Nikolay Asenov Arabov ( bg, Николай Aсенов Арабов; born 14 November 1953) 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 former 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 ...

and manager who played as a defender from 1971 to 1994, most notably for

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. Arabov was capped 42 times for the Bulgaria national football team and represented the nation at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Career

Arabov made his debut for

in 1971 and stayed in the club for 15 years, with 310 games in the

A PFG 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 ...

. Capped 42 times for the Bulgaria national football team in the period 1976 – 1986, including 3 games at 1986 FIFA World Cup in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Arabov has also played for Spartak Pleven,

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 ...

, Anagennisi Dherynia and Albanian KF Tirana before returning to Sliven for its last season in

(1993). After his retirement as a player Arabov worked for many years in Albania, coaching KF Tirana, KF Partizani, and KS Flamurtari.

References

1953 births Living people Footballers from Sliven Men's association football defenders Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players FC Sliven players OFC Spartak Pleven players Anagennisi Deryneia FC players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players KF Tirana players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Kategoria Superiore players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Cypriot First Division players Bulgarian football managers FK Partizani Tirana managers Flamurtari FC managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Albania {{Bulgaria-footy-defender-stub