Sergei Sergeyevich Salnikov (russian: Серге́й Серге́евич Сальников; 13 September 1925 – 9 May 1984) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

footballer who played for Zenit Leningrad,

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

and

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. He was part of the Soviet Union national team that won the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics.

Club career

After two years with Zenit Leningrad, during which he scored against Spartak Moscow in the semifinal of the 1944

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS (Moldova ...

, which Zenit ultimately won, Salnikov joined Spartak as a 21-year-old in 1946. He won the Cup with Spartak in 1946 and 1947. Salnikov scored two goals and made another in the final match of the 1949 season against Dynamo Moscow, when Spartak narrowly missed out on the

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 ...

title in a 5–4 defeat that some consider the greatest match of the era. Salnikov's stepfather was arrested and sent to a

labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

in 1949. Salnikov, fearful for his health, made representations to have him transferred to an ordinary prison, and was allegedly told that it would help his case if he moved from Spartak to Dynamo Moscow.Edelman (2012), p. 187. He joined Dynamo Moscow in 1950 and, although unhappy, was part of the first choice lineup between 1950 and 1954, making 113 appearances and scoring 29 goals. He was part of the Dynamo team that won the Cup in 1953 and the Soviet Top League in 1954. In 1955, with his stepfather out of danger, he returned to Spartak, where he remained until his retirement in 1960, winning the League again in 1956, and the League and Cup double in 1958. In the course of his two spells at Spartak, Salnikov made 201 appearances and scored 64 goals. Spartak star

Nikita Simonyan Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan ( hy, Նիկիտա Մկրտիչ Սիմոնյան, born ''Mkrtych Pogosovich Simonyan'', 12 October 1926) is a former Soviet football striker and coach of Armenian descent. He was born in Armavir. As of 2021 he was t ...

considered Salnikov as one of the "golden generation" of Soviet players in the 1950s and 1960s. He scored a total of 138 goals for club and country, and is ranked 26th in the

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 ...

, a list of Soviet and Russian players that have scored 100 or more goals.

International career

Salnikov made his debut 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 ...

on 8 September 1954 in a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He was on the USSR team that won the football event at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

, where he scored two goals in the quarterfinal match against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and also played at the

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

, where his team reached the quarter-finals. He made 20 appearances in all for his country, scoring 11 goals.

Personal life

Salnikov is the father of Soviet Fed Cup player Julia Salnikova and the grandfather of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

tennis players

Stefanos Tsitsipas Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...

and

Petros Tsitsipas Petros Tsitsipas ( gr, Πέτρος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 27 July 2000) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 137, achieved on 30 January 2023, and also has a career-high ATP singles ranking ...

. Salnikov was the son of a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

father and a

mother.

Honours

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

: 1956. *

winner: 1954, 1956, 1958. *

winner: 1944, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1958. *

member.

References

External links

* * *
Sergei Salnikov
a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salnikov, Sergei 1925 births Sportspeople from Krasnodar 1984 deaths Soviet footballers Association football forwards Soviet Union international footballers Olympic footballers of the Soviet Union Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union 1958 FIFA World Cup players Soviet Top League players FC Spartak Moscow players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players FC Dynamo Moscow players Soviet football managers FC Fakel Voronezh managers FC Spartak Moscow managers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Afghanistan national football team managers Soviet expatriate football managers Soviet people of Greek descent