Dimitar Iliev (footballer, born 1988)

Dimitar Iliev
Personal information
Full name	Dimitar Krasimirov Iliev
Date of birth	25 September 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder / Forward
Team information
Current team	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Number	14
Senior career*
Years	Team
2004–2009	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
2010–2011	CSKA Sofia
2010	→ Minyor Pernik (loan)
2011	→ Pirin Blagoevgrad (loan)
2011–2012	Montana
2012–2014	Lokomotiv Sofia
2014–2017	Wisła Płock
2017–2018	Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała
2018–	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
International career
2004–2005	Bulgaria U17
2006–2007	Bulgaria U19
2008–2009	Bulgaria U21
2019–	Bulgaria
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 December 2019

Dimitar Iliev (Bulgarian: Димитър Илиев, born 25 September 1988) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Lokomotiv Plovdiv, where he is also club captain.^[1]

Career

Iliev began his career in the youth ranks of Lokomotiv Plovdiv. After making his way through the various youth levels at the club, he debuted for the senior team in a 4–1 home win over Lokomotiv Sofia on 11 September 2004, at age of 15. In November 2004, Iliev had a trial spell with Chelsea.^[2]

In January 2010, Iliev signed for CSKA Sofia, but struggled to get into the main squad and spent loan spells at Minyor Pernik and Pirin Blagoevgrad, before joining Montana on a permanent basis in August 2011.^[3]

After one season with Montana, Iliev joined Lokomotiv Sofia, where he spent two seasons before moving to Poland to sign for Wisła Płock in 2014. In 2015–16, his second season with the club, Iliev helped Wisła achieve promotion to the Ekstraklasa. He spent three full seasons with Wisła before moving to Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała in 2017 where he spent one season.

On 16 July 2018, Iliev re-joined Lokomotiv Plovdiv, signing a two-year contract.^[4] At the end of the season he lifted the Bulgarian Cup as a captain of his childhood team. The 1–0 win against local rivals Botev Plovdiv was achieved with the only goal in 73rd minute scored by Alen Ožbolt (assist by Ante Aralica and pre-assist by Iliev himself). It happened to be the first Bulgarian Cup trophy for Lokomotiv as well as the 1st ever trophy in Iliev's career.

International career

In November 2019 Iliev received his first call up to the national team for the friendly match against Paraguay and the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualification match against the Czech Republic,^[5] but remained an unused substitute for both games. He earned his first cap on 26 February 2020, playing the first half of the 0:1 home loss against Belarus in a friendly game.^[6]

Career statistics

As of 9 June 2020^[update]

Club	Season	League			Cup^[a]		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2004–05	A Group	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2005–06		11	0	1	1	0	0	12	1
	2006–07		12	3	1	0	1	0	14	3
	2007–08		9	1	2	0	—	—	11	1
	2008–09		25	7	1	0	—	—	26	7
	2009–10		13	3	0	0	—	—	13	3
CSKA Sofia	2009–10		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010–11		5	0	1	0	4	0	10	0
	Total		5	0	1	0	4	0	10	0
Minyor Pernik (loan)	2009–10	A Group	14	5	1	0	—	—	15	5
Pirin Blagoevgrad (loan)	2010–11		12	3	1	0	—	—	13	3
Montana	2011–12		27	2	0	0	—	—	27	2
Lokomotiv Sofia	2012–13		26	4	5	2	—	—	31	6
	2013–14		31	6	5	0	—	—	36	6
	Total		57	10	10	2	0	0	67	12
Wisła Płock	2014–15	I liga	32	5	0	0	—	—	32	5
	2015–16	I liga	29	3	1	0	—	—	30	3
	2016–17	Ekstraklasa	29	3	0	0	—	—	29	3
	Total		90	11	1	0	0	0	91	11
Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała	2017–18	I liga	23	3	3	0	—	—	26	3
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2018–19	First League	29	9	6	2	—	—	35	11
	2019–20	First League	24	12	5	5	4	2	33	19
	Total		126	35	16	8	5	2	147	45
Career statistics			354	69	33	10	9	2	396	81

^ Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.

Honours

Club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Bulgarian Cup: 2018–19

Individual

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2019^[7]
Best forward in the Bulgarian First League: 2019^[7]

References

^ "Dimitar Iliev Facts". footballdatabase.eu.
^ "Димитър Илиев от Локо (Пд) започва проби в Челси" (in Bulgarian). monitor.bg. 1 November 2004.
^ "Монтана се подсили с бивш цесекар" (in Bulgarian). btvnovinite.bg. 2 August 2011.
^ "Локомотив подписа договор с Димитър Илиев" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 16 July 2018.
^ "Георги Дерменджиев започна с изненадите в националния отбор". topsport.bg. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^ "Експериментален състав на България отстъпи на Беларус (видео+галерия)". sportal.bg. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b Petkov, Georgi (5 January 2020). "Димитър Илиев е "Футболист на годината", получи наградата си лично от Бербатов". topsport.bg. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

External links

(in Bulgarian) Lokomotiv Plovdiv profile
Dimitar Iliev at Soccerway
Dimitar Iliev at 90minut.pl (in Polish)

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[7] Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.

[1] "Dimitar Iliev Facts". footballdatabase.eu.

[2] "Димитър Илиев от Локо (Пд) започва проби в Челси" (in Bulgarian). monitor.bg. 1 November 2004.

[3] "Монтана се подсили с бивш цесекар" (in Bulgarian). btvnovinite.bg. 2 August 2011.

[4] "Локомотив подписа договор с Димитър Илиев" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 16 July 2018.

[5] "Георги Дерменджиев започна с изненадите в националния отбор". topsport.bg. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.

[6] "Експериментален състав на България отстъпи на Беларус (видео+галерия)". sportal.bg. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

[diliev999-8] Petkov, Georgi (5 January 2020). "Димитър Илиев е "Футболист на годината", получи наградата си лично от Бербатов". topsport.bg. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

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