Lev Yashin he only goalkeeper ever voted European Footballer of the Year helped to redefine goalkeeping, producing outstanding acrobatic saves and marshalling his defense as few had done before. After bursting onto the international scene with spectacular stops against eventual winner Brazil at the 1958 World Cup, in 1966 he took the Soviet Union to fourth place, a result that the country never bettered. During a 20-year professional sports career, Yashin's exceptional reflexes even allowed him to be a multi-sport champion, winning the Soviet Cup hockey trophy with Dynamo Moscow.
