Aleksandr Ponomarev

Ponomarev was born in Horlivka near Donetsk, Ukrainian People's Republic. As a player, in the course of his career, he won the Soviet Cup in 1949 with Torpedo Moscow, and scored 152 goals in the Soviet Top League. He was the top scorer of the league in 1946. He spent the last two seasons of his playing career in Shakhter Stalino where he captained the team to the third place in the Soviet Top League in 1951, their highest league finish thus far. In 1953 he started his manager career in Shakhter Stalino. He helped the club win the Soviet First League in 1954 (earning them promotion back to the top league). In 1960–1961 he managed Avangard Kharkov, under him the club finished 6th in the Soviet Top League in 1961, their highest league finish thus far. In 1962 he was made the manager of Dynamo Moscow, which finished 11th in the previous season, and which he led to a victory in the Soviet Top League in 1963. He was the head coach of the Soviet Union national team in 1972, leading the team to second place in UEFA Euro 1972, and to a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympic Games. He died at age 55 in Moscow.