President Aliyev orders to perpetuate memory of prominent Azeri football player

On Tuesday, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, issued an executive order to perpetuate memory of an outstanding football player, former member of Soviet national team and FC Neftchi Baku, Anatoliy Banishevskiy.

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Azerbaijan by the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

"There is a boy growing here who will be talked about by everyone. He is wonderfully co-ordinated, brave, sharp, and can feel the ball with his every nerve. He still lacks finesse. He is more a kitten now, but he will turn into a lynx. He is a forward from God."

Those words were spoken by the FK Neftchi coach, Boris Arkadjev, about the 17-year-old Anatoliy Banishevskiy in 1963. Two years later, the USSR coach, Nikolay Morozov, had seen enough to call Banishevskiy into his squad. The teenager responded by scoring seven times in eight games, including a hat-trick in an away match in Greece, a goal against Wales in Cardiff, and further strikes against Uruguay in Montevideo and Argentina in Buenos Aires.

That sequence was capped by a magnificent goal against Brazil at the Maracana stadium. His header from the distance of 40 meters earned Banishevskiy a standing ovation and the USSR a 2-2 draw - their first positive result against the South Americans.

"Banishevskiy had this uncanny knack of knowing exactly where to go when an attack unfolded, and his movement always surprised defenders. If he got the right pass, and could beat the defender to the ball, you could count on him to create at least a goalscoring chance," said Mihail Yakushin, another Soviet national coach who worked with the striker.

It was his selection by Morozov, however, that made 'Banya' the centre of attention. Few players had been handed an international debut at such a tender age. For a teenager from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to take the place of established forwards from the Moscow clubs was unheard of.

Banishevskiy, though, remained unaffected by the fanfare that surrounded him. He was a simple man, and even as a young star in Baku, refused to take advantage of his new-found fame, except to help out friends and team-mates.

In all, Banishevskiy won 51 caps and scored 19 goals for the USSR. He also registered over a century of goals in the Soviet league. These achievements helped to make him the best Azeri player of all time - and even more popular than the legendary Alekper Mamedov, who once struck four goals past AC Milan at the San Siro when playing for FC Dinamo Moscow.

What particularly endeared Banishevskiy was the fact that, unlike Mamedov, he stayed faithful both to Neftchi and to Azerbaijan, despite lucrative offers from FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Moscow clubs. "I would not be able to play away from Baku," was his stock reply.

Indeed, any mention of Banishevskiy these days is incomplete without the depiction of a boy who played football for the sake of the game, not for a career or money; a footballer made on the streets who got to perform his art at the highest level.

'Banya' died at the age of 51, a poor and lonely man. Yet his funeral was possibly the greatest Baku has seen, as people came to terms with the loss of a sporting genius. A legendary player, he lives on in the hearts of those who saw him.

Memorial board to be to attached on the building where he lived. APA, UEFA