Today, the world was gifted a few well-known people who closely tied their lives to football:
Andrei Nesmachnyi (1979) — former Ukrainian defender who spent his entire playing career at Kyiv’s “Dynamo”. Six-time champion of Ukraine and five-time Cup winner. He played 67 matches for the Ukrainian national team, scoring no goals. Quarterfinalist of the World Cup in 2006.
Vitaliy Yahodynskyi (1992) — Latvian footballer, former defender of Kyiv’s “Dynamo”. Previously also represented “Hoverla”, “Diószeg”. He played 27 matches for the Latvian national team.
Sepp Maier (1944) — former German goalkeeper. European Champion (1972) and World Champion (1974). One of six footballers who hold a complete set of World Cup medals (silver in 1966, bronze in 1970, and gold in 1974). He spent his entire career at Munich’s “Bayern”, where he played 536 matches. Maier still holds the Bundesliga record for consecutive matches played — 442.