Georgi Spirov Naydenov ( bg, Георги Спиров Найденов) (21 December 1931 – 28 May 1970) was

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and manager. He is considered the greatest Bulgarian goalkeeper of all time. Between 1955 and 1965 he played in 176 matches for

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

. He was honoured as

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year Bulgarian Footballer of the Year ( bg, Футболист №1 на България, ''Futbolist №1 na Balgariya'') is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, an ...

in 1961. Naydenov won the top Bulgarian league, the

A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

, 8 times (all with CSKA), as well as the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

, 3 times (all with CSKA). He was respected for his incredible work ethic and his determination during training and matches alike.

International career

For the

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football and is administere ...

Naydenov featured in 51 games and won a bronze medal at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. He played for his country at the 1962 and 1966 World Cups. Even after he had retired from competing he still remained one of the fittest players in Bulgaria and this made his death all the more mysterious. He died in Damascus, Syria and initial reports claimed he had suffered a heart attack although members of his family and people close to him suspected he had been poisoned.

Honours

Player

** Bulgarian League: 8 times – 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 **

: 3 times – 1955, 1961, 1965

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naydenov, Georgi 1931 births 1970 deaths Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Association football goalkeepers Footballers from Sofia 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players PFC CSKA Sofia players Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in football First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics