Ilian Iliev

For the Bulgarian footballer born in 1988, see Iliyan Iliev.
Ilian Iliev
Personal information
Full name Ilian Dimov Iliev
Date of birth (1968-07-02) 2 July 1968
Place of birth Varna, Bulgaria
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1991 Cherno More 123 (31)
1991–1995 Levski Sofia 85 (19)
1993 → Altay (loan) 12 (3)
1995–1997 Benfica 40 (5)
1997 Slavia Sofia 11 (1)
1998 Bursaspor 15 (3)
1998 AEK Athens 8 (1)
1999 Levski Sofia 11 (0)
1999–2002 Marítimo 76 (10)
2002–2003 Salgueiros 25 (3)
2003–2004 Cherno More 18 (3)
Total 436 (80)
National team
1991–2000 Bulgaria 34 (3)
Teams managed
2004–2006 Cherno More
2006–2007 Beroe Stara Zagora
2008–2012 Beroe Stara Zagora
2012–2013 Levski Sofia
2014–2015 Interclube
2016 Lokomotiv Plovdiv

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Ilian Dimov Iliev (Bulgarian: Илиан Димов Илиев; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian former international football midfielder, and currently manager. His son Ilian Iliev Jr. is also a footballer, currently playing for Cherno More.

He is best known for having played for Portuguese club Benfica and Bulgarian sides Cherno More and Levski Sofia. In his professional career as a footballer, he received 35 international caps for the Bulgaria national team.

Career

Iliev was born in Varna and started to play football at his hometown club Cherno More. After his good performances in the youth teams were caught, he was promoted into the first team in 1986. For five seasons, between 1986 and 1991, Iliev made 123 appearances and scored 31 goals for the club. He was transferred to Levski Sofia in the 1991–92 season, winning three times the Bulgarian A PFG and one Bulgarian Cup in five years with the club. In 1995, Iliev moved to Benfica and won the Taça de Portugal in the 1995–96 season. In his career he also played for Slavia Sofia, Turkish Bursaspor, Greek AEK Athens as well as for the Portuguese clubs Marítimo and Salgueiros. He finished his career at his first club Cherno More Varna in 2004.

International career

Iliev earned his first cap with Bulgaria in a friendly match against Turkey on 22 September 1991 in Stara Zagora. He registered 35 caps for his country, scoring three goals. Iliev was part of the Bulgarian squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where he played in three games.[1]

Coaching career

After retiring in 2004, Iliev pursued a career as a coach. In June 2004, he was appointed as a manager in his first club Cherno More Varna. However, on 3 March 2006, after a two years spell at the Sailors, he resigned after a home 0–1 loss against Rodopa Smolyan. Since 2006,[2] he serves as the manager of Beroe Stara Zagora,[3] making him one of the longest serving coach in a Bulgarian football club. Under his management in the 2009–10 season, Beroe won a historical first Bulgarian Cup and consequently achieved a participation in the UEFA Europa League qualification stages. Iliev has been voted best coach in the Bulgarian championship for the season 2009–10 by the association of Bulgarian football players.

On 6 April 2012 it was announced that Iliev will be the new manager of Levski Sofia. He will complete the current season with Beroe and then will start his new job at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. His contract will be until June 2015.

On 12 April 2013, he was fired by Levski Sofia and was replaced by Nikolay Mitov.

In mid May 2014, Iliev held final talks to become the manager of Angolan club Inter Luanda. Compatriot Petar Kostadinov was announced as his assistant.[4] He returned to his country in 2016, being appointed as manager of Loko Plovdiv. Iliev came close to securing European club football for the team, as the "smurfs" finished in 5th place in the standings during the 2015/2016 A PFG. On 17 October 2016, following a 1–2 defeat by Lokomotiv GO, Iliev announced that he is leaving Lokomotiv Plovdiv.[5]

Honours

Player

Levski Sofia
Benfica

Manager

Beroe

References

  1. ↑ "The Bulgarian squad for the 1998 World Cup finals". bulgarian-football.com.
  2. ↑ http://football.sportal.bg/news.php?news=12255
  3. ↑ "Beroe back to their best under Iliev". UEFA.com. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  4. ↑ "Илиев пое африканския Интер, Илиан ще работи в Ангола". topsport.bg. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Старши треньорът на Локомотив Илиан Илиев подаде оставка" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 17 October 2016.
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