Eduard Streltsov

1953/58 Torpedo Moscow (RUS) 96 matches, 54 goals

(USSR Championship: 89 matches, 48 ​​goals)

(USSR Cup: 7 matches, 6 goals)

1958/63 in prison

1964/70 Torpedo Moscow (RUS) 160 matches, 63 goals

(USSR Championship: 133 matches, 51 goals)

(USSR Cup: 18 matches, 9 goals)

(European Cup of Champion Clubs: 2 matches)

(Cup Winners' Cup: 7 matches, 3 goals)

With the National Team :

38 caps, 25 goals

(Friendly matches: 24 caps, 19 goals)

(World Cup qualifiers: 5 caps, 3 goals)

(World Cup qualifiers: 5 caps, 1 goal)

(Olympic Games: 4 caps, 2 goals)

1st cap: June 26, 1955 against Sweden (6-0)

Last cap: May 4, 1968 against Hungary (0-2)

Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov/Эдуард Стрельцов

Born July 21, 1937 in Perovo (RUS)

Died July 22, 1990 in Moscow (RUS)

Soviet, Striker, Second Striker, Left-Winger, 1m82

Nickname: The Russian Pelé

Eduard Streltsov was born on July 21, 1937 in Perovo in the USSR and now Russia. The forgotten player nevertheless had immense potential, a potential well seen by Pelé: "My biggest rival? Eduard Streltsov. And yet, I think he was better than me."

Eduard Streltsov was the perfect striker, top speed, exceptional physical qualities, excellent heading and an ease in dribbling his opponents. His favorite move? The backheel. A modern center forward, he had everything going for him, he knew how to score and make others score. He could both take depth but also play as a pivot, using his powerful body to attract defenders and create space for his teammates.

Eduard comes from a family of workers and is not interested in school, he prefers to play football. He joins the team of the factory where his mother worked at only 13 years old. During a match against Torpedo, he shows all his qualities as a player at his young age.

His performance is so interesting that he is directly recruited by Torpedo where he joins the youth categories. He breaks all records of precocity, in front of the best scorer of the championship at just 16 and a half years old.

He joins the USSR team at only 17 years old and participates in his first match on June 26, 1955 against Sweden, victory 6-0, hat-trick of goals and triple assists for the young Streltsov. With this match, he is directly propelled to the rank of superstar of the Soviet regime.

He participates in the Olympic Games 1956 at 19 years old and wins the tournament after scoring 2 goals in the tournament. He was decisive in the eighth-final match against Germany, scoring a goal. Same thing in the semi-final against Bulgaria. Alongside Ivanov, he proved his complementarity and his infallible talent.

After the final that he did not play, his replacement of the day, Nikita Simonyan offered him the medal and the young man with a strong character replied: "No, I will win many other trophies". The player who is known for a sometimes violent character and an addiction to vodka remains loyal to Torpedo, refusing twice to join first the CSKA of the army and secondly the Dynamo of the police.

The player wants to be free and refuses to join the teams of the USSR State, greatly annoying the leaders of the regime while his reputation is constantly growing. The peak of his "freedom" will be to coldly refuse the advances of Ekaterina Furtseva, a senior leader of the Kremlin who wanted to see the player marry her daughter.

The player, who was already engaged, reportedly told her: "I would never marry that monkey." The leader would therefore logically have had a fit, entering into a form of hysteria. Supported by the other leaders of the Kremlin, she will make his life hell. The player is excluded from the Soviet selection and must do some self-criticism to wear the USSR jersey again.

But the case would turn even worse on May 26, 1958. The player was accused of raping the daughter of a Red Army general and was therefore sentenced to 12 years in prison. At the age of 20, the player's career came to a complete halt. This case, which many considered to be a set-up (the victim never formally recognized Streltsov as her attacker because she was not sure of the identity of her attacker).

But in the USSR regime, the player was directly sentenced and sent to the gulag. Removed from the records, everyone turned their backs on him, except for the Torpedo supporters and managers who did not believe for a second the accusations against the player. But there was nothing to be done, his name was no longer mentioned and became systematically censored.

He missed the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and during the trial, it was said that some KGB agents, the Russian secret police, had pressured the player to admit the facts. He was then sentenced to 12 years in prison. His time in the gulag was marked by regular violence against him and a significant stint in solitary confinement.

With the loss of power of Khrushchev and the mother of the girl he had called a "monkey", Streltsov received a reduction in his sentence. He would ultimately serve a total of 4 and a half years in prison. Marked by his time in prison, the player, who was then 26, was still in athletic shape thanks to matches organized by the prison directors.

He played again for Torpedo in the 1964/65 season and won the USSR championship. But his image was tarnished and the player was not selected for the team that went to the 1966 World Cup, the final decision being made by the KGB.

He still returned to the Soviet selection after the World Cup and played his last matches, bringing his total number of matches to 38 and with 25 goals scored. After the gulag, the player still seemed to be the jewel he was, he finished twice as best player in the USSR championship in 1967 and 1968. And he therefore reached a total of 6 times elected to the best XI of the championship.

In 1970, while the player was still very good, the Torpedo fans campaigned for the player to participate in the World Cup, unfortunately for him, he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a match and had to end his career, at the age of 33.

- Voted USSR Player of the Year in 1957, 1967 and 1968 (Torpedo Moscow)

- Top scorer in the USSR Championship in 1955 (15 goals) (Torpedo Moscow)

- 13th in the Ballon d'Or in 1956

- 7th in the Ballon d'Or in 1957

- Top scorer in the Soviet Union Cup in 1957 (6 goals) (Torpedo Moscow)

- Named to the USSR Championship All-Star Team in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1965, 1967 and 1968

- Named to the USSR Championship All-Star Second Team in 1966

- Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in 1957, retired in 1958 then re-awarded in 1967

- Received the Order of the Soviet Badge of Honor in 1957

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