Zinchenko, Anatoly

Anatoli Alekseyevich Zinchenko is a retired Soviet football player and Russian coach. He is best known for being the first Soviet football player to play for a Western European professional club. His transfer to SK Rapid Wien was facilitated by Austrian communist journalist Kurt Chastka. Because Soviet footballers were officially amateurs, Zichenko was formally employed as an equipment technician at the Soviet embassy while playing for Rapid. His salary from Rapid was sent to the Soviet government.