The King of Football is 70 years old

Edson Arantes do Nascimento is known worldwide as Pele. However, his unofficial title, King of Football, is no less famous. What is most interesting is that there is neither pathos nor flattery in this title. In the entire history of sports, there has never been a more famous and recognizable athlete on Earth. It was recognized by the International Olympic Movement as the best in the 20th century. Just imagine: thousands of illiterate Brazilians learned to read and write purely in order to read his autobiographical book “I am Pele”!

On the day of the anniversary of the legend of world football number one, “MK” decided to recall the stellar moments of a dizzying career...

Pele and the USSR national team

Pele became a kind of hallmark of world football in the Soviet Union. His debut in the Brazilian national team came at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. But it was then that the first televisions began to appear in the USSR. Naturally, all the attention of the fans was focused on the 17-year-old Pele.

At home, he was already known: in the 58th Pele, as part of Santos, he became the top scorer, scoring (symbolically!) 58 goals against opponents. It's time to enter the international arena. He flashed already against the USSR national team, and in the semifinal match with France he scored a hat-trick. Pele did not leave the field without scoring goals in the final, sending two goals into the Swedes' goal ...

Pele and the World Championships

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Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé)

Born October 23, 1940 (according to some sources - October 21, but Pele himself claims that this is erroneous information; the correct date is October 23).

Brazilian football player, striker.

He played for the Santos and New York Cosmos clubs.

3 times world champion. 2-time winner of the Intercontinental Cup and the Cup

Libertadores. 10 times Sao Paulo State Champion.

The best football player of the 20th century according to the FIFA Football Commission.

The best athlete of the 20th century according to the International Olympic Committee.

At the 1962 World Cup in Chile, Pele again lifted the World Cup over his head, but his contribution to the team victory was not as great as at the previous World Cup. Injuries will not allow him to fully express himself at the world championship in England 4 years later, but the 1970 World Cup in Mexico will be a triumph for the Brazilian team and for Pele himself. The striker will win a third world title for his country.

In total, Pele took part in 4 world championships and became the winner three times, becoming the only person on the planet to achieve such a result. In total, at the world championships, the King played 14 matches, in which he hit the opponent's goal 12 times. The overall performance in the national team is also impressive: in 92 matches for the national team, he scored 77 times. After the World Cup in Mexico, a survey was conducted that found that 95 out of 100 people on planet Earth know who Pele is. Eloquently speaks of the popularity of Pele and the final segment of his playing career, which took place in the American club "Cosmos". During his performance in the United States, the attendance of football matches increased almost 10 times!

Pele and records

During his playing career, he set many records, most of which, most likely, will never be broken. We have already mentioned three world titles, but Pele's rate of fire looks no less impressive. Throughout his career, he scored 1281 goals in 1363 matches - a result that cannot be surpassed.

Pele has 92 hat-tricks. In 30 matches, he scored 4 goals against opponents. In 6 games - 5 each. The most productive game for Pele was the meeting with Botafogo in 1964, when he forced the opponent's goalkeeper to get the ball out of the goal 8 times! The jubilee, which became the thousandth goal, Pelé scored against Vasco da Gama on November 19, 1969. In honor of this event, a postage stamp was even issued, and since then, Santos has been celebrating Pele Day on November 19. Pele scored his most beautiful goal in 1961 at the legendary Maracanã stadium. On the way to the Fluminense goal, he beat the entire opposing team from his penalty area, after which he sent the ball into the goal. This ball in Brazil was called the “goal of the century”, which is reminiscent of a specially installed monument in honor of the masterpiece in the arena.

Pele and Maradona

Much later, a similar goal at the World Cup against the British will be scored by the Argentinean Diego Maradona. It is between Pele and Maradona that there is a constant invisible struggle for the unspoken title of the best player of all times and peoples, but the Brazilian wins the virtual fight more often. And this is despite the fact that those who had the good fortune to personally watch his game, today for the most part are pensioners.

The two megastars remember to inflict painful injections on each other from time to time. Maradona has repeatedly spoken impartially about the human qualities of Pele (they say that he loves himself and self-promotion too much). The Brazilian, in turn, spoke about the lack of technicality of the Argentinean, drawing attention to his weak game with his head and right foot, and also offered to deprive his opponent of all titles after Maradona was convicted of using cocaine.

Pele and Yashin

It so happened that Pele played the first match for the Brazilian national team precisely against the USSR team, whose gates were defended by Lev Yashin, whose name has already thundered all over the world. Subsequently, the King of Football and the best goalkeeper of the twentieth century will become good friends. But on the day of their first meeting, there could be no talk of any friendship.

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“It is necessary to ensure equal social conditions for the disabled”

A conference dedicated to raising public awareness of the Paralympic Games was held. “We are faced with the task in the coming years to ensure equal social conditions for the disabled and their worthy integration into Russian society,” the meeting said, the correspondent of “MK” testifies. Kira NOVIKOVA.

At the same time, the speakers noted that the excellent performance of athletes with disabilities at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver has already "done a lot - changed the minds of many people." Russian Paralympians in Vancouver won 38 medals (12 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze).

“When I first saw Yashin on the field, I was stunned ... — Pele recalled. “There was a real giant at the gate, who, in order to close the gate, just needs to spread his arms. The first thing that came to mind was that it was impossible for such a goalkeeper to score.” Pele did not score in that meeting with Yashin, which did not prevent the Brazilians from winning - 2: 0.

Pele scored the only goal for Yashin 7 years later in a friendly match at Maracana. First, the Brazilian assisted Gerson, and then he dealt an irresistible blow. But our team showed character and ended the match in a draw - 2:2.

The third and last match in which Pele and Yashin met took place in 1968 on the same Maracan. Pele, as part of the Brazilian national team, hosted the world team, whose captain was goalkeeper Lev Yashin. This time the King could not outplay the Soviet goalkeeper.

Pele and heirs

If we hear the words “new Maradona” quite often and they are applied to any young footballer who even slightly resembles an Argentine in appearance and in the manner of playing, then “new Pele” cannot be found in the daytime.

For Pele is almost the ideal football player. Excellent game with both right and left foot.

Help MK Phrase of the day

“When we lost to Argentina (6:64) at their home, there was a terrible heat ... I hope that our Moscow weather will freeze the Argentines, and now we will get some advantage.”

Alexander Voitov, captain of the Russian national rugby team, at a press conference on Saturday's match against Argentina.

Filigree dribbling at the highest speeds. Goal flair and vision of the field... Despite the pronounced qualities of a sniper, Pele also had an outstanding gift of a passer: more than once the entire defense of the opponent was cut off, and the partner had only to substitute his foot to score a goal.

Well, there were legends about his physical data. With a short height (173 cm), the Brazilian jumped more than 2 meters in height, and ran a hundred meters faster than 11 seconds - this was quite a bit short of the best sprinters of that time.

Because of this, they are in no hurry to call football prodigies the new Pele: it’s simply impossible to even get close to him ...

Victor Tsarev
(14 years he played with Yashin in Dynamo and 8 years in the USSR national team)
- Now this definition is vague, but in our time, club patriotism characterized all the great masters of football. Lev Yashin, like me, was a native Dynamo player, in all matches he played in uniform with the letter “D”. Even in the USSR national team, although there he occasionally wore a sweater given to him by the French goalkeeper François Remetter, who was popular in those years.
As a goalkeeper, he was quickly appreciated in the football world. When the USSR national team - the first winner of the European Cup - was awarded in Paris, on the Eiffel Tower, the owner of the Madrid "Real" Santiago Bernabeu came up to our table with a checkbook, everyone began to show leaflets with his name and contract numbers in case of consent to move to Madrid. And when the turn came to Leo, the Spaniard showed him a blank sheet and offered: "Write any numbers yourself, I agree to everything." The guys began to tease Yashin: "Write such that his remaining hair stood on end." But Leva politely replied: “Sorry, but we probably are not yet ripe to play in the best European clubs. Apparently, this will happen sometime later. And he turned out to be right.
For Yashin, a man and a goalkeeper, there are not enough epithets - open, direct, extremely modest, and it was a pleasure to play with him: he sees everything, prompts in time, corrects his partner's mistake. Football was his whole life, and work in training, sometimes in mud and mud, was not a burden for him. He was loved, recognized not only in our country, but also in every corner of Europe and Latin America. In my memory, only Pele deserved such an honor.
I am happy that I played with Lev for so many years in Dynamo and the national team.

Sandro Mazzola
(former football player of the Italian national team and Inter, played against Yashin)
- Yashin always seemed to me so huge, and the gate - so ma-a-scarlet. I didn't even know where to hit. I remember very well how he spread his arms, moved them and hypnotized the attackers. He got any balls - just fantastic! In three matches against Yashin, I never managed to hit his goal, including from the penalty spot.
Here is an episode that is probably still remembered in your country. 1963 Return match of the 1/8 finals of the European Championship. My Italy then lost to the USSR in the sum of two meetings. In fact, I was not a full-time penalty taker in that team. But it so happened that I had to beat the 11-meter one. I remember how I set the ball on the point, looked at the goal - and there was Yashin! It was already psychologically pressing on me. I wanted to strike some unexpected blow, outwit him somehow. But it was not possible to cope with the excitement, it turned out clumsily, and the goalkeeper easily caught the ball.
Yashin is one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game. It is almost impossible for a goalkeeper to get the Golden Ball, which makes Yashin's achievement even more valuable. Everyone loves to watch goals being scored. Attention is riveted to the midfielders and attackers, less often - to the defenders. Goalkeepers cannot compete with them in this regard. But Yashin was then taller and better than everyone else.
On the field, I met with Yashin three times. And outside the game - once. It happened at the presentation of some kind of award, either in Russia or in Hungary - I don’t remember exactly. There were a lot of people there, we saw each other and came up to say hello. At that moment, I immediately remembered the story of the penalty kick.
Can I compare any of the current goalkeepers with Yashin? What do you! There is no one even close. He is the only one.

Vladimir Pilgui
(Yashin's successor, it was to him that Lev Ivanovich handed over his goalkeeper gloves)
- When I hear the name of Yashin, I feel gratitude, great respect for his memory. All the best in my sports life is connected with Lev Ivanovich. Of course, a lot has been said about him as a wonderful person and a professional of the highest level. But here's what personally struck me the most: with great love for him in many countries of the world, with the constant attention of football leaders and stars, he remained a modest person who did not claim any privileges. Sometimes it even seemed to me that he was weighed down by his worldwide popularity.
Yashin was that rare human breed that immediately elevates in the eyes of others. He was an athlete and a man with a capital letter.

Stanislav Cherchesov
(mentor of Dynamo, former goalkeeper of Spartak and the Russian national team)
- The popularity of Lev Yashin was so huge that even we, the boys of the small Ossetian town of Alagir, heard a lot about him. And when I grew up, I realized that this is a figure of an interplanetary scale. We met by chance. Spartak, in which I was just starting my career, lost to someone 1:2, I sadly stomped into the locker room, and then I met Lev Ivanovich on the way.
I don’t remember verbatim what he said then, but these were words of support, which the young goalkeeper at that moment really lacked. And the fact that he found a couple of minutes to console a football player he did not know shocked me, confirmed his greatness in my eyes.

Victor Monday
(played with Yashin in the USSR national team)
- Such a goalkeeper will not be in the history of world football for a long time. Lev Ivanovich anticipated his time. He was not only the greatest goalkeeper, but also an amazing person. Yashin never showed his greatness in public. He was always a humble, polite person and helped young players. In the USSR national team, I had the warmest relations with him.
Commentators at the World Cup in Brazil said that German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had revolutionized football. Nothing like this! It was Lev Yashin who was the full owner of the penalty area. His impeccable exits are still in front of his eyes. I remember how he helped the defenders. Never played only in the goalkeeper's area. Lev Ivanovich was the first to do all this.
When I appeared in the national team, Andrei Petrovich Starostin and Gavriil Dmitrievich Kachalin came to my room in the evening and said: “Vitya, we know that you are a fisherman, a Don man. We have a big request for you. We all notice how tense Lev Ivanovich is on the day of the match. From now on, we release you from physical exercises and ask you to go fishing with him. No matter how long I was in the Soviet Union team, we always got together before the matches a few days in advance and went fishing in the morning. After a joint vacation, he returned a different person. The tension subsided, and he began to smile.
Yashin was universally popular. I have never seen such popularity anywhere else. Small children from South America climbed onto the bus with the words: “Yashin! Yachin! Yachin! They were holding pieces of paper in their hands. Lev Ivanovich never refused autographs to anyone. Then for us, the Soviet people, it was a wonder to give them. And he ruffled the kids by the forelocks and gave everyone autographs. Lev Ivanovich is an amazing person. I would like to say a few words about his attitude to the family. No matter where in the world Yashin was, he always called Valentina Timofeevna home and asked: “How are the children? How is your health? And how is my native Dynamo? He always added the last question at the end of the conversation. Lev Yashin is the banner of Dynamo Moscow. Everyone learned about the “white-and-blues”, since Lev Ivanovich played for Dynamo.
You should have seen how Lev Ivanovich trained. The class ended and everyone slowly dispersed. And he shouted after training: “Vitya, Valya, beat me on goal again!”. It should not be forgotten that Yashin suffered all his life because of a stomach ulcer that he received during the war. He worked with his father as a turner in the Moscow region. Lev Ivanovich considered his most expensive award to be the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." He suffered from an ulcer, but did not show it to anyone. At that time there was some kind of Dutch medicine, which familiar diplomats tried to bring to him and very tactfully pass it on.
Leva was always worried if he made some mistake in the last match. He always honed his skills, worked on throws into the bottom corner. With his height, it was difficult to fold. He, as a rule, beat off such balls in a twine. Overhead balls weren't a problem for him. Yashin trained both in the snow and in the rain. There was no bad weather for him. He always stayed for 30-40 minutes after training on the football field. Marvelous! Including thanks to such a love for football, Yashin reached such heights.

Eusebio
(former striker for Portugal and Benfica)
- I have great sympathy for Soviet football, and there is a specific reason for that. With warmth, I remember those times when I played myself and was friends with Lev Yashin! I often think about him and more and more I come to the conclusion that as a footballer I have developed largely thanks to him. When you are able to score against the greatest goalkeeper in the history of world football, you remember it for a lifetime. And then you realize that you can score against anyone.
We spoke the same language - the language of football. Here it is, the ball! Through him, we understood each other so much that nothing more was needed.
I remember how the Soviet and Portuguese national teams played in the match for third place at the 1966 World Cup and a penalty was awarded in our favor. So Lev asks me with a gesture: “Where are you going to hit?” And I showed him: over there, to your right! Why?! Because he is my friend. And it is doubly honorable for a friend and the best goalkeeper in the world to score a penalty, having shown in advance where you will hit - and without deceiving. Koluna was then the captain of the national team, and he approached me: “What are you doing? This is Yashin, he will take the ball!” I answer: “No, he won’t. And I will hit exactly in the corner in which I said. And he shot so hard that the ball only touched his gloves.
I scored and, of course, I was pleased. But my friend was upset, and right after the goal I went up to him and said in Portuguese: “We are friends, but you are the goalkeeper, and I am the striker. My job is to score, your job is to defend the goal. Leo, I had to do this. Necessary". And he understood.

Franz Beckenbauer, former defender of the German national team and Bayern Munich:
- Lev Yashin is not just a goalkeeper from God, but one of the greatest football players. It is still pleasant to remember, forgive me, that in 1966 I scored a goal for him in the most important match - the semi-final of the World Cup. In England, it was ... Yes, but that goal is just a gift of fate, it's just that Yashin's arms were just a little short of the length of his arms to get it.

Anatoly Isaev, forward of the USSR national team and Spartak Moscow:
- We met Lyova under absolutely amazing circumstances - on the day of my 20th birthday, July 14, 1952. I was walking in the courtyard of my house in Shabolovka. Suddenly I see Yashin. I was stunned. He smiled and said, “Hi. So, I found out your address and came to congratulate you. However, he did not bring a gift. By that time, we only knew each other's last names. But we had a good conversation. We walked in the park, talked about football. I still don’t understand what made Yashin find me in a huge city and descend with congratulations.

Everyone says: "Yashin is great." But it seems that even during his lifetime, not many understood what exactly was his uniqueness. He was keen; I saw how and at what angle the attacker puts his foot. Thanks to this, he predicted the direction of the ball. He had an amazing vision of the field, sometimes he played like the last defender. And the defenders of his team were clear and understandable. How to shout: "I!" - all

Raymond Kopa
(Forward of the French national team, winner of the Golden Ball - 1958)
- The European press came up with different nicknames for Yashin, more often called the "Black Panther". He seemed to us some kind of monster, superman. But, being with Yashin in 1963 in the world team (at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of English football), I found him very intelligent and modest. And very responsible. It seems that Leo did not realize that it is not customary to give one hundred percent during training in the world team, this is a kind of preparation for the show. Either in the Union they asked him not to let him down, or he himself is such a person. I remember we beat and beat him in training, but we couldn't score. What can we say about the game itself - for him it was the principle not to miss in any case, and he achieved his goal.
And then I revealed a secret to Leo: I am not Kopa, but Kopaszewski. Pole. Our family spoke a little Russian. It was difficult for Leo to communicate with Europeans; it is not surprising that my poor stock of Russian words made him very happy. In the world team, we became best friends.

Franz Beckenbauer
(former Germany and Bayern defender)
- Lev Yashin is not just a goalkeeper from God, but one of the greatest football players. It is still pleasant to remember that in 1966 I scored a goal for him in the most important match - the semi-final of the World Cup. In England, it was ... That goal is a gift of fate, it's just that Yashin's arms were just a little short of the length of his arms to get it.

Anatoly Isaev
(forward of the USSR national team and Moscow "Spartak")
- We met Lyova under amazing circumstances - on the day of my 20th birthday, July 14, 1952. I was walking in the courtyard of my house on Shabolovka. Suddenly I see Yashin. I was stunned. He smiled and said, “Hi. So, I found out your address and came to congratulate you. However, he did not bring a gift. By that time, we only knew each other's last names. But we had a good conversation. We walked in the park, talked about football. I still don’t understand what made Yashin find me in a huge city and descend with congratulations.
Everyone says: "Yashin is great." But it seems that even during his lifetime, not many understood what exactly was his uniqueness. He was keen; I saw how and at what angle the attacker puts his foot. Thanks to this, he predicted the direction of the ball. He had an amazing vision of the field, sometimes he played like the last defender. And the defenders of his team were clear and understandable. How to shout: "I!" - everyone runs away.

Gordon Banks
(former England goalkeeper, 1966 world champion)
- I played against Yashin only once, in 1963 in a match between England and the world team. And one half, spent with him on the field, was enough for me to understand: this is a genius. Seeing him before the game, he involuntarily experienced fear - tall Yashin (he was a few centimeters taller than me) looked calm and calm, he felt self-confidence and composure. Apparently, this combination disarmed our famous forwards Payne and Greaves. And this despite the fact that in the first half we never returned to our half of the field at all and spent all the time attacking Yashin's gate.
At the banquet after the game, we didn't have much time to talk to each other. I only remember how Greaves approached him and shook hands with admiration - he was never able to score Yashin. Later, I did it too, but for a different reason - in this match, in fact, it was decided which of us was to become the best goalkeeper in Europe. Yashin unconditionally won our dispute in absentia. On this I congratulated him. And soon he received the "Golden Ball" from "France Football" ...

Vladimir Kesarev
(Yashin's partner in Dynamo and the USSR national team)
- There was a funny episode at the 1958 World Cup. We play with Austria. When the score is 2:0, they assign us a penalty. Kachalin, Yakushin, Andrey Starostin are sitting on the podium. They see that Yashin has shifted to the left at the gate, and decently. Andrei Petrovich gasped: "What is he doing!" He rushed to Yashin, shouting on the go: “Leo, correct your position!” He doesn't react. Bucek runs up, hits in an open corner - and Yashin calmly takes the ball from there. The Austrian fell for his trick. And Starostin spread his hands on the edge: “Well, Leo, you are the devil!” ...

Evgeny Lovchev
(played with Yashin in the veteran team of the USSR)
- After the end of my career, I entered the Higher School of Economics, where I met Lev Ivanovich more than once, who was a frequent guest at the coaching school.
I must say that on weekends the team of veterans of the USSR - and, in fact, it was made up of students of the Higher School of Technology - went on "tours" to other cities, and even countries. It was a good way to support the family budget, just unwind and, of course, buy some goods - if you were going abroad.
... An invitation came from Hungary. The USSR national team, which included Yashin, Igor Netto, Viktor Monday, Valentin Bubukin, flew to a small town near Budapest. Played a match. We sat at a banquet, after which the Soviet emigrants invited the national team to barbecue. We spent some time there, and in the evening we gathered back.
We got on the bus, we go to our town. We see, passing by, a sparkling building, music is pouring ...
- What is it? - the players of the USSR national team ask the driver.
- Dancing club.
- What is a dancing club?
- Dancing and bar.
When a Russian person walks, he walks. They asked to stop. The organizers of our tour organized a table.
And the players went to dance. It was amazing - the picture of how Lev Ivanovich and Igor Sanych Netto dance "boogie-woogie" is still before my eyes ...
Having danced, we went home. We fell asleep, but not soundly. My room was on the first floor, and I hear Sasha Mirzoyan go outside, something is happening there.
Comes and says:
- We have to go to the hospital. Bad things...
I go out into the street. There is a swamp-colored UAZ, on the body - a white cross. As if he was driving from the Soviet Union ...
Lev Ivanovich is sitting on the floor of the UAZ with his legs dangling to the ground.
- What's happened?
- Jen, probably a stroke. The completely left side was taken away, - says Yashin.
It turned out that he became ill, the doctors were called, and a car arrived from a nearby military unit of the Soviet group of troops.
Mirzoyan and an interpreter, a young guy Sandor Varga, whom the Hungarian Football Federation gave us to help, went to the first-aid post of this unit with Yashin. Now Sandor is a well-known agent.
Mirzoyan returns:
- The doctors left Lev Ivanovich there, in the morning we will know what happened.
It was Saturday evening, and on Monday evening we fly home.
On Sunday morning Shandor reports the news:
- Yashin was transported to the clinic in Budapest for examination.
We find out the address, the federation says that Groshich went to our goalkeeper, the same one who replaced Lev Ivanovich in the legendary match of the 100th anniversary of football at Wembley.
We're going to the clinic. We go in, Yashin is all yellow, drugged.
Grosic is nearby. The professor of the clinic comes, I ask what kind of illness, what to do next. Sandor translates, and the professor beats backhand. And Yashin, lying on the couch, is no longer able to repel these blows:
- A blood clot broke off, blockage of the leg, gangrene begins, it is necessary to take away the leg ... Things are very bad.
I had little experience with doctors, but I have never heard a patient knocked down by such a truth.
I ask the professor to leave:
- Who gave you the right to say all this in front of the patient?
Shandor, I look, is embarrassed, but he translates everything.
- As a doctor, I am obliged to tell the truth in front of the patient. I don't know about you, but our rules are the same. And I think this is true, because the patient must make his own decision. You can't hide the truth from him.
- How much time do you have to make a decision?
- Two days, then gangrene will begin.
The professor understood that there was no other way but amputation, he had to hurry. He began to talk about established contacts with the Vishnevsky Institute in Moscow, about similar methods during the operation ...
What methods, what connections, what institute of Vishnevsky? It just didn't fit in my head! That's how we went to the match of veterans!
- You have to ask Yashin himself.
We return to the room.
- Lev Ivanovich, what to do, where to be operated on?
“I don't care,” Yashin says. - Decide for yourself...
The professor, in fact, decided everything for us - he literally demanded to hurry, we need to contact the embassy so that they organize the evacuation.
We called the embassy, ​​explained ourselves, they promptly helped everyone there, contacted the Vishnevsky Institute, informed the Soviet Football Federation.
In the morning, on the day of the evacuation, the team went to the hospital to support Yashin.
And there once again existence determined consciousness.
We sat in the hospital room for about 10 minutes. Igor Sanych got up Netto:
- Okay, Lyova, we can't help you, we need to have time to buy money in stores. Bye.
- Bye.
We say goodbye, Lev Ivanovich stops me and says:
- Zhenya, promised to buy a coat for Valentina. Here are forints, buy for my wife.
And he says the size.
I take the money, go with Shandor to the store, buy a coat.
In Moscow, Yashin was met by ambulances, which the national team doctor Savely Yevseevich Myshalov worried about.
Soon, Yashin's leg was amputated at the Vishnevsky clinic ...
A few months before his death, Lev Ivanovich and his wife Valentina Timofeevna went to Israel as part of the delegation of the USSR veteran team. They promised to make an excellent, more modern prosthesis for the goalkeeper's leg. The Israelis began to conduct an examination, and it turned out that Yashin was seriously ill. And the prosthesis already, apparently, will not be needed.
March 18, 1990 Lev Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. The state was in a hurry to thank the great goalkeeper for what he did for the glory of the motherland. We managed…
On March 20, Yashin died ...

As part of the "Play like Pele" program, organized by a retail chain of stores owned by Sergei Galitsky, the owner of Krasnodar, a briefing was held for the legendary Brazilian football player. For half an hour, the three-time world champion answered questions.

- Everyone knows my passion for Russian ideas, your people. Football has opened doors for me all over the world and today we are launching a football program here. Separately, I want to congratulate your Olympians, who won medals in almost every type of Winter Games. I look forward to meeting the Russian football team... in the final of the World Cup in Brazil.

- What is the motive of the action?
“I want to pass on to the younger generation the skills I have acquired in my life. When I was young, my father often gave me advice, constantly reminding me that if you have a significant amount of football skills, it is equally important that you play with a good heart.

- Can you put Leo Messi on a par with you, as young fans do now?
“Messi is a great player. But now I want to tell a story. When I started playing football, there was a very good player in Argentina - di Stefano, who played for Real Madrid. Everyone compared me to him. I continued to play, and they again had a great player - Maradona. The comparisons started again. Then he stopped playing and I continued. And now everyone in Argentina is comparing Pele with Messi. I often communicate with Argentines and tell them that it's time to decide who is your best player, and then compare him with me.

- Can you name the top three players of all time?
- Now those are Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And if of all times, then I still played for a long time and saw many. Now, when talking about the best player, people mostly talk about strikers. About those who score goals. But when I played, I admired Lev Yashin - everyone knows him. If I name all the players that I admired, then we will sit here for a long time. I will opt for the three: Cruyff, Bobby Moore and Beckenbauer. But you should also remember about Maradona, as he is still a good player. (smiles). And Zidane, perhaps.

- Did you really say that Brazil is more likely to win the world championship in hockey than Russia in football? And who is closer to the goal now?
- I think it is more likely that Russia will become the world champion in football than the Brazilians in hockey. Brazil specializes in other sports such as basketball and rugby. These are really my words spoken in jest.

- Can you remember your most important goal in life?
- If you score more than a thousand goals in your career, it's hard to say which is the most important. I scored a lot of beautiful goals, but on the field you don't remember it all. For example, many still remember my Bicycle hit and continue to talk about it. But he was scored in a regular match. I remember more the ball against the USSR national team at the World Cup in Sweden in 1958 - I was seventeen at that time. And I scored the decisive goal, it was very important for me. And the most interesting thing is that I scored my first and last goal at the World Cups with my head - at the last World Cup it was also decisive, and we again became champions.

- Now football is very different from the one you started playing. More and more like a commercial structure. And what about the players?
Yes, football has changed a lot. When I started playing, everything was on a different level, take at least the same means of communication. In the final at the same World Cup in Sweden, I wanted to immediately talk to my father, but I had to wait until the end of the game to congratulate my parents on the victory, on my goal. And now a person, having scored a ball, can say: "Mom, hello!" (Pele blows kisses)- and everything will immediately be transferred according to the picture. And of course, now there is more control over the behavior of the players - more cards, repetitions.