted during his work shift. The teenager received a state award for his contribution to the country's defense capability.
Start of a football career
When the front moved away from the walls of the capital, the plant was returned to its original location. The Yashin family returned home, all three continued to work. Lev, having served his shift, went to Tushino and played for the Red October youth team. Coach Vladimir Checherov put Yashin in goal because of his height - by that time Lev had grown to 186 centimeters (although by today's standards he would be called short for a goalkeeper).
Lev Yashin in the plant's football team
One day, a spirit of contradiction rose up in the young man, or maybe depression accumulated from long years of hard work and losses. Slamming the door, he left home and stopped going to the plant, but in those years, unauthorized departure from a defense enterprise could have resulted in a prison sentence. Only he still regularly attended training.
A friend from the “adult” team advised him to volunteer for the army. Yashin’s “Young Fighter Course” took place in the capital. In the military unit I signed up for the football section. At one of the matches of the internal troops, he was noticed by Dynamo Moscow coach Arkady Chernyshev and offered to join the youth team.
Lev Yashin's first match for Dynamo
I managed to prove myself in the game “Dynamo” and the youth version of the team. Lev defended the goal fiercely, and the youth won with a score of 1:0. Once in the main Dynamo team, he became a backup to the brilliant goalkeeper Alexei Khomich, nicknamed “Tiger”, and his main competitor Walter Sanaya.
Legendary photo: Lev Yashin and Pele, 1965
1950 was a difficult year for the novice goalkeeper; it seemed that he would not be able to rise above the double, especially after missing three goals in the match with the team from Tbilisi. The coach decided to switch Yashin to bandy, then a completely new sport for the USSR. Here he showed himself excellently; the young athlete was even offered a place in the national team. And yet, in 1953, he made the final choice in favor of football. On May 2, his first match after a long break took place, in which Dynamo defeated Lokomotiv with a score of 3:1.
In training
Yashin quickly got into shape and began to develop his own methods of protecting the goal. He caught the ball with his hands and feet, moving with lightning speed in the space of the goal, hitting the most difficult balls with his head. The crowd loved his cap trick, which he took off before hitting the ball, then put it back in place, as if expressing respect to those gathered in the stands.
Failures at the start of his career led Yashin to the double
In March 1950, Yashin appeared in goal for the Dynamo masters team in a control match. Yashin's debut was not a success. The opposing goalkeeper kicked the ball far away, and Yashin ran from the goalkeeper's area to pick it up. On the way out, Lev did not notice the Dynamo defender and collided with him. Yashin and the defender fell, the ball hit the empty goal. On July 2, 1950, Yashin again had to take his place in goal in the match against Spartak. Then Dynamo's main goalkeeper Alexei Khomich was injured, and his replacement, Walter Sanaya, was ill. Yashin came on as a substitute and missed again, colliding with one of the Dynamo players on the way out, midfielder Blinkov.
On July 6, Yashin was put in the starting lineup against Dynamo Tbilisi. That game ended in failure for Yashin. He played well in the first half, conceding one goal. In the second half of the meeting, Lev conceded three goals in 15 minutes. The Muscovites won with a score of 5:4, but Yashin was not forgiven for his scoring mistakes. He was sent to the reserve team.
Legend of Soviet football
In 1954, his career took off.
Under the leadership of coach Mikhail Yakushin, the club became the champion of the USSR (later Dynamo and Lev Yashin repeated this feat four more times: in 1955, 1957, 1959 and 1963). After winning the gold, the opinion of football experts about Yashin changed dramatically - now they thought of him not as an understudy with an inconsistent reputation, but as an authoritative goalkeeper of the best club in the country and the champion of the Soviet Union. And journalists gave him the nickname “black spider” for his very long arms and dark shape. He was also called the “black panther” for his amazing, inventive jumps.
Yashin constantly surprised his opponents
Victories came one after another. In 1956, his team won the Olympic Games in Australia, and in 1960 they took the European Championship. Even failures in matches in Chile and Colombia (1962) did not spoil his career, although he had to withstand the barrage of criticism that fell after the loss.
USSR national team in Melbourne, 1956
But he gained worldwide popularity after the “match of the century” in England (1963). The English Football Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the match between the national team and the “rest of the world” team dedicated to this event was dubbed the “match of the century.” 10 best saves of Lev Yashin The strongest football players in the world were invited (except, perhaps, Pele, Didi and Garrincha), including 34-year-old Yashin, who by that time was going through hard times: he was no longer called up to the national team and put on goal in “ Dynamo”, and until recently the fans who sang the goalkeeper’s praises advised him to retire and babysit his grandchildren.
World team at the “match of the century”. Wembley Stadium, 1963
Yashin defended the goal throughout the first half. During this time, not a single ball hit the goal of the “world team”. But in the second half, Yashin was replaced by Yugoslav goalkeeper Milutin Shoskic, who conceded two goals.
One way or another, the “match of the century” gave Yashin’s career a second wind: he was again called up to the national team, returned to the gates of Dynamo, and in the same year the club again took the USSR championship. And Lev’s collection of awards was replenished with the Golden Ball. Thus, he became the first Soviet football player to be recognized as the best player in Europe, and only in 1975 did Dynamo Kyiv striker Oleg Blokhin repeat his triumph.
Lev Yashin and Dynamo. 1966
In 1966, he once again proved himself at the FIFA World Cup. Then the USSR national team took fourth place, winning in the quarter finals against Hungary (2:1), but losing to Germany in the semifinals (2:1) and Portugal in the match for third place (2:1).
In the match with Germany, Yashin was shot in the 42nd minute
Yashin ended his goalkeeper career on May 27, 1971, having played his last match at the stadium in Moscow. 103 thousand fans watched his game. The all-Union Dynamo team played against a team of world stars. The match ended with the score 2:2. Leaving the field, Yashin solemnly handed over his gloves to the young goalkeeper Vladimir Pilguy, as if appointing him as his official successor.
Farewell match of Lev Yashin: with Vladimir Pilguy
But Yashin did not leave the sport: in August of the same year in Rome, he once again took to the field for the “world team of stars” against the Italian national team, and then began coaching young Dynamo football players. He continued to work until 1975, but left his job due to the death of young Dynamo player Anatoly Kozhemyakin, who tried to get out of a stuck elevator, but did not make it in time and was crushed. Yashin was indirectly blamed for the tragedy, suspected of contributing to the moral decay of his charges. After that, he coached the second USSR national team and children's teams.
After finishing his career, Lev Yashin became the coach of Dynamo
Yashin dated his future wife for 4 years
Yashin got married on December 31, 1954. The goalkeeper's wife was Valentina Shashkova. At the time of their acquaintance, Valentina was studying at the Printing Institute and working at the Tushino city radio editorial office. Yashin and Shashkova met at a dance and dated for 4 years before the wedding.
Valentina attended Yashin’s training session only once as part of Dynamo, but she constantly went to matches with her husband’s participation. Valentina also watched matches with Yashin, which she could not attend. So, in 1963, she watched the “Match of the Century” on TV at work, in the radio committee.
Personal life of Lev Yashin
The fate and only wife of the famous football player was Valentina Timofeevna Shashkova, a radio correspondent. The couple had two girls in their marriage. The athlete’s daughters gave him grandchildren, one of them, Vasily Frolov, followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and made a sports career. At one time he was in the Dynamo reserve team, played for Dynamo Petersburg, and later became a coach.
Lev Yashin with his wife Valentina Shashkova
The No. 1 goalkeeper in the Soviet Union was friends with his colleagues from other countries. Among his friends was the famous football player Pele. In addition to sports, Yashin had another great hobby - fishing.
The football player loved fishing
Lev Yashin: why he is the best goalkeeper in the world
Lev Ivanovich is currently the only goalkeeper who has won the title of the best football player in Europe according to FIFA, France Football, IFFIS, Placar, World Soccer. In 1956, Yashin received the title of Olympic champion, and four years later he became the European champion. In addition, the footballer became the champion of the Soviet Union five times. He was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Leya Yashin is one of the best players of the 20th century.
Disease
In the early 80s, Yashin began to have heart problems. First, he suffered a stabbing pain on the left side during the World Championships in Madrid, where, after long disputes with the authorities and the resulting stress, he finally went, but not as a columnist, as originally planned, but as a translator.
With wife and children
Upon returning to Moscow, he suffered a heart attack. Then - a stroke, which Lev Ivanovich stoically endured on his feet. In 1984, the diagnosis sounded like thunder: gangrene due to endarteritis that affected the vessels of the legs. They also found the reason: smoking. Gangrene progressed, and there was no other option but amputation.
The football player was killed by tobacco
We can say that Yashin was lucky, as far as this word is appropriate in this situation. For him, they managed to get an innovative iron prosthesis from Finland instead of the so-called “tubs” - barrel-shaped prostheses, the only ones produced in the USSR. A long recovery process began, the former football player learned to walk again. He didn't quit smoking.
Why did the football player's leg have to be amputated?
After 50 years, Lev Ivanovich had to face the serious consequences of chronic vascular disease of the lower extremities - gangrene of his left leg began. Because of this, a forced amputation was performed. But even this did not force Yashin to quit smoking, which further aggravated his health. In 1989, the football player got a prosthetic leg. On March 18, 1990, Yashin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and two days later the football player died from stomach cancer, complicated by chronic vascular disease. The outstanding football player was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.
Last years and death
The footballer's last spectacular appearance in public occurred on his 60th birthday. In his car, he made a lap of honor around the Dynamo stadium. One of the last interviews with Lev Yashin + fragments of matches In 1990, Yashin again heard from doctors a terrible diagnosis - peritoneal cancer, almost an occupational disease of goalkeepers. From his youth he suffered from an ulcer, which eventually degenerated into a malignant tumor. The sixty-year-old athlete passed away on the birthday of his beloved daughter, March 20, 1990.
Lev Yashin 4 months before his death
Last years
After the Ballon d'Or winner ended his career, illness struck him. Old gastritis appeared, which over time turned into a stomach ulcer. Problems with the blood vessels in his legs resulted in sharp pains, which is why he tried to move less. This led to blockage of the veins and a stroke, after which the arm began to work poorly and a limp appeared.
He ignored the doctors’ call to undergo treatment, and in 1984, together with a group of veterans, he went on an international tour. When the players were in Hungary, Yashin’s leg gave out and gangrene rapidly developed. The operation was unsuccessful. Together with his wife, they made an attempt to get to Moscow. But the time spent on the road did its job - Soviet doctors had no choice but to amputate L. I. Yashin’s right leg.
The problems didn't end after that. As a result of the examination, doctors discovered cancer. He understood that he was dying, but did not show it.
On the 60th anniversary of Lev Ivanovich Yashin, the Sports Committee organized a gala event. The hero of the day was taken to the Dynamo stadium, where “leaning heavily on a crutch, supported by his wife and friends, he moved from behind the scenes to his place in the first row of the stalls, and the audience stood up in unison and gave an ovation...” (quote from the newspaper “ Football. Hockey").
People were glad to see their hero, who glorified Soviet football and was respected by the top officials of many states. However, few of them realized that they were seeing their idol for the last time...
Memory of an idol
In 2021, director Vasily Chiginsky shot a biographical film about Lev Yashin “Lev Yashin. The goalkeeper of my dreams." The great football player was played by Alexander Fokin, his wife – Yulia Khlynina. The release of the film was initially timed to coincide with the 2018 World Cup, which was hosted by Russia, but due to problems with financing, the premiere was postponed to November 29, 2021, coinciding with the goalkeeper’s 90th birthday (albeit a month late).
Alexander Fokin (right) as Lev Yashin
The creators of the FIFA 18 game included Lev Yashin in the rank of “legends” along with Diego Maradona, Pele and Thierry Henry.
Lev Yashin in FIFA
