{"id":1111904,"date":"2019-10-22T17:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1111904"},"modified":"2019-10-22T15:24:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T14:24:27","slug":"lev-yashin-ballon-dor-award-manarama-prostate-cancer","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/lev-yashin-ballon-dor-award-manarama-prostate-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Lev Yashin: ‘The Black Spider’ is in a Ballon d’Or class of his own"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final 30-man shortlist for the 2019\u00a0Ballon d’Or award has been announced with three goalkeepers making the final cut.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liverpool shot-stopper and European champion\u00a0Alisson has been accompanied on the illustrious list by Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Tottenham Hotspur captain\u00a0Hugo Lloris.<\/p>\n

Alisson played a key role between the sticks during his maiden campaign at Anfield as the Reds clinched the Champions League title last season, but not since 1963 has a goalkeeper stood above his outfield counterparts and won the Ballon d’Or.<\/p>\n

The last, and only, man to do so was the great Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin, who won eight major trophies with the Loudspeakers between 1950 and 1970.<\/p>\n

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Such was Yashin’s innate athleticism, dexterity and ethereal reflexes in the box\u00a0that he earned the monicker the “Black Spider” or “Black Octopus” during his time, a nickname not only attributed to his imposing presence in goal, but also on account of his\u00a0trademark all-black strip.<\/p>\n

Yashin, described by Portugal legend and former Ballon d’Or recipient\u00a0Eusebio as\u00a0“the peerless goalkeeper of the century”, also helped guide the\u00a0Soviet Union to a gold medal at the 1956\u00a0Olympic Games and a\u00a0European Football Championship in 1960.<\/p>\n

His imperious form and world-class talent rose to significant prominence during the\u00a01958 World Cup, notably during\u00a0the\u00a0Soviet Union’s 2-0 reversal to a Pele-inspired Brazil side.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old phenom famously masterminded a\u00a0Selecao triumph in Sweden, scoring six goals en route to the final in\u00a0Solna, but Yashin, despite the Soviet Union losing to the hosts in the quarter-finals, kept the teenager quiet in their group stage encounter and\u00a0was subsequently voted as\u00a0the best goalkeeper of\u00a0the tournament.<\/p>\n

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Across his entire career, the 6 ft 2 in ‘keeper saved a quite ridiculous\u00a0151 penalty kicks and kept nearly 300 clean sheets, with his services between the goalposts earning him\u00a0the Order of Lenin in 1967 – the most prestigious\u00a0civilian accolade in the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Indeed,\u00a0Yashin was one of a kind; a man who currently sits in the\u00a0Ballon d’Or pantheon as the only goalkeeper to have won the gong, with just six making the top three since his coronation in 1963.<\/p>\n

The likes of Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon, Oliver Kahn, Ivo Viktor and Dino Zoff have come close, but none yet have been able to emulate the unprecedented feat set by Yashin over half a century ago.<\/p>\n

In honour of the Moscow legend, the\u00a0Yachine Trophy has also been set up in his name this year, with the inaugural award going to the best goalkeeper in the world for 2019…<\/p>\n

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?? Alisson
?? Manuel Neuer
?? Ederson
?? Andr\u00e9 Onana
?? Wojciech Szcz\u0119sny
?? Jan Oblak
?? Kepa Arrizabalaga
?? Samir Handanovi\u0107
?? Hugo Lloris
?? Marc-Andr\u00e9 ter Stegen<\/p>\n

The 10 nominees for the inaugural #TropheeYachine<\/a>, awarded to the best goalkeeper in the world. pic.twitter.com\/etASlSVXPy<\/a><\/p>\n

— Play Squawka Selector for Free (@Squawka_Live) October 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n