Net Igor Alexandrovich - Soviet football player, coach and hockey player. During his career, he was able to earn many titles and awards. However, the athlete went down in history not only as an outstanding football player, but also as a wonderful person. Thanks to this, Net is still remembered.
Igor Netto: biography
Igor Alexandrovich was born on January 9, 1930. The place of birth was the city of Moscow. He began to show interest in various sports from early childhood, but for a long time he could not determine what he liked best.
The final choice was made after meeting with the sports school "Spartak". It was her leadership that predetermined Igor's further career, providing the opportunity for training. From the very beginning, many coaches and team partners began to notice that the young man has great potential. Thanks to this, many famous clubs of the Soviet Union wanted to see the young football player.
The result was that Igor Netto remained in Spartak. He started playing football in the early 40s, and spent his initial game in 1948. At that post-war time, the country, and with it football, were in a deplorable state and had just begun to recover.
Players could only dream of quality specialists, as well as training fields of the proper level. Far from perfect were the stadiums, which, however, came a huge number of fans. Therefore, star personalities were very much required to show the attractiveness of the sport. The symbol of that generation can be called Net.
Football career
Igor Netto started his football career as an attacking midfielder. In addition to excellent technique, he possessed a terrific “vision” of the field, which allowed him to make excellent cutting moves, which represented a huge danger for the defense of the opponent. In addition, the football player had a great shot, thanks to which he could hit the opponent’s goal from a great distance. One-on-one exits almost always ended in favor of his club. Thanks to his talents, Igor Netto became a star in every tournament.
The footballer was able to break through in a very short time. Soon Igor Alexandrovich assumed the duties of captain and team leader, becoming a real symbol of the capital's club. Total Net spent in the “Spartacus” nineteen full seasons, taking part in 358 matches. Five times a football player was able to help his club get the title of champion and three times the USSR Cup. By the total amount of trophies Net takes the second line, skipping ahead of the famous Oleg Blokhin.
In addition, the player has a considerable number of personal titles. Thirteen times Igor Netto was included in the list of the best players in the championship of Russia, while taking first place twelve times.
Career in the USSR national team
No less intense and amazing were the footballer's appearances in international matches. In the national team Net, Igor Alexandrovich spent the period from 1952 to 1965. During this time, he participated in fifty-four games and scored four goals. It is interesting that as part of the USSR team, Net played in the position of a defensive midfielder, and not an attacker, but such changes did not significantly affect his playing qualities.
During performances in the national team, the player was able to win the Olympics in 1956 and receive gold medals at the European Championships in 1960.
Undoubtedly, speaking about appearances in the national team, it is worth recalling the noble act of a football player in a match with the national team of Uruguay. During the game, one of the goals was scored through the torn net, but was taken into account. As the team captain, it was Igor Netto who asked to cancel the goal. Photos and other stored information of this act still surprise many football fans. By the way, the USSR team won that game. Such actions were not so rare in Net's career.
Hockey career
Despite the choice of the footballer’s path, Igor Netto was able to prove himself on the ice at a certain period of his life. He played as a professional hockey player for the Spartak team (Moscow). Igor Alexandrovich has twenty-two official games and twenty-nine assists.
Retirement and coach career
After playing hockey, Igor Netto nevertheless decided to return to the world of football. After graduating from a player’s career, he created a book that was published in 1974.
Igor Netto finished his career at 34. He did not manage to train the team as well as the leadership required. He did not receive invitations from good clubs. Mentor in the teams, he was delayed for a short time. At the same time, the clubs he trained could not occupy high places, and often fell into the relegation zones.
Subsequently, many experts attributed Net's failure to the fact that he could not suppress the player.
Igor Netto: personal life and family
Great-grandfather Neto came to work in Estonia from Italy. Mother moved to Russia in 1917, and father a little earlier. Igor has a brother Leo, who in 1944 was in German captivity and was liberated by American troops. In 1946-1856, Leo was in Norillag on charges of spying on the American government, but the charges were dropped.
Until 1987, Netto was married to actress Olga Yakovleva. They had no children.
last years of life
Igor Netto is a football player who became famous for his nickname Gus. It's hard to say why such a nickname was given. Some say it is for hoarse speech and a long neck, while others say it is for a sinewy body and a pronounced nose. Nevertheless, the nickname was not of any offensive character, but rather, on the contrary. Nicknames were received only by very famous and stellar athletes. Some even considered such nicknames prestigious.
In the last years of his life, Igor Netto began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease. The memory could fail the football player at the most inopportune moments. Often he forgot to turn off the gas or could not find his way home. Sometimes he changed into a tracksuit and started waiting for the bus, which was supposed to take him to training. The wife refused to care for him and practically drove him out of the house. Former teammates helped him arrange a small apartment, but he spent most of his time with his brother.
The footballer died on March 30, 1999 in Moscow. The burial place was the Vagankovskoye cemetery. At the time of his death, he was 69 years old.
Memory
- A memorial plaque was installed on the house where the football player lived.
- The apartment in which Neto lived from 1955 to 1977 was obtained for the victory over the West German football team.
- Until 2014, the stadium where youth trainings are being held was named after Igor Neto.
- The medals that were won during the career were donated to the Spartak Museum.
Player Facts
- He is a member of the CPSU since 1966.
- He took ninth place in the list of the best football players in Europe in 1957.
- Included in the symbolic team of the national team of the fiftieth anniversary.
- He was awarded the Order of Lenin.
- In April 1995 he received the Order of Friendship for his achievements in the development of sports and a great contribution to the development of Spartak.
Igor Netto became one of the symbols of Soviet football. The player’s contributions to the development of sports are huge. It is this football player who remains for many one of the best in the history of Moscow Spartak and the USSR team. The player did not achieve the same stunning results in a coaching career. Fate, one might say, turned her back on the football player after retiring. Turned away from Igor Alexandrovich and his wife, who had lived a long time in marriage with him, but did not begin to care for her husband in his last years.