Kristiyan Aleksandrov Malinov ( bg, Кристиян Александров Малинов; born 30 March 1994) 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, rugb ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A, 2020 ...

club

OH Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

and the Bulgarian national team.Malinov Stats
/ref> Born in

Petrich Petrich ( bg, Петрич ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 ...

, Malinov began his youth career with

Belasitsa Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles ( el, Μπέλλες, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of M ...

and spent three years in the academy before moving to Pirin 2001. In 2008, he joined

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadi ...

, where he developed in their academy and became a professional in 2013. Malinov made his senior debut while on loan at

Dobrudzha Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

in the 2013–14 season, before he broke into Litex's first team during following campaign. In June 2016, he joined

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 2015, Malinov won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

, having previously played for the under-21 team.

Career

Litex Lovech

Malinov joined

's Academy as a fourteen-year-old after playing junior football for his home-town club

Belasitsa Petrich OFC Belasitsa ( bg, ОФК Беласица Петрич) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Petrich, currently playing in the Second League. The team was founded in 1923. They play at the Stadion Tsar Samuil in Petrich, which has a ...

and Pirin 2001. He progressed through the club's youth system and made his first appearance in a senior match day squad in November 2011, sitting on the bench for 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 ...

match 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 a ...

Loan to Dobrudzha

In July 2013, Malinov was loaned to

B Group The Bulgarian Second Professional Football League ( bg, Втора професионална футболна лига, Vtora Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as Second League ( bg, Втора Лига) or Vtora liga, is the second level ...

team Dobrudzha Dobrich for the 2013–14 season. He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over

Akademik Svishtov OFC Akademik Svishtov ( bg, ОФК Академик Свищов) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Svishtov who play in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), North-West Third League, the third tier of Bulgarian football. ...

on 3 August 2013. Coached by former Litex's forward

Svetoslav Todorov Svetoslav Todorov ( bg, Светослав Тодоров; born 30 August 1978) is a former Bulgarian international footballer. He played as a forward. Todorov is the all-time top scorer for Litex Lovech in the Bulgarian A Football Group. Club ...

, Malinov made an immediate impact, appearing in all 26 league matches, scoring four goals. He was substituted only once during the entire league season in the second division.

Return to Litex

Malinov returned to Litex at the end of the season. He made his debut in the team's opening league match of the 2014–15 campaign against

on 20 July 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in the centre of midfield. On 14 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over

Haskovo Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...

. On 29 November 2014, Malinov opened the scoring against

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 ...

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 ( ...

. Later in the match Litex went 2–1 down, but Malinov created Litex's second goal, which was scored by

Kiril Despodov Kiril Vasilev Despodov ( bg, Кирил Василев Десподов; born 11 November 1996) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgaria national team. He primarily plays as a winger but can als ...

for a 2–2 draw.

CSKA Sofia

In June 2016 Malinov and a big part of the Litex squad moved to

since the team took the license of Litex for

Bulgarian First League 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 ...

. For four seasons he played a total of 129 games with the club in all competitions, in which he scored 7 goals and recorded 14 assists.

OH Leuven

Malinov joined Belgian club

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

on 19 August 2020. On 22 August, he made his debut in a 3–1 home defeat against

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, playing the full 90 minutes.

International career

On 7 February 2015, Malinov made his first appearance for

, in the 0–0 draw with

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 ...

, being replaced in the 63rd minute by Stefan Velev. He earned his first cap on 8 June 2015, in the 0–4 loss against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

in another exhibition game, after coming on as a substitute during the second half.

Statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malinov, Kristiyan 1994 births Living people Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria youth international footballers Bulgaria under-21 international footballers Bulgaria international footballers PFC Litex Lovech players PFC Dobrudzha Dobrich players PFC CSKA Sofia players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Association football midfielders People from Petrich Sportspeople from Blagoevgrad Province