Final Achievements of the Soviet Union Football Team

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 not only gave birth to 15 new countries in Eastern Europe. However, the biggest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century also left behind beautiful memories. This article will try to discuss the last achievements of the Soviet Union's soccer team before the iron curtain came down.

History records that the Soviet Union's national soccer team has achieved some brilliant achievements in its time. One of them is the Soviet national football team won the gold medal at the Olympics which took place in Melbourne, Australia in 1956. Uniquely, at that time, the Soviet Union national team had met the Indonesian national team in the quarter-finals and ended with a score of 4-0 to the USSR's advantage. In addition, they also became the first country to win the European Nations Cup in 1960 after defeating Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. For information, the European Cup was first held in 1960 in Paris, France and the Soviet Union came out as the champion. Four years later (1964), the Soviet Union's national football team came out as European Cup runner-up after losing 2-1 to the Spanish national team in the final.

Source: thesefootballtimes.co

Eight years later (1972), the Soviet Union's national football team became the runners-up of the European Cup after losing the final to the West German national football team 3-0. Three years before its dissolution, the USSR national football team even made it to the top of the European Cup in 1988. Unfortunately, in the final they lost to the Dutch national soccer team with a score of 2-0. At the World Cup level, the USSR football team reached the quarterfinals in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups and finished fourth in the 1966 World Cup. Another unique thing about the history of the USSR national team's achievements is about the costumes they wear, there is always the writing CCCP in the center of their costumes which means The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Talking about the Soviet Union's soccer achievements cannot be separated from the key figure of legendary player Lev Ivanovich Yashin, a former Soviet national team player. He was a goalkeeper who played a vital role in the success of the Soviet Union's national soccer team in winning the Olympic gold medal in 1956 and the Soviets winning the inaugural European Cup in 1960. For his contribution, he was named European Player of the Year in 1963 and became the only goalkeeper to be awarded the Ballon d`Or World Player of the Year in 1963. This record still stands today. So, until this writing was made there was no goalkeeper soccer player who won the title of the best player in the world besides Lev Yashin. So, Yashin is really special, really special.

Throughout his professional career, Yashin has won 70 caps, managed 275 cleansheets or never conceded. Some of his other phenomenal records include making 150 kick saves for both the club and the Soviet national team. Yashin can even be considered as a pioneer goalkeeper who dominated the entire penalty area. So, not only was he able to play the role of keeping the goal from being conceded. However, he also dared to pass and dribble like a player with a non-goalkeeper role.  This legendary goalkeeper is often nicknamed the black panther, black spider, and black octopus. This is because of the black uniform he wears when competing and his playing style is full of innovation, and is able to make saves on the goal line acrobatically. For his phenomenal achievements, he was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. At club level, his achievements were no less impressive than those of the national team. He won five league titles (1954-55, 1957, 1959, 1963) with Dinamo Moscow. This is a glimpse into the history of the Soviet Union's soccer achievements and its legend that will never run out of time.