Viktor Vladimirovich Ponedelnik (russian: Виктор Владимирович Понедельник, 22 May 1937 – 5 December 2020) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

, who played for the Soviet Union national team.

Biography

Ponedelnik first started playing for a local team,

Rostselmash Rostselmash (russian: Ростсельмаш) is a Russian agricultural equipment company, based in Rostov-on-Don. It was founded in 1929. It primarily produces combine harvesters. The company income in 2005 was 400 million dollars. The company na ...

, in 1956. In 1958, he switched to ''SKA Rostov-on-Don'' and was invited to join the Soviet national team. In the 1960 European Championship, the only major Championship ever won by the Soviet Union, Ponedelnik headed home the winning goal in extra time in the final game against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. Ponedelnik retired in 1966 after gaining weight and undergoing surgery for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a r ...

. He scored 20 (according to some accounts, 21) goals in 29 games for his country. In later years, Ponedelnik worked as a coach, a sports journalist, an editor of a sports publication, and an advisor to the

President of the Russian Federation The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

. Later, a journalist, editor, and in-chief of the weekly ''

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

''. He received numerous awards for his contribution to Soviet and Russian sport. He was married and had three children and four grandchildren. In Rostov-on-Don at the stadium,

Olimp-2 Olimp-2 (russian: «Олимп-2») is a football stadium in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. From 1930 to 2018 it was the home ground of FC Rostov FC Rostov (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб Ростов) is a Russian professional footbal ...

28 August 2015 a monument depicting a young Ponedelnik with the cup in his hands. Ponedelnik died on 5 December 2020 at the age of 83. He was the last surviving member of the 1960 European Nations' Cup winning squad of Soviet Union, that became the inaugural European Champions at international level.

Honours

International

;USSR *

UEFA European 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 conte ...

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 ...

, runner-up: 1964

Individual

: Golden Boot / Team of the Tournament

* Honored Master of Sports *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

: 1980 *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds ...

: 1997 * Cavalier of the Order of the Ruby League For Merit: 2009 * Order For Services to the Rostov Oblast: 2013Виктор Понедельник получил орден «За заслуги перед Ростовской областью»

Books

* ''My Love, Football'' (1970) * ''Penalty Area'' (1977) * ''Ball, the Gate'' (1980) * ''Confessions of a Central Striker'' (1987)

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061009192922/http://www.biograph.comstar.ru/bank/ponedelnik.htm Unofficial biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponedelnik, Viktor 1937 births 2020 deaths Soviet footballers Russian footballers Soviet Top League players FC Rostov players 1960 European Nations' Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1964 European Nations' Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players Association football forwards Soviet Union international footballers FC SKA Rostov-on-Don players PFC CSKA Moscow players FC Spartak Moscow players Soviet football managers FC Rostov managers Sportspeople from Rostov-on-Don Russian sports journalists Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR