Todor Nedyalkov Diev ( bg, Тодор Недялков Диев) (28 January 1934 – 6 January 1995) was 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 ...

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 ...

, part of the Bulgarian squad that won the bronze medals in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Career

Diev began his career at the local

Spartak Plovdiv PFC Spartak Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Спартак Пловдив) is a Bulgarian football club based in Plovdiv, which currently plays in the third tier of Bulgarian football, the Third League. The club was established in 1947 and folded its senio ...

. He made his professional debut in 1950 and since then he played in 308 matches and scored 146 goals. He had a brief period in

Spartak Sofia FC Spartak Sofia ( bg, ФК Спартак София) was a Bulgarian football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The club was officially founded in 1947. The team plays in the Bulgarian Regional Division. The club's home colours are blue and whit ...

in 1952–1953. He won the

Bulgarian A Professional Football 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 ...

in 1963 and the Soviet Army Cup in 1958. Diev was crowned as championship top scorer for three times in 1955, 1962 and 1963. He is one of the legends of Spartak Plovdiv. He was recognized as all-time best player of the club. Todor made his international debut on 13 November 1955, when he scored a goal against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in a 3–0 win in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

. He was capped 55 times for Bulgaria national team and scored 16 goals. Diev played for the team in

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and won a bronze medal in the

. His most remarkable goal was against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 18 May 1958 at Estádio do Morumbi. After the match, he received an offer for transfer in Brazilian club, but he refused. Diev was team captain since 20 December 1964 to his retirement. His last international match was against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

on 27 October 1965, Bulgaria lost 5–0 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

.Todor Diev international appearances, matches and goals – eu-football.info
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Honours

; Spartak Plovdiv (1953–1966) *

Bulgarian 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 ...

: 1962–63 * Soviet Army Cup:

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

; Bulgaria (1955–1965) * Summer Olympics Tournament Bronze Medal

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

;Individual *

: 1955, 1962, 1963 * Honored Master of Sports: 1960

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diev, Todor 1934 births 1995 deaths Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers FC Spartak Plovdiv players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players 1962 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in football Footballers from Plovdiv Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Association football forwards Association football midfielders