Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy ( az, Anatoli Andreyeviç Banişevski; russian: Анатолий Андреевич Банишевский; 23 February 1946, in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

– 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 le ...

. 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 ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по футбо́лу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po futbólu) was the national Association football, football team of the former Soviet Union. After the Dissolution of the Soviet U ...

, 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 football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

, 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 (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

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 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

'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; az, Azərbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası, AFFA) is the governing body of football in Azerbaijan. Formed in 1992, it is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amate ...

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

Early years

Banishevskiy was born in

to a family of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

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 Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

during a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

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

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

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 (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

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 low blood sugar in a diabetic person #Diabetic ketoacidosis (usually type 1) ...

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 disease,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 caused temporarily by the use o ...

. 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, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

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 hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

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: In 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 ...

football club was renamed to

Anatoliy Banishevskiy Stadium Anatoly Banishevskiy Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Masally, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches, was the home stadium of FK Masallı, and is named after the UEFA Golden Player for Azerbaijan Anatoliy Banishevskiy ...

in his honor."Masallı" didərgin düşüb
Other achievements *

Grigory Fedotov club Grigory Fedotov Club (russian: Клуб Григо́рия Федо́това) 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 Sovie ...

'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 footballers Azerbaijani footballers Azerbaijani football managers 1966 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players UEFA Euro 1972 players Soviet Union international footballers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Footballers from Baku Soviet Top League players Neftçi PFK managers Azerbaijani expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Burkina Faso Azerbaijani people of Ukrainian descent Association football forwards Neftçi PFK players Burials at II Alley of Honor