Georgi Asparuhov – Gundi - was born on May 4, 1943 in the Sofia district of Reduta. His football career started with the children’s team of PFC Levski Spfoa and then he passed in the youth school of the Blue. In 1960-1961 Gundi wins the championship with Levski youth team. For his excellent skills as a central forward, Gundi was appointed the best Bulgarian footballer of the 20th century. In 1965 he became Master of Sports and was decorated with silver “People’s Order of Labor”. Gundi was not only a football legend, but a great person, as well. In an away game against then reigning world champions England, Gundi scored an amazing goal at Wembley, dribbling past five English defenders before slotting the ball past the goalie.
AC Milan frantically wanted to sign with him, and coach Nereo Rocco even promised to help him immigrate to Italy, but Gundi remained faithful to the Blue team. In Gundi’s face Milan saw the perfect central forward capable of shooting equally well with both of his legs and his head.
In 1960, when Gundi was only seventeen years old, he was accepted in the A-team of FC Levski. Asparuhov scored his first goal for the Blue on September 28 the same year in a away game against Botev Plovdiv that ended 1-1. In 1962 Gundi wins the national cup with Botev Plovdiv and his team finishes second in the championship the next year. After he comes back to Levski in the autumn of 1963, Gundi wins three titles- in 1965, 1968 and 1970 г, and three national cups - in 1967, 1970 and 1971. Gundi’s last game in the Bulgarian championship was 1-0 win against CSKA on June 28, 1971, and he scored his last goal in a away game against Etar in the town of Veliko Turnovo (1-1).
Throughout his career Gundi played 247 matches in the highest Bulgarian division (200 for FC Levski and 47 for Botev Plovdiv) and scored 150 goals (125 for the Blue and 25 for Botev Plovdiv). Gundi also played in 36 matches of the national cupt tournament (then the Cup of the Soviet Army), of which 28 were with the blue jersey and eight were for Botev Plovdiv.
He was the top scorer in the 1964-1965 championship with 27 goals for FC Levski. In 1965, Gundi won the Best Bulgarian Athlete and Best Bulgarian Footballer and the Fair Play awards. In 1965 Gundi is among the eight players nominated for the Golden Ball award of the French magazine France Football.
Asparuhov made his debut in the national team on May 6, 1962 in a away game against Austria (0-2). During his career Gundi played fifty matches for the national team and scored 19 goals, of which 18 matches and 11 goals in world cup qualifications. He is one of the few Bulgarian footballers that scored at the Wembley stadium against England. That particular game ended in 1-1 draw.
Gundi took part in three world cups: Chile’62 (one game), England’66 (three games, one goal) and Mexico’70 (3 games). In Chile Gundi was only 19 years old and scored the only goal for Bulgaria in this campaign, although the game against Hungary ended 6-1. Four years later Gundi against scores the only goal for Bulgaria against Hungary, but this time the match ended 3-1.
Other unforgettable games of Gundi were those against Portugal in 1962 (3-1) and 1-0 in a game the next year, a 3-0 win against Belgium in 1965 and 3-0 against Sweden in 1967. Gundi’s last international game was 1-1 draw against Morocco at the world Cup finals in Mexico in 1970.
Bulgarian football legends Georgi Asparuhov and Nikola Kotkov, teammates in FC Levski, died in a car accident that occurred near the Vitinya Passage in the Balkan on June 30, 1971. The stadium of FC Levski Sofia is named after Bulgaria’s best football player of all time, Georgi Asparuhov...[more]