Aleksandar Blagov Tunchev ( bg, Александър Тунчев; born 10 July 1981) is a Bulgarian former

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 ...

who played as a defender. He is currently head coach at

Arda Kardzhali FC Arda 1924 Kardzhali ( bg, ПФК Арда Кърджали) is a Bulgarian association football club based in Kardzhali, which currently competes in the First League, the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded on 13 ...

Club career

Bulgaria

Tunchev started his career in his hometown of

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in ...

with local team Hebar. After that he played for

Belasitsa Petrich OFC Belasitsa ( bg, ОФК Беласица Петрич) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Petrich, currently playing in the Second League. The team was founded in 1923. They play at the Stadion Tsar Samuil in Petrich, which has ...

, later joining

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

in June 2002. With Lokomotiv they became Champions of Bulgaria in 2004 and also won the Bulgarian Super Cup that same year. In 2006, he signed for

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

. In 2007, he was appointed captain after

Valentin Iliev Valentin Iliev Valov ( bg, Валентин Илиев Валов; born 11 August 1980) is a Bulgarian football manager and former professional player. Personal life Iliev's father, Iliya Valov, was goalkeeper for CSKA and Bulgaria's national ...

was stripped of the CSKA captaincy. They were crowned champions in 2008, and also won the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) 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 tourname ...

and

Supercup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the ' curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the pre ...

in 2006. In June 2008, CSKA was in a deep financial crisis and were forced to sell their key players, including Tunchev.

Leicester City

2008–09 season

Tunchev joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

on 5 July 2008 for a fee of £375,000, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut in a 2–0 home win over

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

on 9 August 2008, scoring his first league goal in a 2–2 home draw against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

on 21 October. Tunchev was peerless as he guided the club's defence through the first half of the 2008–09 season, losing just two league games.

Knee injury

His season was cut short when he suffered a partial tear of his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in his right knee during a 2–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

replay defeat to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

on 14 January 2009. It was Tunchev's "first big injury", his previous being a pulled hamstring. Nonetheless, he was awarded a medal after Leicester finished the season as League One champions, winning promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. On 20 July 2009, Tunchev was back in full training after recovering from injury. He played his first game a day later as a substitute in a pre-season friendly against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

. He made his first competitive appearance in a 2–1

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

defeat to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

on 25 August. However, he suffered an injury to his left knee in a 2–1 defeat to Preston on 26 September. Tunchev had managed two league games before undergoing another operation on his right knee on 30 September. Restricted to

crutches A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

ever since, he returned to the training ground in early October for his rehabilitation. It was thought that Tunchev could return to training in November. Then-manager

Nigel Pearson Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, S ...

however, refused to rush him back into the first team, instead wanting him to be "absolutely spot on" before returning. Suffering several setbacks during rehabilitation, Tunchev flew to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, Spain in early February 2010 to see the specialist who originally treated his injury problem. He returned to England after undergoing the last of a series of injections to his knee in the hope of avoiding another operation. On 4 February 2010, Pearson said it was unlikely Tunchev would play again in the 2009–10 season. He was ruled out for six months after undergoing another knee operation on 2 March 2010.

Return to fitness

Tunchev made his return against

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchis ...

in a behind-closed-doors friendly on 24 February 2011 at Belvoir Drive. He played for 65 minutes before being

substituted A substitution reaction (also known as single displacement reaction or single substitution reaction) is a chemical reaction during which one functional group in a chemical compound is replaced by another functional group. Substitution reactions ar ...

. He finally played his first competitive game since September 2009 in a 4–2 win over

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

on 25 April 2011, albeit as a substitute during stoppage time. On 7 May 2011, Tunchev came on as a 30th-minute substitute in a 4–2 win over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

, the final game of the 2010–11 season as Leicester finished in 10th place. By this time, he had played only five games in two seasons as a result of his two knee injuries.

Loan to Crystal Palace

After a successful pre-season with

, on 5 August 2011 Tunchev signed a one-year contract extension which was set to expire in 2012 and was sent originally on a month's loan to

, though this was later extended to a 3-month loan. Tunchev made 10 appearances in total in his brief stint at Palace.

Return to Leicester

Tunchev returned to Leicester after his loan spell at Crystal Palace had come to an end, with

, who originally brought him to England having returned to manage the Foxes. After a couple of months of trying to prove his fitness following a further groin injury, Pearson recalled Tunchev to the first team on 2 January 2012 to face the Crystal Palace side he had been on loan with earlier in the season. Leicester won the game 2–1. Tunchev was released by the club on 19 May 2012 after failing to do enough to earn an extension to his contract.

Zagłębie Lubin

In the summer of 2012, Tunchev was also on trial with Ludogorets Razgrad, catching the eye of then manager

Ivaylo Petev Ivaylo Bogdanov Petev ( bg, Ивайло Богданов Петев; born 9 July 1975) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He spent his whole career ...

, but the

Razgrad Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province. Etymolog ...

team eventually decided against offering him a contract. In September 2012, Tunchev joined Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

side

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ''Y ...

as defensive cover, following injuries to other players. He signed for an initial one-year period, with the option of a second year.

Return to Bulgaria

Loko Plovdiv

In June 2013, Tunchev once again became part of the

Loko Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

team.

CSKA Sofia

In May 2014, Tunchev rejoined

for a period of one year, becoming the team's first summer signing.

Loko Plovdiv

In June 2016, Tunchev announced his retirement but was restored as a player by

's manager

Eduard Eranosyan Eduard Antranik Eranosyan ( bg, Едуард Антраник Ераносян; born 8 February 1961), nicknamed ''"Edo"'' ''( bg, Едо)'', is a Bulgarian football manager and a former player who played as a striker. Eranosyan played for Lok ...

in February 2017. He finally retired in June 2017.

International

Tunchev used to be part of the Bulgaria national side. He made his debut in a 3–1 win over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

on 18 August 2005, playing for six minutes. The defender was a regular for the Bulgarian team since making his official debut against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

in a

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

qualifying match. On 11 October 2006, Tunchev scored his first international goal in a 1–0 away win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

during a

qualifying match. In November 2014, he was recalled to the national side for a

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualifier against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

after a long absence from international duty, but remained on the bench.

International goals

Honours

Player

;

A Group The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

: 2003–04 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) 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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

;

: 2007–08 *

: 2005–06 *

: 2006 ;

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2008–09

Manager

;

: runner-up (

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunchev, Aleksandar 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Pazardzhik Association football defenders Bulgarian footballers Bulgaria international footballers Bulgarian expatriate footballers FC Hebar Pazardzhik players PFC Belasitsa Petrich players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players PFC CSKA Sofia players Leicester City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Zagłębie Lubin players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players English Football League players Ekstraklasa players Expatriate footballers in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Poland