Eduard Streltsov

Eduard Streltsov

Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov (21 July 1937 – 22 July 1990) was a footballer from the Soviet Union. He played as a forward for Torpedo Moscow and the Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. He was part of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and came seventh in the 1957 Ballon d’Or. He is sometimes dubbed ‘the Russian Pelé’ and ‘the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced’

About Eduard Streltsov in brief

Summary Eduard StreltsovEduard Anatolyevich Streltsov (21 July 1937 – 22 July 1990) was a footballer from the Soviet Union. He played as a forward for Torpedo Moscow and the Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. He was part of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and came seventh in the 1957 Ballon d’Or. After a rape scandal in 1958, he was sentenced to twelve years in the Gulag system of forced labour camps. In 1965 he resumed his career with Torpingo Moscow, and in 1968 won the Soviet Cup. By the time of his retirement in 1970 he had pioneered innovations such as the back-heeled pass, which became known in Russia as \”StrelTsov’s pass\”. He died in Moscow in 1990, and his home ground was renamed in his honour. He is sometimes dubbed ‘the Russian Pelé’ and ‘the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced’ He was born in Perovo, an eastern district of Moscow, to a front-line soldier and intelligence officer, and Sofia Frolovna. He had a modest upbringing, the highlights of which were playing football and following his favoured team, Spartak Moscow. He became the Fraser Factory football team’s youngest ever player when he was 13 years old. In 1953 he impressed the coach, Vasily Provornov, and after befriending him, left Fraser to play for TorPedo Moscow. Aged 16, Strel tsov made his debut for the club during the 1954 season, appeared in every league game and scored four goals.

In his second season he was the league’s most prolific goalscorer, scoring 15 goals in 22 games as his side rose to fourth place. In 1966 he was named Soviet Footballer of the Year, and was restored to the national team in 1966. In the first season of his comeback, the club won theSoviet championship; in 1968 he was again named Soviet footballer of the year. In 1955 he scored a hat-trick in a friendly match against Sweden in Stockholm. In 1956 he scored three goals in three international matches for the Soviets before they travelled to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. He scored a late winning goal in an unofficial match against the United Team of Germany nine days later. The match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes, with Nikolai Tishchenko and Ivan Valentin standing in for him on the bench. The Soviets won the tournament 16–2 in an informal match against Australia on 15 November. In 1957 he was selected for the Soviet World Cup squad for the first time, playing in the quarter-finals against Indonesia and Bulgaria in the semi-final against Bulgaria. In 1958 he played in the World Cup final against the USA, scoring a late goal in a 2–1 victory over West Germany. He also played in two friendly matches against France and a further game in Hungary and a goal against France in the second half of that year.