Aleksandar Kolev (; born 8 December 1992) is a Bulgarian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club

Nantong Zhiyun Nantong Zhiyun Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Rugao, Jiangsu, that competes in . Nantong Zhiyun plays its home matches at the Rugao Olympic Sports Center, located within Rugao. The club was founded on 13 March ...

and the Bulgaria national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

to Bulgarian parents, Kolev began his career in his country of origin, at

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

's youth academy. He returned to his country of birth with his family when he was 15 years old and joined local side

Dessel Sport Koninklijke Football Club Dessel Sport, or KFC Dessel Sport, is a Belgian association football club based in Dessel in the province of Antwerp. The club currently play in the Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian Division 1 is a semi-pro ...

. Kolev made his first team debut for Dessel Sport in a 2–1 home win over

K.S.V. Oudenaarde Koninklijke Sport Vereniging Oudenaarde is a Belgian association football club based in Oudenaarde, East Flanders. The team competes in the Belgian Division 2, the fourth tier of the Belgian football league system. The club's colours are black ...

on 12 February 2011. One month later, he scored his first goal in a 2–2 away draw against Olsa Brakel. After good seasons in Dessel, Kolev joined

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...

team

ASV Geel ASV may refer to: * Aberdeen Sports Village, a sports facility in Aberdeen, Scotland * Adaptive servo-ventilation, a treatment for sleep apnea * Adaptive Support Ventilation, a mode of ventilation for critical care patients * Air-to-surface-vessel ...

. He made his debut for the team in a match against

White Star Bruxelles White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no colorfulness, chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) diffuse reflection, ref ...

Botev Plovdiv

2014–15

On 4 August 2014, Kolev signed a contract with the Bulgarian team

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

. He made his debut five days later, when he came in as an 86-minute substitute at the dramatic 3–3 draw against

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

. Kolev was included at the starting lineup of the match for the

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

against

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

. Unfortunately, he received a red card at the end of the first half. Kolev scored his first goal for Botev on 23 September 2014, when he came on as a substitute and scored the third goal in a 4–0 away win against

Lokomotiv Mezdra FC Lokomotiv Mezdra (ФК Локомотив Мездра) was a Bulgarian football club from the town of Mezdra, which last played in the A RFG Vratsa, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground was the Lokomotiv Stadium i ...

in the first round of the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

. On 28 October Kolev scored again in the next round of the

tournament. He scored a late equaliser in the derby game against

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

. On 8 November, Kolev scored the winning goal in a 2–1 away win over

. Alex Kolev was seriously injured in the beginning of the away game with Slavia on 29 November. Soon after that it was confirmed that the injury will rule him out for six months. On 23 May 2015, after a long absence due to an injury, Kolev was included is the squad for the 1–2 away defeat from

Beroe Stara Zagora Professional Football Club Beroe Stara Zagora, better known as just Beroe (), is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Stara Zagora, that competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league syst ...

but remained an unused substitute. A week later he came on as a substitute in the final minutes of the last game of the season, 0–2 defeat from

Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refounded in 2015, following ...

2015–16

On 25 July 2015, Kolev missed a penalty in the first half of a 6–0 away defeat at

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. In the following game, the local derby with

, he scored a nice goal after an assist by

Mariyan Ognyanov Mariyan Georgiev Ognyanov (; born 30 July 1988) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Career Levski Sofia Ognyanov played for Levski Sofia from 2004. On 27 September 2006, Ognyanov scored the first goal by a Bulgar ...

. On 9 August, Kolev scored the winning goal against

Pirin Blagoevgrad Football club Pirin (), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the Second League, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 2008, after a merger ...

. He was selected for the man of the match and his goal was chosen for the best goal of the round. Furthermore, Kolev won the award for the best player of the 4th round in

A Grupa The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

Nikolay Kostov Nikolay Nikolov Kostov (; born 2 July 1963) is a Bulgarian former footballer and current manager. Career Much of his coaching career has taken place in Cyprus. His first coaching role in the country was at Anorthosis, where he won the Cyprio ...

, the manager of

, decided that Kolev was no longer needed by the club. On 3 February 2016, after playing in 33 official games and scoring 5 goals, Kolev was released on a free transfer.

Sandecja Nowy Sącz

Kolev was signed for free in the beginning of the 2017 summer transfer window and made his debut for the club on 16 July 2017, in a goalless draw against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. His first goal for the club came in a 3–1 away win against

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

on 6 August 2017. He scored a decisive brace against

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

on 27 August 2017, leading his team to victory in a 2–1 home win.

Stal Mielec

On 5 January 2021, Kolev signed for

Stal Mielec FKS Stal Mielec, commonly known as Stal Mielec (), is a Polish professional football club based in Mielec. The team competes in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system. The club was established on 10 April 1939. Histori ...

on a contract until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 14 January 2022, he left the club by mutual consent.

Krumovgrad

In June 2023, Kolev signed a contract with newly promoted Krumovgrad. He finished the season as the top scorer in the league, having netted 15 goals.

International career

In August 2012, Kolev was called up for the Bulgaria U21 squad. He made his debut in a 1–1 friendly draw against Macedonia U21 on 14 November 2012. In September 2013 Kolev scored during the 3–1 away defeat of the Bulgaria U21 from Russia U21. Kolev scored a goal for Bulgaria U21 in the 2–2 draw with Estonia U21 on 3 September 2014. While Kolev was playing for

, he was included twice in the

Bulgaria national football team The Bulgaria national football team () represents Bulgaria in men's international Association football, football, and is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. Bulgaria's best achievements are reaching the ...

but he did not participate in any official games. On 16 November 2023, he earned his first cap after coming on as a second half substitute for

Martin Minchev Martin Yankov Minchev (; born 22 April 2001) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Ekstraklasa club Cracovia and the Bulgaria national team. Career Cherno More Born in Varna, Minchev joined Cherno More ...

in the 2:2 home draw with

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in a Euro 2024 qualifier.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Bulagria's goal tally first.''

Career statistics

Honours

Botev Plovdiv *

runner-up:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Arka Gdynia *

Polish Super Cup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

top goalscorer: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolev, Aleksandar 1992 births Living people Footballers from Sofia Men's association football forwards Bulgarian men's footballers K.F.C. Dessel Sport players Botev Plovdiv players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Stal Mielec players Sandecja Nowy Sącz players Arka Gdynia players Raków Częstochowa players FC Kaisar players FC CSKA 1948 Sofia players FC Krumovgrad players PFC Levski Sofia players Challenger Pro League players Belgian Third Division players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players I liga players Ekstraklasa players Kazakhstan Premier League players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen