Bojidar Georgiev Iskrenov ( bg, Божидар Гeopгиeв Искренов, born 1 August 1962), nicknamed Gibona (Гибона means "The

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

"), Gibi (Гиби) and The Joy of the People (Радостта на народа), is a former

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 ...

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 spent most of his career playing for

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

as a forward. Iskrenov also had a brief film career. He appeared in the movie ''

Manevri na petiya etazh '' Manevri na petiya etazh'' (Bulgarian language: Маневри на петия етаж, English language: ''Maneuvers on the Fifth Floor'') is a comedy movie released in Bulgaria in 1985 in film, 1985. It was directed by Petar B. Vasilev and wri ...

'' as the elevator technician.

Career

A native of the capital

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Iskrenov played for Levski between 1979 and 1989, scoring 58 goals in 208 matches. He was then transferred to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

in 1989-1990, but could not establish himself in the first team and went on as a

Lausanne Sports FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

player in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1990–1991. Spells at

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv ( bg, „Ботев“ Пловдив, ) or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, that competes ...

(1991–1992),

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

and PFC Shumen (1994) followed, with Iskrenov ending his career at

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri ( bg, Септември) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the First League, the first tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to i ...

(1994–1995). Iskrenov won the top Bulgarian league, the

A PFG 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 ...

, three times (all with Levski): in 1984, 1985 and 1988, as well as 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 ...

in 1982, 1984 and 1986 (with Levski) and 1993 (with CSKA). He played a total of 263 matches and scored 58 goals in the A PFG. A very skillful player, known for his feints as well as the ability to shoot with both legs, Iskrenov was also nicknamed Radostta na naroda (Радостта на народа; "The Joy of the people").

International career

For the Bulgaria national team, Bojidar Iskrenov has 50 matches and 5 goals, debuting on 28 October 1981 in a 0–3 defeat by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and retiring from international football on 12 May 1993 after a 2–2 draw between Bulgaria and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in Sofia. He played at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, when Bulgaria reached the round of 16.

Honors

; Club

* Bulgarian League – 1979, 1984, 1985, 1988 *

– 1979, 1982, 1984, 1986 * Cup of the Soviet Army – 1984, 1987, 1988 ; International

– 15th place

References

External links

*
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iskrenov, Bozhidar 1962 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Footballers from Sofia PFC Levski Sofia players Real Zaragoza players FC Lausanne-Sport players Botev Plovdiv players PFC CSKA Sofia players FC Septemvri Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players La Liga players Bulgarian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Continental Indoor Soccer League players Washington Warthogs players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football midfielders