Evdokiya Dimitrova Popadiynova ( bg, Евдокия Димитрова Попадинова, born 26 October 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Italian Serie A club US Sassuolo and the Bulgaria women's national team.

Club career

Early years

London Bees v Bristol City WFC, 24 April 2016 (06)

Popadinova has played for Sportika Blagoevgrad in her home country before moving to England to sign with Bristol Academy. In doing so she is the first Bulgarian to make an appearance in the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

. In March 2016, Popadinova signed with FA WSL 2 team London Bees.

College

In 2016, Popadinova enrolled at the University of Northwestern Ohio to play for their Division II NAIA program. Following two years with the Racers, Popadinova transferred to play with the

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (also FGCU) refer to the fifteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University, located in Fort Myers, Florida in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross ...

in NCAA Division I. Ahead of her senior season, Popadinova was named on the

MAC Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

watchlist, one of only two players from her

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

International career

At age 16, Popadinova made her senior debut for Bulgaria on 20 August 2013, coming on as a substitute to score in the 4–2 away win over

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in a friendly match.

International goals

Awards

Individual

* Bulgarian Women Footballer of the Year (5): 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 * WHAC Newcomer of the Year: 2016 * WHAC Offensive Player of the Year: 2017 * NAIA First Team All-American: 2016, 2017 * ASUN Women's Soccer All-Decade Team (2010-19)

References

External links

*
UNOH profile

FGCU profile
1996 births Living people People from Hadzhidimovo Bulgarian women's footballers Women's association football forwards Bristol Academy W.F.C. players London Bees players University of Northwestern Ohio alumni College women's soccer players in the United States Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's soccer players S.S.D. Napoli Femminile players Women's Super League players Serie A (women's football) players Bulgaria women's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate women's footballers in Denmark Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate women's footballers in Italy Sportspeople from Blagoevgrad Province {{Bulgaria-footy-forward-stub