Zdravko Zdravkov

Zdravko Zdravkov
Personal information
Full name Zdravko Zdravkov
Date of birth October 4, 1970 (1970-10-04) (age 41)
Place of birth Sofia, Bulgaria
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 12 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1993 Levski Sofia 66 (0)
1993–1994 Etar 19 (0)
1994–1995 Levski Sofia 12 (0)
1995–1997 Slavia Sofia 60 (0)
1997–1999 İstanbulspor 47 (0)
1999–2000 Adanaspor 24 (0)
2000–2002 İstanbulspor 58 (0)
2002 Cherno More 12 (0)
2003 İstanbulspor 18 (0)
2004 Litex Lovech 14 (0)
2004–2007 Rizespor 93 (0)
Total 423 (0)
National team
1996–2005 Bulgaria 70 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Zdravko Zdravkov (Bulgarian: Здравко Здравков) (born October 4, 1970 in Sofia) is a former Bulgarian football goalkeeper. He ended his career at the end of 2006–07 season.

Career

On the club level, Zdravkov has played for Levski Sofia (1989–1995), Istanbulspor (1997–1999 and 2000–2002), Adanaspor (1999–2000), Cherno More (2002–2003), Litex Lovech (2003–2004) and Çaykur Rizespor (2004–2007). For Bulgaria, Zdravkov has been capped 70 times. He was the starting goalkeeper for his country at the Euro 1996, 1998 World Cup and Euro 2004.[1]

Halfway through the France World Cup in 1998, with Bulgaria having played two games (0–0 against Paraguay and a 0–1 loss to Nigeria), Zdravkov was ranked as the 2nd best goalkeeper in form. Although he went on to concede 6 goals in Bulgaria's unforunate loss to Spain in the next game, Zdravkov was an exceptional performer at the World Cup.

December 2002 until January 2003, Zdravkov spent a trial period with Arsenal F.C., but did not eventually sign with the then-reigning FA Premier League champions.[2][3]

Six years later, at UEFA Euro 2004, Zdravkov's age began to show. He did not concede any 'soft' goals and few could say he made any serious errors, but he was outclassed by some very talented Swedish, Danish and Italian attackers. Bulgaria lost 0–5 to Sweden, 0–2 to Denmark and 1–2 to Italy, and this was to be Zdravkov's final tournament as national team goalkeeper.

Personal

Zdravkov participated in the third season of Survivor BG, in Panama, but was evacuated due to serious health problems.[4]

References