Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov ( rus, Альбе́рт Алексе́евич Шестернёв, p=ɐlʲˈbʲert ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪvʲɪtɕ ʂɨsʲtʲɪrˈnʲɵf; 20 June 1941 – 5 November 1994) was a football player for

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He is generally regarded as the best football defender in Soviet football history. Shesternyov was born and died in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible", he was the captain of the great Soviet team of the 1960s, he earned 90 caps an appearance record only broken subsequently by

Oleg Blokhin Oleg Vladimirovich Blokhin, or Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (, ; born 5 November 1952), is a Ukrainian former football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, Blokhin was a standout striker for Dynamo ...

and Rinat Dasaev in the late 1980s. An international from 1961 to 1971, the

libero played and represented his country at three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s and two European Championships:

1964 European Nations' Cup The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union. The tournament was a knockout comp ...

and the

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

. During the latter tournament the Soviet team faced

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in one of the semi-finals. The game finished in a 0–0 tie, (including extra time), and according to the rules at the time the winner was to be decided by a

coin toss A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a ...

. The Soviet side were given the opportunity to call the coin, and as captain Shesternyov called it. He called it incorrectly and they were out of the final. They finished in 4th place, after losing to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the Third place play-off game. Shesternyov was captain of the Soviet national team for 62 of his 90 caps. He was

's youngest ever debutant at 17 years old and also the club's youngest ever captain at just 21 years old. He captained the club for nearly 10 years and played his entire career with CSKA Moscow. Shesternyov featured in the European Championships - UEFA Teams of Tournament twice and was the Soviet Footballer of the Year in 1970, he was also voted 3rd in 1966, 1968 & 1969. After leading CSKA to their first national title in 19 years he chose to retire from football on a high at only 30. He was voted, by

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

, the 14th, 11th, 10th and then 22nd best footballer in the world in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 respectively. During these years he was regarded as one of the best defenders in the world and if he had chosen to join one of the many European big teams that were chasing him, many said he would have been even more so highly regarded in the footballing world. He was, however, always commended for his one-club career. He was recently voted into the Soviet Union all-time World Cup team by football media website PlanetWorldCup. In 1970, he became the Soviet Footballer of the Year.

Honours

;CSKA Moscow * USSR Championship: 1970 ;Soviet Union *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

;Individual * The best 33 football players of the Soviet Union (11): No. 1 (1963-1966, 1968-1971), No. 2 (1961, 1962), N/A (1967) * UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament:

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

*''FUWO European Team of the Season'': 1968, 1969, 1970 * Soviet Footballer of the Year: 1970; Third Place: 1966, 1968, 1969. *''Sport Ideal European XI'': 1971

Personal life

Shesternyov was married to the Soviet figure skater Tatyana Zhuk. This marriage lasted until 1973. He married again in 1974. Due to depression and alcohol abuse, he died of

cirrhosis of the liver Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

in 1994, at the age of 53.

Honours

Personal life

References

External links