Georgi Asparuhov

Georgi Asparuhov
Georgi Asparuhov in 1969
Personal information
Full name	Georgi Rangelov Asparuhov
Date of birth	(1943-05-04)4 May 1943
Place of birth	Sofia, Bulgaria
Date of death	30 June 1971(1971-06-30) (aged 28)
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Number	9
Youth career
	Levski Sofia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1959–1961	Levski Sofia	23	(7)
1961–1963	Botev Plovdiv	47	(25)
1963–1971	Levski Sofia	176	(118)
Total		246	(150[1])
National team‡
1961–1971	Bulgaria	50	(19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 June 2006. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 May 2006

Georgi Rangelov Asparuhov (Bulgarian: Георги Рангелов Аспарухов) (sometimes spelled Asparoukhov), nicknamed Gundi (4 May 1943 – 30 June 1971) was a Bulgarian football player. He is considered to be among the top Bulgarian footballers of all time.^[2] Normally a striker, Asparuhov was renowned for his finishing, technique and heading ability.

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.^[3] Some of the top European clubs at the time sought his services. In the 1965–66 European Cup, Levski played Benfica (with Eusébio in the squad). When Benfica eliminated Levski after hard fought 3:2 and 2:2 scorelines and Gundi having netted 3 of all Levski goals (one of them Simo Nikolov), Europe began to view Gundi with interest. In fact, he was the first player to score two goals in Benfica's stadium. 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 scored the only goals for Bulgaria in Chile '62 and in England '66.

Asparuhov died in a car crash in 1971 with his talented teammate, Nikola Kotkov. At his funeral, over 550,000^[4] people went to Sofia to pay tribute and their respect to him and to bid him farewell. The present stadium of Levski Sofia is called Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in honour of the famous striker.

His rejection of AC Milan is one of the most quoted phrases in Bulgaria: "Има една страна, България. Там има един отбор Левски, може да не сте чували за него. Но аз в него съм се родил, в него и ще умра!" (Translation: "There is a country called Bulgaria. In which, there's a team called Levski. You may not have heard of it. But I was born there, and there I will die!")

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
• All – 388 matches, 231 goals

Honours

• Champion of Bulgaria /3 times/ : 1965, 1968, 1970
• Holder of the National Cup /4 times/ : 1962, 1967, 1970, 1971
• Bulgarian A Group top scorer /1964-65/ : 27 goals
• Bulgarian sportsperson of the year : 1965
• Bulgarian footballer of the year : 1965
• Best Bulgarian footballer of the 20th century
• Ballon d'Or 1965 : 8th place
• Three times participation on FIFA World Cup Finals : 1962, 1966, 1970
• Quarter-final with Bulgarian national team on UEFA European Championship : 1968
• Holder of an Order of Labour
• Deserved Master of Sports
• Holder of the Fairplay prize /posthumously/ : 1999
• FIFA award: All time best footballer on the planet – 40th place

References

External links

• GeorgiAsparuhov.Com
• Gundi.LevskiFootball.Com
• Website from LEVSKI2000
• Website from Levskifc
• Website from Blue-blood
• Website from Levski.bg
• Blog from Ludmil
• Website from Levski.biz
• The History of Georgi Asparuhov
• Asparuhov's goal against England on YouTube
• Profile at Levskisofia.info (English)