Blagoy Zhorev Georgiev ( bg, Благой Жорев Георгиев; born 21 December 1981) is a Bulgarian former 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for teams such as

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 ...

Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб "Амка́р" Пермь ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and ...

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier ...

and

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

and also represented

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 ...

on an international level in 50 matches.

Career

Slavia Sofia

Georgiev was born in

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 ...

. He is a product of the

youth academy. He signed a professional contract in June 1999 and then made his first team debut under Miroslav Mironov' management three months later, on 17 October, in a 3–1 home win over

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 ...

. Georgiev's first goal came on 27 November 1999, when he scored a last-minute against

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 ...

to secure a 1–1 away draw. On 11 March 2000, he netted Slavia's only goal in their league loss, a 2–1 defeat against

Velbazhd Kyustendil Velbazhd Kyustendil ( bg, Велбъжд Кюстендил) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Kyustendil. The club currently competes in the A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1919. ...

. He then scored in Slavia's 3–2 win against

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 ...

on 22 April, taking his tally for the season to 3 goals. On 27 September 2003, Georgiev scored his first-ever

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in his career, scoring four goals in a 5–2 away win over Chernomorets Burgas. After scoring his 17th league goal in the final game of the 2003–04 season, a 2–0 win against

Naftex Burgas ''For the new club claimed as the successor, see PFC Neftochimic Burgas.'' PFC Naftex Burgas ({{Lang-bg, ПФК Нафтекс) is a former football club from Burgas, Bulgaria. History The club was created in 1962 by a group of workers, laying t ...

, he ended the campaign in joint second place with

Stoyko Sakaliev Stoyko Sakaliev ( bg, Стойко Маринов Сакалиев; born 25 March 1979) is a Bulgarian footballer. Career Sakaliev was born in Sofia. His first team was Naftex Burgas. He was first loaned to CSKA Sofia during 2004, but bought in t ...

in the race for the

Bulgarian 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 ...

golden boot. During his six years at

Slavia Stadium Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov ( bg, Стадион „Александър Шаламанов“) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Slavia district of Sofia, Bulgaria named after the football legend Aleksandar Shalamanov. It is currently used fo ...

, he scored 46 league goals in 172 matches.

Alaves (loan)

On 13 January 2006,

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

confirmed Georgiev would join

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

until the end of the season. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

debut a week later, during Alaves's 2–0 loss against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

. He spent most of his time with Alaves on the bench. He returned to Bulgaria at the end of the season having made 10 appearances in Alaves's unsuccessful battle against relegation.

Red Star

On 14 June 2006, Serbian side

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

signed Georgiev on a three-year deal.

Duisburg (loan)

On 28 May 2007, Georgiev joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season. On 14 March 2008, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 loss against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

. On 4 May, he scored a last-minute winning goal for 3–2 over

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

. During the season, he earned 31 appearances.

Terek Grozny

On 6 January 2009, Georgiev signed a four-year contract with Russian side

for 1.5 million Euros. He made his

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

debut on the opening day of the 2009 season, on 15 March, in a 1–0 home win over

Spartak Nalchik PFC Spartak Nalchik (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб "Спартак Нальчик") is a Russian association football club based in Nalchik that plays in the third-tier FNL 2. They played in the Russian ...

. Georgiev's first goal came on 19 July, when he scored in a 3–2 home win against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

, for which he was awarded with a

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

by the head of

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

Ramzan Kadyrov Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...

. On the eve of the 2010 season, Georgiev was selected by manager

Anatoly Baidachny Anatoly Nikolayevich Baidachny (russian: Анатолий Николаевич Байдачный) (born 1 October 1952) is a Russian football manager. International career Baidachny made his debut for USSR on 30 April 1972 in the UEFA Euro 1 ...

, as the replacement captain after

Timur Dzhabrailov Timur Mamedovich Dzhabrailov (russian: Тимур Мамедович Джабраилов; born 5 August 1973) is a retired Russian footballer of Chechen ethnicity who played for FC Terek Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, фу� ...

's retirement. On 10 May 2010, he scored the opening goal of the league game against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

which Terek lost 1–4. Three days later, he provided two assists in a 2–0 home victory over Saturn Ramenskoye. Georgiev scored his first league goal of the 2011 season and the winner against

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...

, in a 1–0 victory on 20 May. On 13 August, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 6–2 defeat at

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

. On 5 November, in a 2–0 home victory over

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

, Blago assisted Musawengosi Mguni for the second goal. On 28 December 2011, few days after his 30th birthday, he was reported to have become a target for

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москв ...

. On 4 November 2012, Georgiev marked his 100th Russian Premier League game by scoring a penalty in a 3–1 loss against Anzhi Makhachkala.

Amkar Perm

Georgiev signed with

on 19 December 2012 on a three-year deal.

Rubin Kazan

On 15 August 2014, Georgiev joined

, signing a two-year deal. Following his transfer he took the number 77 shirt. He made his debut two days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Lokomotiv Moscow. His first league goal for Rubin gave them a 2–1 win over

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

on 29 September.

Orenburg

Georgiev transferred to

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg (russian: ФК «Оренбург») is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club from Orenburg, founded in 1976. It will return to the Russian Premier League for the 2022–23 season. History It ...

before the 2016–17 season as the club made their debut in the Russian Premier League. Orenburg was relegated at the end of the season, but he stayed on to play in the second-tier

Russian Football National League The Russian First League (russian: Первая лига, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division (russian: Первый дивизион) and Russian Football National League (FNL) (russian: Первенство Футбольн� ...

. On 29 December 2017, he was released from his contract by mutual consent.

Retirement

The day after he resigned with FC Orenburg, Georgiev announced that he would retire from professional football and noted that he was not retiring because of not being in shape, but because of lack of motivation.

International career

A Bulgaria international, Georgiev was also previously a member of the country's under-21 team. He has been

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

ped 50 times and scored 5 goals for

. On 11 October 2011, he announced his retirement from Bulgarian national team. In September 2012, it was revealed that Georgiev was considering returning to the national team.

Personal life

Georgiev is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and has a number of faith-related tattoos. Georgiev previously had a fling with singer Liana and was formerly in a long-term relationship with gymnast Hristina Vitanova (with whom he has two children - Yoanna and David). Georgiev was then engaged to Russian dancer Esmer Omerova, the mother of his third child - Elay. Since 2018 he has been together with model Zlatka Raykova, with whom he also has a child, named Blagoy Jr. and born in 2019.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

International goals

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

: 2006–07 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...

: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgiev, Blagoy 1981 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgaria international footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players La Liga players Serbian SuperLiga players Bundesliga players Russian Premier League players PFC Slavia Sofia players Deportivo Alavés players Red Star Belgrade footballers MSV Duisburg players FC Akhmat Grozny players FC Amkar Perm players FC Rubin Kazan players FC Orenburg players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Russia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Association football midfielders Footballers from Sofia