Lav Jašin was the best goalkeeper in the history of football, the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or of France Football. This Russian giant led his team to the title at the first European Football Championship in 1960.
"When Lav Yashin stands in the goal, the ball doesn't even have the slightest passage. He had arms as long as a spider, he was always dressed in black, and he was distinguished by a pared-down style and a stripped-down elegance that despised the spectacularity of superfluous movements. He used to force shots stopping with only one hand, with a pincer grip that would grab and crush any projectile, while the rest of his body remained immovable as a rock. He could deflect the ball with a single glance, without moving from his spot. He retired from football more than once, always with a general praise, and he returned to football again several times. He was unique. In more than a quarter of a century, this Russian goalkeeper saved over a hundred penalties and saved countless safe goals. When he was asked what his secret was, he replied that the recipe consists of smoking one cigarette to calm the nerves and shaking one glass to relax the muscles," the chroniclers wrote.
All his life, Lev Yashin was devoted to Russia and to Dynamo Moscow, the only club he played for. In 1953, when he was still waiting for a chance to enter the stage, he tried his hand at ice hockey. Of course, he was a goalkeeper, and of course, he had success - he won the Russian Cup with Dinamo! Before that, he worked 20 hours a day in a military factory in Moscow.
And when they finally gave him a chance to stand in front of the football goal, there was a period of "darkness" for most strikers who played against Russia or Dinamo. He was champion with his club for six years in a row, and he defended for the national team in four related World Championships (1958, 62, 66 and 70).
"What kind of goalkeeper is not disappointed when he concedes a goal? He must be disappointed. If he is indifferent, it means his end. Regardless of what he was in the past, he no longer has a future," Jashin once said.
He became a legend already in 1960, when he won the European Championship in France with the "Zbornaja". In the semi-final against France (5:4) and in the final against Yugoslavia (2:1), he defended as if he had 100 hands, although some balls ended up in his net. He was a specialist in penalties, none of the opposing players wanted to shoot them when he was standing in goal.
"The pleasure that Yuri Gagarin feels when he flies into space can only be compared to my pleasure when I save a penalty", estimated Jashin.
He said goodbye to football in 1971. The farewell match, in which Pele, Beckenbauer and Eusebio played, was watched by 100 people at Moscow's "Lenin" stadium. His bronze statue still stands outside the Dinamo stadium.
He died in 1990, but the legend will live on forever.
Championship team
The best team of the European Championship in France in 1960 consisted of Lav Jašin (USSR), Vladimir Durković (Yugoslavia), Ladislav Novak (Czechoslovakia), Igor Neto (USSR), Jozef Masopust (Czechoslovakia), Valentin Ivanov (USSR), Slava Metreveli ( USSR), Milan Galić (Yugoslavia), Viktor Ponedelnik (USSR), Dragoslav Šekularac (Yugoslavia) and Borivoje Kostić (Yugoslavia).
The final match between the USSR and Yugoslavia, played at the "Park of Princes" in Paris, was decided by Viktor Ponedelnik in the second overtime.
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