Tsvetan Valentinov Genkov (; born 8 February 1984) 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 striker for OFK Kostinbrod.

Career

Lokomotiv Mezdra

Born in

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 ...

, Genkov began his career in the local Lokomotiv, previously having been a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. He made his debut during the 2001–02 season on 14 October 2001 in a 0–2 away loss against Sitomir Nikopol in the campaign of

V AFG The Bulgarian Third Amateur Football League (), commonly known as Treta Liga or Bulgarian Third League (currently known as the ELITBET Third League for sponsorship reasons), is the third level of the Bulgarian football league system. Third Leagu ...

. On 12 May 2002, Genkov scored his first goal in a 2–2 home draw against Olimpik Teteven. As of the 2002–03 season he became first-choice forward scoring 14 goals. After 24 goals in the next season he transferred to

Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refounded in 2015, following ...

Lokomotiv Sofia

He made his debut for Lokomotiv Sofia on 6 August 2004, in a 0–2 away loss against

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

. In Sofia, Genkov established himself in one of the leading

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 ...

clubs and helped his team to reach the fourth place in 2005–06 and secure a place in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

. During the qualification rounds, Genkov scored four goals in six matches. In Bulgaria's A PFG, he became the top goalscorer of 2006–07 with 27 goals, leading Lokomotiv to the third position and

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, UEFA's former second-tier club association football, football tournament. The 2008 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, E ...

qualification.

Dynamo Moscow

On 9 June 2007, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Dynamo Moscow for a transfer fee of €2.25 million.

Return to Lokomotiv Sofia

In January 2010, Genkov was loaned out to his former club. On 7 March 2010, he netted twice in the 5–1 away win against

FC Sportist Svoge FC Sportist () is a Bulgarian football club based in Svoge, which currently competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football, following promotion from the Third League. The club was founded in 1924 and their home ground is ...

. In the following season, with 11 goals to his name, Genkov had climbed up to second place in the scoring charts in the

by the time his loan expired.

Wisła Kraków

On 28 January 2011, Genkov joined Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

side

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. They currently compete in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system, ...

on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Dynamo Moscow. He won the Ekstraklasa championship in his debut season. Genkov was club's top goalscorer in the second part of the season with six goals in the league. In the following season, he was a starter in all six matches in the Wisła's ultimately unsuccessful

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 ...

qualifying campaign. On 9 September, Genkov picked up an injury at beginning of the league match against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. He returned to play on 15 October, scoring the winning goal in a 3–1 home win over

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

. Genkov also netted the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

, in the last

UEFA 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 ...

group stage match, which lead his team to qualify for the round of 32. On 16 February 2012, he scored a late equaliser in the first leg tie against

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. Wisła Kraków played with ten-men for most of the match after

Michał Czekaj Michał Czekaj (born 13 February 1992) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back for III liga club Sparta Kazimierza Wielka. Club career Czekaj began his ca ...

was sent off in the 27th minute. He scored his first hat-trick for Wisła Kraków on 14 April, scoring all three of his team's goals in a 3–2 home win over

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...

in the Ekstraklasa. Genkov was a top goalscorer of 2011–12 Polish Cup with four goals from three games.

Levski Sofia

Genkov signed with

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 ...

on 19 June 2013 on a three-year deal. He was not registered for the 1st round of the

games against Kazakh club

Irtysh Pavlodar FC Irtysh () is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Pavlodar. Irtysh won the Kazakhstan Premier league in 1993 (as ''Ansat''), 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003. The club was also founding members of the top league an ...

, which his team lost by an aggregate score of 0–2. Genkov made his official debut for Levski Sofia on 21 July 2013, in the 1–2 away loss against

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 ...

in an

match. He scored his first goal for the team from

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

a week later in the 1–2 home defeat inflicted by

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 ...

Okzhetpes

On 14 February 2017, Genkov signed for Okzhetpes of the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

OFK Kostinbrod

After three years without a club, Genkov signed with Bulgarian fourth division club OFK Kostinbrod in March 2020. As of September 2021, Genkov was still playing for Kostinbrod.

International career

Receiving his first call-up for an official match in March 2005, he was capped nine times for

Bulgaria national under-21 football team The Bulgaria national under-21 football team ()''Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol'', literally ''"Bulgaria national youth football team"''. is considered to be the feeder team for the Bulgaria national football team. This team i ...

, scoring three goals. Genkov received his first senior international cap 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 ...

on 17 August 2005 in a friendly match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, which they won 3–1, coming on as a substitute for

Dimitar Berbatov Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov (; born 30 January 1981) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Known for his technique and ball control, Berbatov is regarded as one of the greatest Bulgarian players of all time. He cap ...

after one hour of play.

Outside football

Genkov has participated in charity campaigns during his spell with Wisla. He also represents Bulgarian company

TRYMAX Trymax is a Bulgarian manufacturer of sports accessories, with its primary hub for business operations in Sofia, Bulgaria. The manufacturing processes are distributed between the United States and China, while product distribution is managed thro ...

Career statistics

Club

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 6 September 2011''

Honours

Wisła Kraków *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Individual *

top goalscorer: 2006–07 *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

top goalscorer: 2011–12

References

External links

*
Profile
at LevskiSofia.info {{DEFAULTSORT:Genkov, Tsvetan Bulgarian men's footballers 1984 births Living people FC Lokomotiv Mezdra players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players FC Dynamo Moscow players Wisła Kraków players PFC Levski Sofia players Denizlispor footballers FC Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa players FC Okzhetpes players OFC Kostinbrod players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Russian Premier League players Ekstraklasa players TFF 1. Lig players Kazakhstan Premier League players Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Men's association football forwards 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen