WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : WHAT A COUNTRY! WHAT A COMEBACK!

The London Telegraph reported that a magazine called Sports in Russia recently published an article in which the great former Soviet goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, rated the 24 goalkeepers starting for their teams in the 1994 World Cup.

It was a scoop much envied by other Russian sports journalists.

“ Yashin? “ said Vladimir Titorenko of Moscow’s Sport Express when informed of the article.

Dr. Robert Edelman, a Russian history professor at UC San Diego who wrote “Serious Fun,” a book about sports in the former Soviet Union, explained Titorenko’s surprise.

“Maybe somebody appraised the goalkeepers for the magazine, or maybe it was a joke, but it’s highly unlikely that they spoke to Lev Yashin,” Edelman said, pointing out that the goalkeeper has been dead since 1990.