Milen Ivanov Petkov (; born 12 January 1974) 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 international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Petkov started his career in the

Dobrudzha Dobrich FC Dobrudzha () is a Bulgarian football club based in Dobrich, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. It plays its home matches at Stadion Druzhba with a capacity of 12,500 seats, and its team colours are gr ...

and then played with great success in

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'' ...

, where he won 1 Bulgarian League and 2

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 ...

s. In January 2000, the then new coach of

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

Giannis Pathiakakis Giannis Pathiakakis (; 15 June 1953 – 8 February 2002) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a midfielder and a later manager. After his death the stadium of Akratitos was named Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium in his honour. Club ca ...

brought him to the club. He had a great impact for his team in winning the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

in , scoring in the quarter-finals in the 3–0 win against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, but also with a free kick in the final against Ionikos. The following seasons at the clun were also good where he played either as a starter or as a substitute. But affected by various injuries he his declining performances during his last seasons resulted in leaving AEK in the summer of 2005, having won 2 Greek Cups. Afterwards, he played for one season at

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

and then for two seasons in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side, Ilysiakos. In 2008 he returned to

and played in Cherno More for two seasons before ending his career in Dobrudzha in 2011.

International career

Petkov was part of the Bulgarian

World Cup 1998 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

team and Bulgarian

2004 European Football Championship The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

team, which was eliminated in the first round, finishing bottom of Group C, having finished top of Qualifying Group 8 in the pre-tournament phase. Between 1997 and 2004 for

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 ...

he had 37 caps and scored 1 goal.

After football

Petkov after the end of his career as a footballer, took up coaching and also worked as an agent.

Personal life

Petkov's son,

Aleks Petkov Aleks Milenov Petkov (; born 25 July 1999) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Polish club Śląsk Wrocław and the Bulgaria national team. Club career Petkov began his career at Cherno More Varna and joined ...

, is also a professional footballer.

International goals

Honours

;CSKA Sofia * Bulgarian League: 1996–97 *

: 1996–97, 1998–99 ;AEK Athens *

: 1999–2000, 2001–02

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers People from General Toshevo Sportspeople from Dobrich Province Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AEK Athens F.C. players PFC CSKA Sofia players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Super League Greece players PFC Cherno More Varna players FC Dobrudzha Dobrich players Atromitos F.C. players Ilisiakos F.C. players Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-footy-midfielder-stub