Krassimir Balakov

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Krassimir Balakov (Bulgarian: Красимир Балъков) (born March 29, 1966 in Veliko Tarnovo) is a former Bulgarian footballer and a key member of the Bulgarian national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. After Hristo Stoichkov, he is considered the greatest Bulgarian footballer of his generation. Balakov currently manages Grasshopper-Club Zürich in the Swiss Super League.

[edit] Club career

Balakov began his club career at the local FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo, before transferring to Portugal's Sporting in 1990, where he won the 1994/1995 Portuguese Cup. In 1995, he transferred to Germany's VfB Stuttgart where he won two UEFA Intertoto Cups (2000 and 2002) and a German Cup (1997), before retiring in 2003.

[edit] International

Balakov made 92 appearances for Bulgaria, between 1988 and 2003 (one of the best totals in national history) and scored 16 goals. Other than the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he also played for his country at Euro 96 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

	Bulgaria squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 Mikhailov \| 2 Kremenliev \| 3 Ivanov \| 4 Tsvetanov \| 5 Houbchev \| 6 Yankov \| 7 Kostadinov \| 8 Stoichkov \| 9 Letchkov \| 10 Sirakov \| 11 Borimirov \| 12 Nikolov \| 13 Yordanov \| 14 Guentchev \| 15 Iliev \| 16 Kiriakov \| 17 Mihtarski \| 18 Aleksandrov \| 19 Georgiev \| 20 Balakov \| 21 Yotov \| 22 Andonov \| Coach: Penev

	Bulgaria squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Zdravkov \| 2 Kishishev \| 3 T. Ivanov \| 4 I. Petkov \| 5 Yordanov \| 6 Yankov \| 7 Kostadinov \| 8 Stoichkov \| 9 Penev \| 10 Balakov \| 11 Iliev \| 12 Mikhailov \| 13 Ginchev \| 14 Hristov \| 15 Zafirov \| 16 Nankov \| 17 Stoilov \| 18 Borimirov \| 19 Bachev \| 20 G. Ivanov \| 21 Kirilov \| 22 M. Petkov \| Coach: Bonev