Ilian Iliev

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 Varna.

For the Bulgarian footballer born in 1988, see Iliyan Iliev.
For the Bulgarian weightlifter, see Ilian Iliev (weightlifter).
For the Bulgarian equestrian, see Ilian Iliev (equestrian).

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)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Cherno More (manager)
Youth career
1979–1986 Cherno More
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991 Cherno More 74 (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 374 (55)
National team
1991–2000 Bulgaria 34 (3)
Teams managed
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
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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]

Career statistics

Club
Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalTotal
ClubLeagueSeasonAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cherno More A Group 1988–89 102??–102
1989–90 293??–293
B Group 1990–91 3513??–3513
Total 7418??007418
Levski Sofia A Group 1991–92 3048220406
1992–93 2547120345
Altay (loan) Süper Lig 1993–94 12221–143
Levski Sofia A Group 1993–94 70110081
1994–95 231131202812
Total 85191956011024
Benfica Primeira Liga 1995–96 1915000241
1996–97 2132040273
Total 4047040514
Slavia Sofia A Group 1997–98 111??–111
Bursaspor Süper Lig 1997–98 15320–173
AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki 1998–99 80??20100
Levski Sofia A Group 1998–99 11000–110
Marítimo Primeira Liga 1999–00 32400–324
2000–01 26250–312
2001–02 1806020260
Total 76611020896
Salgueiros Segunda Liga 2002–03 24000–240
Cherno More A Group 2003–04 182??–182
Career statistics3745541614042961

    International
    Bulgaria national team
    YearAppsGoals
    199110
    199230
    199310
    199400
    199500
    199621
    199750
    199890
    199971
    200061
    Total343

    International goals
    #DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.14 December 1996Tsirio Stadium, Limassol Cyprus3–13–1World Cup 1998 Qualification
    2.3 March 1999Stadion Beroe, Stara Zagora Slovakia1–02–0Friendly
    3.16 August 2000Stadion Georgi Asparuhov, Sofia Belgium1–31–3Friendly

    Honours

    Player
    Levski Sofia
    Benfica

    Manager
    Beroe

    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. http://football.sportal.bg/news.php?news=12255
    5. "Beroe back to their best under Iliev". UEFA.com. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
    6. "Илиев пое африканския Интер, Илиан ще работи в Ангола". topsport.bg. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
    7. "Старши треньорът на Локомотив Илиан Илиев подаде оставка" (in Bulgarian). lokomotivpd.com. 17 October 2016.
    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.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.