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.