Antoni Ivanov Zdravkov (born 20 August 1964) is a former

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n 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 ...

. As a defender, he enjoyed spells 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 ...

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 ...

, Yantra Gabrovo, Marítimo,

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, Benfica Castelo Branco,

Velbazhd Kyustendil Velbazhd Kyustendil () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Kyustendil. The club currently competes in the A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1919. Velbazhd have spent mos ...

and

Septemvri Sofia Septemvri () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Its home ground is the Septemvri Stadium, but due to its poor condition the ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

by Bulgaria three times. He retired as a player in January 2001 at the age of 36.

Career

He is a member of

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

, with whom he was also the most successful in his career. He won the

1984–85 A Group The 1984–85 A Group was the 37th season of the A Football Group, the top Bulgarian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1948. Overview It was contested by 16 teams, and Levski Sofia won the championshi ...

championship and 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 ...

(1986) with the team. Later, he performed with less achievements in

PFC Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports C ...

. After the fall of Soviet Communism, he went abroad. For two years, he played in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(including

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

), but did not make much progress during that period. After returning to the country in 1993, he was mainly active in clubs from the lower leagues. At the beginning of his career, he also made three appearances for the Bulgaria national team.

Manager career

A few years after his football career came to an end, he started training. He became involved with

FC Kaliakra Kavarna FC Kaliakra Kavarna () is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Kavarna, which currently competes in the A RFG Dobrich, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1922 as Kaliakra Sport Club, the club spent most of its history in am ...

's team, there he started as assistant to

Velislav Vutsov Velislav Ivanov Vutsov ( Bulgarian: Велислав Иванов Вуцов) (born 19 July 1967) is a Bulgarian football manager and former footballer. He is also the son of former footballer Ivan Vutsov. Career Throughout his career, he has ...

, who led him to the greatest success in his history: the semi-final of the

in the 2007-2008 season . Drugoligowiec of Kavarna eliminated, among others, Chavdar Etropole and

PFC 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 ...

, only lost with

PFC Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

. In the league, the team took second position, which allowed him to play for a place in the league in barracks. However, here is more powerful turned out

FC Minyor Pernik FC Minyor () is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, currently competing in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The club's name comes ...

, which won the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. After leaving Wucowa Zdrawkow he trained Kaliakra briefly. At the beginning of the 2009-2010 season he was offered a job at

as assistant to Georgi Ivanov. However, Ivanov did not have the official training license for UEFA, so the name Zdravkov was entered in the minutes. The Ivanov-Zdravov duo led the club to the third place in the league, guaranteeing a game in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. Their mission ended with the end of the game;

Yasen Petrov Yasen Petrov Petrov (; born 23 June 1968) is a Bulgarian former football player. His nickname is ''Giuseppe Giannini, Giannini from Plovdiv''. Career Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Petrov played for the PFC Botev Plovdiv, PFC Levski Sofia, PFC Slav ...

's new trainer was Lewski . Zdrawkow returned to Kaliakry, who at the time was already playing in the first division. At the end of the 2010-2011 season he finished twelfth in the league with a guaranteed place in the league. However, this result did not please activists who in May 2011 gave the trainer a speech. His successor was

Adalbert Zafirov Adalbert Ivanov Zafirov (; born 29 September 1969) is a Bulgarian former football centre-back who most recently managed CSKA 1948. Club career Zafirov who was born in Sofia played in his home town for Lokomotiv and CSKA. In Germany he sign ...

. Later he worked again with Ivanov as his assistant in Lewski for several months, and since December 2011 he has been coaching

POFC Botev Vratsa Botev () is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Since 1948, Botev have played their home games at Stadion Hristo Bot ...

. On 19 March 2014, while coaching

quit after defeat by

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 ...

in the quarter-finals of the Bulgarian Cup. In late October 2014, Zdravkov was appointed as manager of the Bulgaria U21 national team. On 9 June 2018 he left the U21 national team to join

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 ...

as an assistant to the new general manager

Paulo Autuori Paulo Autuori de Mello (born 25 August 1956), known as Paulo Autuori, is a Brazilian football executive and coach. He is the current manager of Peruvian club Sporting Cristal. Early life A football fan since early childhood and a futsal player ...

. Zdravkov eventually remained with the U21 national side until he replaced the Brazilian Autuori as the manager. Zdravkov became the head coach of the team from

Razgrad Razgrad ( ) 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. Etymology The suffix "gra ...

after Autuori stepped down in October 2018, but in early March 2019 (following a string of disappointing results in the league) he was succeeded by

Stoycho Stoev Stoycho Zahariev Stoev (; born 15 July 1962) is a Bulgarian former footballer and manager. Managerial career On 23 July 2013, Bulgaria champions Ludogorets Razgrad replaced coach Ivaylo Petev with Stoycho Stoev, following a 1–0 defeat by L ...

. However, Zdravkov remained as part of Stoev's coaching staff.

Controversy

On 7 April 2013, while coaching

Botev Vratsa Botev () is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Vratsa, that competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1921. Si ...

in a match against

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () 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 Sports Club of the Army'' ...

, Zdravkov attracted controversy after he contested a refereeing decision in an unconventional way - by showing a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

to the match official and attempting to tear the referee's cards. He was subsequently sent to the stands and banned for one match.

Honours

Player

;

* A Group: 1984–85 *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

References

External links

Profile at LevskiSofia.info

Profile at ForaDeJogo.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zdravkov, Antoni 1964 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers PFC Levski Sofia players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players FC Yantra Gabrovo players C.S. Marítimo players C.D. Nacional players Velbazhd Kyustendil players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Men's association football defenders Bulgarian football managers PFC Levski Sofia managers Footballers from Sofia 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen