Igor Chislenko

Igor Leonidovich Chislenko was born on January 4, 1939 in Moscow. Like many Soviet boys, he was interested in various sports, among which bandy and football occupied a special place in his life. He began his career at the FShM, from where he was first invited to the Dynamo hockey team, and a little later to the reserve team of the football club.

– I noticed Chislenko back in the FShM, – recalled Konstantin Beskov. – It was impossible not to notice him – very talented, unconventional, imaginative, fast and decisive. Chislenko was a versatile football player. And purposeful, focused on the goal, on the result.

In the reserve team of Dynamo, Igor Leonidovich played as a right inside forward, and sometimes in midfield. His ability to individually beat one or two opponents and a well-placed strong strike attracted the attention of the coaches of the master team. In 1959, Chislenko appeared in the main team of Dynamo Moscow, and his play immediately captivated the fans.

In June of the same year, the Dynamo players went on a tour to Yugoslavia. Before the match with Dynamo Zagreb, right forward Valeriy Urin fell ill, and the coaches decided to put Chislenko in his place. Igor Leonidovich did not disappoint, and upon returning to Moscow, he debuted in this role at the Dynamo stadium, scoring twice against Lokomotiv. So he became the main forward of the white-blues for nine long seasons.

Chislenko spent his entire playing career at Dynamo, scoring 73 goals in 251 matches. He had a unique ability to pull himself together in decisive matches, and the stronger the opponent, the more brilliantly he acted in attack. The outstanding striker helped the white-blues win two Soviet Union Champion titles (in 1959 and 1963) and the USSR Cup (in 1967).

First of all, Chislenko was remembered for his extraordinary dribbling. He instantly took advantage of the defenders' mistakes, got away from them on a long run and powerfully hit the goal. For the sharpness of his fearless attacks, Igor Leonidovich was called "Wasp".

– And in life, he loved extreme situations. When he worked as an installer, he had to climb 40 meters, everyone was afraid, and Igor said: "I'll climb." He was not afraid of anything. Everything that involved risk was to his liking, – said Dynamo coach Vyacheslav Solovyov.

Chislenko was also successful on the ice arenas. As part of Dynamo, he became the second prize winner of the USSR Bandy Championship in 1959 and the third in 1960. He also took part in the victorious 1960/61 championship. In total, he played 79 matches in the USSR championships and scored 40 goals.

Chislenko could well have played for the USSR national team at the 1961 World Championship, but the leaders of Dynamo football were quicker. In 1962, Igor Leonidovich still went to the World Championship, but this time to a football one - in Chile.

In South America, Chislenko lived up to the expectations of Gavriil Kachalin, who coached the USSR national team, and played brilliantly. But his goal in the quarterfinals against the tournament hosts did not save the Soviet team from defeat. Two years later, he won silver at the European Championship in Spain.

But he showed his best in the homeland of football - first, he reached the semifinals of the 1966 World Cup with the national team, and a year later, he scored twice against the world champions, England, at a packed Wembley. At the same time, he took 9th place in the voting for the Golden Ball.

As part of the national team, Chislenko scored 20 goals and could have scored even more, but in June 1968, in a match against the Czechoslovakia national team, he suffered a serious knee injury. After this, he was never able to recover and was forced to leave big football early.

The famous forward was valued not only for his football talents, but also for his human qualities. He was unusually friendly and was friends with almost all of his Dynamo teammates. According to their recollections, Chislenko was also a real trendsetter in the team.

– We were returning from South America, flying via Paris. He bought himself five or six suits. He arrived, called, and we met. We were sitting in a restaurant, and he changed suits five times in one evening, – recalled Dynamo midfielder Valeriy Korolenkov.

"Dynamo Constellation" is a unique project launched on the day of Alexey Khomich's 100th anniversary in March 2020. Based on the results of the fan vote, the final roster of 11 outstanding Dynamo players was formed. During 2020 and 2021, 11 stars included in the constellation were named after legendary Dynamo football players: Alexei Khomich, Lev Yashin, Mikhail Yakushin, Konstantin Beskov, Mikhail Semichastniy, Igor Chislenko, Sergei Solovyov, Valeriy Maslov, Viktor Tsarev, Igor Dobrovolskiy and Alexander Novikov.