In the spring of 1949, at the training camp in Gagra, 19-year-old Yashin played one of the first matches for Dynamo - against Stalingrad's Traktor. Their goalkeeper knocked the ball far away, and Yashin collided with his defender Averyanov and conceded. A year and a half later, Yashin made a mistake in the first official game for Dynamo, colliding with Vsevolod Blinkov, and Spartak player Parshin 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 traveled to the Olympics in Melbourne. “After winning the Olympics, we returned home first on the motor ship“ Georgia ”, and then on the train from Vladivostok to Moscow,” the doctor of the gold Olympic team, Oleg Belakovsky, told me. - At each station we were greeted with demonstrations. Just on the eve of the New Year, a bearded man with a sack on his shoulder burst into the carriage: "Sons, where is Yashin?" Lyova went up to the old man, and he took out moonshine, a packet of seeds and fell to his knees: “That's all there is. Thanks from all the Russian people. " After two goals from Chile in the quarter-finals of the 1962 World Cup, Yashin was ardently scolded by writing 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 to receive the Golden Ball, he won gold in the 1956 Olympics and the 1960 European Cup, reached the 1966 World Cup semi-finals and became the national champion with Dynamo five times.
Alternative: Rinat Dasaev.

Protection


In his youth, Shesternev was the champion of Moscow in the one hundred meters, but chose football, becoming the goalkeeper in the railroad team. By the age of twenty, he changed roles 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, coached by torpedo player Nikolai Morozov, to the World Cup in England, where he was also the captain and finished the semifinals against West Germany with a dislocated shoulder. In 1968, Shesternev made it to the semifinals of the European Championship with the national team. “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: "Coat of arms or crown?" Yakushin, experienced in a toss, shouted: “Coat of arms! Coat of arms! ”, And Shesternev was confused and fell into a stupor. Yakushin told him: "The coat of arms, your mother!", But Shesternev was silent. Then the judge 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 from CSKA, surpassing Dynamo in a replay of the golden match, and then quit his career as a player, 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,” the CDKA coach Boris Arkadyev described his first impressions of Bobrov. - It was a real talent by the will of God and a master of individual play. Its fast stroke was amazing. " Bobrov scored 80 goals in 79 appearances for CDKA and five goals in three appearances for the national team. In 1945 Bobrov joined Dynamo Moscow on a tour of Great Britain and became the top scorer there - 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 switched to the command of Vasily Stalin of the Air Force, and slept through its flight to Sverdlovsk, where 11 hockey players and two employees of the air force team were killed. “Stalin loved Seva and forgave him everything,” said sports doctor Oleg Belakovsky. - When I just 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 at Astoria. Seva liked two girls. He says to me: "Invite any of them to dance and tell me 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's, but after us General Vasilkevich came rushing there with two assistants: "Vasily Stalin demands you to come to him." Bobrov sent a general, then Seva was captured and taken away. He returned in the morning: “Everything is fine. Stalin kicked 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 extreme defender as Mikhail Ogonkov,” Nikolai Starostin wrote about Kachalin in his book. - From the reserve of Moscow "Spartak" - straight to the first team! I admit that Kachalin is less original than B.A. Arkadiev, not as temperamental as K.I. Beskov, less cunning than M.I. Yakushin, or not to such an extent 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 perfectly. 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.
Our team has already won the Olympic football tournament since the time of Kachalin, but its achievement at the Euro, it seems, will remain unique.
Alternative: Valery Lobanovsky

Gold medals of the first Euro and three silver sets, five successful performances at the Olympics and the semifinals of the World Cup -66 - the USSR national team is a thing of the past, but it is a team. Socker.ru continues its January series.

Goalkeeper

Lev Yashin. Who, if not Lev Ivanovich, who was and, it seems, will remain the first and last goalkeeper awarded the Golden Ball? I do not want pathos about the best goalkeeper in history, who fifty years ago played like no one has ever played, because this is not true even for those who are also impressive, however Yashin is the most legendary goalkeeper in the world and this is absolutely certain. Two decades at the gates of Dynamo Moscow, five championships, three cups, Olympic gold medals and a victory in the Euro 60 final - the first in history. He also played at the world championships, won the fourth place in England. A legend from legends, and although there is also Dasaev, Lev Ivanovich is the first number.

Defenders

Vladimir Bessonov. A native of Kharkov played for Kiev "Dynamo" for a decade and a half, and although it was not always possible to play from bell to bell, because he broke cervical vertebrae, survived four knee surgeries at a time when medicine was not as developed as it is now, but at the same time managed to become the best player in the youth World Cup as a forward, then play in midfield with the adults and on the defensive, all the way to the libero position. He will easily close the right edge of this team, because he knew everything on the field. And the daughter of Vladimir Vasilyevich went to her father - Anna collected dozens of medals at the European and World Championships and two "bronze" at the Olympics, doing rhythmic gymnastics.

Albert Shesternev. "Ivan the Terrible" from the center of defense played all his life for CSKA, with whom he could only become the champion of the USSR, but he successfully played for the allied national team - both at Euro 64 and at the World Cup -66 was a notable defender who played at the level of the best masters of their time, little inferior to them and earned the fame of one of the strongest players in Europe of its time being included in the lists of France Football. If then it was possible to leave for the West, he could well have received an invitation from prominent clubs of the sixties. It just didn't work out, as a result, Albert Alekseevich spent his best years in the "army team" shirt, retired due to an injury at the age of thirty, then abused alcohol, died at fifty-three.

Murtaz Khurtsilava. The most important footballer in the history of Georgia is considered by many to be the star of the old era Boris Solomonovich Paichadze, fanned by legends told with a Caucasian temperament, but in this team the Georgian legend will be in the center of defense. Frankly, it was difficult to choose, since two defenders of Tbilisi Dynamo at once took the USSR onto the field with a captain's armband, playing very strongly. All their lives they performed in the homeland, but between Chivadze and Khurtsilava we will choose the one who is older, the one who is sometimes called the strongest Georgian player of the second half of the last century... And who played in the semifinals and finals of major international tournaments - the World Cup-66 medal and the Euro-72 silver medal belong to the honored veteran.

Dynamo Kiev was the base club of the USSR national team during the third dawn of football, so it is not surprising that its representatives are in this squad. Demyanenko won the championship five times, took the Cup Winners' Cup, played at three world championships, became a silver medalist of Euro 88... Of course, you can remember other prominent left-backs of the older generation, but Anatoly Vasilyevich, nicknamed "Mulya" (in childhood, he mispronounced his neighbor's nickname) proved his durability at a time when there was no uniquely strongest club in the world and the best national team that could beat everyone and every year.

Midfielders

Valery Voronin. Many legends of "Torpedo" have a difficult fate - Voronin got into a car accident in 1968, from the consequences of which he did not recover, began to drink, was killed, it seems, in a drunken brawl. But before that he won two championships, was the best player in the USSR - also twice, was in the lists of the best players in Europe according to the Golden Ball poll - in the top ten, which says a lot, and received the highest marks at the World Championships in England and at the Euro two years earlier. Alain Delon of Soviet football, unfortunately, was not as happy outside the field as in the national team and Torpedo.

Igor Netto. He played well hockey, like Yashin, but the Spartak football club managed to snatch him out of ice captivity and got a man who would win the Olympics, Euro-60 and will remain a gentleman in football history, because Igor Aleksandrovich at the 62 World Cup as the captain of the USSR national team helped the referee not to count the goal of his own team. A famous story - the ball hit the goal of Uruguay through a hole in the net. Eight years from now, Latin Americans will not respond with the same principle of "fair play," but that is a different story. And Net is the legendary midfielder of Spartak in the championship fifties, Gus is right here.

We understand that it is very difficult to choose another midfielder. There were Zavarov, Muntyan, Sabo, Kipiani, many other legends, later Mikhailichenko appeared, who managed to charm many, but take a look at the entire team and you will understand that it is Cherenkov who is missing. Perhaps, the main person in the history of "Spartak", despite the legendary Netto, and the footballer, who was not fully revealed in the national team. Although this did not stop the midfielder become the best player in the USSR twice - there are three more people like that, and only Blokhin has three awards, to win the championship three times and even manage to take the Russian championship. Legend, it is a pity that it is so early - the year before last at 55 years old.

Forwards

Valentin Ivanov. Monday or Ilyin are legends, Belanov has a Golden Ball, Meskhi played wonderfully, Protasov was also an incredible striker, skillful and effective, like many, many others, but it is impossible not to include Valentin Kozmich in this line-up, since we are talking about the same legendary forward as his competitors. How not to get lost in Russia, born in Moscow with the surname Ivanov? It's very simple - to win Euro 60, become the second in four years, losing only to Spain, be the top scorer of the World Championship in Chile, sharing the title with Garrinchas, Vava and other legends, win trophies with Torpedo and earn the glory of a world-class master.

Eduard Streltsov. The hooligan, of course, was a noble one, but how he played! The USSR national team must have a person who was not allowed to become the greatest Russian player in history due to the traditional corporate stupidity of the time. But the strange thing and the subsequent imprisonment did not prevent him from becoming a legend. Instead of going to the World Cup in Sweden, where all the experts were waiting for him, like the young star of the Brazilians Pele, Eduard went to the stage of felling the forest, then he was irradiated with radiation at work, went bald, lost six football years and looked like an old man. Although he returned to Torpedo to score goals again, he did not win everything he could. Although he was an incredible master, he appeared on the lists of the best players in Europe even after returning from prison.

The only player of the USSR national team with more than a hundred matches in history, the best scorer, one of the three Ukrainians with the Golden Ball. He devoted almost two decades to Dynamo Kiev, with which he won seven league titles, held the cup five times, won three international trophies - two Cup Winners' Cups and one UEFA Super Cup, and then Bayern itself became Blokhin's victim. He needs no introduction, because he was the player of the year three times, taking over from Lovchev (yes, that very one). In total, Oleg Vladimirovich scored almost four hundred goals in his career, that is, he scored more often than in every second match. One of the strongest forwards of his time unconditional and honored participant of any variant of the symbolic USSR national team.

10

• Position: defender
• Nickname: Ivan the Terrible
• Year of birth: 1941
• Death year: 1994

The fans nicknamed him "Ivan the Terrible". All his life, Albert defended the colors of CSKA. With this club, he managed to win the title of USSR champion only once. In the national team, his career was more successful. Shesternev shone at the 1964 European Championships and 1966 World Championships. The authoritative French magazine France Football regularly included the Soviet defender among the best players.

9

• Position: defender
• Nickname: Khurtsi
• Year of birth: 1943

Khurtsilava in the center of the defense was a real wall. He chose Tbilisi "Dynamo" as his only team. His track record includes a bronze medal of the World Championship (1966) and a silver medal of Euro-72. In the USSR national team, Murtaz "grew" to the honorary title of "captain".

8

• Position: defender
• Year of birth: 1959

This footballer, who plays for Dynamo Kiev, has 5 gold medals of the USSR champion. He was the winner of the Cup Winners' Cup. Anatoly wore the national team jersey for 3 consecutive World Championships. He won silver at Euro 88. Demyanenko was one of the players that fans lovingly call "two-core". Anatoly was a modest "plowman" selflessly devoted to football.

7

• Position: midfielder
• Year of birth: 1939
• Death year: 1984

This "handsome" and legend of the "Torpedo" team has a difficult fate. Valery got into a car accident and could not recover from the consequences. Drank. And he was killed, as it is believed, in a drunken showdown. And he was a football player from God. No wonder he was included in the list for the presentation of the Golden Ball. At the World Cup in England, Voronin's talent was revealed in all its glory.

6

• Position: midfielder
• Nickname: goose
• Year of birth: 1930
• Death year: 1999

This player went down in history as a great football gentleman. It was he who asked the judge (World Cup - 62) not to credit the goal, which he wanted to score by mistake on the account of the USSR national team. The ball into the goal (it was the goal of the Uruguay national team) flew through a hole in the net. The captain of the USSR national team saw it well. The goal was not counted.

5

• Position: midfielder
• Nickname: People's footballer
• Year of birth: 1959
• Death year: 2014

This smart and technical player has become the symbol of Spartak. Fedor's career in the national team did not work out. But he remained in history the standard of Spartak. Twice Cherenkov was recognized as the best football player in the country. He became the champion of the USSR 3 times. He even managed to win the Russian championship once. Fedya, as the fans affectionately called him, was a real people's favorite.

4

• Position: attack
• Nickname: Kozmich
• Year of birth: 1934
• Death year: 2011

One of the best forwards in the history of Soviet football. It is from the gold composition of Euro-60. Silver medalist of Euro-64. It was Ivanov who became one of the top scorers of the World Cup in Chile. The Soviet footballer shared this title with such great footballers as Vava and Garrincha. This fact confirms that he was a true master of the world scale.

3

• Position: attack
• Year of birth: 1937
• Death year: 1990

An incorrigible bully and a great player. Only through bureaucratic stupidity, Streltsov could not become the greatest player in the history of Soviet football. In Sweden, Pele became the great, and the Russian Pele went on stage to the camp. In prisons, Streltsov became bald, irradiated with radiation. He was suspended from football for a long 6 years. He came back and again delighted the fans.

2

• Position: attack
• Year of birth: 1952

Oleg was the owner of the Golden Ball. He won the USSR championship 7 times. During his career, Blokhin hit the opponent's goal almost 400 times. He is rightfully considered one of the best strikers in the history of Soviet football. Blokhin holds the record for the number of appearances for the USSR national team.

1

• Position: goalkeeper
• Nickname: Black spider
• Year of birth: 1929
• Death year: 1990

Lev became the first goalkeeper who was awarded the Golden Ball. According to sports historians, it is Yashin who should be considered the best goalkeeper in the history of world football. He defended the gates of the Moscow club Dynamo for two decades. Yashin is an Olympic champion and Euro 60 champion. Lev Ivanovich was the only one of all footballers to be awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

We present to your attention the top 10 best strikers in the history of national football. The rating is made up of footballers who played for the national teams of Russia and the USSR. The list displays only the editorial opinion and may not coincide with your vision of the top ten forwards in the history of Russian (and Soviet) football.

10.Sergey Soloviev

Clubs: Dynamo (Leningrad), Dynamo (Moscow)
Goals: 167
Achievements: Champion of the USSR (1940, 1945, 1949), Best scorer of the USSR championship (1948)

About the footballer: A fast player with an unrivaled goal sense. He knew how to perfectly choose a position, was distinguished by high physical fitness. For more than half a century, he has been the top scorer in the history of Dynamo Moscow. He also achieved success in hockey, repeatedly entered the lists of the best hockey players in the USSR.

9.Alexander Kerzhakov

Clubs: Zenit (St. Petersburg), Sevilla (Sevilla), Zurich
Goals: 224
Achievements: Champion of Russia (2010, 2012, 2015), Football Player of the Year in Russia according to the RFU (2010), Top scorer of the Russian Championship (2004)

About the footballer: The best scorer in the history of Zenit and the Russian national team. Despite the instability and frequent slumps, he has scored more goals than any Russian striker since the collapse of the USSR.

Clubs: SKA (Odessa), Chornomorets (Odessa), Dynamo (Kiev), Borussia (Mönchengladbach), Eintracht (Braunschweig), Metallurg (now Illichivets, Mariupol).
Goals: 139
Achievements: Winner of the Golden Ball (1986), Champion of the USSR (1985, 1986) Winner of the USSR Cup (1985, 1987, 1990), winner in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1986), winner of the Golden Foot award (2008)

About the footballer: One of the fastest players of his time. He possessed phenomenal speed, which allowed him to win a duel against any defender. The peak of his career was the 1986 World Cup, after which Belanov was recognized as the best player in Europe, and in voting for the title of FIFA player of the year, he lost only to Diego Maradona. But at this level, he could not hold out for long, so he occupies a modest eighth place in our rating.

7. Oleg Protasov

Clubs: Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk), Dynamo (Kiev), Olympiacos (Piraeus), Gamba (Osaka), Veria (Veria), Proodeftiki (Piraeus), Panelefsiniakos (Eleusis)
Goals: 245
Achievements: Champion of the USSR: (1983, 1990), Winner of the USSR Cup (1990), Best football player of the USSR (1987), Best scorer of the USSR championship (1985, 1987, 1990)

About the footballer: The most hammered footballer of the 80s. In 1986, Protasov did not have enough to get the Golden Boot, which was eventually awarded to Marco van Basten. Holder of the record for the number of goals scored in the USSR Championship (35 goals in the 1985 season).

6. Victor Monday

Clubs: Rostselmash (current Rostov, Rostov-on-Don), SKA (Rostov-on-Don), CSKA (Moscow)
Goals: 106
Achievements: European Champion (1960), Best Forward of the USSR (1960-1963)

About the footballer: Scorer of the winning goal in the final of the first European Championship. In the early 60s he was the best center striker in the country. He spent most of his career in the modest Rostov-based SKA, and became the owner of a single club trophy. But in the national team, he was practically irreplaceable, and the goal in the 1960 European Cup final put him on a par with the most outstanding forwards in the history of football.

Clubs:"Torpedo" (Moscow)
Goals: 166
Achievements: European Champion (1960), Olympic Champion (1956), USSR Champion (1960, 1965), USSR Cup Winner (1960), 1962 World Cup top scorer, 1960 European Cup top scorer.

About the footballer: One of the best players of the Soviet period in history. Not playing on the edge of the attack, he managed to score a lot. He was no less effective in playing along, having distributed more than a dozen assists. Together with Streltsov, he terrified defenders throughout Europe.

Clubs: Dynamo (Sukhumi), Wings of the Soviets (Moscow), Spartak (Moscow)
Goals: 183
Achievements: Champion of the USSR (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958), winner of the USSR Cup (1950, 1958), the best scorer of the USSR championship (1949, 1950, 1953)

About the footballer: One of the most outstanding players of the Soviet period. Simonyan was one of the most popular footballers of the middle of the last century. 57 years later, he remains the top scorer in Spartak history.

3. Grigory Fedotov

Clubs: Metallurg (Moscow), Spartak (Moscow), CSKA (Moscow)
Goals: 149

Achievements: USSR Champion (1946, 1947, 1948), USSR Cup Winner (1945, 1948), Best Scorer of the USSR Championship (1939, 1940)

About the footballer: According to many people who watched Fedotov's game in person, this striker was ahead of his time. He knew how to score from any position, while always remaining a team player. The play of this striker admired not only experienced fans, but also any layman who got to the match with his participation. Fedotov was the first among domestic football players to break the mark of 100 goals in his career, and the club of the best scorers in the history of the country was named in his honor.

2. Oleg Blokhin

Clubs: Dynamo (Kiev), Forverts (Steyr), Aris (Limassol)
Goals: 319
Achievements: Winner of the Golden Ball (1975), Champion of the USSR (1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986), winner in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1975, 1986), Winner of the UEFA Super Cup (1975), Best footballer of the USSR ( 1973, 1974, 1975), the best scorer of the USSR championship (1972, 1973,1974, 1975, 1977)
winner of the Golden Foot Award (2009)

About the footballer: The only one on our list who managed to overcome the mark of 300 goals. According to many, it is Blokhin who is the best striker of Soviet football. And the presence of the Ballon d'Or only adds credibility to this outstanding striker.

Clubs:"Torpedo" (Moscow)
Goals: 143
Achievements: Olympic champion (1956), USSR champion (1965), USSR Cup winner (1968), USSR best football player (1967, 1968) USSR championship top scorer (1955)

About the footballer: It is difficult to imagine how much Streltsov would have scored if at the age of 20 he had not been convicted of a serious crime and dropped out of football for seven years. But, even after spending years in Soviet camps, he was able to return to a high level and twice won the title of the best football player in the country. According to the editorial board, Streltsov deserves the title of the best striker in the history of national football more than other participants in the rating.

Bonus

Vsevolod Bobrov

Clubs: CSKA (Moscow), VVS (Moscow), Spartak (Moscow)
Goals: 124
Achievements: Champion of the USSR (1946, 1947, 1948, 1953), Winner of the USSR Cup (1945, 1948), Best scorer of the USSR championship (1945.1947)

About the footballer: Together with Grigory Fedotov, he was the main striking force of CSKA, which dominated Soviet football in the 1940s. At the same time, he achieved the greatest success in hockey, winning twice at the world championships. He was the captain of the USSR national team in football and ice hockey.

In Soviet times, there were many outstanding football players - and we made a symbolic team of them. When recruiting, we were entirely guided by the titles of the players - both personal and team. The footballers of the symbolic national team played in different decades, starting from 1945. The pre-war football of the USSR is a topic for a separate publication. The game scheme of this fictional team is 4-3-3, but it so happened that all the defenders in the selected team are central, and from the midfielders there is one winger. Judge for yourself.

Goalkeepers:

Lev Yashin

Yashin is a legend of world football, the main goalkeeper in history. Yashin, who played for Dynamo Moscow, spent 16 years in the national team. won the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and Euro 1960, five-time USSR champion. In 1966, Lev Yashin was recognized as the best football player in the world. "Black Spider" is immortalized both in officialdom and in folklore. He is also remembered abroad: in 2002 he entered the FIFA dream-team, and on the eve of the Russian World Cup, football publications around the world recalled Lev Yashin's game.

Subs: Alexey Khomich, Rinat Dasaev

Defenders

Albert Shesternev

Albert Shesternev was called Ivan the Terrible in the English press. The defender was born in Moscow two days before the start of the Great Patriotic War. Shesternyov made his debut at CSKA at the age of 17 (he will spend his entire career in the army club), and at the age of 21 he became the captain. Captain Shesternev and in the Soviet team in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The defender spent the most matches as the captain of the national team. As part of the national team, Shesternev won silver at the 1964 European Championship and participated in the 1970 World Championship. For four consecutive years, from 1968 to 1971, he was one of the contenders for the Ballon d'Or. This is a unique stat for a defender.

Murtaz Khurtsilava

Albert Shesternev's defensive partner in the Soviet Union national team, and then heir as captain Murtaz Khurtsilava spent almost his entire career at Dinamo Tbilisi, with which he became the USSR champion in 1964. In the national team, Khurtsilava was especially successful in 1972 - it was in this year that Khurtsi (as his fans called him) won the silver of the European championship and the bronze of the Olympic Games. In 2003, Khurtsilava was recognized as the most outstanding footballer in Georgia for the last 50 years.

Anatoly Demyanenko

The captain of Dynamo Kiev, Lobanovskiy, was a key player in the USSR national team in the late 1980s. Demyanenko was able to win silver in the 1988 European Championship, and at the club level he won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1986. The reliable play of Anatoly Demyanenko is well remembered. The defender was included in the symbolic team of France Football magazine for the entire history of the European Championships and several times claimed the Golden Ball.

Vagiz Khidiyatullin

The pupil of the Rostov sports boarding school was a symbol of Spartak, although Khidiyatullin ended up in CSKA as a result of a murky history, played in France, and ended his career at Dynamo Moscow. Khidiyatullin played in the obsolete position of the last defender. Violently began his career - he was compared to Beckenbauer. Khidiyatullin was characterized as a tenacious defender and a born leader. In different periods, he achieved success with the national team. In 1980 he won the bronze medal of the Moscow Olympiad, and in 1988 he won the silver medal at the European Championship.

Subs: Evgeny Lovchev, Alexander Chivadze, Anatoly Maslyonkin, Revaz Dzodoushvili

Midfielders:

Igor Netto

Captain of the legendary Soviet national team of the 1950s and 1960s. It was with Net that that the USSR national team won the Olympics in Melbourne and Euro 1960. Igor Netto was the undisputed leader of the Moscow "Spartak", in which he spent 18 seasons. The midfielder began under Stalin. If the symbolic team had a captain, then they would have Netto.

Valentin Ivanov

Valentin Ivanov played as a winger or winger, but let there be a pronounced flank player in the midfield of the symbolic national team. Ivanov is a representative of the golden generation, partner of Igor Netto and Lev Yashin, and then Albert Shesternev. Valentin Ivanov won gold in Melbourne, became European champion in 1960, and won silver at the next European Championship. Ivanov scored a lot - he is in third place among the top scorers of the Soviet Union national team, and at the 1962 World Cup he became the best sniper of the tournament. The entire club career of a football player took place in the Moscow “Torpedo”. Ivanov twice became the champion of the Soviet Union as part of the torpedo.

Alexander Zavarov

Playmaker of Dynamo Kiev Valery Lobanovsky. It was from the transfers of Alexander Zavarov that Blokhin, Protasov and Belanov scored. As part of the Kiev team, Zavarov won the 1986 Cup Winners' Cup. For the national team of the Soviet Union, the midfielder did not play for long, but brightly. In 1988 he won silver at the European Championship. Alexander Zavarov was twice called to play for the world team in the 1980s. And in 1988 Zavarov moved to Juventus, where he spent two seasons.

Subs: Valery Voronin, Fedor Cherenkov, Sergey Oleinikov

Forwards:

Eduard Streltsov

Striker "Torpedo", who was called "Soviet Pele", was deprived of seven years of his career. Eduard Streltsov was arrested on the eve of the 1958 World Cup on a bizarre, far-fetched rape charge. The attacker was only 20 years old. Streltsov spent five years in the camps, and the striker tried to return to football for another two years. Even despite the seven years pulled out, Streltsov became the fourth scorer in the history of the national team - in 38 matches the torpedo player scored 25 goals, Streltsov managed to win gold medals in Melbourne.

Oleg Blokhin

The main scorer of the Soviet championship and the national team. His statistics are striking: 215 goals in 432 matches for Dynamo Kiev and 45 goals in 112 games for the USSR national team. The best striker in the history of the Soviet Union. Oleg Blokhin in 1975 received the Golden Ball, the prize for the best footballer in Europe. With Dynamo Kiev, the striker twice won the Cup Winners' Cup. A career in the national team was undoubtedly a success, but Blokhin managed to win only two bronze medals in the Olympic football tournament.

Vsevolod Bobrov

Vsevolod Bobrov on the right

Vsevolod Bobrov played football in summer and hockey in winter. Bobrov was very successful in both sports. As a footballer, he played in the CDKA, in which Bobrov scored 80 goals in 79 matches. Together with "Dynamo" he went on the legendary 1945 tour of Great Britain. In four matches with English clubs he scored six goals. Alas, Bobrov fell short of the main victories of the USSR football team, but he was a two-time world champion and an Olympic hockey champion.

Subs: Igor Belanov, Oleg Protasov, Victor Monday