Yanko Hristov Valkanov (; born 25 July 1982) is a

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 ...

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 ...

coach and former player who played as a defender. His preferred position on the pitch is right-back, but he can play as a central defender as well.

Career

Club

Early career in Bulgaria

He started his professional football career with

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'' ...

in the 1999/2000 league season and was quickly loaned out to Beroe Stara Zagora to gain more playing time. The following season he was loaned out once more to

Naftex Burgas PFC Naftex Burgas () is a former football club from Burgas, Bulgaria. History The club was created in 1962 by a group of workers, laying the foundations of the future Petroleum Refinery Neftochim, which had not yet been named. The team startе ...

, however he was unable to establish himself and returned to CSKA Sofia during the league season. At the beginning of the 2002/2003 league season he would transfer to

Marek Dupnitsa FC Marek () is a Bulgarian football club based in Dupnitsa, currently playing in the Second League, the second level of the Bulgarian football league system. It was founded in 1947 following the unification of four local clubs. Home matches take ...

and during his time with them he would attract the interests of

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 ...

and would join them before the start of the 2003/2004 where after several seasons he would establish himself as an integral member of their team.

Belarus and Lithuania

Yanko Valkanov joined reigning

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs of Belarus, organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winning team qualifies f ...

winners MTZ-RIPO Minsk during the 2006 league season and while he was a squad regular he could not establish himself as a first team regular. By the following season he would move to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n football club

FBK Kaunas Kauno futbolo ir beisbolo klubas, commonly known as FBK Kaunas, was a Lithuanian football club from the city of Kaunas. History Banga Kaunas (1960–1993) The roots of the club can be traced back to 1960 when Banga Kaunas was founded and they p ...

during the 2007 league season, however his time with them was not the most productive and halfway through the 2008 league season in July he would return to MTZ-RIPO Minsk.

Move to China

At the beginning of the 2009

China Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

season he transferred to

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

. At first he was criticized for poor performances by both fans and the media, but he began to gain popularity on the other end of the pitch; he has so far scored 5 goals (3 in

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

, 2 in

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

), becoming the top scorer of his team. On 17 April, he scored two goals using his right shoulder in a

match against

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. At the end of 2009 season, his position was transformed to striker by Jia Xiuquan. But he played unbelievable jobs that he had made two assists to

Aleksander Rodić Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

at critical moment. Valkanov transferred to Shenzhen Ruby on 28 February 2010. He was released by Shenzhen in July 2010 after New Zealand defender Ivan Vicelich joined the club.

Return to Belarus

On 8 September 2010, Valkanov signed with

FC Dinamo Minsk FC Dinamo Minsk or FK Dynama Minsk (; ) is a Belarusian professional Association football, football club based in the capital city of Minsk. It was founded in 1927 as part of the Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dinamo Sports Society, and was the o ...

until the end of the

2010 Belarusian Premier League The 2010 Belarusian Premier League was the 20th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 3 and ended on 20 November 2010. BATE Borisov are the defending champions. Teams Gomel, Granit Mikashevichi and Smorgon were relega ...

season. He made his debut four days later in the 4:0 home win against

FC Belshina Bobruisk FC Belshina Bobruisk (, ''FK Belshyna Babruisk'') is a Belarusian football club based in Bobruisk. The team has won one Belarusian Premier League title, as well as 3 Belarusian Cup titles. History of the club and football in Bobruisk The city of ...

, playing the full 90 minutes.

Later career

In 2011 Valkanov had a short spell with

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 ...

club Beroe. He signed with

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

i club Akzhayik in February 2012. On 14 July 2015, Valkanov returned to

FC Akzhayik FC Akzhaiyk (, ) is a Kazakhstani professional association football, football club, based in Oral, Kazakhstan, Oral, current member of the Kazakhstan First Division. History Names *1968: Founded as ''Uralets'' *1993: The club was renamed ''Ura ...

, helping them win the

Kazakhstan First Division The Kazakhstan First Division () is the second division of football in Kazakhstan. The League is controlled by the Football Union of Kazakhstan and feeds into the Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Q ...

and gain promotion to 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 ...

. In August 2017, Valkanov joined Tundzha Yagoda.

International career

He earned his first call-up to the national side for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, which was held on 17 November 2004.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of 11 November 2015''

International goal

References

External links

Profile
at Weltfussball.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valkanov, Yanko 1982 births Living people Footballers from Stara Zagora Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers PFC CSKA Sofia players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players PFC Naftex Burgas players FC Marek Dupnitsa players PFC Slavia Sofia players FC Partizan Minsk players FBK Kaunas footballers Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Shenzhen F.C. players FC Dinamo Minsk players FC Akzhayik players FC Belshina Bobruisk players FC Botev Galabovo players FC Levski Karlovo players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Belarusian Premier League players A Lyga players Chinese Super League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in China Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Belarus Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Men's association football defenders Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Bulgarian football managers 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen