Valentin Ivanov

During his career, which lasted from 1952-66, Valentin Ivanov played for only one club, Torpedo Moskva, winning Soviet titles with them in 1960 and 1965, Soviet championship silvers in 1957, 1961 and 1964 and a bronze in 1953. He also won the Soviet Cup in 1960. Ivanov was named as the best forward of the Soviet Championships nine times (1955, 1957-64), and was selected for the Soviet national team in 11 years, from 1955-65 and was capped 59 times, scoring 26 international goals, placing him third behind Oleh Blokhin and Oleg Protasov in the Soviet all-time international goal scoring list. With the Soviet team, Ivanov won Olympic gold in 1956 and the European title in 1960. He also won silver at the 1964 European Cup and was the best goal scorer with four goals at the 1962 World Cup (an honor shared with five other players, including fellow Olympians Vavá and Flórián Albert).

After he retired from playing, Ivanov coached football, mostly with his former club Torpedo Moskva. He was the head coach of Torpedo Moskva from 1967-70, 1973-78, 1980-91, 1994-96, and in 1998 and 2003. From 1992-93 he was the head coach of Raja CA Casablanca. As a coach with Torpedo, Ivanov won the Soviet title in 1976 and bronzes at the Soviet Championships in 1968, 1977, 1981 and 1988. He also led Torpedo to wins at the Soviet Cup in 1968, 1972 and 1986 and was a runner-up in 1977, 1982, 1988 and 1989. In 1959, Ivanov married gymnast and Olympic champion Lidiya Kalinina and their son, also named Valentin, also played football and later was one of the top European football referees, who officiated in most top football tournaments between 1994 and 2006, including the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA 2004 European Championships and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.