Krasimir Balakov

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Krasimir Balakov
Krasimir Balakov 1.JPG
Balakov in 2014
Personal information
Full name Krasimir Genchev Balakov
Date of birth (1966-03-29) 29 March 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
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Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 Etar Veliko Tarnovo 142 (35)
1991–1995 Sporting CP 138 (43)
1995–2003 VfB Stuttgart 236 (54)
2005 VFC Plauen 1 (0)
Total 517 (132)
International career
1988–2003 Bulgaria 92 (16)
Managerial career
2003–2005 VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
2005 VFC Plauen (player-manager)
2006–2007 Grasshopper
2007–2008 St. Gallen
2008–2010 Chernomorets Burgas
2011–2012 Hajduk Split
2012 1. FC Kaiserslautern
2014–2015 Litex Lovech
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Krasimir Genchev Balakov (Bulgarian: Красимир Балъков) (born 29 March 1966) is a Bulgarian former footballer turned manager. He was 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.

Club career

Balakov began his club career at the local Etar Veliko Tarnovo, before transferring to Portugal's Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1990, playing alongside future Ballon D'Or recipient Luís Figo, his compatriot Yordanov, and future two-time Champions League winner Paulo Sousa. Though Sporting had a quality squad, Balakov only managed to win the 1994–95 Portuguese Cup during his time at the club. Today, fans still remember him as an exceptional player.[citation needed] In 1995, he transferred to Germany's VfB Stuttgart where he won two UEFA Intertoto Cups (2000 and 2002) and a DFB-Pokal (1997), before retiring in 2003. As an attacking midfielder Balakov formed a successful attacking partnership with strikers Fredi Bobic and Giovane Élber at Stuttgart. The trio were known as the "magic triangle". He was voted as Stuttgart's best player of all time.[1]

Coaching career

The year after he retired, Krasimir became assistant coach of the club he had just retired from, VfB Stuttgart. He stayed in this position for two years before deciding to become a player-manager at VFC Plauen, where he remained for just a short time.

He had been appointed on 16 January 2006 as a manager of Grasshopper Club Zürich to replace Hanspeter Latour who left for 1. FC Köln. Balakov managed to win the Intertoto Cup thus qualified the club to the UEFA Cup for 2006–07 season.

He had been appointed on 29 October 2007 as a manager of FC St. Gallen to replace Rolf Fringer.[2] Three days before the season ended, he was fired by the club management.

In December 2008, he became manager of PFC Chernomorets Burgas in his homeland, taking over from Dimitar Dimitrov, after also having considered an offer to coach the national team of his country.[3] On 6 December 2010, he was released from PFC Chernomorets Burgas after mutual consent, following a change in the long-term vision for the club by the owner Mitko Sabev.[4]

On 27 May 2011, it was announced that Balakov will take over the helm of Croatian club Hajduk Split.[5]

On 22 March 2012, Balakov was appointed the manager of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[6] He was sacked on 17 May 2012, after being unable to prevent Kaiserslautern's relegation to 2. Bundesliga.[7]

International career

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 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Managerial statistics

As of 6 November 2015.
Team From To Competition Record
G W D L Win % GF GA GD
Grasshopper Club Zürich 16 January 2006 21 May 2007 Swiss Super League 53 19 18 16 35.85 71 54 +17
Europe 12 6 2 4 50.00 21 18 +3
Total 65 25 20 20 38.46 92 72 +20
Chernomorets Burgas 14 December 2008 6 December 2010 Bulgarian A Professional Football Group 60 29 16 15 48.33 79 54 +25
Bulgarian Cup 2 1 0 1 50.00 5 2 +3
Total 62 30 16 16 48.39 84 56 +28
Hajduk Split 31 May 2011 22 March 2012 Prva HNL 22 13 5 4 59.09 42 17 +25
Croatian Cup 4 3 0 1 75.00 9 4 +5
Europe 2 0 0 2 00.00 0 2 –2
Total 28 16 5 7 57.14 51 23 +28
1. FC Kaiserslautern 22 March 2012 17 May 2012 Bundesliga 8 1 0 7 12.50 7 18 –11
Total 8 1 0 7 12.50 7 18 –11
Litex Lovech 27 May 2014 11 July 2015 Bulgarian A Professional Football Group 31 16 6 9 51.61 49 32 +17
Bulgarian Cup 5 3 1 1 60.00 9 7 +2
Europa League 6 2 3 1 33.33 8 6 +2
Total 42 21 10 11 50.00 66 45 +21
Career totals League 174 78 45 51 44.83 248 175 +73
Cup 11 7 1 3 63.64 23 13 +10
Europe 20 8 5 7 40.00 29 26 +3
Total 205 93 51 61 45.37 300 214 +86

Honours

Club

International

Individual

References

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Sporting positions
Preceded by Bulgaria Captain
1999–2003		 Succeeded by
Stiliyan Petrov

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