Ilian Iliev
Iliev in 2020 as the manager of Cherno More
Personal information
Full name Ilian Dimov Iliev
Date of birth (1968-07-02) 2 July 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth Varna, Bulgaria
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bulgaria (manager)
Youth career
1979–1986 Cherno More
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991 Cherno More 75 (18)
1991–1995 Levski Sofia 85 (19)
1993–1994 → Altay (loan) 12 (2)
1995–1997 Benfica 40 (4)
1997 Slavia Sofia 11 (1)
1998 Bursaspor 15 (3)
1998 AEK Athens 8 (0)
1999 Levski Sofia 11 (0)
1999–2002 Marítimo 76 (6)
2002–2003 Salgueiros 24 (0)
2003–2004 Cherno More 18 (2)
Total 375 (55)
International career
1991–2000 Bulgaria 34 (3)
Managerial career
2004–2006 Cherno More
2006–2007 Beroe
2008–2012 Beroe
2012–2013 Levski Sofia
2014–2015 Interclube
2016 Lokomotiv Plovdiv
2017 Vereya
2018– Cherno More
2023– Bulgaria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ilian Dimov Iliev (Bulgarian: Илиан Димов Илиев; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player.[1] He is the head coach at Bulgarian First League club Cherno More and the Bulgarian national football team.

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 34 international caps for the Bulgaria national team.

Club career

Iliev was born in Varna and started to play football at his hometown club Cherno More. In his youth he was also a talented wrestler, but chose to dedicate himself to football.[2] After his good performances in the Cherno More 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 21 August 1991 in Stara Zagora. He registered 34 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.[3]

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,[4] he serves as the manager of Beroe Stara Zagora,[5] 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 was to complete the season with Beroe and then 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.[6] 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.[7] In early 2017, Iliev signed a contract to manage newly promoted Altai Semey from the Kazakhstan Premier League, but stepped down in February 2017, as the club eventually did not receive a license for the top division.[8]

On 9 June 2017, Iliev was appointed as manager of First League club Vereya.[9] Following a successful stint with Vereya, in December 2017 he returned as head coach to his hometown club Cherno More.[10]

On 1 November 2023, Iliev was officially announced as the new manager of Bulgaria while remaining in charge of his club team Cherno More.[11]

Career statistics

Club

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Club League Season Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cherno More A Group 1988–89 11 2 ? ? – 11 2
1989–90 29 3 ? ? – 29 3
B Group 1990–91 35 13 ? ? – 35 13
Total 75 18 ? ? 0 0 75 18
Levski Sofia A Group 1991–92 30 4 8 2 2 0 40 6
1992–93 25 4 7 1 2 0 34 5
Altay (loan) Süper Lig 1993–94 12 2 2 1 – 14 3
Levski Sofia A Group 1993–94 7 0 1 1 0 0 8 1
1994–95 23 11 3 1 2 0 28 12
Total 85 19 19 5 6 0 110 24
Benfica Primeira Liga 1995–96 19 1 5 0 0 0 24 1
1996–97 21 3 2 0 4 0 27 3
Total 40 4 7 0 4 0 51 4
Slavia Sofia A Group 1997–98 11 1 ? ? – 11 1
Bursaspor Süper Lig 1997–98 15 3 2 0 – 17 3
AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki 1998–99 8 0 ? ? 2 0 10 0
Levski Sofia A Group 1998–99 11 0 0 0 – 11 0
Marítimo Primeira Liga 1999–00 32 4 0 0 – 32 4
2000–01 26 2 5 0 – 31 2
2001–02 18 0 6 0 2 0 26 0
Total 76 6 11 0 2 0 89 6
Salgueiros Segunda Liga 2002–03 24 0 0 0 – 24 0
Cherno More A Group 2003–04 18 2 ? ? – 18 2
Career statistics 374 55 41 6 14 0 429 61

International

Bulgaria national team
Year Apps Goals
1991 1 0
1992 3 0
1993 1 0
1994 0 0
1995 0 0
1996 2 1
1997 5 0
1998 9 0
1999 7 1
2000 6 1
Total 34 3

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 14 December 1996 Tsirio Stadium, Limassol  Cyprus 3–1 3–1 World Cup 1998 Qualification
2. 3 March 1999 Stadion Beroe, Stara Zagora  Slovakia 1–0 2–0 Friendly
3. 16 August 2000 Stadion Vivacom Arena – Georgi Asparuhov, Sofia  Belgium 1–3 1–3 Friendly

Honours

Player

Levski Sofia
Benfica

Manager

Beroe
Individual

Manager of the Year in Bulgarian football (2021)[12]

References

  1. ^ Iliev: sonhos na Luz desfeitos por Manuel José maisfutebol.iol.pt
  2. ^ "Илиан Илиев пред Sportal.bg: Не може да си смачкан в живота, а на терена да си лъв". livetv.sx (citing sportal.bg). 27 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ^ "The Bulgarian squad for the 1998 World Cup finals". bulgarian-football.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Берое назначи Илиан Илиев за треньор – БГ Футбол – Sportal.bg". football.sportal.bg. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Beroe back to their best under Iliev". UEFA. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Илиев пое африканския Интер, Илиан ще работи в Ангола". topsport.bg. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Старши треньорът на Локомотив Илиан Илиев подаде оставка" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 17 October 2016.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Илиан Илиев: разтрогнах договора си с "Алтай" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Илиан Илиев е новият старши треньор на ПФК Верея" (in Bulgarian). fcvereya.bg. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Черно море" се разбра с Илиан Илиев" (in Bulgarian). Cherno More official website. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Илиан Илиев е новият селекционер на България" (in Bulgarian). bntnews.bg. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  12. ^ Kichukov, Simeon (19 January 2022). "За втори път Кирил Десподов е Футболист на №1 на България". dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 9 March 2022.

External links

PFC Cherno More Varna – current squad
Current managers of UEFA national teams
Current First Professional Football League managers
Ilian Iliev managerial positions
Bulgaria squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup
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