Rinat Dasayev

1976/77 Volgar Astrakhan (RUS) 26 matches

1977/88 Spartak Moscow (RUS) 428 matches

(Russian Championship: 335 matches)

(Russian Cup: 43 matches)

(European Champion Clubs' Cup: 10 matches)

(UEFA Cup: 40 matches)

1988/91 FC Sevilla (SPA) 63 matches

(Spanish Championship: 59 matches)

(Spanish Cup: 4 matches)

With the National Team :

91 caps

(Friendly matches: 40 caps)

(World Cup qualifiers: 22 caps)

(World Cup: 9 caps)

(Euro qualifiers: 15 caps)

(Euro: 5 caps)

1st cap: September 5, 1979 against the GDR (1-0)

Last cap: June 9, 1990 against Romania (0-2)

Olympic: 6 caps

Rinat Faïzrakhmanovtich Dasayev

Born June 13, 1957 in Astrakhan (RUS)

Soviet/ Russia.png Russian, goalkeeper, 1m86

Nickname: The cat, the iron curtain

Rinat Dasayev was born on June 13, 1957 in Astrakhan, Russia. His father was a worker in a fishing factory and his mother was a controller at the river port, he was raised with rigor and respect for traditions. When he was young, he dedicated himself to swimming but at the age of 8, he had to give up following an infection in his arm. He will therefore start playing football and begin a professional career at the age of 18 in the club of his hometown: Volgar Astrakhan, in the 3rd division of the USSR championship.

After two seasons spent in anonymity, he was spotted by Konstantin Beskov, coach of Spartak Moscow, who decided to recruit him and make him his new starting goalkeeper. Dasayev is an extremely complete goalkeeper, with great agility, he also had very good positioning and an ability to come out against attackers with speed and accuracy. At 1.86 meters tall, it did not take him long to become the best goalkeeper in the USSR.

On September 5, 1979, he played his first international match with the USSR against the GDR, a 1-0 victory for the USSR and the first clean sheet for the goalkeeper. With Spartak Moscow, he finished 2 times USSR champion and finished 6 times best Soviet goalkeeper by the magazine Ogonyok (Огонëк).

In a championship dominated by Oleg Blokhin's Dynamo kyiv, the Spartak Moscow club, led by Dasayev, finished runner-up in the USSR five times between 1980 and 1986. With the national team, he took part in three World Cups in 1982, 1986 and 1990 as well as the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. At home, the USSR only won the bronze medal. Its best performance came in Germany during Euro 1988. Rinat Dasayev and his teammates from the national team had a superb competition, notably beating England (3 goals to 1) and the Netherlands (1 goal to 0) in the group stage and Italy in the semi-final. Unfortunately for the Russian goalkeeper, he was unable to prevent his team's defeat against the Netherlands of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard.

Following this very high-class Euro, he signed a contract with FC Seville for €1,000 per month. This transfer, which was atypical (rare are the USSR players who played in Western Europe), took a few months to bear fruit. He obtained a qualification in the Europa League during the 1989/90 season. With Dasayev, he played 59 matches, for 25 victories and 68 goals conceded.

After his contract ended with the Spanish club in the summer of 1991, Dasayev ended his playing career at the age of 34, still young for a goalkeeper. A farewell match for the Russian goalkeeper was organized on September 23, 1998, pitting the Russian team of the time against the former USSR players.

Rinat Dasayev was a football figure in the 80s, he is also part of the FIFA 100 and the very exclusive Lev Yashin Club, rewarding goalkeepers who have achieved more than 100 clean sheets in the Russian championship and for the USSR/Russia selection. Dasayev is in 2nd place with his 229 clean sheets.

Dasayev was a great figure in the USSR selection, which he left in 1990 after a 2-0 defeat against Russia, with the national team, he participated in 91 matches, for 70 goals conceded and 46 clean sheets! Which makes a rate of 0.5 clean sheets/match, and 0.77 goals conceded per match, mind-blowing statistics.

- Voted the best football goalkeeper of the year in 1988

- Voted the best footballer of the USSR in 1982

- Best Soviet goalkeeper in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1988

- Named to the FIFA 100

- Voted among the "legends" of football by Golden Foot in 2015

- Received the Badge of Honor of the Soviet Union in 1985

- Honored Master of Sports of the USSR in 1988

- Inducted into the "Lev Yashin Club" with 229 clean sheets

- Ambassador of the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow

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