Soviet football legend Anatoly Ilyin died at the age of 84 here Striker Ilyin was capped 31 times by the then Soviet Russia (the USSR) between 1952-59 and scored 16 goals. He played for the Spartak Moscow club for the majority of his professional career (1949-1962). Ilyin scored the winning goal to help Russia claim gold in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics against Yugoslavia in a 1-0 victory. He also participated in the 1958 World Cup.

He won the Soviet Top League with his club five times (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958 and 1962) and the Soviet Cup in 1958. He was the league’s top scorer twice, in 1954 (11 goals) and 1958 (20 goals).

Did You Know???

• The World’s First Football Club was the English Sheffield Football Club. It was founded in 1857 by Colonel Nathaniel Cresswick and Major William Priest, two British Army officers.
• The highest scoring game was clocked 149-0. Stade Olympique de L’emyrne, a team from Madagascar scored their own goals. They did it as a form of protest for the unfair decision by referee in the previous game.
• Only Americans and Canadians call football “soccer”.
• More than 80% of the world’s footballs are manufactured in Pakistan.
• The first black football player was Arthur Wharton in the 1800s.
• Football is the most popular sport in the world. Over one billion fans watch World Cup Football on television.