Nasko Petkov Sirakov (; born 26 April 1962) is a Bulgarian retired 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 played mainly as a striker. He is the major shareholder of

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 ...

. Part of the Bulgaria national team at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

as it finished fourth, he was one of the most important footballers in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, representing

in four separate spells. Having surpassed the 200-goal mark as a professional – he was crowned the country's top division topscorer four times – Sirakov also worked with his main club in directorial capacities.

Club career

Born in

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

, the son of professional

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

Petko Sirakov, Nasko started playing as a striker, playing three games for

's first team in 1980, having joined the club's youth system at the age of 13. In the following years, he developed his game with Spartak Varna and lowly Haskovo, returning to Levski after two seasons (he also played briefly for the latter club in the 1982–83 season). In his second stint at Levski, Sirakov began appearing regularly, scoring 14 goals in only 19 matches in 1984–85 A Group, as the team won

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

. From 1986–88, with the club now renamed Vitosha, he helped to another championship, as well as leading the goal charts in both seasons, scoring 64 goals combined – 36 in just 30 matches in the first year, although the championship was eventually lost to

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'' ...

, by three points. During this spell, he also won two

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 with the club. Sirakov moved abroad for the first time in 1988, playing for the following three years in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

and

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. Subsequently, he returned to Levski: in the first season upon his return, he netted 26 times in 27 matches, but the club again lost to CSKA. In the summer of 1992, the 30-year-old Sirakov signed with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

, but returned to his main club in the following transfer window, helping it to three consecutive league wins, whilst being crowned the competition's top scorer on another two occasions. He finished the 1994–95 season with

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 ...

, still contributing decisively in Levski's championship win, scoring 12 in only 10 matches. Sirakov closed his career at the age of 36, after three years with

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

, winning a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in 1995–96 season. During his career in his country, he amassed totals of 294 matches and 196 goals in the top division, the second best achievement after Petar Zhekov; only with his main club, Levski, he scored 165 times in 205 games, a club record. Sirakov briefly managed Slavia Sofia in 1997. In the following decade, he worked as

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

for Levski, being fired on 7 May 2008, and being succeeded by former club and national teammate Daniel Borimirov.

International career

Sirakov was also a regular for

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 ...

during 13 years, making his debut on 7 August 1983, against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. He represented the nation at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

in Mexico – scoring against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

(1–1) and helping the national team to the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

– and at the 1994 World Cup in the United States: during the latter, as Bulgaria finished in a best-ever fourth position, he played in all the matches, scoring against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

for a 2–0

win, also earning penalties against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and in the semifinal loss against Italy. Aged 34, Sirakov was also picked for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

in England, playing the last of his 78 matches (24 goals) on 13 June, 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 ...

, after replacing

Lyuboslav Penev Lyuboslav Mladenov Penev (; born 31 August 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player. Penev played as a forward for several clubs in Bulgaria and Spain. He started his career at CSKA Sofia in 1984, winning two B ...

in a 1–0 win.Календар: През 2001 г. Наско Сираков става треньор на Левски
; Focus Sport, 18 September 2012 Immediately after retiring from international play, Sirakov served as assistant to the national team, appearing with it at the 1998 World Cup.

Personal life

Sirakov is married to Iliana Raeva, a distinguished Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. They have two daughters, named Slaveya and Violeta. His father, the wrestler Petko Sirakov, was the first world champion from Bulgaria.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sirakov goal.''

Honours

Levski Sofia * A Group: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

: 1983–84, 1985–86, 1991–92, 1993–94 * Cup of the Soviet Army: 1983–84, 1986–87, 1987–88 Slavia Sofia * A Group: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 Bulgaria *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

: fourth place

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Individual * A Group top scorer: 1986–87 (36 goals), 1987–88 (28 goals), 1991–92 (26 goals), 1993–94 (30 goals) *

European Golden Shoe The European Golden Shoe, also known as the European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the player with the most points in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture o ...

third place: 1986–87

References

External links

Bulgarian Sport Catalog profile
* *
Profile at LevskiSofia.info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirakov, Nasko 1962 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football forwards PFC Levski Sofia players FC Spartak Varna players FC Haskovo players Real Zaragoza players RCD Espanyol footballers RC Lens players Botev Plovdiv players PFC Slavia Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players La Liga players Ligue 1 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Bulgarian football managers Footballers from Stara Zagora Catalonia men's international guest footballers 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen