Welcome to the fourth in the "A Tribute To..." series. Today's tribute is for the man widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper ever: Lev Yashin.
He had some of the best reflexes the footballing world has ever seen, and this coupled with his superb athleticism enabled him to pull of some jaw-dropping saves. He revolutionised and some say invented the idea of goalkeeper sweeping.
On October 22, 1929 in Moscow, Lev Ivanovich Yashin was born. 12 years later and World War II forced him to go to work in a military factory. He started playing for the factory's team, and soon his displays were being noticed by scouts from all over Moscow.
It was Dynamo Moscow who captured the signing of this young talent. In 1949, at 20 years old, Lev Yashin signed for them. This was quite possibly the best signing they have made in their history.
Although, it may not have seemed that way early on. In his debut match, a friendly, Yashin conceded a goal scored by the opposing 'keeper. It was a soft goal which Yashin, uncharacteristically even at this early stage, let through his guard.
He only appeared on two more occasions that season, both in the league. It was 1953 until Yashin played in a senior match for Dynamo Moscow again. His career had not got off to a great start.
The reason for these lack of appearances was that Yashin was playing second fiddle to Alexei Khomich, nicknamed "Tiger."
However, while a lack of playing time between the sticks on a football field was occuring, the same could not be said on the ice hockey rink. In 1953 Yashin was the regular 'keeper for the Dynamo Ice Hockey team, helping them to the USSR Ice Hockey Cup.
Although not in the sport he would later become a legend of, Yashin had experienced his first taste of success.
From 1953 onwards, Yashin began getting more exposure to the Dynamo Moscow first team. His consistent stunning displays helped banish the demons of three years previously, and he soon became one of Russia's top goalkeeper's.
Inevitably, the national team came knocking. Yashin was called up to the USSR squad and made his debut in 1954, and soon became the country's No. 1.
His spectacular saves and goal-line heroics for both club and country soon coined him the nickname "The Black Panther," for his notorious all black attire and his cat-like reactions. Others knew him by "The Black Spider," again for his attire, and for his ability to just get something on the ball to save it even when it seemed impossible, like a spider with eight legs.
In 1956, Yashin was selected as USSR's goalkeeper to go the the Melbourne Olympics. His world-class displays helped his country to gold medal at the games, beating Germany, Indonesia, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the way. In the five games they played (they had to replay their match against Indonesia), Yashin only conceded two goals.
Time and time again, Lev Yashin put in match winning performances for club and country. This helped Dynamo Moscow to establish themselves as top contenders in the Russian League.
It also helped him retain his No. 1 spot for the 1958 World Cup. This was when Yashin really exploded onto the world scene.
His performances helped USSR through the group stages, keeping two clean sheets along the way. He also impressed against the great 1958 Brazil side, keeping the score down to 2-0 when it could have been much worse.
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