Ventsislav Hristov ( bg, Венцислав Христов; born 9 November 1988) 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 Macedo ...

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 ...

who plays as a forward for

Botev Vratsa Botev ( bg, Ботев) is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at St ...

Personal life

Hristov was born in Sofia to a Bulgarian father and a Ukrainian mother. He began playing football at an early age with local side

Lokomotiv Sofia Lokomotiv 1929 ( bg, Локомотив 1929) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refou ...

and spent several years developing in the club's youth academy.

Career

Early career

After progressing through the Lokomotiv youth system, Hristov was promoted to the first team squad for the 2006–07 season and plays in one match, coming as a substitute. He then played for Sportist Svoge and

Nesebar Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative cen ...

in the Bulgarian B Group.

Montana

In June 2010, Hristov joined

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. On 1 August 2010, he made his debut in a 1–0 home loss against

. Hristov made 30 appearances during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season, finishing with 6 goals. He also made 5 assists.

Chernomorets Burgas

On 15 June 2011, Hristov joined Chernomorets Burgas. He marked his league debut for Chernomorets with a winning goal, scoring the only in a 1–0 win over Kaliakra Kavarna on 6 August. In January 2013, Hristov terminated his contract with Chernomorets.

Beroe Stara Zagora

On 15 January 2013,

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 ...

confirmed they had signed Hristov on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut in a 0–0 away draw against

on 2 March, playing the full 90 minutes. On 16 March, he scored his first goal for Beroe in a 2–0 win against Etar 1924. On 10 July, Hristov scored the opening goal in the

2013 Bulgarian Supercup The 2013 Bulgarian Supercup was played on 10 July 2013 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, between the winners of the previous season's A group and Bulgarian Cup competitions. The match was contested by the champions of the 2012–13 A PFG, ...

final against Ludogorets Razgrad. Ludogorets subsequently equalised, but Beroe still won the game through penalty shootout. On 18 July, Hristov netted Beroe's only goal in their 4–1 home loss against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 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 ...

. Hristov scored the second goal in Beroe's 2–0 win over

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 groun ...

in the first round of 2013–14 A PFG season on 22 July.

Metalurh Donetsk (loan)

In the beginning of 2014, Hristov was close to being transferred to

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 ...

, but eventually joined Metalurh Donetsk on loan for the rest of the season due to the precarious financial situation of CSKA. He made his debut for Metalurh in a 3–1 home loss against

Volyn Lutsk Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

on 29 March, coming on as a substitute for

Vasileios Pliatsikas Vasilios Pliatsikas ( el, Βασίλειος Πλιάτσικας; born 14 April 1988) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Club career AEK Athens Pliatsikas began his AEK career in 2005, making his way up from the re ...

Return to Beroe Stara Zagora

Hristov returned to Beroe at the end of the season having made only 4 appearances for Metalurh Donetsk in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

. On 16 August 2014, in a 2–0 away victory over

, he netted his first goal of the season and assisted Salim Kerkar. On 13 September, Hristov 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 Beroe's 4–0 home win over

Marek Dupnitsa FC Marek ( bg, ФК Марек) is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Third League, the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. ...

. A week later, he scored his 6th goal in the last five games in a 3–0 away win against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

HNK Rijeka

On 23 January, Hristov signed a -year deal with Croatian side

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top division, HT Prva lig ...

for an undisclosed fee.

PFC Levski Sofia

On 3 February 2016, Hristov signed with

PFC 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 ...

until the end of the season after his contract with

was terminated. His first goal for the club came in a game against

PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

. He scored again in the following fixture against

PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad was a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Blagoevgrad. History Makedonska slava Club was founded in 1928 as Makedonska Slava ("Macedonia (region), Macedonian Glory"). In 1948 the club joined ...

. He continued his fine form with consecutive goals in the games against

PFC 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 ...

and

PFC 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 in ...

and a hat-trick in a league game against

PFC Cherno More Varna Cherno More ( bg, Черно Море) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on March 3, 1913, as an asso ...

bringing his total to 7 goals in his first 10 games making him

top goalscorer for the current season.

SKA-Khabarovsk

On 5 August 2017, Hristov signed a one year contract with

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 ...

side SKA-Khabarovsk. He was released from his SKA contract by mutual consent on 1 February 2018.

Arda

On 1 July 2018, Hristov signed with Second League club Arda Kardzhali for 2+1 years.

Tsarsko Selo

Hristov had a stint with Tsarsko Selo in the autumn of 2019.

Botev Vratsa

In July 2022 he joined

International career

On 8 August 2013, Hristov was called up to the Bulgaria national team by manager

Lyuboslav Penev Lyuboslav Mladenov Penev ( bg, Любослав Младенов Пенев; born 31 August 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player. Penev played as a forward for several clubs in Bulgaria and Spain. He started hi ...

for a friendly match against Macedonia on 14 August. He came on as a substitute for Ivelin Popov in the 55th minute. Hristov made his first start on 15 October 2013, in a 0–1 home 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 World Cup qualifier. He was replaced by

Simeon Slavchev Simeon Nenchev Slavchev ( bg, Симеон Славчев; born 25 September 1993) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Wieczysta Kraków. Slavchev began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2010. ...

in the 73rd minute. He scored his first goal for the national team against Azerbaijan in the EURO 2016 qualifying game, scoring the winning goal in the 88th minute.

International goals

:Scores and results lists Bulgaria's goals first

Career statistics

Club

Notes

Honours

Club

; Beroe *

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 tournamen ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

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 an ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

* *
Sportal.bg profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hristov, Ventsislav 1988 births Living people Footballers from Sofia Bulgarian footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgarian people of Ukrainian descent FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players FC Sportist Svoge players PFC Nesebar players FC Montana players PFC Chernomorets Burgas players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players FC Metalurh Donetsk players HNK Rijeka players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players PFC Levski Sofia players Neftochimic Burgas players FC SKA-Khabarovsk players FC Vereya players FC Arda Kardzhali players FC Tsarsko Selo Sofia players CS Concordia Chiajna players PFC Slavia Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ukrainian Premier League players Croatian Football League players Kategoria Superiore players Russian Premier League players Liga II players Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Albania Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Romania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Association football forwards