Stoycho Dimitrov Mladenov (; born 12 April 1957 in Ploski, Blagoevgrad Province) is a Bulgarian former football player and manager. He has 212 matches and 107 goals for CSKA. With the club he won the national title 6 times, 4 as a player and 2 as a coach.

Career

Mladenov started from small teams like Dimitrovgrad and gradually moved to bigger teams like CSKA Sofia. From there he went all around the world, however his best moments of winning were in Portugal and also with his National Team. His best years were spent as a striker for CSKA Sofia. He also served the club as a manager and head coach. Mladenov's nickname is "Liverpool's Executioner" in honor of his winning goals against the European champion Liverpool F.C. in UEFA European Champions Cup 1/4 finals in season 81/82. Mladenov's finest game as a player was on 17 March 1982, when he scored both of CSKA's goals as they beat

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

2–0 in Sofia to knock the English giants out of the European Cup quarter-finals. He was honoured as Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 1983. He played also 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 ...

in several clubs like V.Setúbal, GD Estoril-Praia, Olhanense, but was in C.F. Os Belenenses where he achieved one third place in Portuguese football league and won a Portuguese Cup beating Benfica in the final, after winning in the prior stages teams like

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. He was also responsible for the victory that Belenenses had over

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

of 1988, when he stole the ball from Barcelona's defender Schuster and made a perfect assist for Mapuata's goal. Nowadays he trains the most successful Bulgarian team CSKA Sofia. Financial problems at his favourite club CSKA Sofia pushed him away after a series of compromises he had done during his time there. He was recently fired as manager of Al-Ettifaq FC after the team failed to win in 4 consecutive games. His son Alexandar Mladenov is a professional footballer. In 2000, he was officially appointed by the Bulgarian Football Union as head coach of

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 ...

. The team eventually finished in third place and was unable to qualify for 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was resigned from national team in 2002. In his initial stint at CSKA Sofia (between 2002 and 2003), Mladenov led the team to its first A PFG title in 6 years. In March 2012, he replaced Dimitar Penev as head coach of CSKA Sofia and led the team to a second-place finish during the 2011/2012 A PFG season. On 4 January 2013 Stoycho Mladenov was sacked by CSKA Sofia – he was at CSKA Sofia for the third time as manager of the club. On 16 July 2013 Stoycho Mladenov was reappointed by CSKA Sofia – this was his fourth time at CSKA Sofia. He resigned in March 2015 despite the successful season for the team, which was able to pose a challenge to Ludogorets Razgrad for the title. On 20 March 2015, Mladenov officially resigned as manager of CSKA Sofia once again. In June 2016, Mladenov was appointed as manager of Atyrau. On 21 November 2016, Mladenov was appointed as manager of FC Kaisar. On 26 July 2021, Mladenov was appointed as manager of CSKA Sofia. He resigned in April 2022.

International career

Mladenov made 59 appearances for Bulgaria, between 1978 and 1988, and scored 15 goals. He played in four matches for his country at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

His son Stoycho Mladenov Jr. is also a football player and manager.

Honours

Player

* CSKA Sofia ** Bulgarian League: 4 times – 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 ** Bulgarian Cup: 2 times – 1983, 1985 * C.F. Os Belenenses ** Portuguese Cup: 1 time – 1989

Individual

* Bulgarian League Top Scorer: 1978 (with 21 goals)

Coach

* CSKA Sofia ** Bulgarian League: 2 times – 2003, 2008 * Al-Ahli SC (Jeddah) ** Gulf Club Champions Cup: 1 times – 2008 * FC Kaisar ** Kazakhstan Cup (1): 2019 Best Bulgarian football coach – 2019

References

External links

Official site

Career Statistics as a player
at foradejogo.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Mladenov, Stoycho 1957 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Footballers from Sandanski 1986 FIFA World Cup players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Primeira Liga players PFC CSKA Sofia players C.F. Os Belenenses players Vitória F.C. players G.D. Estoril Praia players Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Sportspeople from Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria Bulgarian football managers S.C. Olhanense managers Kastoria F.C. managers Athens Kallithea F.C. managers Veria F.C. managers PFC CSKA Sofia managers PFC Litex Lovech managers Bulgaria national football team managers Bulgarian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers Saudi Pro League managers Macedonian Bulgarians ENPPI SC managers Al Ittihad Alexandria Club managers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Greece Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate football managers in Egypt Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Expatriate football managers in Kazakhstan Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Men's association football forwards FC Atyrau managers Footballers from Haskovo Province 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen