Shengelia, Ramaz Alexandrovich

He began to play in the training groups “Torpedo” (Kutaisi) with Carlo Khurtsidze (1968). Ramaz did not show himself when enrolling in school, but thanks to his father's insistent requests, he was taken to school for a probationary period ^[3] .

In 1971-1976 Shengelia played in “Torpedo” Kutaisi. At the beginning of 1977, together with Torpedo partners T. Sulakvelidze and T. Kostava, he was invited by coach Nodar Akhalkatsi to Dynamo Tbilisi .

Already in 1978, Shengelia was recognized as the best footballer of the USSR , and in 1979 made his debut as part of the USSR national football team . In 1980 he became the champion of Europe among youth teams. However, he was not taken to the Olympics-80 .

1981 is the most successful year for Shengel. He, as part of Dynamo Tbilisi, is the winner of the Cup of Cups , together with the USSR team made his way to the final of World Cup 82 (played there in all matches, scored a goal to the Scots), is again recognized as the country's best football player. Shengelia was distinguished by scoring flair, high starting speed, functional readiness, full dedication on the field ^[4] .

In August 1981, he made a bright appearance at the preseason “tournament of four” in Spain. Dynamo lost to Real Madrid 2-4 in the semi-finals (leading 2-1 in the course of the meeting), and in the match for 3rd place they won 2-1 against Bayern Munich. Ramaz Shengelia played all four goals in Tbilisi.

In total, the USSR national team spent 26 matches, scored 10 goals.

After 1983, the athlete's career began to decline. He did not appear in the national team anymore, but in Dynamo he was no different. The exception was the 1987 season, when Ramaz flashed in the UEFA Cup 87/88 scoring 4 goals in 6 matches and in the all-Union championship entered the top ten scorers (11 goals in 27 matches).

In 1989, he spent the season for the Swedish Holmsund FC , after which he ended his career. Shengelia later regretted that he had stopped speaking quite early ^[5] .

From February 15, 1990, from the moment of the constituent conference of the Georgian Football Federation , he worked in its structure. Head of the national teams department of the Football Federation of Georgia (1990-1992). In the mid-1990s, for several years he was the technical director of the Georgian team, coached by Alexander Chivadze.

In 2004, he had an accident when he was returning from Kutaisi to Tbilisi by car. Doctors diagnosed intracranial hematoma , after which Shengelia increasingly entered the football field as part of a team of veterans ^[6] .

In May 2012, he was appointed Honorary Vice President of the Georgian Football Federation ^[7] .

He died at the 56th year of life on June 21, 2012 from a heart attack in his country house in the town of Tserovani , 15 km from Tbilisi ^[8] . During the requiem, a huge screen was installed in the center of Tbilisi so that football fans could admire the goals of Shengel ^[6] . He was buried at the Saburtalinsky cemetery ^[9] , in the pantheon of prominent figures of Georgia.

Many famous sportsmen responded to the death of a football player. In a telegram of condolences from FIFA President Joseph Blatter, it was noted that “Ramaz Shengelia was one of the best footballers and goalkeepers in Europe.” First Vice President of the Russian Football Union Nikita Simonyan noted: “Ramaz Shengelia was a high-class football player, an open and decent person. The vivid and expressive game of Ramaz did not leave indifferent many football fans, the memory of Ramaz will forever remain in our hearts ” ^[5] .

• Wife is a kindergarten worker.
  • Son George is a football player, played in the teams of Georgia and Cyprus, played for the youth and youth teams of Georgia. Due to injuries, he had to leave football early and currently works as a coach in Tbilisi at the football academy founded by former goalkeeper of Tbilisi Dynamo Carlo Mchedlidze ^[5] .
  • The daughter is married to the Kutaisi Torpedo footballer.

• 1977 - 2nd prize-winner of the USSR Championship
• 1978 - Champion of the USSR
• 1979 - 2nd prize-winner of the USSR Championship, winner of the USSR Cup
• 1980 - Champion of Europe among youth teams
• 1981 - 3rd prize-winner of the USSR Championship, winner of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup
• 1978, 1981 - Footballer of the year in the USSR
• 1979 - Silver medalist of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR (as part of the Georgian national team)
• Member of the 1982 World Cup
• Member of the club scorers. Grigory Fedotov
• In the lists of “33 best” - 5 times
• The best scorer of the USSR Championship 1981 (23 goals in 32 matches)
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer - 1981/1982 (6 goals)

In 2013, the efforts of the son of George Shengel and friends of Ramaz created the “Ramaz Shengelia Charity Fund ”. The fund will contribute to the development of children's football, the search for talents, assistance to veterans, and the holding of Ramaz tournaments.

In January 2013, the first children's tournament named after Ramaz Shengelia was held in Georgia, the final was held in Kutaisi, the winner was the team of the Tengiz Sulakvelidze Academy operating in Tbilisi. It is planned that the tournament will become traditional, large-scale and international with the participation of clubs from different countries ^[5] .

• Profile on the Russian Football Team website