The Lev Yashin enigma - spider, panther or octopus?

Russia's Lev Yashin, the most nicknamed goalkeeper in football history, is also regarded as the finest ever to have played the game.

Known variously as the "Black Panther", "Black Spider" and "Black Octopus", Yashin cut an imposing figure in the then Soviet Union's goal during a 78-cap international career that spanned 13 years from 1954-67.

An immense presence physically, Yashin's long arms, superb reflexes and agility made him a formidable last line of defence and he was one of the first 'keepers to truly boss the penalty area.

A veteran of three World Cups, Yashin is also the only goalkeeper to have won the prestigious European Player of the Year award, and receiving that accolade in 1963 was one of the proudest moments of his career.

Born in Moscow in November 1929, the young Yashin's height earned him the nickname "Eiffel Tower" from his classmates when only seven years old.

His physical attributes prompted him to try several sports before he finally settled on football.

Aged 13 in 1943, Yashin went to work at an aircraft factory and later began playing for the company's football team.

In 1948, the young Yashin was conscripted into the army, where he began playing ice hockey.

A year later, he joined the Moscow Dynamo side and, in 1954, won the first of five Russian championships with the club.

Yashin seriously contemplated giving up the game for ice hockey, but when Khomich suffered an injury, his understudy was finally given a chance. Less than a year later, Yashin supplanted Khomich in the Soviet Union team.

His biggest success was a winners' medal at the 1960 European Championship. He retired at 41 and legend has it that he saved more than 150 penalties.

"The joy of seeing Yuri Gagarin in space is only superseded by the joy of a good penalty save," he once said.