Aleksandar Veselinov Vasilev (

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

: Александър Веселинов Василев; born 27 April 1995) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

/ winger.

Club career

Early career

Aleksandar Vasilev started his career playing for his hometown club Levski Strazhitsa. He moved eventually to Vidima-Rakovski, before being invited to join

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov ( bg, Христо Стоичков Стоичков, ; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association ...

's academy at Chavdar Etropole. In 2012, he made his professional football debut for Chavdar in the

B Group The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

, providing the winning goal for the team in a 1-0 win against Akademik Sofia. In the following season he made 22 appearances for the club, most of them as a substitute. In the summer of 2013 he moved to fellow B Group side Kaliakra Kavarna, where he established himself as a main squad player for the club in the

2013–14 B Group The 2013–14 B Group was the 58th season of the Bulgarian B Football Group, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system. The season starts on 3 August 2013 and finished in May 2014. On 21 June the executive committee of Bulgarian Foo ...

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 6 June 2014 he signed for Ludogorets together with his Bulgaria U19 teammate, Preslav Petrov. On 2 August 2014 Vasilev made his official debut for Ludogorets in an

A Group The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

match against Marek Dupnitsa. A year later, on 21 August 2015, he scored his first goal for the team in a 3-0 win against

Pirin Blagoevgrad Futbolen klub Pirin ( bg, Футболен клуб „Пирин“), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. Th ...

Loan to Beroe

On 14 June 2016 Vasilev signed for

Beroe Stara Zagora Beroe ( bg, Берое) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded in 1916 under the name ''Vere ...

on a season long loan deal. He made his debut on 7 August 2016 in a league match against

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia ( bg, ПФК Славия София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground ...

, debuting with a goal in a 2-1 win for Beroe. His good performances led him being called-up back by Ludogorets's main squad on 6 January 2017.

Return to Ludogorets

Vasilev returned in play for Ludogorets II on 13 March 2017 in a match against Tsarsko Selo Sofia. On 18 March 2017 he played his first match for the season for Ludogorets in a 2:2 draw against

Dunav Ruse FC Dunav ( bg, Дунав, officially named ''"Дунав от Русе"'') is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Ruse, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of the Bulgarian football league system. Part o ...

. For the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

match on 18 April 2017 against

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

, Vasilev played the full match and scored one goal for the 4:0 win.

Beroe

On 1 June 2018, Vasilev signed with Beroe.

Retirement

Vasilev surprisingly announced his retirement on 5 January 2024 at age of just 28 in order to start his own business, despite the fact he was a starter in Cherno More, which ended 2023 as First League leaders.

International career

Senior level

On 14 March 2017 Vasilev received his first call up for

main squad for the match against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 25 March 2017. He completed the match on the bench staying as unused substitute for the 2:0 win over Netherlands. On 18 November 2020, Vasilev earned his first cap, coming on as a substitute for Cicinho and playing the last 30 minutes of the 0:0 away draw with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in a Nations League match.

Club statistics

Honours

;Ludogorets * First League (4): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilev, Aleksandar 1995 births Living people People from Strazhitsa Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players FC Chavdar Etropole players FC Kaliakra Kavarna players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Men's association football wingers Men's association football fullbacks Sportspeople from Veliko Tarnovo Province