Ismail Isa Mustafa ( bg, Исмаил Иса Мустафа; born 26 June 1989) 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 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 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 Cherno More Varna.

Career

Born in Targovishte, Isa started playing football at

PFC Svetkavitsa Profesionalen futbolen klub Svetkavitsa 1922 ( bg, Професионален футболен клуб „Светкавица 1922“; en, Svetkavitsa 1922 Professional Football Club) is a Bulgarian football club based in Targovishte, which cu ...

's youth teams.

Levski Sofia

Isa with Levski Sofia Ismail Isa made his unofficial debut for Levski in a friendly match against

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

on 20 January 2008. He played for 33 minutes. The result was a 1–2 loss for Levski. On 20 February, he scored his first goals in a friendly against

Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo PFC Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo ( bg, ПФК Видима-Раковски Севлиево) was a Bulgarian football club based in Sevlievo- Balabanica, which competed in various Bulgarian football leagues (ultimately the North-West V AFG, the thi ...

. He scored two goals in the 75th and 85th minute. The result of the match was a 3–0 win for Levski. He made his official debut in a 1–0 defeat away to Lokomotiv Plovdiv. During the 2008–09 season, he was loaned to OFC Sliven 2000. Anyway, after the end of the season, he returned to Levski. Isa re-debuted for Levski on 15 July 2009 in the 2nd Qualifying round of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where Levski defeated the team of UE Sant Julià. The result of the match was 4–0 with a home win for Levski. On 21 July, he was sent off at the stroke of half time for a second bookable offense in the return leg against the

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

n side, but despite playing a man down his team won 5–0. His return was in a match against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

– a second qualifying round of

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Levski won the first match and the result was 6:0. Isa scored two of the goals. He further added to his tally in the 5–2 home win against the Swedish Kalmar FF, where he scored another two goals. Isa scored his first goal for Levski in the

Bulgarian A Professional Football 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 ...

on 23 August 2010 against Kaliakra Kavarna.

Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)

On 2 August 2009, Ismail Isa was loaned for half a season in

Lokomotiv Mezdra FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra, which currently playing in the Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium ...

. After matches, in which he scored 7 goals in 12 matches, Isa returned to Levski. Shortly afterwards on 11 January 2010, though, he was loaned out to Lokomotiv Mezdra again. On 21 March 2010, he scored the only goal for his side to give the team from Mezdra a 1:0 lead against the other Bulgarian top team CSKA Sofia. This goal got him in the news since just a few minutes after it the CSKA supporters flooded the field and stopped the match, earning their team a 3–0 disciplinary loss (4:0 aggregate loss). After scoring 11 goals in 25 caps Isa was brought back to Levski on 24 May.

Karabükspor

In June 2011, Isa joined Turkish Super League club Karabükspor. Media reports estimated the transfer fee to be around €200,000. On 22 October 2011, Isa made his official debut for his new team, playing the first 85 minutes and earning himself a yellow card in the 2:0 home win over Istanbul B.B. in a

Turkish Süper Lig Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

match.

Litex

Isa was signed by Litex Lovech for the 2012/2013 season and netted 7 goals in 11 appearances during the first half of the season. He finished the 2012/2013 A PFG season as the fifth highest goal scorer in the league, having managed 11 goals.

Sheriff Tiraspol

In June 2013, Isa signed a contract with

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n club

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff (russian: ФК Шериф Тирасполь), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnist ...

. He marked his debut by scoring a goal in the 2:0 win over

FC Tiraspol FC Tiraspol was a Moldovan football (soccer), football club based in Tiraspol, Moldova. They played in the Moldovan National Division, Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan football. Founded in 1992 as ''Constructorul Chișinău'', it ...

in a

Moldovan Super Cup Moldovan Super Cup ( ro, Supercupa Moldovei) is the national football (soccer), football super cup competition in Moldova, officially having the winners of the previous season's Moldovan National Division and Moldovan Cup face-off against each oth ...

match that was held on 29 June.

Beroe

Isa returned to

, joining

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 ...

in September 2015.

Vereya

On 19 October 2017, Isa signed with First League side Vereya.

International career

Isa was a part of the Bulgaria national under-19 football team. During his time with the team he played in the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

in the Czech Republic. On 29 April 2008, he scored a goal in qualifying match against Norway. On 7 February 2015, Isa made his first appearance for

, in the 0–0 draw against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in a non-official

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, playing over the course of the first 70 minutes. He was recalled to the national team in May 2019 by new manager

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov ( bg, Красимир Генчев Балъков, ; born 29 March 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who last served as the head coach of Bulgarian club CSKA 1948. A former attacking ...

and played as a starter in the 1–2 away loss against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in a Euro 2020 qualifier on 7 June 2019, opening the scoring with his first international goal.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Personal life

His father is of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

descent and his mother is of Bulgarian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Levski Sofia *

Bulgarian A Football 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 ...

(1) - 2008-09 *

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 ...

(1) -

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

FC Sheriff Tiraspol *

(1) - 2013 * Moldovan National Division: 2013–14

References

External links

* *
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isa, Ismail 1989 births Living people People from Targovishte Bulgarian people of Turkish descent Association football forwards Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria youth international footballers Bulgaria under-21 international footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers PFC Svetkavitsa players FC Haskovo players PFC Levski Sofia players OFC Sliven 2000 players PFC Lokomotiv Mezdra players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers Elazığspor footballers PFC Litex Lovech players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players FC Dacia Chișinău players FC Vereya players FC Dunav Ruse players PFC Cherno More Varna players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players TFF First League players Moldovan Super Liga players Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Moldova