Ramaz Shengelia

Rama Shengelia (Georgian რამაზ შენგელია; Russian Рамаз Александрович Шенгелия / Rama Alexandrovich Schengelija; international spelling Ramaz Shengelia; * January 1, 1957 in Kutaisi, Georgian SSR, † June 21, 2012 in Tbilisi, Georgia) was a Soviet football player of Georgian origin.

Career

Shengelia began his career at Torpedo Kutaisi, the club of his hometown. In 1977 he moved to Dinamo Tbilisi. In 1978 he was elected with this team of Soviet masters and for the first time Soviet Footballer of the Year. In 1979, he won the Soviet Cup with Dinamo Tbilisi. In the season 1980/1981 he won with his team the European Cup Winners' Cup and became the second time Soviet Footballer of the Year. He scored a total of 120 goals in 283 league appearances for Dinamo Tbilisi.

Between 1979 and 1983, played for the Soviet national team Shengelia 26 games and scored 10 goals, he took part in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, scoring one goal in the tournament.

After 1983, Shengelia could not build on his outstanding performance and was not nominated for the national team, Dinamo Tbilisi also was unable to win more titles. In 1986, he completed his studies at the State University of Tbilisi. From 1989 to 1990, he played a season for IFK Holmsund in Sweden.

During the 1990s Shengelia worked for the Georgian Football Federation and was the manager of the national team. This office he resigned due to health problems in 2002.

Shengelia died in 2012 following a cerebral hemorrhage.