Emil Kostadinov

Emil Lyubchov Kostadinov (Bulgarian: Емил Любчов Костадинов; born 12 August 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer[1][2] who played as a forward and represented the Bulgaria national team at two World Cups.

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Lyubchov and the family name is Kostadinov.
Emil Kostadinov
Kostadinov in 2010
Personal information
Full name Emil Lyubchov Kostadinov
Date of birth (1967-08-12) 12 August 1967
Place of birth Sofia, Bulgaria
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker, winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1990 CSKA Sofia 119 (36)
1990–1994 Porto 114 (43)
1995 Deportivo La Coruña 9 (2)
1995–1996 Bayern Munich 27 (7)
1996–1997 Fenerbahçe 25 (11)
1997 UANL 9 (2)
1998 CSKA Sofia 11 (7)
1998–1999 Mainz 05 4 (1)
Total 322 (114)
International career
1986–1988 Bulgaria U21 23 (8)
1988–1998 Bulgaria 70 (27)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Sofia, Kostadinov started his career in CSKA Sofia. There he formed a redoubtable trio with Hristo Stoichkov and Luboslav Penev in the late 1980s, helping the team to win three times the Bulgarian Championship title, three times the Bulgarian Cup and reached the semi-final of the Cup Winners' Cup.[3]

He played for FC Porto from 1990 to 1994, winning the Portuguese league twice, and becoming popular among Portuguese fans. He also played for Deportivo de La Coruña, Bayern Munich (winning the UEFA Cup with them in 1996 and scoring in the final itself), Fenerbahçe, Mainz 05, and UANL Tigres.

International career

Kostadinov played in the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship scoring two goals. He was a member of the Bulgaria national team from 1988 to 1998. He earned 70 caps in which he scored 27 goals.

Kostadinov gained international prominence after scoring two goals in the last matchday of the European 1994 World Cup qualification, against the France national team. He scored his second goal in the last second of the match with a shot with his right foot from inside the French penalty area that sent the ball into the roof of the net. That match-winning goal enabled Bulgaria to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals at the expense of France.

After helping Bulgaria qualify for the 1994 World Cup, he was a part of the squad that reached the semi-finals in the finals tournament, again in partnership with Hristo Stoichkov. He played all seven games but did not score. During the game against Italy in the semi-final, Kostadinov was fouled by Alessandro Costacurta in the penalty area, who later committed a handball offence there as well. Both actions were not given penalties, which sparked a lot of controversy, as Bulgarians accused the French referee Joel Quiniou of purposefully ignoring the situations to get "revenge" for the decisive qualifying game between Bulgaria and France at the Parc des Princes, which saw the former qualifying to the World Cup at the expense of the latter.

He also played at the Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, both tournaments in which Bulgaria did not reach the second round. He scored one (and actually the only) goal in the 1998 World Cup against Spain in the group stages. He retired before the qualifying campaign for EURO 2000.

International goals
Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kostadinov goal.[4][5][6]
List of international goals scored by Emil Kostadinov
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
124 December 1988Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates1–01–0Friendly match
221 February 1989Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Soviet Union1–01–2Friendly match
35 May 1990Estádio Brinco de Ouro da Princesa, Campinas, Brazil Brazil1–11–2Friendly match
427 March 1991Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland Scotland1–11–1Euro 1992 qualifier
51 May 1991Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria  Switzerland1–02–3Euro 1992 qualifier
625 September 1991Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Italy1–02–1Friendly match
728 April 1992Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland  Switzerland2–02–0Friendly match
8 14 May 1992Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland Finland2–03–01994 World Cup qualifier
93–0
10 17 November 1993Parc des Princes, Paris, France France1–12–11994 World Cup qualifier
112–1
12 12 October 1994Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, BulgariaGeorgia (country) Georgia1–02–0Euro 1996 qualifier
132–0
1416 November 1994Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Moldova4–14–1Euro 1996 qualifier
1514 December 1994Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales Wales2–03–0Euro 1996 qualifier
167 June 1995Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Germany3–23–2Euro 1996 qualifier
17 7 October 1995Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Albania2–03–0Euro 1996 qualifier
183–0
1928 May 1996Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, BulgariaNorth Macedonia Macedonia1–03–0Friendly match
208 October 1996Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Luxembourg2–12–11998 World Cup qualifier
218 November 1996Supachalasai National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand Thailand3–04-0Friendly match
2214 December 1996Tsirio Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus1–03–11998 World Cup qualifier
23 2 April 1997Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Cyprus2–04–11998 World Cup qualifier
243–0
258 June 1997Neftochimik Stadium, Bourgas, Bulgaria Luxembourg2–04–01998 World Cup qualifier
2611 October 1997Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia Russia2–42–41998 World Cup qualifier
2724 June 1998Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens, France Spain1–31–61998 World Cup

Honours

CSKA Sofia

Porto

Bayern Munich

Bulgaria

References
  1. «O Domingos adorava chá, foi o tipo mais inteligente que vi» maisfutebol.iol.pt
  2. "Emil Kostadinov". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  3. Yolchev, Ivaylo (29 December 2006). "Емил Костадинов: вече не съм толкова доверчив, най-важното е да има екипност, твърди новият шеф в ЦСКА". 7sport.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. "Emil Kostadinov - matches and goals for Bulgaria". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  5. "Match log for Emil Kostadinov". eu-football.info. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  6. "Профил на Емил Костадинов". fccska.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. "USA '94: The "Bronze Summer" of Bulgaria's Golden Boys". 16 May 2012.
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