Exactly 95 years ago, the legendary goalkeeper Lev Ivanovich Yashin was born, forever included in the history of Dynamo and the entire world football!
The future idol of millions spent his childhood in a house on Millionnaya Street in Moscow, and after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he and his family moved to Ulyanovsk. Already at the age of 12, Yashin began helping adults at a defense plant, and at 16 he received his first award — a medal for valiant labor during the war.
Returning to Moscow, Lev became interested in football and learned the basics at the Krasny Oktyabr stadium, playing for the youth team of the plant. There, for his tall stature, he was assigned to the position of goalkeeper, prejudging his future fate. In 1948, he joined the army, where he joined the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and began playing for the football team of the unit, which played in the championship of the Dynamo district council.
In one of the matches, the young goalkeeper was noticed by the coach of the blue and white youth team, Arkady Chernyshev, inviting him to his training. So, in 1949, Yashin began to play for the Dynamo double, and the very next year he made his debut in the main team. That's just the first games were unsuccessful, and he got the next chance only three years later.
During this time, Lev Ivanovich mastered the skills of a hockey goalkeeper and even won the USSR Cup with Dynamo, but still decided to focus on football and worked tirelessly on the training of the second team. In the summer of 1953, Yashin returned to the main team and staked out a place in the goal for 18 years.
In addition to an incredible game on the goal line, beautiful jumps and unshakable self-confidence, Yashin is remembered as an innovator of goalkeeping art. He began to move around the entire penalty area and go far out of the gate, insuring defenders and prompting them. Yashin was one of the first to enter the ball with his hand, starting quick counterattacks. His style then began to be adopted by other goalkeepers in the USSR and Europe.
In total, Lev Ivanovich played 358 matches for Dynamo (the fourth record in the club's history), in 178 of which he left his gates intact (a club record), and helped his beloved club win five USSR championships and three national Cups. As a member of the USSR national team, he became the European champion and the Olympic gold medalist, and also played at three world championships.
Yashin was included in the list of the "33 best football players of the USSR" 16 times, 13 of them at number 1, and he received his main individual award at the end of the 1963 season, when he conceded only 8 goals in 29 Dynamo matches. More than 60 years have passed since then, and not a single goalkeeper has been awarded the Golden Ball.
After completing his football career, Yashin graduated from the school of coaches at the State Central Institute of Physical Culture, was the head of the Dynamo team and deputy head of the football and hockey department of the Central Council of Dynamo.
On this festive day, we invite you to remember our legend, and maybe learn something new from our materials:
Exclusive interview with Lev Ivanovich in 1983 – link,
Documentary film "Lev Yashin. A legend for all time" – link,
Archive recording with comments from fans, football players and specialists "Lev Yashin. Goalkeeper's Benefit" – link,
The second series of the web series "100 years of Dynamo", in which Evgenia Medvedeva talks about the great Dynamo – link.