Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov was a Soviet footballer who played as a forward for Torpedo Moscow and the Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. A powerful and skilful attacking player, he scored the fourth-highest number of goals for the Soviet Union and has been called "the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced". He is sometimes dubbed "the Russian Pelé".
Streltsov, photographed in USSR colours, c. 1955–58
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. According to Gavriil Kachalin, who managed the national football team, Khrushchev was personally involved in the Streltsov rape case.
First Secretary Leonid Brezhnev (pictured in 1967) helped Streltsov to return to professional football.
Eduard Streltsov Stadium in 2007
Soviet Union national football team
The Soviet Union national football team was the national football team of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992.
Soviet Union team of 1927
Lev Yashin trying to stop the shot by Argentine striker José Sanfilippo, during the match played at Buenos Aires in 1961. The Soviet Union won 2–1
The Soviet Union playing Argentina at El Monumental, Buenos Aires, November 1976
Soviet Union v Belgium at the 1986 World Cup