The picture I took in 1963: “The Ballon d'Or” prize for the best footballer in Europe from the weekly “France Football”. Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper in history who received that prize! But it was not simple.

Lev Yashin was nominated for the prize 6 times. But every time he fell short of the first place. In 1962 the USSR national team flew out of the World Cup. Discontented fans urged Yashin to retire: windows were knocked out in his house, he was greeted with a whistle at the stadium.

The “Match of the Century” at Wembley Stadium changed everything: during 45 minutes Yashin did not concede a single goal, even in the most serious moments. At the same moment he became a legend. It was one of the main matches before the next “Ballon d'Or” vote. So he received a prize and the fame and recognition returned to him. There was no doubt about the goalkeeper's high merits.

His last matches were held in 1971: at the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, where there were 103 000 fans! In that match, the national team of clubs of the All-Union Sports Society "Dynamo" played against the national team of "stars" of the world, for which Bobby Charlton, Gerd Muller played. Then, on the 31st of August of the same year Lev Yashin played again: he defended the gates of the world “stars` team” in the match with the Italian national team.

After completing his career, Lev Yashin worked as a coach of the USSR national team and for the children's teams.