Former Ballon d`Or winner Igor Belanov survives car wreck

Kiev: The 1986 Ballon d`Or winner Igor Belanov was badly injured in a New Year`s Eve car crash, the former Dynamo Kiev striker told AFP on Wednesday.

"We were on our way back home from a hunting trip at the New Year when our car slipped off a greasy road," Belanov said. 

"Luckily, we were all thrown from the car, which was totally wrecked."

The 54-year-old Ukrainian said he spent two weeks in hospital with neck injuries after the crash.

The striker shone as Dynamo Kiev beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 in the 1986 Cup winners Cup final and was brilliant for Russia at the 1986 Mexico World Cup. 

He was subsequently voted European player of the year ahead of Barcelona and England striker Gary Lineker.

Last year the former Dynamo Kiev and Ukraine midfielder Andrei Husin died at 41 after coming off his motorbike on a tight turn at a racing circuit in the suburbs of Kiev.