Le célèbre gardien de but en pleine parade

Nicknamed “the Black Spider” for the black jersey he wore throughout his career at Dynamo Moscow, Lev Yashin, born in Moscow in 1929 into a working-class family, played 812 official matches, in 207 of which he kept a clean sheet.

This photograph was taken during the 1966 FIFA World Cup, held in England: a save during the semi-final match against West Germany, played on 25 July 1966 in Liverpool. The Germans won the match 2–1, before losing the final to England, decided by the controversial “Wembley goal,” validated by the Russian linesman.

With Dynamo, Yashin won the Soviet Championship five times (1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963) and the Soviet Cup three times (1963, 1967, 1970); with the national team, he was Olympic champion in Melbourne in 1956 (conceding only two goals during the tournament) and won the first European Nations’ Cup in Paris in 1960.

The Soviet goalkeeper remains the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d’Or, in 1963. Since 2019, the Yashin Trophy has been awarded each year at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in his honor.

Provenance: Cannes Enchères, Sports Memorabilia, July 2020, lot 42.