Ismail Isa Mustafa (; born 26 June 1989) 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

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Targovishte Targovishte (, also transliteration, transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the l ...

, Isa started playing football at

PFC Svetkavitsa Profesionalen futbolen klub Svetkavitsa 1922 (; ) is a Bulgarian football club based in Targovishte, which currently competes in Bulgaria's third tier, the North-East Third League. They play their home matches at the local Dimitar Burkov Stadium ...

's youth teams.

Levski Sofia

Isa with Levski Sofia Ismail Isa made his unofficial debut for Levski in a friendly match against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

on 20 January 2008. He played for 33 minutes. The result was a 1–2 loss for Levski. On 20 February, he scored his first goals in a friendly against

Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo PFC Vidima-Rakovski Sevlievo () was a Bulgarian football club based in Sevlievo- Balabanica, which competed in various Bulgarian football leagues (ultimately the North-West V AFG, the third level of Bulgarian football) before dissolving in 2015. ...

. He scored two goals in the 75th and 85th minute. The result of the match was a 3–0 win for Levski. He made his official debut in a 1–0 defeat away to Lokomotiv Plovdiv. During the 2008–09 season, he was loaned to

OFC Sliven 2000 FC Sliven (ФК Сливен) is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Sliven, currently playing in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), Third League, the third level of Bulgarian football. The club's home ground is the Hadzhi Dimit ...

. Anyway, after the end of the season, he returned to Levski. Isa re-debuted for Levski on 15 July 2009 in the 2nd Qualifying round of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, where Levski defeated the team of

UE Sant Julià Unió Esportiva Sant Julià, also known as UE Sant Julià, is an Andorran professional Association football, football club based in the parish of Sant Julià de Lòria. The club currently competes in the Segona Divisió, but withdrew from this s ...

. The result of the match was 4–0 with a home win for Levski. On 21 July, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

at the stroke of half time for a second bookable offense in the return leg against the

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

n side, but despite playing a man down his team won 5–0. His return was in a match against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

– a second qualifying round of

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 ...

. Levski won the first match and the result was 6:0. Isa scored two of the goals. He further added to his tally in the 5–2 home win against the Swedish

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1 ...

, where he scored another two goals. Isa scored his first goal for Levski in the

Bulgarian A Professional Football Group 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 ...

on 23 August 2010 against

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 ...

Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)

On 2 August 2009, Ismail Isa was loaned for half a season in

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 ...

. After matches, in which he scored 7 goals in 12 matches, Isa returned to Levski. Shortly afterwards on 11 January 2010, though, he was loaned out to Lokomotiv Mezdra again. On 21 March 2010, he scored the only goal for his side to give the team from

Mezdra Mezdra ( ) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Vratsa Province. It is located on the left bank of the Iskar River, just north of its gorge through the Balkan Mountains. History Although the area around it has been inhabited continuously s ...

a 1:0 lead against the other Bulgarian top team

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'' ...

. This goal got him in the news since just a few minutes after it the CSKA supporters flooded the field and stopped the match, earning their team a 3–0 disciplinary loss (4:0 aggregate loss). After scoring 11 goals in 25 caps Isa was brought back to Levski on 24 May.

Karabükspor

In June 2011, Isa joined

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

club Karabükspor. Media reports estimated the transfer fee to be around €200,000. On 22 October 2011, Isa made his official debut for his new team, playing the first 85 minutes and earning himself a yellow card in the 2:0 home win over Istanbul B.B. in a

Turkish Süper Lig Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The wor ...

match.

Litex

Isa was signed by Litex Lovech for the 2012/2013 season and netted 7 goals in 11 appearances during the first half of the season. He finished the 2012/2013

A PFG 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 ...

season as the fifth highest goal scorer in the league, having managed 11 goals.

Sheriff Tiraspol

In June 2013, Isa signed a contract with

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

n club

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

. He marked his debut by scoring a goal in the 2:0 win over

FC Tiraspol FC Tiraspol was a Moldovan football (soccer), football club based in Tiraspol, Moldova. They played in the Moldovan National Division, Divizia Naţională, the top division in Moldovan football. Founded in 1992 as ''Constructorul Chișinău'', ...

in a

Moldovan Super Cup The Moldovan Super Cup () is the national football (soccer), football super cup competition in Moldova, officially having the winners of the previous season's Moldovan Liga and Moldovan Cup face-off against each other. In case when the national cu ...

match that was held on 29 June.

Beroe

Isa returned to

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 ...

, joining

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 ...

in September 2015.

Vereya

On 19 October 2017, Isa signed with First League side

Vereya Vereya () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Vereya, Naro-Fominsky District, Moscow Oblast, a town in Naro-Fominsky District of Moscow Oblast ;Rural localities * Vereya, Orekhovo-Zuyevsky District, Moscow O ...

International career

Isa was a part of the

Bulgaria national under-19 football team The Bulgaria national under-19 football team, ''Balgarski yunosheski natsionalen otbor po futbol'', literally "Bulgarian teenage national football team" is the national under-19 Football (soccer), football team of Bulgaria and is controlled by th ...

. During his time with the team he played in the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

in the Czech Republic. On 29 April 2008, he scored a goal in qualifying match against Norway. On 7 February 2015, Isa made his first appearance for

, in the 0–0 draw against

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

in a non-official

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

, playing over the course of the first 70 minutes. He was recalled to the national team in May 2019 by new manager

Krasimir Balakov Krasimir Genchev Balakov (, ; born 29 March 1966) is a former Bulgarian footballer and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is considered ...

and played as a starter in the 1–2 away loss against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in a Euro 2020 qualifier on 7 June 2019, opening the scoring with his first international goal.

Personal life

His family is of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

descent.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Levski Sofia *

Bulgarian A Football Group 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 ...

(1) - 2008-09 *

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. ...

(1) -

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

FC Sheriff Tiraspol *

(1) - 2013 *

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Football in Moldova, Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldov ...

: 2013–14

References

External links

*
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isa, Ismail 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Targovishte Bulgarian people of Turkish descent Men's association football forwards Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers PFK Svetkavitsa 1922 players FC Haskovo players PFC Levski Sofia players FC Sliven players FC Lokomotiv Mezdra players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers Elazığspor footballers FC Lovech players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players FC Dacia Chișinău players FC Vereya players FC Dunav Ruse players PFC Cherno More Varna players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Moldovan Super Liga players Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen