MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. A football stadium, which is being constructed in the Russian capital within the frames of the VTB Arena Park project, will be home for the Dynamo Moscow football club and bear the name of world’s legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the chairman of Dynamo FC board of directors Vasily Titov said on Thursday.
“The stadium will be named after Lev Yashin,” Titov, who is also the first deputy CEO of the Bank VTB, said in an interview with TASS.
The stadium is planned to be opened in 2017 and it will have the 26,319-seat capacity. The VTB Arena Park project also envisages the construction of a universal arena near the stadium for hosting ice hockey and basketball matches as well as concerts and other entertainment events. The arena will have the capacity of 11,000-14,000 seats.
Lev Yashin (October 22, 1929 - March 20, 1990) was a goalkeeper for Dynamo Moscow FC and the Soviet national team. He is considered by many as the greatest goalkeeper in history of football and had an iconic status for revolutionizing the game of a goalkeeper.
Throughout his career he stopped a total of over 150 penalty kicks, by far more than any other goalkeeper in history and has a record of over 270 clean sheets, which means that he never conceded a goal in over 270 matches. He played in three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1966 and has a record of four clean sheets in an overall of 12 matches in World Cup finals.
He also appeared at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, but in the capacity of the third-choice backup and assistant coach.
He made an unforgettable impression on the world society, when he first appeared at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, which was the first to be broadcast internationally. Always dressed in black from head to toe he earned his international nicknames of the ‘Black Spider’ and ‘Black Panther.’
Yashin brought many innovations to the play of a goalkeeper. He was the first to stamp goalie’s authority on the defense shouting orders and instructions to the players during the game. He was also the first to punch out the ball instead of catching it during opponent’s attacks, to throw out the ball quickly to begin a counterattack and also to rush out from the penalty area anticipating a danger.
Yashin also won gold at the 1956 Olympic football tournament and won the 1960 European Championships. He was chosen for the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 1994 and four years later he was chosen a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. In 1963, Yashin was named the European Footballer of the Year and he still remains the only goalkeeper ever to receive this award.
International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) voted him as the best goalkeeper of the 20th century. In 1994, FIFA established the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup finals.