Georgi Iliev (footballer)

Georgi Iliev

Personal information
Full name	Georgi Iliev Rusev
Date of birth	5 September 1981
Place of birth	Varna, Bulgaria
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Cherno More
Number	21
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2003	Cherno More	72	(13)
2003–2005	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	67	(8)
2006–2008	CSKA Sofia	56	(3)
2008–2013	Cherno More	135	(35)
2014–2015	Shijiazhuang Ever Bright	37	(13)
2016–	Cherno More	31	(7)
National team^‡
2004–	Bulgaria	23	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 December 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:24, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

Georgi Iliev (Bulgarian: Георги Илиев; 5 September 1981 in Varna) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays for Cherno More Varna. He primarily plays as a centre midfielder.^[1] He has been capped 23 times for Bulgaria.

Career

Cherno More

Born in Varna, Iliev was taken on by Cherno More Varna at an early age and signed a professional contract in July 2000. His debut came on 14 October 2000 at Hristo Botev Stadium ending in a 1–0 defeat to Botev Plovdiv. On 21 October, he went on to score his first competitive goal for Cherno More against Litex Lovech on his 2nd appearance for the club. For three years in Cherno More, Iliev earned 72 appearances playing in the A PFG, scored 13 goals.^[2]

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

In 2003, Iliev was transferred to Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He made his first appearance in the 4–1 win over Marek Dupnitsa on 16 August 2003. In his first season at Lokomotiv, they won their first ever A PFG championship in the 2003–04. On 31 July 2004, Iliev helped Lokomotiv to win the Bulgarian Supercup and he made his debut for the Bulgarian national side under coach Hristo Stoichkov in the same year. On 29 September 2005, he scored his first ever European goals for Lokomotiv, in a 1–2 loss against Bolton Wanderers of the UEFA Cup.^[3]

CSKA Sofia

On 16 December 2005, CSKA Sofia signed Georgi Iliev to a three-year deal. On 5 March 2006, he made his competitive debut for CSKA in a 1–0 victory over Botev Plovdiv. During the 2006–07 season Iliev netted his first CSKA goal. He scored on 5 August 2006 in a 2–0 away victory over Cherno More. On 18 April 2007, Georgi scored CSKA's second in a 2–0 home win against Botev Plovdiv. Iliev netted CSKA's only and his third goal in a 1–0 win against Beroe Stara Zagora on 7 October 2007. With CSKA he was a Champion of Bulgaria for 2008 and holder of Bulgarian Cup for 2006.

Return to Cherno More

In June 2008, Iliev made a comeback for his first team Cherno More. On 2 October 2008, Georgi scored the 2nd goal for the Sailors in the UEFA Cup match against VfB Stuttgart in the away 2–2 draw at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.^[4] Iliev took over the captaincy of Cherno More when Aleksandar Aleksandrov was transferred to Levski Sofia in 2009. On 26 October 2009, he made his 100th league appearance for Cherno more in a 1–1 draw against Slavia Sofia, scoring the only goal. On 18 April 2012, Iliev scored a hat-trick in the 7–1 win over Kaliakra Kavarna.^[5]

Shijiazhuang Yongchang

Iliev signed with Chinese side Shijiazhuang Yongchang on 6 January 2014 on a two-year deal for a reported fee of €100,000.^[6] He finished 2014 season in the China League One as the club's top scorer with 9 goals, helping his team to gain promotion to the Chinese Super League for first time in club's history. On 5 April 2015 he scored his first goal for Shijiazhuang in Chinese Super League in a 1-2 away loss to Jiangsu Sainty.^[7]

International career

An occasional member of the Under 21 team, Iliev marked his international début under Hristo Stoichkov on 29 November 2004 in a friendly game against Egypt. His first goal for Bulgaria came against Iceland on 7 September 2005. He has been capped 19 times for Bulgaria.^[8]

Career statistics

As of 2 December 2016

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cherno More	2000–01	18	2	3	2	–	–	21	4
	2001–02	36	8	2	0	–	–	38	8
	2002–03	18	3	1	0	–	–	19	3
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2003–04	27	1	5	0	–	–	32	1
	2004–05	27	5	4	0	2	0	33	5
	2005–06	13	2	1	0	3	1	17	3
CSKA Sofia	2005–06	12	0	2	0	–	–	14	0
	2006–07	28	2	3	0	5	0	36	2
	2007–08	16	1	0	0	0	0	16	1
Cherno More	2008–09	20	3	1	0	5	1	26	4
	2009–10	16	4	2	2	4	0	22	6
	2010–11	26	9	2	0	–	–	28	9
	2011–12	28	10	1	0	–	–	29	10
	2012–13	29	7	2	0	–	–	31	7
	2013–14	16	2	2	0	–	–	18	2
Shijiazhuang Yongchang	2014	26	10	–	–	–	–	26	10
	2015	11	3	0	0	–	–	11	3
Cherno More	2015–16	14	4	–	–	–	–	14	4
	2016–17	17	3	1	0	–	–	18	3
Career totals		398	79	32	4	19	2	449	85

National team

Bulgaria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2004	1	0
2005	7	1
2006	4	0
2007	0	0
2008	0	0
2009	0	0
2010	0	0
2011	0	0
2012	2	0
2013	5	1
2014	4	0
Total	23	2

International goals

Scores and results lists Bulgaria's goals first

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 September 2005	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Iceland	2–2	3–2	2006 World Cup qualification
2	4 June 2013	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	1–0	2–1	Friendly

Honours

Club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

• A Group (1): 2003–04
• Bulgarian Supercup (1): 2004

CSKA Sofia

• A Group (1): 2007–08
• Bulgarian Cup (1): 2006

References

1. "Georgi Iliev Facts". Footballdatabase.eu.
2. "Stats Centre: Georgi Iliev Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
3. "Lokо Plovdiv 1–2 Bolton (agg 2–4)". BBC.co.uk. 29 September 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2005.
4. "Match details/line-up: VfB Stuttgart – Cherno More". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
5. "Черно море размаза Калиакра със 7:1, каварненци гледат към "Б" група" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 18 April 2012.
6. "Георги Илиев подписa с Шъдзяджуан" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 6 January 2014.
7. "Article". 163.com (in Chinese). 5 March 2015.
8. Georgi Iliev at National-Football-Teams.com