Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy (; ; 23 February 1946, in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

– 10 December 1997, in Baku) was an Azerbaijani

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. Throughout most of his playing and coaching career, Banishevskiy was committed to his originally domestic club, Neftçi. He is widely considered the greatest Azerbaijani footballer of all time. He played for the

Soviet Union national football team The Soviet Union national football team () was the national football team who represented the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992. After the breakup of the Union the team was transformed into the CIS national football team. FIFA and UEFA considers ...

, winning 51 caps and scoring 20 goals. Banishevskiy played for the Soviet side in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, as well as in European Championship 1968 and 1972. His club team was Neftçi, and he scored 136 goals in

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (), served as the top division (tier) of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The league's name was a conditional designation used for brevity since being completely owned and g ...

competition. The striker was unofficially named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year three times-in 1966, 1967, and 1978. In November 2003, as part of the celebration of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player for Azerbaijan by the

Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA; ) is the governing body of football in Azerbaijan. Formed in 1992, it is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory. AFFA is a member o ...

as the country's most outstanding player over the past 50 years.

Early years

Banishevskiy was born in

to a family of Ukrainian descent. He started playing football at the age of 16 and played all of his career for Neftçi, transforming into one of the best Azerbaijani players.Известному азербайджанскому футболисту Анатолию Банишевскому исполнилось бы 63 года

Neftçi

Upon making the club's senior roster at the age of 16, Banishevskiy immediately emerged into one of the best young talents of his generation. Banishevskiy maintained his status of a premier Azerbaijani player, and remained very influential football figure throughout his entire football profession and beyond.

International career

Banishevskiy made his international debut at 19 years old on 4 July 1965 for

USSR 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 ...

against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

during a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

.Анатолий БАНИШЕВСКИЙ:БАКИНСКИЙ ПИЖОН
His international career ended in final of the 1972 European Championship match loss against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Banishevskiy briefly coached Neftçi and Automobilist Mingachevir. He has also worked as youth coach of

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

during 1987–1988 period.

Later life and death

Banishevskiy was diagnosed with

diabetic coma Diabetic coma is a life-threatening but reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus. Three different types of diabetic coma are identified: #Severe diabetic hypoglycemia, low blood sugar in a diabetic person #Diabetic ketoac ...

in 1991, having survived his first attack in 1987. He suffered

cerebral atrophy Cerebral atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect the brain. Atrophy of any tissue means a decrement in the size of the cell, which can be due to progressive loss of cytoplasmic proteins. In brain tissue, atrophy describes ...

as result of a second attack, which also caused him

memory loss Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...

. Subsequently, following his wife's ill-timed behavior, Banishevskiy lost the ownership of his house, which led him to live a difficult life in

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

on the streets of Baku. However, he was rescued from this difficult situation by his old supporter and beloved follower Saida, who cared for him in his last years of his life and ultimately married him. On 10 December 1997, Banishevskiy died after a third

attack, having also suffered

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...

Personal life

His grandson Ali Babayev Banishevskiy began to play in the youth team of Neftçi in 2011 when he was 15. Currently, Ali plays professional football in Azerbaijan's First Division for Shusha FK.

Honors

The home stadium of

FK Masallı FK or fk may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block * Funky Kong, a video game character Place * F ...

football club was renamed to Anatoliy Banishevskiy Stadium in his honor."Masallı" didərgin düşüb
Other achievements *

Grigory Fedotov club Grigory Fedotov Club () is a non-official list of Soviet and Russian football players that have scored 100 or more goals during their professional career. This club is named after first Soviet player to score 100 goals - Grigory Fedotov. The list ...

's member: 38th with 115 goals * List of the bests 33: 2nd (1965, 1966, 1967)

References

External links

UEFA.com – Prodigy who kept his promise, Golden player of Azerbaijan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banishevskiy, Anatoliy UEFA Golden Players 1946 births 1997 deaths Soviet men's footballers Azerbaijani men's footballers Azerbaijani football managers 1966 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players UEFA Euro 1972 players Soviet Union men's international footballers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Footballers from Baku Soviet Top League players Neftçi PFK managers Azerbaijani expatriate football managers Ukrainian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Burkina Faso Azerbaijani people of Ukrainian descent Men's association football forwards Neftçi PFK players Burials at II Alley of Honor 20th-century Azerbaijani sportsmen