Svetoslav Dyakov (; born 31 May 1984) is a Bulgarian professional retired

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 as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, and now a manager. He was the club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 ...

and, between 2015 and 2017, was the captain of the national team as well.

Career

Born in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

, Dyakov began his football career with a local club,

Pirin The Pirin Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of . The range extends about from the north-west to the south-east and is about wide, spanning a territory of . To the north ...

. In 2005, he signed with Pirin 1922.

Lokomotiv Sofia

On 18 June 2008, Dyakov became Lokomotiv Sofia's first summer signing. He signed a three-year contract. He made his debut on 9 August 2008, in a 1–0 away win over Minyor Pernik. Dyakov made a further 24 league appearances in the 2008–09 season without scoring. His first goal came in a 3–0 home win against Sliven 2000 on 6 November 2010. During his three years at Lokomotiv, Dyakov made 79 appearances, scoring two goals.

Ludogorets Razgrad

After his contract with Lokomotiv expired, Dyakov joined

on a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract on 4 June 2011. Dyakov made his league debut against

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 ...

in a 0–0 home draw on 6 August. He enjoyed a successful first season at Ludogorets and quickly established himself as a first team regular. On 19 May 2012, Dyakov scored his first goal as a Ludogorets player in the team's league match against Kaliakra Kavarna after scoring a penalty. Ludogorets won the match 4–0. In his first season with Ludogorets, Dyakov collected his first A Group title winner's medal. He also won for first time in his career

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 ...

and Bulgarian Supercup. On 18 June 2013, Dyakov was appointed the club captain of Ludogorets for the 2013–14 season. He scored his first-ever European goal on 3 October, in a 3–0 home win over

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

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 ...

of Europa League. On 19 December, he was named the best midfielder of the year in Bulgaria. On 4 October 2018, Dyakov was in the starting line-up for Ludogorets in a 1–0 away loss against

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and together with teammate Cosmin Moți became the player with the joint most appearances for (a) Bulgarian team(s) in European club tournaments, alongside Hristo Yovov whose record of 66 matches they equaled. He has (as of 14 April 2020) made 79 appearances (78 in the colors of Ludogorets and one as a footballer of Lokomotiv Sofia), trailing teammate Marcelinho who has 80 (all for Ludogorets). In May 2020, Dyakov extended his contract with the team. On 19 May 2021, Ludogorets announced that Dyakov would leave the club after almost ten years of service, offering him a position in the club administrative, but Dyakov showed a desire to play for one more season at another club, before retiring and joining Ludogorets' technical body.

Return to Pirin

In May 2021, Dyakov announced that he would join

, the team where he started his career, which had just gotten promoted to the First League. He officially retired on 21 May 2022, when he played his last match against Botev Vratsa, when he was substituted in the 18th minute, his playing number for the most of his career.

International career

On 14 February 2012, Dyakov was called up to the

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 ...

squad, for their friendly fixture against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Two weeks later, he marked his international début at the age of 27, with an assist to a Valeri Bojinov goal in the 1–1 draw at ETO Park. On 11 September 2012, Dyakov was sent off for a second

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

in a

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

qualifier against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

that was won 1–0 by Bulgaria. On 11 October 2013, he received 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 ...

after being cautioned twice against the same opponent – Bulgaria lost the match held in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

2–1. On 7 February 2015, Dyakov captained his country in the 0–0 draw with

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, as Ivelin Popov and Nikolay Bodurov were absent from the team.

Personal life

Dyakov is also enrolled as a student at the South-West University, where he is pursuing coaching studies.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ludogorets * Bulgarian League (10): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 *

: 2011–12, 2013–14 * Bulgarian Supercup:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * Best midfielder in the league: 2013, 2014 * Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: second place 2014, 2016; third place 2013 * Razgrad Sportsman of the year: 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyakov, Svetoslav 1984 births Living people Footballers from Blagoevgrad Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen