Ilian Iliev

For the Bulgarian footballer born in 1988, see Iliyan Iliev.

Ilian Iliev

Personal information
Full name	Ilian Dimov Iliev
Date of birth	(1968-07-02) 2 July 1968
Place of birth	Varna, Bulgaria
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Lokomotiv Plovdiv (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1991	Cherno More	123	(31)
1991–1995	Levski Sofia	85	(19)
1993	→ Altay (loan)	12	(3)
1995–1997	Benfica	40	(5)
1997	Slavia Sofia	11	(1)
1998	Bursaspor	15	(3)
1998	AEK Athens	8	(1)
1999	Levski Sofia	11	(0)
1999–2002	Marítimo	76	(10)
2002–2003	Salgueiros	25	(3)
2003–2004	Cherno More	18	(3)
Total		436	(80)
International career
1991–2000	Bulgaria	34	(3)
Managerial career
2004–2006	Cherno More
2006–2007	Beroe Stara Zagora
2008–2012	Beroe Stara Zagora
2012–2013	Levski Sofia
2014–2015	Interclube
2016–	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ilian Dimov Iliev (Bulgarian: Илиан Димов Илиев; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian former international football midfielder, and current manager of Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

He is best known for having played for Portuguese club Benfica and Bulgarian sides Cherno More and Levski Sofia. In his professional career as a footballer, he received 35 international caps for the Bulgaria national team.

Career

Iliev was born in Varna and started to play football at his hometown club Cherno More. After his good performances in the youth teams were caught, he was promoted into the first team in 1986. For five seasons, between 1986 and 1991, Iliev made 123 appearances and scored 31 goals for the club. He was transferred to Levski Sofia in the 1991–92 season, winning three times the Bulgarian A PFG and one Bulgarian Cup in five years with the club. In 1995, Iliev moved to Benfica and won the Taça de Portugal in the 1995–96 season. In his career he also played for Slavia Sofia, Turkish Bursaspor, Greek AEK Athens as well as for the Portuguese clubs Marítimo and Salgueiros. He finished his career at his first club Cherno More Varna in 2004.

International career

Iliev earned his first cap with Bulgaria in a friendly match against Turkey on 22 September 1991 in Stara Zagora. He registered 35 caps for his country, scoring three goals. Iliev was part of the Bulgarian squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where he played in three games.

Coaching career

After retiring in 2004, Iliev pursued a career as a coach. In June 2004, he was appointed as a manager in his first club Cherno More Varna. However, on 3 March 2006, after a two years spell at the Sailors, he resigned after a home 0–1 loss against Rodopa Smolyan. Since 2006, he serves as the manager of Beroe Stara Zagora, making him one of the longest serving coach in a Bulgarian football club. Under his management in the 2009–10 season, Beroe won a historical first Bulgarian Cup and consequently achieved a participation in the UEFA Europa League qualification stages. Iliev has been voted best coach in the Bulgarian championship for the season 2009–10 by the association of Bulgarian football players.

On 6 April 2012 it was announced that Iliev will be the new manager of Levski Sofia. He will complete the current season with Beroe and then will start his new job at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. His contract will be until June 2015.

On 12 April 2013, he was fired by Levski Sofia and was replaced by Nikolay Mitov.

As of mid May 2014, Iliev held final talks to become the manager of Angolan club Inter Luanda. Compatriot Petar Kostadinov was announced as his assistant. He returned to his country in 2016, being appointed as manager of Loko Plovdiv.

Honours

Player

Levski Sofia

• Bulgarian A PFG: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
• Bulgarian Cup: 1991–92, 1993–94

Benfica

• Portuguese Cup: 1995–96

Manager

Beroe

• Bulgarian Cup: 2010
• A PFG Coach of the Season: 2009–10

External links

• Ilian Iliev profile at ForaDeJogo
• Ilian Iliev at footballzz.co.uk
• Ilian Iliev manager stats at footballzz.co.uk
• Ilian Iliev at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile at LevskiSofia.info