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Ice hockey and club career

Besides football, Netto played 22 games in the 1948–49 and 1950–51 seasons as an ice hockey forward for Spartak,² but stopped playing to avoid the risk of an injury affecting his football career.³⁴

During his club career, he played for FC Spartak Moscow from 1949 until 1966, scoring 37 goals in 367 league games, and winning five Soviet championships and three national cups.

International career

He was the captain of the USSR national football team from 1952 to 1965. He led the country to the gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics,⁵ and victory at the first ever European Championship in 1960. He missed all but one match in the 1958 FIFA World Cup due to injury, and also played all four matches in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when the Soviet Union reached the quarterfinals. In total, he collected 54 international caps and scored four goals.⁶

During the 1962 FIFA World Cup match against Uruguay, with the score at 1–1, Igor Chislenko managed to strike through the net, and the resulting goal was mistakenly counted by the referee who had not seen the ball trajectory. Hearing protests from the Uruguayan keeper, Netto confirmed with Chislenko that the ball went through the net, and convinced the referee to discount the goal. USSR still won the game 2–1.⁷⁸

Managerial career

After retiring in 1966, Netto began a career as a coach, training AC Omonia, FC Shinnik Yaroslavl, Iran, Panionios and Neftchi Baku. He was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1957 for his achievements at the Olympics. The stadium of Spartak Moscow reserves team is named after him.⁹

Personal life

Netto was of Estonian and Italian descent, with his Italian lineage traced to an Italian gardener who emigrated to the Governorate of Estonia in the 18th century.¹⁰¹¹ His father Aleksander Netto (1885–1956) was originally a carpenter from Valga, Governorate of Livonia, and his mother Juuli (née Tamm; 1894–1977) was from Vaimastvere, Tartu County. Aleksander left Livonia for Soviet Russia with Red Latvian Riflemen in 1918. Aleksander was a fervent Communist, who acted as a Bolshevik Councilman in Moscow.¹² During the 1930s and Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, the family did not dare to speak Estonian, and Igor learned only Russian.¹³ Igor's brother Lev Netto (1925–2017), who spoke Estonian and was named after Lev Trotsky, was a Soviet prisoner for eight years in the Norilsk Gulag.¹⁴ as was also Aleksander's brother Sergei.¹⁵

Netto was known as goose for his hissing voice, as well as goose-like walk and head shape. On 9 January 1960, he married Olga Yakovleva, an actress. They divorced around 1987 when Netto was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.¹⁶¹⁷

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

• Soviet Champion (5): 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962
• Soviet Cup Winner (3): 1950, 1958, 1963

• UEFA European Football Championship (1): 1960
• Soviet national team at the Olympics: 3 games in 1952 and 5 games in 1956, with 1 goal and gold medal in 1956.¹⁹
• Soviet national team at the World Cup: 54 caps, 4 goals; participant and quarter-finalist in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, playing in 6 matches in total

• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1960²⁰
• UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #71²¹
• The best 33 football players of the Soviet Union (13): No. 1 (1950, 1952-1963), No. 2 (1951)

References

1. Igor Netto Archived 6 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/igor-netto-1.html ↩

2. Нетто Игорь Александрович. spartak-history.ru http://www.spartak-history.ru/hist/persons/detail.php?ID=30285 ↩

3. Elena Grigorievskaya (9 January 2014) Рыжие волосы, Гусь и приключения на ипподроме. Самые интересные истории, связанные с Игорем Нетто. gazeta.ru http://www.gazeta.ru/sport/2014/01/09/a_5841789.shtml ↩

4. Игорь НЕТТО. rusteam.permian.ru http://rusteam.permian.ru/players/netto.html ↩

5. "Igor Netto". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 November 2021. https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/27606 ↩

6. Igor Netto. national-football-teams.com http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/19057/Igor_Netto.html ↩

7. Elena Grigorievskaya (9 January 2014) Рыжие волосы, Гусь и приключения на ипподроме. Самые интересные истории, связанные с Игорем Нетто. gazeta.ru http://www.gazeta.ru/sport/2014/01/09/a_5841789.shtml ↩

8. Игорь НЕТТО. rusteam.permian.ru http://rusteam.permian.ru/players/netto.html ↩

9. Игорь НЕТТО. rusteam.permian.ru http://rusteam.permian.ru/players/netto.html ↩

10. "Igor Netto – a Legend of Spartak Moscow | lucrumbet.com". lucrumbet.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516042216/https://lucrumbet.com/en/a-history-of-russian-football-igor-netto-a-legend-of-moscow-spartak/ ↩

11. Игорю Нетто - 90 лет! https://rfs.ru/news/211233 ↩

12. "Õhtud Moskva lähistel". https://reisikirjad.gotravel.ee/ajakiri/ohtud-moskva-lahistel/ ↩

13. "Õhtud Moskva lähistel". https://reisikirjad.gotravel.ee/ajakiri/ohtud-moskva-lahistel/ ↩

14. "Lev Netto". 28 April 2022. https://www.geni.com/people/Lev-Netto/6000000025510301644 ↩

15. "Списки жертв". http://lists.memo.ru/d24/f253.htm#n36 ↩

16. Elena Grigorievskaya (9 January 2014) Рыжие волосы, Гусь и приключения на ипподроме. Самые интересные истории, связанные с Игорем Нетто. gazeta.ru http://www.gazeta.ru/sport/2014/01/09/a_5841789.shtml ↩

17. Игорь НЕТТО. rusteam.permian.ru http://rusteam.permian.ru/players/netto.html ↩

18. "Igor Netto - national football team player". eu-football.info. http://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=14920 ↩

19. Igor Netto Archived 6 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/igor-netto-1.html ↩

20. "1960 team of the tournament". Union of European Football Associations. 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200724121103/https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/news/0253-0d7f20bc921c-495824f652eb-1000--euro-1960-team-of-the-tournament/?iv=true ↩

21. "UEFA Awards". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2024. https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/uefa-awards.html#100 ↩