Zhivko Atanasov (; born 3 February 1991) 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 ...

n 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Cherno More Varna Cherno More () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in the city of Varna, which currently competes in Bulgaria's primary football competition, the First League. Founded on 3 March 1913, as an association football branch ...

and the Bulgaria national team.

Club career

Atanasov began his career 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 ...

. In the winter of 2012, Atanasov impressed Cherno More manager Stefan Genov as a trialist during Cherno More's training camp in Turkey. On 17 February 2012, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. Atanasov made his debut on 4 March, starting against

at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in an A Group fixture, playing the full 90 minutes at centre-back in a 2–1 defeat. He scored his first Cherno More goal on 18 April, opening the scoring in a 7–1 home win over Kaliakra Kavarna. When Aleksandar Aleksandrov was transferred in January 2014, Atanasov formed a partnership with Kiril Kotev in the centre of defence and has become an established first team player. On 16 January 2020 he signed a 1.5-year contract with

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

side

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

. On 4 August 2020, Atanasov returned to his boyhood club

on a 2-year deal. On 14 June 2021, Atanasov terminated his contract with Levski due to financial reasons. On 16 June 2021, Atanasov returned to former club, Cherno More, on a two-year contract.

International career

On 16 November 2023, Atanasov earned his first cap for the national team after coming on as a late first half substitute for

Ivaylo Chochev Ivaylo Lyudmilov Chochev (; born 18 February 1993) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team. Career Early career Born in Pleven, Chochev began his career with loca ...

in a 2–2 home draw 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 ...

in a Euro 2024 qualifier.

Family

Atanasov's mother,

Yordanka Donkova Yordanka Lyubchova Donkova (; born 28 September 1961) is a Bulgarian former hurdling athlete, notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as nine medals at European indoor and outdoor championships. Donkova set fou ...

, is a former

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as 9 medals at European

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and outdoor championships.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Cherno More *

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 ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atanasov, Zhivko 1991 births Living people People from Varna Province Bulgarian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Septemvri Simitli players PFC Cherno More Varna players PFC Slavia Sofia players SS Juve Stabia players US Viterbese 1908 players US Catanzaro 1929 players PFC Levski Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Serie C players Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen