Krasimir Balakov
Balakov in 2014 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Krasimir Genchev Balakov | ||
Date of birth | 29 March 1966 | ||
Place of birth | Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1983–1990 | Etar Veliko Tarnovo | 142 | (35) |
1991–1995 | Sporting CP | 138 | (43) |
1995–2003 | VfB Stuttgart | 236 | (54) |
2005 | VFC Plauen | 1 | (0) |
Total | 517 | (132) | |
National team | |||
1984–1987 | Bulgaria U21 | 29 | (3) |
1988–2003 | Bulgaria | 92 | (16) |
Teams managed | |||
2003–2005 | VfB Stuttgart (assistant) | ||
2005 | VFC Plauen (player-manager) | ||
2006–2007 | Grasshoppers | ||
2007–2008 | St. Gallen | ||
2008–2010 | Chernomorets Burgas | ||
2011–2012 | Hajduk Split | ||
2012 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
2014–2015 | Litex Lovech | ||
2018–2019 | Etar Veliko Tarnovo | ||
2019 | Bulgaria | ||
2020–2021 | CSKA 1948 | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Krasimir Genchev Balakov (Bulgarian: Красимир Генчев Балъков, pronounced [krɐsiˈmir ˈbaɫɐkof]; born 29 March 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Bulgarian club CSKA 1948. A former attacking midfielder, he was a key member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[1] He is considered as second only to Hristo Stoichkov among Bulgarian footballers of his generation.
Club career[]
Balakov began his club career at the local Etar Veliko Tarnovo, before transferring to Portugal's Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1990, playing alongside future Ballon D'Or recipient Luís Figo, his compatriot Yordanov, and future two-time Champions League winner Paulo Sousa. Though Sporting had a quality squad, Balakov only managed to win the 1994–95 Portuguese Cup during his time at the club. In 1995, he transferred to Germany's VfB Stuttgart where he won two UEFA Intertoto Cups (2000 and 2002) and a DFB-Pokal (1997), before retiring in 2003 - the same year that he called time on an international career which had spanned 15 years and 92 caps. As an attacking midfielder Balakov formed a successful attacking partnership with strikers Fredi Bobic and Giovane Élber at Stuttgart. The trio were known as the "magic triangle". He was voted as Stuttgart's best player of all time. He stayed at Stuttgart until retiring as a player in 2003, although he did make a comeback as a player two years later when he made a single appearance as player-manager of VFC Plauen.[2]
Coaching career[]
The year after he retired, Krasimir became assistant coach of the club he had just retired from, VfB Stuttgart. He stayed in this position for two years before deciding to become a player-manager at VFC Plauen, where he remained for just a short time.
He had been appointed on 16 January 2006 as a manager of Grasshopper Club Zürich to replace Hanspeter Latour who left for 1. FC Köln. Balakov managed to win the Intertoto Cup, thus qualified the club to the UEFA Cup for 2006–07 season.
He had been appointed on 29 October 2007 as a manager of FC St. Gallen to replace Rolf Fringer.[3] Three days before the season ended, he was fired by the club management.
In December 2008, he became manager of PFC Chernomorets Burgas in his homeland, taking over from Dimitar Dimitrov, after also having considered an offer to coach the national team of his country.[4] On 6 December 2010, he was released from PFC Chernomorets Burgas after mutual consent, following a change in the long-term vision for the club by the owner Mitko Sabev.[5]
On 27 May 2011, it was announced that Balakov would take over the helm of Croatian club Hajduk Split.[6]
On 22 March 2012, Balakov was appointed the manager of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[7] He was sacked on 17 May 2012, after being unable to prevent Kaiserslautern's relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.[8] He subsequently continued his career as manager in his country.
On 4 January 2018, he was announced as the new manager of Etar Veliko Tarnovo with Stanislav Genchev, Iliyan Kiryakov and Kaloyan Chakarov as first team coaches.[9]
On 14 May 2019, he was named as the new manager of the Bulgaria national football team.[10]
In October 2019, Balakov was replaced as manager of the national team by Georgi Dermendzhiev after resigning from his role following the backlash over his denial of alleged fan racism aimed at members of the England team in a Euro 2020 qualifying match as well as a continued string of unsatisfactory results.[11] He took over as manager of CSKA 1948 in June 2020.[12] In late August 2020, Balakov's duties were extended to cover the organizational management as well, with assistant Yordan Yurukov becoming more actively involved in the training process.[13] However, the latter resigned on 22 September,[14] leaving Balakov to be the sole one in charge of the team.
International career[]
Balakov made 92 appearances for Bulgaria, between 1988 and 2003 (one of the best totals in national history) and scored 16 goals.[citation needed] He made his debut on 2 November 1988, in the 1–1 draw with Denmark in a qualifying match for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, coming on as a late second half substitute for Hristo Stoichkov.[15] Other than the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he also played for his country at Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. At age 37 he played in the qualifications for Euro 2004 to help his teammates qualify but retired from football before the final stage in Portugal.
International goals[]
- Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Balakov goal.[16][17][18][19]
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 14 May 1992 | Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–0 | 1994 World Cup qualifier |
2 | 9 September 1992 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2–0 | 2–0 | 1994 World Cup qualifier |
3 | 11 November 1992 | Saint-Ouen, Paris, France | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–2 | Friendly match |
4 | 19 January 1994 | SDCCU Stadium, San Diego, United States | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
5 | 16 November 1994 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2–1 | 4–1 | Euro 1996 qualifier |
6 | 29 March 1995 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–1 | Euro 1996 qualifier |
7 | 26 April 1995 | Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–0 | Euro 1996 qualifier |
8 | 1 September 1996 | Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | ![]() |
1–0 | 1–2 | 1998 World Cup qualifier |
9 | 8 October 1996 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg | ![]() |
1–0 | 2–1 | 1998 World Cup qualifier |
10 | 14 December 1996 | Tsirio Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | ![]() |
2–1 | 3–1 | 1998 World Cup qualifier |
11 | 8 June 1997 | Neftochimik Stadium, Burgas, Bulgaria | ![]() |
3–0 | 4–0 | 1998 World Cup qualifier |
12 | 28 March 2001 | Balgarska Armia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
1–0 | 4–3 | 2002 World Cup qualifier |
13 | 15 August 2001 | Balgarska Armia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly match |
14 | 21 August 2002 | Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2–1 | 2–2 | Friendly match |
15 | 16 October 2002 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria | ![]() |
2–0 | 2–1 | Euro 2004 qualifier |
Managerial statistics[]
- As of 18 October 2019
Team | From | To | Competition | Record | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | GF | GA | GD | ||||
Grasshopper Club Zürich | 16 January 2006 | 21 May 2007 | Swiss Super League | 53 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 35.85 | 71 | 54 | +17 |
UEFA Cup | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 50.00 | 21 | 18 | +3 | |||
Total | 65 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 38.46 | 92 | 72 | +20 | |||
Chernomorets Burgas | 14 December 2008 | 6 December 2010 | Bulgarian A Professional Football Group | 60 | 29 | 16 | 15 | 48.33 | 79 | 54 | +25 |
Bulgarian Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | 5 | 2 | +3 | |||
Total | 62 | 30 | 16 | 16 | 48.39 | 84 | 56 | +28 | |||
Hajduk Split | 31 May 2011 | 22 March 2012 | Prva HNL | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 59.09 | 42 | 17 | +25 |
Croatian Cup | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75.00 | 9 | 4 | +5 | |||
UEFA Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0 | 2 | –2 | |||
Total | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 57.14 | 51 | 23 | +28 | |||
1. FC Kaiserslautern | 22 March 2012 | 17 May 2012 | Bundesliga | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12.50 | 7 | 18 | –11 |
Total | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12.50 | 7 | 18 | –11 | |||
Litex Lovech | 27 May 2014 | 11 July 2015 | Bulgarian A Professional Football Group | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 51.61 | 49 | 32 | +17 |
Bulgarian Cup | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60.00 | 9 | 7 | +2 | |||
Europa League | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 33.33 | 8 | 6 | +2 | |||
Total | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 50.00 | 66 | 45 | +21 | |||
Etar Veliko Tarnovo | 4 January 2018 | 14 May 2019 | First Professional Football League | 52 | 24 | 10 | 18 | 46.15 | 65 | 56 | +9 |
Bulgarian Cup | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 | 6 | 1 | +5 | |||
Total | 55 | 26 | 11 | 18 | 47.27 | 71 | 57 | +14 | |||
Bulgaria national football team | 14 May 2019 | 18 October 2019 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group A | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 | 3 | 15 | -12 |
Friendly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 3 | -2 | |||
Total | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.00 | 4 | 18 | -14 | |||
Career totals | League | 226 | 102 | 55 | 69 | 45.13 | 313 | 231 | +82 | ||
National League Cup | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 64.29 | 29 | 14 | +15 | |||
European League Cup | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 40.00 | 29 | 26 | +3 | |||
Nation | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.00 | 4 | 18 | -14 | |||
Total | 266 | 119 | 63 | 84 | 44.74 | 375 | 289 | +86 |
Honours[]
Etar Veliko Tarnovo
- A Group: 1990–91
Sporting CP
- Portuguese Cup: 1995
VfB Stuttgart
- DFB-Pokal: 1996–97
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2000, 2002
- DFB-Ligapokal finalist: 1997, 1998
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finalist: 1997–98
- Bundesliga runner-up: 2002–03
Bulgaria
- FIFA World Cup fourth place: 1994
Individual
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1994
- Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 1995, 1997
- kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98[20][21][22]
- FIFA XI (Reserve): 1996[23]
References[]
- ^ da Cunha, Pedro Jorge (28 March 2019). "Balakov: «Vivi ao lado da Luz e espiei muitos treinos do Benfica»". maisfutebol.iol.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ Stevenson, Jonathan (2 September 2010). "Bulgarians remain in shadow of class of '94". BBC.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Krassimir Balakov neuer Cheftrainer" (in German). fcsg.ch. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ "Балъков между Бургас и националния отбор. Бившият играч на Щутгарт преговаря с Черноморец". 7sport.net. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ "Красимир Балъков се раздели с Черноморец (Бургас)". burgas-top.com (in Bulgarian). 8 December 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- ^ Jurišić, Bernard (27 May 2011). "Krasimir Balakov novi trener Hajduka". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Balakov više nije trener Hajduka". hajduk.hr (in Croatian). Hajduk Split. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "Aus für Balakov nach 57 Tagen". Die Rheinpfalz (in German). 18 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ^ "Революция в Търново: Балъков е новият мениджър на Етър, Генчев остава, Деко е аут". sportal.bg (in Bulgarian). 4 January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^ "Balakov appointed as head coach of Bulgaria national squad". rfi.fr. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Ben Church. "Bulgaria soccer coach resigns following racist abuse of England team". CNN. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Красимир Балъков е новият треньор на ЦСКА 1948". gong.bg. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- ^ "ЦСКА 1948 с официална позиция за Красимир Балъков". gong.bg. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "Йордан Юруков напуска ФК ЦСКА 1948!". topsport.bg. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "Match log for Krasimir Balakov". eu-football.info. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Krasimir Balakov - matches and goals for Bulgaria". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Portugal v Bulgaria, 11 November 1992". 11v11.com. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "България би Андора с измамното 2:1". segabg.com. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Балъков подари вратовръзка на бившия си шеф в Щутгарт". blitz.bg. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1995/96" (in German). kicker.
- ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1996/97" (in German). kicker.
- ^ "Bundesliga Historie 1997/98" (in German). kicker.
- ^ Leme de Arruda, Marcelo (20 October 2015). "FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info". RSSSF. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- 1966 births
- Living people
- People from Veliko Tarnovo
- Association football midfielders
- Bulgarian football managers
- Bulgarian expatriate football managers
- Bulgarian footballers
- Bulgarian expatriate footballers
- Bulgaria international footballers
- Bulgaria youth international footballers
- 1994 FIFA World Cup players
- 1998 FIFA World Cup players
- FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo players
- Sporting CP footballers
- UEFA Euro 1996 players
- VfB Stuttgart players
- Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
- Bundesliga players
- Primeira Liga players
- Grasshopper Club Zürich managers
- FC St. Gallen managers
- HNK Hajduk Split managers
- 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers
- Expatriate football managers in Switzerland
- Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
- 2. Bundesliga managers
- Expatriate football managers in Germany
- PSFC Chernomorets Burgas managers
- VFC Plauen players
- FC CSKA 1948 Sofia managers