Georgi Asparuhov

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Georgi Asparuhov
Personal information
Full name Georgi R. Asparuhov
Date of birth May 4, 1943(1943-05-04)
Place of birth    Sofia, Bulgaria
Date of death    June 30, 1971 (aged 28)
Height 1.84m
Playing position Striker
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1959-1961
1961-1963
1963-1971		 Levski Sofia
Botev Plovdiv
Levski Sofia		 23 (7)
47 (25)
176 (118)[1]   
National team2
1961-1971 Bulgaria 50 (19)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of June 9, 2006.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of May 30, 2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Georgi R. Asparuhov (Bulgarian: Георги Аспарухов) (sometimes spelled Asparoukhov), nicknamed Gundi (May 4, 1943 – June 30, 1971) was a Bulgarian football player. He is considered to be among the top Bulgarian footballers of all time, if not the best.

Asparuhov was a striker for Levski Sofia from 1960 to 1961 and 1964 to 1971, and for Botev Plovdiv from 1961 to 1963. He played 245 matches and scored 150 goals in the top Bulgarian division. Some of the top European clubs at the time sought his services.[citation needed] In the 1965-66 European Cup, Levski played Benfica (with stars including Eusébio in the squad). When Benfica eliminated Levski after hard fought 3:2 and 2:2 scorelines and Gundi having netted all Levski goals, Europe began to view Gundi with interest. In fact, he was the first player to score two goals in Benfica's stadium[citation needed]. In the aftermath of this match, Levski grew in popularity in Europe. The rich Portuguese club wanted to buy Asparuhov, but the communist government of Bulgaria did not allow them to do so.

For the Bulgaria national football team, Asparuhov featured in 50 games and has 19 goals. He also scored the only goal for Bulgaria in England '66.[2]

Asparuhov died in a car crash in 1971 with his talented teammate, Nikola Kotkov. At his funeral, over 550,000 people went to Sofia to pay tribute and their respect to him and to bid him farewell.

His most famous line is: "There is a country named Bulgaria, and in this country there is a team named Levski. You maybe haven't heard of it, but there I was born and there I shall die!" This is what he said to scouts from Milan who had come to pursue him.

Contents

[edit] Statistics

  • National team — 50 matches, 19 goals
  • Bulgarian championship — 245 matches, 150 goals — 199/125 for Levski, 45/25 for Botev
  • Bulgarian Cup — 35 matches, 20 goals — 27/16 for Levski, 8/4 for Botev
  • Total club mathes — 326 matches, 209 goals
  • European club tournaments — 23 matches, 19 goals — CEC-12, CWC-7
  • International club matches — 35 matches, 23 goals — 32/20 for Levski , 3/3 for Botev
  • First match — with Levski against Lokomotiv Sofia — 22 September 1960
  • Last match — with Levski against CSKA — 28 June 1971
  • First goal — for Levski against Botev (1:1) — 28 September 1960
  • Last goal — for Levski against Etar — 13 June 1971
  • First international cap — 6 May 1962 against Austria
  • Last international cap — 12 June 1970 against Morocco

[edit] Honours

  • Champion of Bulgaria — 3 times, 1965, 1968 and 1970 with Levski
  • Holder of the National Cup — 4 times, 1962 with Botev Plovdiv, 1968, 1970, 1971 (posthumously) with Levski
  • World Cup — 3 times, 1962, 1966 and 1970
  • Bulgaria's top scorer — 1964-1965 - 27 goals
  • Sportsman #1 of Bulgaria — 1965
  • Holder of an Order of Labour
  • Deserved Master of Sports
  • Holder of the Fairplay prize (posthumously) — 1999
  • 8th place in the Golden Ball quiz — 1965

[edit] References

  1. ^ PFC Levski
  2. ^ YouTube - Gundi's goal at Wembley

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Bulgaria squad - 1962 FIFA World Cup
1 Naydenov • 2 Rakarov • 3 I. Dimitrov • 4 Kitov • 5 D. Kostov • 6 Kovachev • 7 Diev • 8 Dimov • 9 Iliev • 10 Kolev • 11 Yakimov • 12 Zhechev • 13 Velichkov • 14 Sokolov • 15 Asparuhov • 16 A. Kostov • 17 P. Dimitrov • 18 Ivanov • 19 Dermendzhiev • 20 Parshanov • 21 Panayotov • 22 Nikolov • Coach: Pachedzhiev
 Flag of Bulgaria
v • d • e
Bulgaria squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup
1 Naydenov • 2 Shalamanov • 3 Vutsov • 4 Gaganelov • 5 Penev • 6 Zhekov • 7 Dermendzhiev • 8 Kitov • 9 Asparuhov • 10 Zhechev • 11 Kolev • 12 Metodiev • 13 Yakimov • 14 Kotkov • 15 Largov • 16 Kostov • 17 Abadzhiev • 18 Yanchovski • 19 Apostolov • 20 Davidov • 21 Simeonov • 22 Deyanov • Coach: Vytlačil
 Flag of Bulgaria
v • d • e
Bulgaria squad - 1970 FIFA World Cup
1 Simeonov • 2 Shalamanov • 3 Dimitrov • 4 Aladzhov • 5 Davidov • 6 Penev • 7 Popov • 8 Bonev • 9 Zhekov • 10 Yakimov • 11 Dermendzhiev • 12 Gaydarski • 13 Yordanov • 14 Zhechev • 15 Gaganelov • 16 Nikodimov • 17 Kolev • 18 Marashliev • 19 Asparuhov • 20 Mitkov • 21 Grigorov • 22 Kamenski • Coach: Bozhkov
 Flag of Bulgaria
Awards
Preceded by
Flag of Bulgaria Nikola Kotkov		 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year
1965		 Succeeded by
Flag of Bulgaria Aleksandar Shalamanov