Anatoliy Banishevskiy
Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy (Azerbaijani: Anatoli Andreyeviç Banişevski; Russian: Анатолий Андреевич Банишевский; 23 February 1946, in Baku – 10 December 1997, in Baku) was an Azerbaijani footballer who played as a forward. Throughout most of his playing and coaching career, Banishevskiy was committed to his originally domestic club, Neftçi. He is widely considered the greatest Azerbaijani footballer of all time. He played for the Soviet Union national football team, winning 51 caps and scoring 20 goals. Banishevskiy played for the Soviet side in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, as well as in European Championship 1968 and 1972. His club team was Neftçi, and he scored 136 goals in Soviet Top League competition. The striker was unofficially named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year three times-in 1966, 1967, and 1978.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy | ||
| Date of birth | 23 February 1946 | ||
| Place of birth | Baku, USSR | ||
| Date of death | 10 December 1997 (aged 51) | ||
| Place of death | Baku, Azerbaijan | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Neftçi | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1963–1978 | Neftçi | 288 | (121) |
| International career | |||
| 1965–1972 | USSR | 50 | (20) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1984–1987 | Automobilist Mingachevir | ||
| 1987–1988 | Burkina Faso (youth) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
In November 2003, as part of the celebration of UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player for Azerbaijan by the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan as the country's most outstanding player over the past 50 years.