Albert Shesternyov

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Albert Shesternyov
Personal information
Full name Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov
Date of birth 20 June 1941(1941-06-20)
Place of birth    Moscow, Soviet Union
Date of death    5 November 1994 (aged 53)
Place of death    Moscow, Russia
Playing position Libero
Youth clubs
CSKA Moscow
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1959-1972 CSKA Moscow 278 (1)   
National team
1961-1971 Soviet Union 90 (0)
Teams managed
1973–1974
1981–1982
1982–1983
CSKA Moscow (assistant)
CSKA Moscow (assistant)
CSKA Moscow

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov (Russian: Альберт Алексеевич Шестернёв) (born 20 June 1941 in Moscow; died 5 November 1994 in Moscow) is a former soccer player for the Soviet Union. He is regarded as the best football defender in Soviet football history.

Nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible", he was the captain of the great forgotten Soviet team of the 1960's, he earned 90 caps an appearance record only broken subsequently by Oleg Blokhin and Rinat Dasaev in the late 1980`s.

An international from 1961 to 1971, the CSKA Moscow libero played and represented his country at three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships - 1964 European Nations' Cup and the UEFA Euro 1968. He was captain of the national team for 62 of his caps.

He was CSKA Moscow`s youngest ever debutant at 17 years old and also the clubs 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 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.

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