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Ако си чорбар не чети щото ти освен турски и цигански други езици не знаеш
Georgi Asparoukhov - Gundi was born on May 4th,
1943 in Sofia - Reduta district. An enormous talent - he
possessed God's gift for playing any sport, not only
soccer. In school he was very successful in volleyball,
basketball, soccer and an excellent gymnast. Gundi's
soccer saga begins at 6 - 7 years of age when he was
brought by his father, Asparoukh Rangelov, to develop his
skills in the Levski soccer youth school, guided by Kotze
Georgiev. Astounded by the kid's physics (from early age
Gundi was taller than his classmates) and talent, the coach
accepted him right away. Gundi participated in children's
and junior's Levski teams, became twice (1960 and 1961)
champion with the juniors. At 17 years of age he recorded
his first match in Levski Sofia's men team - in the second
half vs. Lokomotiv Sofia at Rakovski Stadium. Instantly,
Gundi became the favorite player of Sofia fans and with
every new game the central forward's fame and followers
increased. On February 4, 1962 he was drafted and served
his military duties in FC Botev, a club that represented the
Army in the city of Plovdiv at that time. The same year
Gundi won the National Cup with Botev, and reached
UEFA's Cup of Winners' of Cups quarterfinals to step down
vs. Spain's Atletico Madrid. Notable are the 5 goals Gundi
scored vs. Steaua Bucharest to eliminate them with 5:1 &
2:3. In 1962/63 Botev was vice-champion of Bulgaria.
Gundi became very popular in Plovdiv as well, and for
some time there were serious rumors that he would stay in
the club after discharging. Eventually - fortunately for every
Levski fan, Gundi returned to his original club, after he
played his last game with Botev on October 5, 1963. In
1965 Gundi, together with the great play of his mates
brought the Bulgarian championship title back to Levski
after 12 years. Gundi became goal-scorer of the League,
and was awarded numerous prizes and honors (stated
below). Despite the avalanche of injuries and surgeries, in
1968 and 1970 Gundi was champion with Levski again. At
the European field his talent was well recognized - after
his performance vs. Benfica in Cup of Champions'65/66
and vs. Milan in Cup of Winners of Cups'68/69. Asparoukhov
was the first Bulgarian soccer player with an offer from a
professional club - Benfica. But, the most international
recognition he received with his play for the National team
of Bulgaria - such memorial games as 1962 vs. Portugal,
3:1; 1963 vs. Portugal, 1:0; 1965 vs. Belgium, 3:0 & 2:1;
1967 vs. Sweden, 3:0; 1967 vs. Portugal, 1:0; 1968 vs.
Italy, 3:2; 1968 at England, 1:1 and many others.
In the last game of his short life - Levski vs. CSKA, 1970/
71 season Gundi received one of the few red cards in his
career, after he responded of being challenged and
maltreated throughout the whole match. The very next
day a special commission gathered, three days earlier
than usual, and banned him for 3 games of play.
Following that Gundi and his friend Nikola Kotkov
decided to visit the northern town of Vratza for a friendly
game they were invited to earlier, with the local soccer
team - Botev. They never reached it.
On June 30, 1971, 11 a.m. at the 52nd kilometer on the
highway between Sofia and Vratza Gundi's Alfa Romeo
crashed with high speed into a large semi - ZIL, and
exploded. Both players burned in a matter of seconds.
The rumors about their death spread immediately, and
soon the country was in a state of national mourning.
Gundi and Kotkov's funeral was visited by hundreds of
thousands despite the Government's opposing of large
gatherings of people.
ЛЕВСКИ СОФИЯ САМИ СРЕЩУ ВСИЧКИ!
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