George Borba

George Borba was born in 1944 in Macerata

Borba was born in Macerata, Italy, the fifth of 10 children in a Jewish family from Tripoli, Libya. The family had fled to Italy during World War II and was held in a camp by Fascists. He was moved to the Fossoli camp and then to Bergen-Belsen, where British soldiers freed the family.

He was named George after King George VI, in thanks to the British. He immigrated to Israel as a child. His brother Haim Borba was the driver of Shimon Peres for many years.

He started at Hapoel North Tel Aviv and trained briefly with Hapoel Jerusalem before joining Hapoel Tel Aviv. He played there from 1965 to 1972, scoring 45 league goals and winning titles and the 1967 Asian club championship. He later played for Hapoel Ramat Gan and won the 1974 league title with Maccabi Netanya.

He made 37 appearances for Israel and scored 7 goals, from 1966 to 1973. He played at the 1968 Olympics and was in the 1970 World Cup squad but did not play there. In 1968 the Knesset discussed the employment of national team players after he was fired from the postal authority over absences for training.

After retiring he worked as a coach, a newspaper distributor and a driver. He was injured in his right hand in a road accident in 1990. His dispute with an insurance company over compensation led to a Supreme Court ruling.