Valentin Kozmich Ivanov (russian: Валентин Козьмич Иванов, 19 November 1934 – 8 November 2011) was a Russian

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, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was the co- leading scorer at the 1962 World Cup, and the co-

1960 European Nations' Cup The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the first edition of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Paris afte ...

top scorer. Ivanov appeared 59 times for the

Soviet Union 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 ...

, scoring 26 goals. He is the Soviet national football team's third-highest goalscorer of all time, behind only Oleg Blokhin and

Oleg Protasov Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov ( uk, Олег Валерійович Протасов; born 4 February 1964) is a Ukrainian and Soviet former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout the ...

. One of the finest Russian players ever, Ivanov was noted for his pace,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

quality and technical ability. Ivanov's four goals in the 1962 World Cup saw him named the tournament's top-scorer, along with five other players; he also scored two in the 1958 edition. He spent most of his club career with Torpedo Moscow, scoring 124 goals in 286 appearances in the Soviet Championship, the 9th all-time best record.

Personal life

Ivanov married Lidiya Ivanova, an Olympic champion in gymnastics in 1956 and 1960. Their son, also named Valentin (born 1961), is a retired international football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

Death

Ivanov died on 8 November 2011, shortly before his 77th birthday, following a long struggle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

Honours

Club

;Torpedo Moscow *

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 ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

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 ( Moldov ...

International

;Soviet Union *

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

, runner-up: 1964 *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece be ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

Individual

* UEFA European Championship Golden Boot:

* UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament:

, 1964 * FIFA World Cup Top Scorer:

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results table. Soviet Union's goal tally first:''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanov, Valentin Kozmich 1934 births 2011 deaths Soviet football managers Russian football managers Russian expatriate football managers Olympic footballers of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Soviet footballers Russian footballers Soviet Top League players FC Torpedo Moscow players Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1960 European Nations' Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1964 European Nations' Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players Soviet Union international footballers FC Torpedo Moscow managers FC Asmaral Moscow managers FC Moscow managers Russian Premier League managers Expatriate football managers in Morocco Olympic medalists in football Deaths from dementia in Russia Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Footballers from Moscow Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Association football midfielders