Ivan Kamenov Ivanov (; born 25 February 1988) is a Bulgarian 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and now a manager. He has been a member of the Bulgarian national team. In 2013, Ivanov was named the

Bulgarian Footballer of the Year Bulgarian Footballer of the Year (, ''Futbolist №1 na Balgariya'') is an annual title awarded to the best Bulgarian association football player of the year. The award has been given since 1961, and the winner is elected by authorized journalists ...

, becoming the first defender to win this award after

Trifon Ivanov Trifon Marinov Ivanov (; 27 July 1965 – 13 February 2016) was a Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a defender. Ivanov made his debut for Bulgaria in 1988, earning 76 caps and scoring 6 goals over a ten-year international career. ...

in 1996.

Club career

Early career

Born in Zlatitsa, Ivanov was inspired to become a footballer after watching the Bulgaria national football team's performance during their

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

campaign. He made his debut with Pirin 1922, before moving to

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () 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 Sports Club of the Army'' ...

in 2005. With CSKA, he was a

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () 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's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

winner in 2006 and

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

winner in the same year. In August 2007, Ivanov went on loan to

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. In the winter of 2008, local media reported that he was a target for English side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, but problems with the work permit stopped the transfer.

CSKA Sofia

After many departures from the club in the 2008 summer transfer window, Ivanov became an integral part of CSKA's defence, together with

Kiril Kotev Kiril Kotev (; born 18 April 1982) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently employed as the technical director of the Bulgarian Football Union. Club career In his youth years, Kotev started to pla ...

. He was in the starting line-up against

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

in the

2008 Bulgarian Supercup The 2008 Bulgarian Supercup was the sixth Bulgarian Supercup match, a Football (soccer), football match which was contested between the Bulgarian A Football Group, A Group champion, PFC CSKA Sofia, CSKA Sofia, and the winner of Bulgarian Cup, PFC ...

, which they won 2–1. On 19 September 2008, Ivanov scored his first goal for CSKA against

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor () is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, currently competing in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The club's name comes ...

, a header after a corner kick in the 67th minute. On 18 March 2009, Ivanov scored against his former club

to secure a 3–1 win for CSKA. He continued his goalscoring run on 21 March 2009, in a 2–0 win against

Spartak Varna FC Spartak Varna () is a Bulgarian association football club based in Varna, which currently competes in the First League, the top level of Bulgarian football league system. Spartak plays its home matches at the local Stadion Spartak. Founded ...

. In total, Ivanov scored five league goals in the 2008–09 season. On 15 August 2009, Ivanov scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season, in a 3–0 home win against

Beroe Stara Zagora Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora, better known as just Beroe (), is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league syst ...

. On 27 August 2009, Ivanov scored the winning goal against

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, helping his team to a 2–1 aggregate win and an entry into the group stage of the tournament. On 1 November 2009, he was indefinitely banned from the first team, along with eight other players, following a breach of discipline. On 20 November 2009, Ivanov was reinstated to the first team and a day later came on as a substitute for

Aleksandar Branekov Aleksandar Branekov (; born 31 May 1987) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a centre back. Career Branekov is a product of the CSKA Sofia Academy. He marked his first-team debut with goal, opening the scoring in a 2–1 ...

in a 2–2 away draw with

Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refounded in 2015, following ...

Alania Vladikavkaz

In February 2010, Ivanov signed a four-year contract with

Alania Vladikavkaz FC Alania Vladikavkaz (, ) is a Russian association football, football team from Vladikavkaz. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League during the communist era, and won its first and only league title in the 1995 Russian Top Leag ...

. He scored two goals in 24 matches of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

. However, Alania were relegated to the

Russian First Division The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Russian football league system. The Russian Professional Football League (PFL) used to ...

after only one season.

Partizan

On 17 June 2011, Ivanov signed a three-year contract with Partizan. He made his competitive debut for the club on 13 July 2011, in a 4–0 home win against Shkëndija in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. On 3 December 2011, he scored his first goal for Partizan, in a 3–0 home win against Radnički Kragujevac. He also scored a header which provided to be the winning goal in their 2–1 away win over

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

on 14 March 2012. In the 2011–12 season, Ivanov played every minute of Partizan's league matches and scored four goals. On 30 August 2012, Ivanov scored a header against

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

to give Partizan a 1–0 win and thus qualify the team for the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. In recognition of his contributions, he was voted Partizan's Player of the Year for 2012 by the club's supporters. Ivanov was also named in the

2012–13 Serbian SuperLiga The 2012–13 Serbian SuperLiga (known as the Jelen SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Serbian SuperLiga, the top football league of Serbia. The season began on 26 August 2012 and ended on 25 May 2013. A total of 1 ...

Team of the Season, alongside four teammates.

Basel

In August 2013, Ivanov signed a three-year contract, with an option for an additional year, with Swiss side

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. He joined Basel's first team for their 2013–14 season under head coach

Murat Yakin Murat Yakin ( ; born 15 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Switzerland national team. In 2021, following stints as manager at Swiss clubs including Basel, Grasshoppers and Sion, he was appoint ...

. Ivanov played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

on 11 August as Basel were defeated 2–1 by

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He scored his first goal for the club with a header in an away cup match against local amateur club Old Boys, with an assist coming from

Matías Delgado Matías is the Spanish version of Matthias. In Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish) and in Portuguese it is unaccented as Matias. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Matías Alemanno, Argentine rugby pl ...

. On 11 December 2013, in the Champions League group stage away match Ivanov was shown the red card and dismissed during Basel's 2–0 defeat by

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. On 14 January 2014, Ivanov suffered a knee injury in a friendly match against

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

, causing him to miss the rest of the 2013–14 season. At the end of the season, the team won the

2013–14 Swiss Super League The 2013–14 Swiss Super League was the 117th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. It began on 13 July 2013 and ended on 18 May 2014. Basel successfully defended their title for a record fifth time in a row. A total of 10 teams compete ...

championship. To the start of the 2014–15 season he was still not able to play football due to the injury reoccurring and on 16 September the club announced that Ivanov had to undergo a second suggery (anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction) but the operation had been successful. Ivanov had expected to recover for the start of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, receiving a call-up for the match against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, but was eventually deemed not fully fit. He was still convalescent at the start of the 2015–16 season. In December 2015 Ivanov's contract with Basel was terminated in mutual consent, in order to be able to cope with his injury at his own pace. During his time with the club Ivanov played a total of 20 games for Basel scoring one goal. 11 of these games were in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

, one in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

, six in the Champions League and two were friendly games. He scored his goal in the above-mentioned cup game.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

After having trials at

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

, Ivanov was not able to sign because he was still recovering from a two-year long injury (torn ligaments). Instead he chose to return to his home country and signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with a former team of his,

PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. He appeared in nine matches for Lokomotiv during the second half of the season.

Panathinaikos

On 28 June 2016, Ivanov signed a contract with

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

until the summer of 2019. He scored his first goal in a 1–1 Europa League game against Danish side

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

; a game which saw his team secure a place in the group phases of the tournament. Since joining the club, he had been a solid starter for Panathinaikos while manager Andrea Stramaccioni was in charge. However, after

Marinos Ouzounidis Marinos Ouzounidis (, born 10 October 1968) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Playing career Club career Ouzounidis started his professional career pla ...

took over, he was no longer a first-team choice for the club, especially after the defensive mistake that helped

Apollon Smyrnis Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης), ...

open the scoring in the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

match between the two (Panathinaikos eventually won 4–3); instead, discussions within Panathinaikos were made as to whether Ivanov would remain at the club even as a backup for the first team or would be completely released from his contract. He was released from Panathinaikos on 24 January 2017 by mutual consent.

Arsenal Tula

On 1 February 2017, Ivanov joined

club

FC Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula () is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League in 2014 for the first time in its hi ...

on a 1.5-year contract. On 11 July 2017, Arsenal announced that Ivanov would be leaving the team.

Altay

In June 2018, Ivanov signed for two years with newly promoted to

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

side

Altay Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China *Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China *Altay City (阿勒� ...

Vihren Sandanski

In late June 2019, he returned to Bulgaria, signing a contract with Third League club

Vihren Sandanski OFC Vihren () is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sandanski, currently playing in the Second League. Sandanski's home ground is the Sandanski Stadium in Sandanski with a capacity of 6,000. Vihren Sandanski's team colours are green an ...

Etar

Ivanov was part of the

Etar The Etar Architectural-Ethnographic Complex (, usually referred to as Етъра, Etara) is an open-air museum near Gabrovo in northern Bulgaria. It is on the northern edge of the Bulgarka Nature Park, between the park and the city of Gabrovo. ...

squad during the autumn of 2019.

Retirement

After struggling with injuries during the later stages of his career, on 22 May 2020 Ivanov announced his retirement from football.

International career

Youth

Ivanov represented Bulgaria at all national levels, including U-17, U-19 and U-21 teams. On 10 June 2009, he scored his only goal for the under-21 side in a 4–3 loss against Israel U-21. Ivanov also served as team captain in the absence of

Nikolay Mihaylov Nikolay Borislavov Mihaylov (; born 28 June 1988) is a Bulgarian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Personal life Mihaylov's father is former goalkeeper Borisl ...

Senior

Ivanov made his debut for the senior national team on 20 August 2008, in a 2–1 win against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, during which he entered the match as a substitute in the 67th minute. He also came on as a substitute for the naturalized

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

Lúcio Wagner Lúcio Wagner Freitas de Souza (born 15 June 1976), known simply as Lúcio Wagner, is a retired Brazilian-born Bulgarian international footballer who played as a left-back. Achieving successes in Bulgaria, where he won eight major titles durin ...

in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 10 October 2008. He played the full 90 minutes in another World Cup qualifier against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

five days later, which also ended in a scoreless draw. On 10 October 2009, Ivanov earned his fourth cap in a 4–1 away loss against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, attracting some criticism from the media for defensive mistakes. Nonetheless, he played in the next match against

. On 6 September 2011, Ivanov netted his first national team goal, opening the scoring in a 3–1 away loss against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in a Euro 2012 qualifier. He became an integral part of the national team in the following years. After missing the qualifiers for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

through injury, Ivanov made his return to the team on 6 September 2016, in the 4–3 win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in a

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

qualification match.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''

Honours

CSKA Sofia *

: 2005–06 *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Partizan *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Basel *

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15 Individual *

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

Player of the Year: 2012 *

Team of the Season: 2012–13 *

: 2013

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanov, Ivan 1988 births Living people People from Zlatitsa Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC CSKA Sofia players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players FK Partizan players FC Basel players Panathinaikos F.C. players FC Arsenal Tula players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Altay S.K. footballers FK Palanga players SFC Etar Veliko Tarnovo players POFC Botev Vratsa players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Russian Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Swiss Super League players Super League Greece players TFF 1. Lig players A Lyga players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Footballers from Sofia Province 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen