Zhivko Atanasov ( bg, Живко Атанасов; born 3 February 1991) 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for

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 ...

and the Bulgaria national team.

Career

Atanasov began his career with

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 ...

. In the winter of 2012, Atanasov impressed Cherno More manager Stefan Genov as a trialist during Cherno More's training camp in Turkey. On 17 February 2012, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. Atanasov made his debut on 4 March, starting against

Georgi Asparuhov Stadium Georgi Asparuhov Stadium ( bg, Стадион „Георги Аспарухов“), due to sponsorship currently known as Vivacom Arena – Georgi Asparuhov ( bg, Виваком Арена – Георги Аспарухов), nicknamed Gerena ( ...

in an

A 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 ...

fixture, playing the full 90 minutes at centre-back in a 2–1 defeat. He scored his first Cherno More goal on 18 April, opening the scoring in a 7–1 home win over Kaliakra Kavarna. When Aleksandar Aleksandrov was transferred in January 2014, Atanasov formed a partnership with

Kiril Kotev Kiril Kotev ( bg, Кирил Котев; born 18 April 1982) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career In his youth years, Kotev started to play football at Vihar Gorublyane. At the age of 16 he moved ...

in the centre of defence and has become an established first team player. On 16 January 2020 he signed a 1.5-year contract with

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

side

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

. On 4 August 2020, Atanasov returned to his boyhood club

on a 2-year deal. On 16 November 2023, he earned his first cap for the national team after coming on as a late first half substitute for Ivaylo Chochev in the 2:2 home draw with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

in a Euro 2024 qualifier.

Family

Atanasov's mother,

Yordanka Donkova Yordanka Donkova ( bg, Йорданка Донкова) (born 28 September 1961) is a Bulgarian former hurdling athlete, notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as nine medals at European indoor and outdoor c ...

, is a former

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

athlete notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as 9 medals at European

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and outdoor championships.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Club

;Cherno More *

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 ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atanasov, Zhivko 1991 births Living people People from Varna Province Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Septemvri Simitli players PFC Cherno More Varna players PFC Slavia Sofia players SS Juve Stabia players US Viterbese 1908 players US Catanzaro 1929 players PFC Levski Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Serie C players Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy