Blagoy Georgiev

Blagoy Zhorev Georgiev (Bulgarian: Благой Жорев Георгиев; born 21 December 1981) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for teams such as Slavia Sofia, Terek Grozny, Amkar Perm Rubin Kazan and Orenburg and also represented Bulgaria on an international level in 50 matches.

Blagoy Georgiev
Georgiev in 2013
Personal information
Full name Blagoy Zhorev Georgiev
Date of birth (1981-12-21) 21 December 1981
Place of birth Sofia, Bulgaria
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
Slavia Sofia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2006 Slavia Sofia 172 (46)
2006 → Deportivo Alavés (loan) 10 (0)
2006–2008 Red Star Belgrade 20 (2)
2007–2008 → MSV Duisburg (loan) 31 (2)
2009–2012 Terek Grozny 105 (7)
2013–2014 Amkar Perm 36 (3)
2014–2016 Rubin Kazan 37 (1)
2016–2017 Orenburg 30 (7)
Total 441 (68)
National team
2004–2011 Bulgaria 50 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Slavia Sofia

Georgiev was born in Sofia. He is a product of the Slavia Sofia youth academy.[2] He signed a professional contract in June 1999 and then made his first team debut under Miroslav Mironov' management three months later, on 17 October, in a 3–1 home win over Pirin Blagoevgrad. Georgiev's first goal came on 27 November 1999, when he scored a last-minute against Beroe Stara Zagora to secure a 1–1 away draw. On 11 March 2000, he netted Slavia's only goal in their league loss, a 2–1 defeat against Velbazhd Kyustendil. He then scored in Slavia's 3–2 win against Botev Plovdiv on 22 April, taking his tally for the season to 3 goals.

On 27 September 2003, Georgiev scored his first-ever hat-trick in his career, scoring four goals in a 5–2 away win over Chernomorets Burgas. After scoring his 17th league goal in the final game of the 2003–04 season, a 2–0 win against Naftex Burgas, he ended the campaign in joint second place with Stoyko Sakaliev in the race for the Bulgarian A PFG golden boot.

During his six years at Slavia Stadium, he scored 46 league goals in 172 matches.

Alaves (loan)

On 13 January 2006, Deportivo Alavés confirmed Georgiev would join on loan until the end of the season.[3] He made his La Liga debut a week later, during Alaves's 2–0 loss against Barcelona at Camp Nou. He spent most of his time with Alaves on the bench. He returned to Bulgaria at the end of the season having made 10 appearances in Alaves's unsuccessful battle against relegation.

Red Star

On 14 June 2006, Serbian side Red Star Belgrade signed Georgiev on a three-year deal.[4]

Duisburg (loan)

On 28 May 2007, Georgiev joined Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season.[5] On 14 March 2008, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 loss against Schalke 04. On 4 May, he scored a last-minute winning goal for 3–2 over Bayer Leverkusen. During the season, he earned 31 appearances.

Terek Grozny
Georgiev playing for Rubin Kazan in 2015

On 6 January 2009, Georgiev signed a four-year contract with Russian side Terek Grozny for 1.5 million Euros.[6] He made his Russian Premier League debut on the opening day of the 2009 season, on 15 March, in a 1–0 home win over Spartak Nalchik.[7] Georgiev's first goal came on 19 July, when he scored in a 3–2 home win against Zenit Saint Petersburg.

On the eve of the 2010 season, Georgiev was selected by manager Anatoly Baidachny, as the replacement captain after Timur Dzhabrailov's retirement.[8] On 10 May 2010, he scored the opening goal of the league game against CSKA Moscow which Terek lost 1–4. Three days later, he provided two assists in a 2–0 home victory over Saturn Ramenskoye.[9]

Georgiev scored his first league goal of the 2011 season and the winner against Anzhi Makhachkala, in a 1–0 victory on 20 May. On 13 August, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 6–2 defeat at Dynamo Moscow.[10] On 5 November, in a 2–0 home victory over Krasnodar, Blago assisted Musawengosi Mguni for the second goal.[11] On 28 December 2011, few days after his 30th birthday, he was reported to have become a target for Lokomotiv Moscow.[12]

On 4 November 2012, Georgiev marked his 100th Russian Premier League game by scoring a penalty in a 3–1 loss against Anzhi Makhachkala.

Amkar Perm

Georgiev signed with Amkar Perm on 19 December 2012 on a three-year deal.[13]

Rubin Kazan

On 15 August 2014, Georgiev joined Rubin Kazan, signing a two-year deal.[14] Following his transfer he took the number 77 shirt. He made his debut two days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Lokomotiv Moscow. His first league goal for Rubin gave them a 2–1 win over Torpedo Moscow on 29 September.

Orenburg

Georgiev transferred to FC Orenburg before the 2016–17 season as the club made their debut in the Russian Premier League. Orenburg was relegated at the end of the season, but he stayed on to play in the second-tier Russian Football National League. On 29 December 2017, he was released from his contract by mutual consent.[15]

Retirement

The day after he resigned with FC Orenburg, Georgiev announced that he would retire from professional football and noted that he was not retiring because of not being in shape, but because of lack of motivation.[16]

International career
Georgiev with Bulgaria in 2011

A Bulgaria international, Georgiev was also previously a member of the country's under-21 team. He has been capped 50 times and scored 5 goals for Bulgaria. On 11 October 2011, he announced his retirement from Bulgarian national team. In September 2012, it was revealed that Georgiev was considering returning to the national team.[17]

Personal life

Georgiev is a devout Christian and has a number of faith-related tattoos.[18]

Georgiev previously had a fling with singer Liana[19] and was formerly in a long-term relationship with Hristina Vitanova (with whom he has two children). Georgiev is engaged to Russian dancer Esmer Omerova.[20]

Career statistics

Club
Source:[21]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Slavia Sofia 1999–00 16330——193
2000–01 19010——200
2001–02 29331——324
2002–03 24751——298
2003–04 291710——3017
2004–05 281110——2911
2005–06 14310——144
2008–09 13210——142
Total 172461620018848
Deportivo Alavés (loan) 2005–06 100??——100
Total 1000000100
Red Star Belgrade (loan) 2006–07 2021060272
Total 2020060262
MSV Duisburg (loan) 2007–08 31221——333
Total 3122100333
Terek Grozny 2009 27100——271
2010 19110——201
2011–12 40430——434
2012–13 19120——211
Total 105760001117
Amkar Perm 2012–13 10200——102
2013–14 23110——241
2014–15 3000——30
Total 3631000373
Rubin Kazan 2014–15 22130——251
2015–16 1500091241
Total 3713091492
FC Orenburg 2016–17 23610--246
2017–18 7110--81
Total 3072000327
Career totals 4416830315148672

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 February 2007Nicosia, Cyprus Cyprus0–30–3Friendly
2.14 November 2007Celje, Slovenia Slovenia0–30–3UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
3.6 September 2008Podgorica, Montenegro Montenegro2–22–2World Cup 2010 Qual.
4.19 November 2008Beograd, Serbia Serbia6–16–1Friendly
5.18 November 2009Ta' Qali, Malta Malta1–31–4Friendly

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

References
  1. "Българите с половин сантиметър по-високи" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  2. "Детско-юношеска школа на ПФК Славия". pfcslavia.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
  3. "Благо Георгиев вече е играч на Алавес". dariknews.bg (in Bulgarian). 13 January 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  4. "Georgiev accepts Red Star task". uefa.com. 14 June 2006.
  5. "Благо отиде под наем в Бундеслигата". novinar.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 May 2007.
  6. "Blagoi Georgiev joins Terek Grozny". russia.theoffside.com. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010.
  7. "Terek 1–0 Spartak Nalchik". soccerway.com. 15 March 2009.
  8. "Благо Георгиев стана капитан на Терек". novsport.com (in Bulgarian). 17 January 2010.
  9. "Асистенции на Благо при 2:0 за Терек". 24chasa.bg (in Bulgarian). 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010.
  10. "Blagoy Georgiev scored in defeat for the Terek loss Dynamo Moscow". free-soccer-picks.com. 13 August 2011.
  11. "Терек се справи с Краснодар, Благо с асистенция". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 5 November 2011.
  12. "Благо отпразнува 30, Локо Москва го пожела". dariknews.bg (in Bulgarian). 28 December 2011.
  13. "Georgiev to Join Amkar in 2013". rsport.ru. 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2012.
  14. "Благо Георгиев подписа с Рубин (Казан)". novsport.com (in Bulgarian). 15 August 2014.
  15. Благо и Владислав Кулик покидают ФК "Оренбург" (in Russian). FC Orenburg. 29 December 2017.
  16. "Благо Георгиев: Спирам с футбола, имам нови планове". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  17. "Георгиев иска при "трикольорите", преосмислил отказа си от националния". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 26 September 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  18. "Набожният Благо обладал Лияна в манастир, "Обаждаше ми се през 10 минути, плака, когато бебето се роди", каза Христина". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 17 September 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  19. "Лияна възпя Благой Георгиев, певицата отвръща на удара". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 16 December 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  20. "Благой Георгиев предложи брак на Есмер в Дубай". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 11 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  21. "Blagoy Georgiev Stats". fc-terek.ru (in Russian).
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