 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Strahil Venkov Popov[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-08-31) 31 August 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | |||
| Pirin 2001 | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2015 | Litex Lovech | 138 | (6) |
| 2009 | → Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Montana (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2016–2020 | Kasımpaşa | 125 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | Hatayspor | 57 | (0) |
| 2022 | Eyüpspor | 16 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Ümraniyespor | 46 | (2) |
| Total | 398 | (9) | |
| International career | |||
| 2008 | Bulgaria U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Bulgaria U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 2014–2021 | Bulgaria | 35 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Strahil Popov (Bulgarian: Страхил Попов; born 31 August 1990) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
Popov began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2008. After loan spells at Lokomotiv Mezdra and Montana he became a regular in their team, playing 159 total games and scoring 6 goals for Litex. He signed for Kasımpaşa in January 2016.
Popov earned 35 caps for Bulgaria between 2014 and 2021.
Club career
Born in Blagoevgrad, Popov began his career playing for Pirin Blagoevgrad before departing for Pirin 2001.[2]
Litex Lovech
In 2008, Popov joined Litex Lovech.[3]
Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)
On 9 July 2009, Popov joined Lokomotiv Mezdra on loan until December 2009.[4] He made his team début on 10 July, scoring goal in a 2–1 friendly loss against Sivasspor.
Montana (loan)
On 18 January 2010, Popov was loaned out to Montana for the rest of the season.[5] He made his competitive debut on 20 March in a 0–0 home league draw against Litex, coming on as a second-half substitute, and participated in only one more game to the end of the season.
Return to Litex
Popov returned to Litex at the end of the 2009–10 season. He played only three league games during a following campaign and became a regular first team player in the 2011–12 season. On 21 March 2012, Popov was sent off for the first time in his professional career in a 1–1 away draw against Beroe Stara Zagora.
On 21 July 2013, Popov scored his first goal for Litex, with a header, netting the third in a 4–1 home win over Neftochimic Burgas. He then scored the winning goal in Litex's 2–1 away win against Slavia Sofia on 7 December.
On 3 August 2014, Popov was announced as Litex's new club captain.[6] Six days later, he added his third goal for Litex against Botev Plovdiv in a 3–3 away draw.
Kasımpaşa
On 5 January 2016, he moved to the Turkish Süper Lig team Kasımpaşa for a reported fee of €750,000. He was given the number 90 jersey.[7]
On 27 October 2017, he scored his first league goal in a match against Göztepe.[8]
International career
After first being called up for a friendly match against Belarus in March 2014, but remaining an unused substitute,[9] Popov made his debut for the national side on 23 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw with Canada.[10] He played as a starter on 10 October 2015, in the 0–3 loss against Croatia in a Euro 2016 qualifier, remaining on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.[11]
On 13 October 2018, he provided two decisive assists in a 2–1 home win against Cyprus, in a match for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. He became second top assistant with four assists in all over group in the competition.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 25 December 2019[13]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Litex Lovech | 2008–09 | A Group | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 40 | 2 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 31 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 39 | 3 | |||
| 2015–16 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 23 | 1 | |||
| Total | 138 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 159 | 6 | ||
| Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan) | 2009–10 | A Group | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||
| Montana (loan) | 2009–10 | A Group | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| Kasımpaşa | 2015–16 | Süper Lig | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | 33 | 0 | 7 | 1 | – | – | 40 | 1 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 1 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 125 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 280 | 7 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 312 | 8 | ||
- Includes Bulgarian Cup, Turkish Cup.
- Appearance in Bulgarian Supercup
International
- As of 22 November 2018
| Team | Year | Tournament | Friendly | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bulgaria | |||||||
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Career total | 21 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
References
- "European Championship 2020: Booking List before Qualifying Round Matchday 10" (PDF). UEFA. 17 November 2019. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- "Интервю със Страхил Попов от Литекс" (in Bulgarian). fmbulgaria.com.
- "Stats Centre: Strahil Popov Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- "Литекс даде Страхил Попов на Локо (Мездра)" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 9 July 2009.
- "Младежки национал от Литекс под наем в Монтана" (in Bulgarian). sportal.bg. 18 January 2010.
- "Страхил Попов е новият капитан на Литекс" (in Bulgarian). gong.bg. 3 August 2014.
- Капитанът на Литекс подписа с турски отбор
- Страхил Попов с важен гол за Касъмпаша
- "Националите тренираха в пълен състав, "лъвовете" ще тренират и преди мача с Беларус" (in Bulgarian). topsport.bg. 4 March 2014.
- "Bulgaria vs. Canada 1-1". flashscore.com. 23 May 2014.
- "Ново начало? Хърватия ни развинти за 3:0" (in Bulgarian). news7.bg. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- Страхил Попов изпревари едни от най-големите европейски звезди в Лигата на нациите
- Popov Stats
External links
- Strahil Popov at Soccerway