Murtaz Khurtsilava

Murtaz Khurtsilava (Georgian: მურთაზ ხურცილავა, Russian: Муртаз Калистратович Хурцилава, born 5 January 1943) is a former Georgian association football defender.

Murtaz Khurtsilava

Murtaz Khurtsilava c. 1973
Personal information
Full name	Murtaz Khurtsilava
Date of birth	(1943-01-05) 5 January 1943
Place of birth	Bandza, Martvili District, Georgia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1975	FC Dinamo Tbilisi	293	(15)
1975–1976	FC Torpedo Kutaisi	47	(4)
Total		340	(19)
National team
1965–1973	USSR	69	(6)
Teams managed
	Lokomotiv Samtredia
1977	Dinamo Zugdidi
1982	Guria Lanchkhuti
1987–1989	FC Dinamo Tbilisi (assistant)
1997–1999	FC Dinamo Tbilisi
1999	FC Lokomotivi Tbilisi
1999–2001	Georgia U-21
2001–2003	Georgia (assistant)
Honours Representing  Soviet Union UEFA European Championship Runner-up 1972 Belgium Olympic Games 1972 Munich Team
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Khurtsilava was discovered while playing football in the school garden in Gegechkori, a small town in Caucasus – now known as Martvili – where he learned to play football with a ball made of hay and rags.[1]

He was part of the USSR side that finished fourth at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, third at the 1972 Summer Olympics[2] and second in the 1972 UEFA European Championship. After the UEFA Euro 1972 along with his teammates by Soviet Union national football team — Revaz Dzodzuashvili and Evgeni Rudakov — he was included in the team of the tournament, where also were presented such great players like Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness and Günter Netzer.[3] He was also one of the only two Georgians, alongside Alexandre Chivadze, to have captained the Soviet Union national football team. At the club level he played for FC Dynamo Tbilisi.

After retiring in 1977, Khurtsilava set up his own business in Tbilisi, where he now resides with his family.[1]

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Georgia by the Georgian Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[4]