Zahari Sirakov (; born 8 October 1977) 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 a former player. He is the manager of Ludogorets Razgrad II.

Career

Sirakov started his career with Levski Kyustendil, but made a name for himself in Bulgaria while playing for

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 24 September 1999, he scored a

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored eith ...

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 an A Group match to bring the score to 1–1 in the heated

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

encounter, prompting a brief

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (also known as field storming, rushing the field or rushing the court) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or somet ...

by joyous Levski supporters. Sirakov was also notable for his sportsmanship, on one occasion shaking the hand of referee Atanas Uzunov after receiving 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 ...

in a match against

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'' ...

. He has remained popular with Bulgarian supporters even after starting his Russian adventures. In February 2004, Sirakov signed with Russian club

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 to 2018, after which it was dissol ...

. After more than 11 years with Amkar, Sirakov ended his career at the end of 2014–15 season.

International career

After first receiving a call-up for a friendly match against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

prior to the 1998 World Cup, but withdrawing due to an injury, Sirakov made his debut for

against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on 6 September 1998. However, he received his second cap in 2007 during

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a Round-robin tournament, double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others ...

. In August 2010, he earned a recall to the national side due to an injury suffered by Georgi Sarmov and on 11 August 2010, he came on as a substitute in the 0–1 away loss in a

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

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Managerial career

Sirakov became a youth coach in Levski in 2015, right after announcing retirement. In 2018 he become a coach of Levski U15 and in 2020 he was promoted to U17 team. In November 2020 he was announced as the new manager of Ludogorets III, together with the U19 team. In January 2024 he was promoted to manager of Ludogorets Razgrad II in Second League.Захари Сираков поема дубъла на Лудогорец
/ref> In August 2024, Sirakov was appointed as interim manager of the first team after

Georgi Dermendzhiev Georgi Nikolov Dermendziev (; born 4 January 1955) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Coaching career After managing FC Spartak Plovdiv, Spartak Plovdiv as a ...

stepped down as head coach following the club's elimination from the Champions League. In his first match in charge, he led the “eagles” from Razgrad to a 1:0

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

win over former club

Managerial statistics

Personal life

Sirakov is married to Irina and they have a son named Aleksandar.

Honours

Club

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

* Champion of Bulgaria -2000, 2001 *

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 ...

1998, 2000 APOEL *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

: 2002

References

External links

Profile at Amkar
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirakov, Zahari 1977 births Sportspeople from Smolyan Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Velbazhd Kyustendil players PFC Levski Sofia players OFC Spartak Pleven players APOEL FC players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players FC Rodopa Smolyan players FC Amkar Perm players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Cypriot First Division players Russian Premier League players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Bulgarian football managers