the majority will name , without a pause , Lev Yashin . The Soviet-Russian " Black Octopus " will forever be a mammoth presence in soccer lore .
For 20 years , Lev Yashin manned the goal at Dynamo Moscow , the only club he ever played for . With his help , the team won the USSR football championship five times and the USSR Cup three times .
In 1954 , after playing on Dynamo for four years , he was summoned to play for the national team . In 1956 the USSR took home the gold at the summer Olympics . Although they never won , Yashin took the team to three World Cups . He won the Ballon D ' Or in 1965 . He ' s also the only goalkeeper in history to win the award for European Footballer of the Year , which he did in 1963 .
Lev Yashin died in 1990 after having surgery on one of his legs . His influence as a fine sportsman and epic goalkeeper continues to be felt in Russian soccer and among big , powerful goalkeepers around the world .