Ilian Stoyanov ( bg, Илиaн Стоянов; born 20 January 1977) is a former

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 ...

football defender 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 s ...

. In Bulgaria he is also known as Collovati, because of his haircut in the past, reminiscent of that of former Italian midfielder

Fulvio Collovati Fulvio Collovati (; born 9 May 1957) is an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He was a stopper (a man–marking centre-back in Italian football jargon) and also played for Italy at international level, winning the 1982 ...

Career

He was part of the Bulgarian

2004 European Football Championship The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

team, who exited in the first round, finishing bottom of Group C, having finished top of Qualifying Group 8 in the pre-tournament phase. In the beginning of his career, he played as left-back. He started his professional career with

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 ...

in 1995. However, Stoyanov made a name for himself with

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. ...

and

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 ...

, appearing in more than 150 matches in the top division. During his time in Bulgarian football, he established himself as a capable defender, but was also notable for displaying a fiery temper on occasions and was involved in a number of controversial incidents, including an altercation with a referee and remarks uttered at black footballers, which invited accusations of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

. He joined

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

in 2005 from

and enjoyed a reasonably successful first season, helping them lift the

Yamazaki Nabisco Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of YB ...

(the Japanese League Cup), the club's first ever trophy - and also to repeat the achievement the following season, 2006. The club released him in July 2007 after he criticised manager

Amar Osim Amar Osim (born 18 July 1967) is a Bosnian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers. Osim was a talented player during ...

. On 12 August 2007, he signed with another Japanese club

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

. He could not help the team to avoid relegation to J2 in the same season. However, he helped his new team to get to the final of the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

in 2007, and to win the

Xerox Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the re ...

in 2008. In 2009, he returned to Bulgaria national team and started 7 games in

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

Kapfenberg-sanfrecce hiroshima-20100620-ilian-stoyanov-2

After his retirement, Stoyanov has started his own business in Japan and is also involved in a football academy.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Honors

;

* Bulgarian League – 2001, 2002 *

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 tournament ...

– 2002, 2003, 2005 ;

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of YB ...

– 2005, 2006 *

J. League Best Eleven The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (200 ...

– 2005 ;

– 2008 *

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

– 2008

Personal life

* He is a friend of Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu Katsunori who became the first European to win the top division championship,

Makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoyanov, Ilian 1977 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players J1 League players J2 League players Expatriate footballers in Japan Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Japan PFC CSKA Sofia players PFC Velbazhd Kyustendil players PFC Levski Sofia players JEF United Chiba players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Fagiano Okayama players UEFA Euro 2004 players People from Kyustendil Association football defenders Sportspeople from Kyustendil Province