Football Legend Maslachenko Dead at 74

Nov. 28, 2010

Former Soviet international goalkeeper Vladimir Maslachenko, who became a television commentator legend, died Sunday after suffering a stroke last week. He was 74.

He died on the last day of the Premier League season, and most teams held a minute of silence in his memory. The Ukraine-born Maslachenko made his name playing for Spartak Moscow and winning the Soviet title in 1962.

He played for the Soviet Union in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden and was named the country’s best goalkeeper in 1961.

After ending his playing career in 1968 and doing a brief stint as a coach, Maslachenko became a television and radio commentator, spending almost 40 years on the job. He covered football games for NTV-Plus and Channel One, among others.

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