Ivelin Popov

Ivelin Popov

Personal information
Full name	Ivelin Ivanov Popov
Date of birth	October 26, 1987 (1987-10-26)
Place of birth	Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Second striker, Winger
Club information
Current club	Gaziantepspor
Number	71
Youth career
	Septemvri Sofia
–2004	Levski Sofia
2005	Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2010	Litex Lovech	96	(25)
2010–	Gaziantepspor	48	(4)
National team‡
2006–2008	Bulgaria U21	13	(2)
2007–	Bulgaria	25	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 July 2011

Ivelin Popov (Bulgarian: Ивелин Попов) (born 26 October 1987) is a Bulgarian footballer, currently playing for Gaziantepspor as an all-round attacking midfielder.

Career

Youth career

Born in Sofia, Popov started to play football in Septemvri Sofia's academy. In 2005, he trained for four months with Feyenoord but did not sign with the team because he was not 18 years old. In September 2005, he returned to Bulgaria and played in a tournament for Beroe's youth team and there he was spotted by the Litex Lovech scouts.

Litex Lovech

Popov signed his first professional contract with Litex Lovech in December 2005. He made his official debut in the Bulgarian top division in a match against CSKA Sofia on 12 March 2006. He played 59 minutes. The result of the match was a 1–1 draw. On 9 April 2006 he scored his first goal in professional football against Lokomotiv Sofia. The result of the match was a 3–1 win for Litex. The same season, Popov played in 11 matches and scored five goals.

On 18 September 2008, Popov scored a goal in the first round of the UEFA Cup against Aston Villa, and according to the commentator, was being watched by scouts from Sunderland.

In July 2009, Popov was given the captain's armband.

During the week of 16 August 2010, Popov arrived at Premier League club Blackburn Rovers for a trial as confirmed by club chairman John Williams who controls club transfer funds. Williams, is quoted as saying "He is one of a number of strikers currently under consideration. We have not made an offer to his club." on 19 August 2010. It was later revealed that Popov had completed his trial with the club successfully, and that they were considering making a bid for the player. The work permit issue revealed by some sections of the media has since been reputed as untrue however. Popov was also connected with the newly promoted Spanish club Hércules, but they didn't agree to pay €3 million. The saga ended when he was signed by the Turkish club Gaziantepspor for a reported fee of €1.8 million.

Gaziantepspor

Popov was given the number 71 shirt at Kamil Ocak Stadium. He made his first Süper Lig appearance on 13 September 2010, in Gaziantepspor's fourth game of the season, in the match away to Galatasaray in a 1–0 defeat. Popov scored his first league goal for Gaziantepspor against Bucaspor on 16 October.

Club statistics

As of 21 January 2012

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Litex Lovech	2005–06	9	5	2	0	1	0	12	5
	2006–07	19	1	0	0	2	0	21	1
	2007–08	25	10	4	1	6	5	35	16
	2008–09	22	3	3	4	4	2	29	9
	2009–10	18	6	1	0	0	0	19	6
	2010–11	3	0	0	0	4	1	4	1
	Total	96	25	10	5	17	8	121	38
Gaziantepspor	2010–11	28	2	8	3	–	–	36	5
	2011–12	20	2	0	0	4	1	24	3
	Total	48	4	8	3	4	1	60	8
Career totals		144	29	18	8	21	9	183	46

International career

Popov playing for Litex Lovech

In August 2007, Dimitar Penev called Popov up to the Bulgaria national team squad for the friendly match with Wales. On 11 February 2009, he scored his first goal for Bulgaria against Switzerland. On 2 April 2009, Popov scored the first of two goals for Bulgaria in the 2-0 win against Cyprus. On 9 February 2011, Popov scored twice from the penalty spot in the 2:2 draw with Estonia in a friendly match, but the result was subsequently declared void by FIFA and expunged from the records due to suspicions of match fixing with the involvement of the game officials.

Ivelin Popov: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 February 2009	Switzerland	Switzerland	0–1	1–1	Friendly.
2.	1 April 2009	Sofia, Bulgaria	Cyprus	1–0	2–0	World Cup 2010 Qual.
3.	19 May 2010	Belgium	Belgium	0-1	1–2	Friendly.
4.	8 October 2010	Cardiff, Wales	Wales	0-1	0-1	Euro 2012 Qual.
5.	4 June 2011	Podgorica, Montenegro	Montenegro	1-1	1–1	Euro 2012 Qual.

Awards

Club

Litex Lovech

• Bulgarian A PFG: 2009–10
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2010
• Bulgarian Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09
• Bulgarian Players' Player of the Year: 2009-10

External links

• Ivelin Popov at National-Football-Teams.com