Petar Mihtarski

Petar Mihtarski
Personal information
Full namePetar Sotirov Mihtarski
Date of birth15 July 1966
Place of birthBlagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionStriker
Youth career
1976–1982Pirin Blagoevgrad
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1982–1989Pirin Blagoevgrad166(70)
1989–1991Levski Sofia55(42)
1991–1994Porto12(5)
1992–1994→ Famalicão (loan)42(11)
1994Pirin Blagoevgrad10(5)
1994–1995CSKA Sofia39(33)
1996Mallorca11(0)
1996–1997Wolfsburg17(0)
1998–2000Pirin Blagoevgrad48(15)
2000–2001Levski Sofia11(4)
Total411(185)
National team
1989–1995Bulgaria8(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Petar Sotirov Mihtarski (Bulgarian: Петър Михтарски; born 15 July 1966) is a Bulgarian retired footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Born in Blagoevgrad, Mihtarski spent the first 13 years of his career (youth years included) with local Pirin, making his first-team – and first division – debuts in 1982–83, appearing in eight games and scoring four goals in an eventual relegation. He went on to score in double digits in five of the following six seasons.

In the 1989 summer, Mihtarski signed for country giants PFC Levski Sofia, netting 24 times in his debut season, and winning one Bulgarian Cup during his two-year spell. Subsequently, he joined F.C. Porto in Portugal, being barred by countryman Emil Kostadinov for most of his stay, and also being loaned twice to fellow top division outfit F.C. Famalicão; in his first year, however, he did manage five goals in only 11 games as the northerners won the national championship for the third time in five years.

In February 1994, Mihtarski was released by Porto and rejoined FC Pirin, netting five goals in three-months to help the club retain its top flight status. He then joined PFC CSKA Sofia, equalling a career-best 24 goals in the 1994–95 season, best in the competition but not good enough for the national title, as former team Levski won the championship with CSKA ranking only fifth. On 23 September 1994, he scored the only goal for CSKA in their record-breaking 1–7 loss against main rival Levski Sofia. During the 1994–95 UEFA Cup season he scored two goals in the first leg against Italian powerhouse Juventus to help his team to a 3–2 win, but was subsequently found to have been ineligible for the first match and Juve were awarded a 3–0 win. Mihtarski netted the only goal for the Bulgarians in the return game that ended 5–1 in favour of the side from Turin.[1]

Mihtarski moved abroad again in January 1996, going on to spend the following one and a half season without finding the net, for both RCD Mallorca in Spain and Vfl Wolfsburg, with both teams in their respective countries' second division. After two more years with Pirin, he retired from the game at the age of 35 winning the first and only Bulgarian championship of his career, with Levski, albeit appearing sparingly.

International career

Barred by the likes of Kostadinov, Luboslav Penev, Nasko Sirakov and Hristo Stoitchkov, Mihtarski only gained eight caps for Bulgaria in six years (no goals), his debut coming in 1989.

He was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, but his input in the competition consisted of one minute in the penalty shootout win against Mexico in the round-of-16.[2]

Honours

Pirin
Levski
Porto

Personal

Mihtarski was only the second Bulgarian footballer whose surname did not end with a "V" to play in the FIFA World Cup finals. The first was Milko Gaydarski in 1970.

References

  1. ↑ "Цвети Пиронкова става на 23 години". blitz.bg. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Mexico - Bulgaria 1-3 ap (1-1, 1-1, 1-1)". Planet World Cup. 6 July 1994. Retrieved 16 December 2011.

External links